Nirvana Albums (7)
'To Markos III'
Release Date 12/2/2003
Tracks 10
Label Universal International
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Nirvana's third and final album for Island (sometimes titled Dedicated to Markos III in discographies) was extremely rare in its first 1969 LP issue, the UK release limited to a few hundred promo copies. The group's cutesiness was toned down considerably for this LP, though they were still offering the kind of light orchestrated pop-rock that they had on their previous Island records, with some jazz and classical influences. It's a more mature product than their first two albums, but a little tired-sounding, and lacking in the more psychedelic ambition that produced some of their best songs, like "Rainbow Chaser" and "I Believe in Magic." In fact they sometimes sound rather like film composers or pop-jazz-vocals singer-songwriters caught in a different era, what with the rather grandiose (and certainly grandiosely arranged) Euro-romantic sweep of most of their songs. Although the orchestration, often combining strings with harpsichord, is often sumptuous (if just short of cloying) and the melodies pleasant, not much of this sticks to the bones. The somewhat more soulful, straightforward rock of "Christopher Lucifer" and "It Happened Two Sundays Ago" provides some nice relief, if only because it's different from the wistful fantasy aura that predominated in Nirvana's world. This rarity gained easy availability with its 2003 CD release on Universal/Island, which despite remastering still has some noises that sound suspiciously like tiny vinyl bumps at the beginning of "Black Flower," one of the more dramatic and better numbers. Also in the package are extensive liner notes, though these (like those on all the 2003 Universal/Island reissues of Nirvana's first three LPs) contain annoying undue repetition of the text that appears on the liners to the other Universal/Island Nirvana re-releases. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
'Forever Changing: An Introduction to Nirvana'
Release Date 1/1/2003
Tracks 14
Label UK Universal
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Forever Changing is a good 14-song distillation of Nirvana's late-'60s Island records, albeit one that leans heavily on material from the first two of their three Island LPs, The Story of Simon Simopath and All of Us. Just one song from the third LP, To Markos III, is represented, that being the six-minute "Love Suite." But a couple of their non-LP single tracks are here too, and one of those ("I Believe in Magic," their first B-side) was one of the best things they recorded, though the other B-side ("Darling Darlene") isn't much of a song. Some would contend that early Nirvana's best appreciated by listening to their whole albums, but unless you're a real big fan, this compilation is actually a preferable listen to any of those individual albums. For Nirvana's orchestrated pop-psych-lite albums could get tiresomely twee taken in full doses, and with some of the fat cut out, listening simply becomes a lot easier and more enjoyable. Their best-known songs -- the singles "Rainbow Chaser," "Tiny Goddess," and "Pentecost Hotel" -- are all here, of course. Yet the astute programming also allows appreciation of some obscure LP cuts, as well as (perhaps inadvertently) highlighting the influence of Ray Davies on "In the Courtyard of the Stars," though it's more fey than anything the Kinks did during the same era. So why doesn't this attractively packaged release rate as the best Nirvana collection? Simple -- for some unforgivable reason, it uses a different, inferior version of "Rainbow Chaser" (minus its psychedelic phasing effects) than the one that was a European hit single in 1968. It's not explained anywhere in the liner notes what the origin of this alternate version is. But regardless of where it came from, its inclusion here is an unforgivable mistake that keeps this comp from being definitive, though fortunately the familiar "phased" version of "Rainbow Chaser" is available on Universal/Island's CD reissue of Nirvana's All of Us. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
'Songs of Love and Praise'
Release Date 1/1/1972
Tracks 9
Label Philips
See Album Tracklist and Review
'The Story of Simon Simopath'
Release Date 1/1/1967
Tracks 10
Label Island
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
One of the most entertaining things to do on websites that allow customer reviews of CDs is read the apoplectic fury Kurt Cobain's fans have for the original Nirvana, the cultily-adored British psych-pop group from the late '60s. Much of that misguided and ill-informed venom seems to be directed toward this album, Nirvana's 1967 debut. An unashamedly twee early concept album, The Story of Simon Simopath (subtitled "A Science Fiction Pantomime," suitably expressing the deliberately childlike tone of the album) sounds, like most rock concept albums, like a collection of unconnected songs forced together by the story written in the liner notes. Ignoring the rather silly story (something about a boy who wishes he could fly), what's left is a regrettably brief but uniformly solid set of well-constructed psych-pop tunes with attractive melodies and rich, semi-orchestrated arrangements. Although the core of Nirvana was the duo of singer-guitarist Patrick Campbell-Lyons and keyboardist Alex Spyropoulos, the group is here expanded to a sextet including full-time French horn and cello players, and the semi-Baroque arrangements are particularly memorable on the singles "Pentecost Hotel" and "Wings of Love." Although The Story of Simon Simopath has no individual songs as instantly delightful as "Rainbow Chaser," the hit single and key track from their next album All of Us, it's a much more consistent record than that somewhat patchy follow-up. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
