From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah is a live compilation album by American rock band Nirvana, released on October 1, 1996. It features live performances recorded between 1989 and 1994. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling nearly 159,000 copies in its first week of release. It spent 25 weeks on the chart and became the band's sixth platinum album since 1991.
Background
From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah was the second Nirvana album to be released following the death of vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain in April 1994. It was compiled primarily by bassist Krist Novoselic, who also wrote the album's liner notes. Novoselic and 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, a reference to the most prevalent song structure in the band's music, which had also been a working title for the band's third album, In Utero, as well as the title of two Nirvana songs. However, Novoselic and Grohl reportedly had a difficult time working on the album so soon after Cobain's death, and the album was compiled, but never mixed. The original track list featured several songs not present on From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah—"Serve the Servants", "Dive", "Rape Me", "Sappy" and "Territorial Pissings"—and different versions of the overlapping songs, other than "Negative Creep" and "Scentless Apprentice". 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. 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."
Release
From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah avoids all songs that appear on MTV Unplugged, with the exception of "Polly", using a heavier, electric version of the song from 1989, as it was originally performed live. It also avoids using any versions of songs previously released as B-sides, or on the home video Live! Tonight! Sold Out!!, which had been compiled by Cobain, and was released in unfinished form in November 1994. 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", "Drain You", "Lithium", and "Smells Like Teen Spirit". 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 , a promotional interview disc released in 1992. Side 4 of the vinyl release features additional stage banter from various shows, as well as a brief clip of the band performing "Dumb" before stopping it after Cobain accidentally repeats the second verse instead of playing the bridge.
Reception
From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah became Nirvana's third consecutive album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200, and fourth to top the chart overall. Lorraine Ali of Rolling Stone described it 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"; Tim Peacock of uDiscover called the album "the formidable yang to the subtle, acoustic yin of MTV Unplugged," and praised the selections from the band's "scintillating" November 1991 show at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, Netherlands and "transcendent" December 1991 show at Del Mar Fairgrounds in Del Mar, California in particular. The album was ranked at number nine in Rolling Stones 1997 critics' poll of the top 10 albums of 1996, and number 14 in Spins "20 Best Albums of 1996" list. Keith Cameron welcomed the compilation's emphasis on the "positive...versions of 'Polly' and 'Breed' from the Lamefest gig at London's Astoria in December 1989, Nirvana opened for Mudhoney and Tad at a two-thirds empty theatre, served notice that they were the band destined to redirect the gaze of the pop world onto a town called Seattle."
Track listing
Personnel
Nirvana
Kurt Cobain – vocals, guitar
Krist Novoselic – bass guitar
Dave Grohl – drums, background vocals on "Drain You", "Aneurysm", "Been a Son", "Sliver" and "Heart-Shaped Box"
Chad Channing – drums on "Polly" and "Breed"
Pat Smear – rhythm guitar on "Sliver", "Scentless Apprentice", "Heart-Shaped Box" and "Milk It", background vocals on "Sliver" and "Heart-Shaped Box"
Production
Scott Litt, Craig Montgomery, Craig Overbay – engineering
