Nirvana: Nevermind (30th Anniversary Edition) (180g) (Limited Vinyl Boxset)

[@Kevin_Hanrahan]

Thanks Michael. Nirvana are my favourite band and I own Nevermind probably about 7 times - counting my cassettes, multiple CD's in the nineties, multiple records etc. I am so disappointed by this release. To begin with, the fact that this album was not all analogue was just unforgivable in my opinion. I mean come on - this is a VERY pricey 30th release!! Then the way Universal were so secretive about the digital sources. That was just shady and such a corporate move - Kurt would have hated it! THEN the quality of these live releases. . . . I'm glad I have my BG cut of the actual album, but I'm not spending this kind of money on live recordings unless they are presented in some definitive way. The reviews I'm reading (yours included) suggest they are not. So this is a hard pass for me - and honestly I'm kinda the target demographic for something like this. Had this been even a two disc set - the album - all analogue - plus a live show and a nice single - all remastered by BG - then I'd have thrown money at this. Speaking of that single - the artwork is terrible and not in keeping with the other Nirvana singles at all. It looks like something a first year design student would throw together. I would suggest that people would do better to pick up something like the 45rpm Steve Albini version of In Utero from 2013 instead. It's a better album (in my opinion) and that release is epic. I bought one on Amazon a few months back and I'm still drooling over it. Anyway - a great video - but a depressing one!

[@Markymarkvinylnut]

Think you've summed this up very well indeed.. very sad for such an important release. Totally against what Kurt would have wanted. I will give this a miss.

[@dg4846]

do not worry. There will be theanother anniversary and they maybe release extra stuff. It sounds brutal but that`s the way how money are made. It is your privilage you can buy a new anniversary edition even that now you are disappointed.

[@pennze]

I agree with your review it feels like they could have done more. Also your camera quality is amazing it really helps enjoy the videos more.

[@evanshear5378]

Michael, that's what makes this channel the best. The unvarnished truth always. Makes listening/watching worth while. Your objectivity is so important. Never change this please!

[@scapinapolotska1215]

Could not agree more, Evan. Carry on Michael. Very good channel. Always informative, always entertaining.

[@VinylPiper]

I’m a Nirvana fan and so glad to have these shows officially on vinyl. It wont be my go to Nevermind lp but so happy to have it all. Can’t wait for the 35th and 40th and 50th Anniversary releases as well

[@robertbenton2804]

Your dog is funny! Watch when you knock on the box.

[@yanivshef]

Valuable first impression review! You save a lot of money for potential buyers 👍

[@darrens7040]

Well said Michael a friend of mine lent me his box set to assess and you confirm what I heard, saved the money on this one.

[@fts81]

Most important to me is that it did not repeat the content of the 20th anniversary box, so things complemented very nicely

[@exodusvelo]

love your new glasses, april fool's material candidate this stuff

[@realmackle]

The general opinion ive heard is dont be upset if you've already bought it but don't go out of your way to get it/dont pay retail since it's so affordable on discogs now. I have it already and its one of my favorites even with the 'compression' on the 30th vinyl. I have the original cd and hq cassette and it doesnt sound extremely compressed to my ears, only slightly. I can live with it personally.

[@seand67]

Now THAT'S how you release a 30th anniversary box set. Michael Jackson's Estate needs to wake up and take notes

[@UberPilot]

180 gram vinyl pressed from a digital file………. The Walmart and Target version is the Bernie Grundmann all analog cut. Your welcome.

[@Elvis-wu6et]

Very good review Michael. My expectations was exactly what you’ve said. I heard a lot of Nirvana live recordings and most of them are not so good. It’s not the mistake from label. It’s hard to do something from recoding that don’t sound good from the beginning. It looks amazing and that’s all. I’ll stick with my BG pressed by Pallas. But, I’m waiting for good In Utero version. My copy sounds terrible. 2015 reissue. Cheers Michael!

[@egotrpn420]

Thank you thank you thank you, for a completely honest review. I’m tired of everybody liking everything out there. I know from my own experience there is crap out there.

[@The90sGamingGuy]

One of the top ten albums made in the 90's. The source for this remaster was from the master tapes but end product is digitally sourced. From what i have heard on radio it sounds good. I might get the CD set even though i own an og CD and three copies of this album on vinyl record. Great video Micheal.

[@myles7522]

I think you are spot on with this review….👍

[@AntonioRPinto]

Keep up the great work!

[@Markymarkvinylnut]

Possibly one of your best videos Michael..you've lifted the veil on something very important here! Enormous effort on the sleeve and archival photos and no love for the music... for me, the "quality" of the music is important

[@fts81]

This box has great quality, the content is different from the 20th, so they complement each other. Great release, not repeating the last box. Brilliant

[@Warnerchild]

i've started saying "Great one" now cos of you

[@DC-xx4kv]

Yeah I knew this wasn’t for me. The price is very high IMO. I have an ORG analogue pressing that’s phenomenal and wins shoot outs. Lucky to have it. Thx for your information and video Michael. ☮️

[@Stargazer-px7fw]

The ORG version of this one and unplugged is all one needs on vinyl. Anything else digital will do just fine.

[@lincbradham]

Thank you for another wonderful review, Michael. I actually bought both the 30th anniversary and the Pallas pressing…kept the Pallas pressing on vinyl and put it in the gorgeous 30th anniversary gatefold jacket :) is it “correct”? Probably not, but to me, it felt like combining the definitive jacket with the definitive audio, and therefore the definitive copy of Nevermind…at least to me ☺️ thanks again as always, please keep doing what you do, absolutely love your channel.

[@512bb]

Nothing wrong with that Linc, it's your record & if it puts a smile on your face then that is a very good thing!

[@franco426]

Great review. Unless you are a diehard that needs to own it all, the consensus is never mind.

[@big_burly_bro]

I still have my cassette I bought 30 years ago. I'm sure we can work out a trade.

[@michaellord9745]

Thanks for the honest review, Michael. My eyes nearly bugged out when I saw the price on this set! I've got the Grundman LP, the 30th Anniversary LP, and the 30th Anniversary 2 CD set. So I think I'm covered. Nirvana hardly one of my favorites and not a huge fan of live recordings to begin with.

[@davidlawrence79]

Thanks for the heads up on the less than stellar sound of the live shows in this box. I will pass on this one. Thanks for telling it like it is.

[@johnnypaps2834]

Already have decent bootlegs of Amsterdam and Del Mar. I just recently found someone parting the box out on eBay I got the Tokyo set. Only missing the Australia set now. My friend bought the box and I laughed

[@jayt2772]

It is hard to make all analogue pressing, since the tapes probably burned down in the Universal fire in 2008. It was not clear whether Nirvana's Nevermind have burnt also (there were rumours it did and also it didn't), but according to several articles dated back to 2019 and 2020 even quoting Krist Novoselic (band's bassist) it has been "lost forever". Same has been confirmed by Universal. Although nn the case of Nirvana and some other artists, UMG stated that it had replacements and/or safety copies for all the affected recordings. So who knows what is left...it might be hard to admit but digital might be the only thing what we are left with...

[@RodneyAllanPoe]

I bought the CD. It sounds virtually the same as my two other editions on my mid-fi system (Focal and Emotiva).

[@harrysmusicroom]

I bought the 30th, and have the Pallas re-issue so this was never even a consideration for me, thanks for validating my decision.

[@jasonhoffer9017]

You didn't really say why you didn't like the live shows - was it the sound quality or the performances (or both)? Great video and love it when you give a heads up to your viewers. Really helpful.

[@EPKVinyls]

Not the biggest Nirvana fan, that doesn't mean I hate them just not my most favorite band. Awesome unboxing though, very good job.

[@RodneyAllanPoe]

I bought the CD. It sounds virtually the same as my two other editions on my mid-fi system.

[@JoeOrber]

Thanks for a great video! I think the quality of the gatefolds is awesome, but if the sou d is not and considering the super high price, I think I'll pass on this one. Great job with the review!

[@BogoEN]

When you say you are disappointed and that it’s not “enough”, do you mean you’d like to see more content in the box for the price? Or are you saying you were disappointed with the sound quality of the live shows?

[@pericabenic4413]

Thanks Michael for the info. To be completely honest, I don't like those exclusive editions of semi-quality products.

[@Brucknerfan]

Nach den begeisterten Eindrücken ist das negative Fazit nicht nachvollziehbar. Aber dennoch wieder ein „Vortrag“, beim dem es Spaß macht, bis zum Ende zuzuhören👍

[@johandebrier116]

Hey Michael. I understand your feeling about this release and the reactions here. Probably the cdbox will satisfy the most people, unless you are a die hard fan. The "Paradiso" show has a thin-sounding mix but it's a great show. Cobain’s voice sounds raw and excellent here. The "Del Mar" show was an opening gig between Pearl Jam and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and has a more fuller sound with the bass more upfront. The "Melbourne" show has a lot of singalongs (listen to Polly and Lithium). The "Tokyo" concert is for me the best-sounding one, not that any of them sound particularly bad. I want to rate it 7/10. You can't also expect audiophile or superb recordings/mixes here. Remember that Nirvana "From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah" is also a very mediocre live recording and has a muddy sound. The problem with Nirvana live is that they are playing very loud!! On those days and in these clubs, these recordings weren't great from the beginning. And it was often a big wall of noise, very hard to mix it well.

[@512bb]

You are not being too critical Michael, Universal should be ashamed of themselves. Some of these labels are just cashing in on the vinyl collecting craze now. I was at the Del Mar show, weather you like them or not, this was a historically important album. Hey Universal. if you don't want to put the effort into a project then why don't you pass it off to a label that cares.

[@TheNorliss]

I really can't be bothered with these big boxsets for several reasons. Firstly, because I think huge volumes of 'extra' content is best served in digital form (i.e. CD) not least since the source materials are almost always likely to be digital but also because it's just so ungainly. I know from experience with sets like this that only the original album is ever played regularly with the rest getting played once when I first get it then maybe once or twice further down the line. And given how much of a crapshoot modern vinyl QC can be, I know that more records = more chance that I get one or more problematic records. For vinyl releases, just give me a top notch single (or double) record of the original album and leave all the reams of extras to a CD/ digital release.

[@festersuncle6298]

I had an original in my hands but never pulled the trigger. Picked up the ORG pressing and the 30th when it came out. The box is redundant to me. Cool, but my just my opinion.

[@DrOz-007]

I want to buy the book of photography separately and nothing else!

[@tonynewman1694]

Doing the live albums are very dangerous if they are not good quality. It's very expensive for a naff recordings .

[@VagueRANT100]

NEVERMIND the quality,feel the width🤔🤭🤗

[@sjakovics]

I stuck with the $25 30th anniversary LP and 7 inch. I think it's important music, historic music but not music I'm going to listen to much at this point. $200 for a Nevermind box set would be overkill for me. At least the quality of the box and sleeves were done well.

[@ceejaydeesoozaa]

BETTER OFF TO GET THE BG CUT PALLAS PRESSED VERSION FOR UNDER 25USD

[@dl4162]

Agree with this review. Too expensive for a bunch of live albums. I’ve got live and loud, live in Reading and Live at the Paramount and I purchased the anniversary vinyl +7 inch single when it came out. It’s £175 in the U.K. so will pass on this set.

[@jasonhicks1980]

I agree having that many Nirvana shows on vinyl seems a little unnecessary, especially all packaged together in an expensive box. It’s not like they were the Grateful Dead who had hundreds of songs and played them differently every time, Nirvana only had two main albums at the time of those shows. Unless you are a Nirvana superfan, I just don’t see the appeal of having all those sets that are not that different from one another.

[@fidelios_frequency]

I agree with you on this. I wasn’t even remotely interested in this set. What’s the point in celebrating the 30th anniversary of an album without including any out-takes, b-sides or even some essays relating to the album?

[@rastheike4329]

In der Regel bin ich dafür anfällig, Vinyl zu kaufen! Aufgrund deiner Beurteilung ist es wohl besser hierbei nicht nachzugeben. Es also lieber sein zu lassen und das Geld in anderes Vinyl zu investieren. :-) Es sei denn, man ist Nirvana Hardcore - Fan. Danke Michael. ❤️Heike

[@skyblinked]

Yeah, GZ press = digital. Eeeeeee !! Book inside seems nice tho. Gonna use the cash to buy lights for my basement ceiling instead.

[@albertodanielulloa2854]

Love your videos..but on this review you didn’t specify why you didn’t like it. Seems like you didn’t want to be too honest because for the hardcore fans.

[@theheepster]

IIt's impressive what the record companies can squeeze out of a band with 3 studio albums. I like Nirvana a lot, but do you really have to have expensive vinyl of all these live concerts? As a fan and completist maybe yes and for exactly this target group this superfluous and extremely expensive box set is made, because from them the money is safe. I can only repeat myself, there are so many albums waiting for a decent release. The previously said also applies to the box set of Joni Mitchell. There were times when such leftover recycling would not have gone down well. But times change.

[@Vaga365]

It's punk rock. What were you expecting?

[@PieterKleij]

Your dog's reaction to you knocking on the box was great. I was at the Paradiso show, but I won't buy this.

[@davestryjak6042]

I have live bootleg cd's from them that sound way better than this stuff. I really like your reviews even if I don't really like what you are reviewing, I watch anyway!

[@roquai06]

I give you 20 € for the Box. 🙂

[@paulspanbauer4125]

I don’t think I need this. I have the MoFi edition of Nevermind… And the Bu-Ray… And the cd… The live shows with bad sound quality - no thanks…

[@krisn138]

I’m a Nirvana fan and it looks to me like a waste. Looks like a cash grab.

[@calvinl5726]

Ok

[@ergloo6660]

Not my job to archive someone else's product, just not interested

[@TallisLizzy]

A box set padded with live recordings. Very lazy and boring.

[@sararibeiro4034]

Very nice covers, but it's a shame to know that the sound isn't that special. Thanks for the video.

[@PieterKleij]

Your dog's reaction to you knocking on the box was great. I was at the Paradiso show, but I won't buy this.