In the last post we took a look at “I Hate Myself and Want To Die” and “You Know You’re Right”. I knew, when I was writing it, that I value “I Hate Myself…” more highly than your average Nirvana fan or music fan. I even said as much!
Sure enough, some of my friends gave me shit for the ranked position of both songs, and I now recognize that they are probably ranked too highly. Later on, I will take a look at where they’re sitting and reassess their position when I rank this edition’s two tunes.
But hey, this post will probably also get me in trouble because I am pretty sure that I love “Dive” more than just about everybody else in the world.
This series is too much responsibility.
Dive
For me, “Dive” kind of encapsulates what I consider the “good grunge” sound. The churning riff, fuzzed-out vibe, and mix of heaviness and hooky-ness are more or less exactly what appeals to me about “grunge music” in general. You like METZ? I do! Pretty hard to imagine a band like METZ ever existing without a song like “Dive”.
In writing these posts, I have become aware that I give songs a substantial bump if I think that they’re fun tunes to play around with when jamming together with friends. I have two Nirvana faves that I want to play every time I get the opportunity, and this is one of them. The other one we haven’t gotten around to yet! Go ahead and guess what it is!
Anyway, this song rocks. Perfect bass intro. Central riff is a masterpiece. Great drum work. Groovy instrumental break. Sing/scream-a-long chorus.
I just love it so much.
Blandest
“Blandest” is a B-side if I’ve ever heard one. Definitely a “let’s not put this one on the album” kind of song.
The central riff seems like a lower energy derivative of other, better riffs. The song seems kind of plodding instead of sludgy. The melody in the chorus (shared by all instruments AND the vocal) manages to be a bit of goofy fun, but is also so dorky that I can’t really get behind it. Super embarrassing scream/wail at the end of the song.
I don’t have much to say about this that skews positive. Not a great track.
The Ranking
Alright, easy part first. “Blandest” can go sit in the bottom section of the list. I will put it between “Pen Cap Chew” and “Oh, The Guilt”.
Now let’s take a look at last week’s tunes. I still like them. I have kind of come to see “Son of a Gun” as a bit of a dividing line between songs that I think are really good and songs that are just kinda good. I’m going to put both of these songs just under “Son of a Gun”. Hopefully that will put this issue to rest.
“Dive”? I would love to rank it top five, but I am worried that I’m falling into the same trap that I fell into last time. My ranking is still going to be high for this one, though. I’m going to put it right UNDER “Territorial Pissings”.
God help us all.
The updated ranking is:
- In Bloom
- Heart-Shaped Box
- About A Girl
- Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle
- Breed
- Scentless Apprentice
- Territorial Pissings
- Dive
- Sappy
- Dumb
- Very Ape
- Lithium
- Serve The Servants
- On A Plain
- Drain You
- Polly
- Lounge Act
- Stay Away
- Sliver
- Tourette’s
- Love Buzz
- Blew
- School
- Rape Me
- Been A Son
- Endless Nameless
- Son of a Gun
- I Hate Myself And Want To Die
- You Know You’re Right
- Curmudgeon
- Moist Vagina
- Stain
- Mr Moustache
- Big Cheese
- Marigold
- Paper Cuts
- Lake of Fire
- Swap Meet
- Downer
- Scoff
- Aero Zeppelin
- Even In His Youth
- Oh, The Guilt
- Blandest
- Pen Cap Chew
- Do You Love Me?
- Ain’t It A Shame
- Clean Up Before She Comes
- Help Me I’m Hungry
- Beans
“In Bloom” is still the greatest Nirvana song of all time!
The Fraudsters' Almanac 