Released October 1, 1996 Length 53:55 Release date 1 October 1996 | Recorded 1989–1994 Language English Producer Shauna O'Brien | |
 | ||
Similar Nirvana albums, Grunge albums | ||
From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah is a live album by the American alternative rock band Nirvana. It was released on October 1, 1996 and features live performances recorded from 1989 to 1994.
Contents
The album opened at number one on the Billboard 200. It spent 25 weeks on the chart and became the band's sixth platinum album since 1991. As of 2001, it has sold over 1.15 million copies in the United States alone.
Release
From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah was the second Nirvana album to be released following the death of singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain in April 1994. It was compiled primarily by Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic, who also penned the album's liner notes. Novoselic and Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl had originally intended on releasing a live album in 1994, to accompany what became MTV Unplugged in New York in a two-disc set originally titled Verse Chorus Verse, named after both a Nirvana song and the most prevalent song structure in the band's music, but were emotionally unable to compile it so soon after Cobain's death.
The album's title refers to the Wishkah River in Aberdeen, Washington, where Cobain claimed to have spent nights sleeping under the Young Street Bridge as a teenager (as referenced in the song "Something in the Way", from the band's 1991 release, Nevermind). This claim has since been refuted by Novoselic, who said, "He never lived under that bridge. He hung out there, but you couldn't live on those muddy banks, with the tide coming up and down. That was his own revisionism."
No commercial singles were released from the album, but promotional singles were sent out for radio play for a number of the songs, including "Aneurysm" (US and UK), "Drain You" (U.S.), "Lithium" (the Netherlands) and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Spain and France). A limited edition promotional box set was also released in Australia containing three promotional singles for the songs "Aneurysm", "Heart-Shaped Box", and "Polly". The box set also included Nevermind: It's an Interview, a promotional interview disc first released in 1992.
Reception
Critical reception of the album was generally positive. It was rated #9 in Rolling Stone's 1997 critics' poll of the top 10 albums of 1996, and #14 in Spin's Best Albums of 1996.
Lorraine Ali of Rolling Stone described the album as the "emotional, visceral flip side" of MTV Unplugged in New York, and as "riotous and liberating", showing the band "in their most natural state, smashing instruments and inducing irreversible tinnitus." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called it "a little scattershot" but "still a terrific record" which "finds a great band in top form." American music critic Robert Christgau wrote, "I play Unplugged to refresh my memory of a sojourner's spirituality. I'll play this one when I want to remember a band's guts, fury, and rock and roll music."
Track listing
All tracks written by Kurt Cobain, except where noted.
Personnel
Songs
1Intro0:55
2School2:42
3Drain You3:37