Review by Booklist Review
The title is apt given that Nirvana was known, among other things, for the community of friends known and unknown who gathered around the quintessential 1990s rock band. Kurt Cobain, its enigmatic lead singer, might have earned most of the band's fame and notoriety (especially after his 1994 suicide), but he was always integral to a larger group the boy, writes blogger/author Soulsby, among Aberdeen, Washington's 18,000 residents to become a global legend. Soulsby revisits the life and times of the group through the reminiscences of the musicians and producers who knew them best, having interviewed members of 170 bands that played and toured with Nirvana, including Dinosaur Jr., the Dead Kennedys, and Butthole Surfers. Topics covered include the January 1988 recording sessions for Nirvana's first album, their early shows (their first Seattle show attracted a mere half-dozen people), their first tour, the mammoth success of Nevermind, and the last recording sessions. Fans of Kurt Cobain and Nirvana should find much to savor in this fascinating oral history of one of rock's most iconic bands.--Sawyers, June Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Cobbled together from interviews with over 150 subjects, including musicians who played and toured with the band, blogger and superfan Soulsby (Dark Slivers) offers an entertaining, if patchwork, history of Nirvana and its troubled leader, Kurt Cobain, who committed suicide in April 1994. For hardcore fans, Soulsby's effort adds little to Nirvana's or Cobain's story; both have been the subject of multiple books already. But as an oral history, the book brims with personality, and perhaps its greatest feature is the way it captures the milieu from which indie rock and so-called "grunge" music emerged. Fans will recognize some contributors-members of various bands of the era, including Tad, Meat Puppets, and the Melvins, weigh in-but the book's foundation rests on the more obscure voices. Cobain's friends and acquaintances ably flesh out his story (particularly his chaotic, tragic end), capture the almost surreal scene emerging in the early 1990s, and bring to life the excitement and tedium of being in a band. Some 21 years after Cobain's death, he still casts a long shadow, and Nirvana's music still resonates. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by Library Journal Review
Nearly 21 years after Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain took his own life, what he and Nirvana were able to musically accomplish during their existence has never disappeared from public consciousness. In this title, blogger and author Soulsby (Dark Slivers: Seeing Nirvana in the Shards of Incesticide) constructs a chronological history of the band from its inception in 1987 to Cobain's death in 1994, using the remembrances of more than 150 musicians to help explain what made the group-and its leader-so remarkable. Nirvana's career story is certainly well-trodden territory; however, the sheer amount of perspectives that the author includes keeps the overall narrative engaging. The other major challenge in writing about the band is the overwhelming tendency to view Cobain as a secular saint. To his credit, Soulsby gently sidesteps that suggestion, though neither he nor his interviewees convey fully the depth of the artist's heroin addiction or the drop-off in his creative output toward the end of his life. Nevertheless, this history is captivating enough to distinguish itself among a crowded canon. VERDICT Hard-core and casual Nirvana fans alike will find this book engaging.-Chris Martin, North Dakota State Univ. Libs., Fargo (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
You-are-there narrative of Nirvana's rise, focused on the trio's comrades at the dawn of Alternative Nation. Soulsby (Dark Slivers: Seeing Nirvana in the Shards of Incesticide, 2012) builds his second book concerning Nirvana's brief run and long shadow through the recollections of Nirvana's fellow musicians, most (though not all) of whom remained obscure. This is in line with the most positive aspect of how Nirvana's success transformed the regional American musical underground: "Nirvana never felt it was above the many bands they befriended; they always felt they were part of the community who tell this tale rather than of the celebrity world they joined." Formed four years prior to 1991's chart-topping "Nevermind," the band's core was the fragile, artistic Kurt Cobain and the less-enigmatic rocker Krist Novoselic. Benefitting from the communal, low-budget vibe in the Pacific Northwest music scene, their nascent band quickly evolved into an efficient, hard-driven touring machine, alongside other avatars of grunge like Tad and Mudhoney. As one musician observed, early Nirvana was "definitely still grunge but with better venues comes better sound and all things better." Naturally, Cobain's spirit hangs over the storytelling; he's remembered as withdrawn and clearly overwhelmed by health issues and controlled substances but also for kindness and humor. In an improbable moment, as they were taken under Sonic Youth's wing and added powerhouse drummer Dave Grohl, all the elements aligned for a major cultural shift. As "Nevermind" broke big, the band "brought the communal spirit of the underground to whatever strange land was opening up for them," engaging social causes and booking confrontational bands as opening acts. As Soulsby notes, "Nirvana saw fame as valuable only if it stood for something." Yet the rockers' reflections become increasingly poignant as the band's denouement approaches. Besides appealing to fans, the book ably captures the lost milieu of independent rock, which Nirvana's moment irretrievably transformed. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
