Love explained that some of the early lyrics for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” can be found in Cobain’s published journals, while others were never made available to the public before. She then went on to recite the first verse and chorus:  

“Come out and play / make up the rules / I know I hope / to buy the truth / who will be the king and queen / of all the outcasted teens.”

“We’re so lazy / and so stupid / blame our parents / and the cupids / a deposit, for a bottle / stick it inside / no role model”

Love also revealed several other alternative lyrics, including:

“Come out and play/ Make up the rules/ I know I hope to buy the truth/ Who will be the king and queen of all the outcasted teens?”

“We’re so lazy and so stupid/ Blame our parents and the cupids/ A deposit for a bottle/ Stick it inside, no role model.”

During her chat with host Rob Harvilla, Love shared other stories about Cobain, including the origins of his “beef” with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and how he wrote Nevermind track “Dumb” in 20 minutes during a plane ride.

The post Courtney Love Shares Alternative Lyrics for Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

Unfortunately, it’s been a while since grunge music ruled the charts or event got significant attention, but that doesn’t mean people have forgotten about it. The likes of Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains are still keeping this genre relevant with critically acclaimed albums, while new generations are beginning to appreciate classical grunge records.

This is why we decided to present our picks for the top five essential grunge albums and remind you of their greatness, or introduce it to you if some of them did not previously catch your attention. The ranking was made by taking in consideration the albums commercial success, critical receptions, the way they stood the test of time and of course, our subjective opinion about them. So let’s get it started.

Soundgarden – Badmotorfinger

People often forget that Soundgarden was already seven years old and had two albums under their belt before the grunge craze started. With Badmotorfinger, however, the Chris Cornell-fronted group made their first breakthrough. Thanks to the band’s focus on songwriting, heavy sound, and the emergence of grunge, Badmotorfinger quickly became a huge hit and managed to sell a million copies in a year. It was also praised by the critics and even got Grammy considerations.

Standout songs: Outshined, Rusty Cage, Jesus Christ Pose

Temple Of The Dog – Temple Of The Dog

Temple Of The Dog is one of the unique projects in the whole of grunge. It was conceived as a tribute to Mother Love Bone’s late frontman Andrew Wood and consisted out of members of Mother Love Bone, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. The band released only one album in 1991, but that was enough to make them one of the grunge legends. The record wasn’t as commercially successful but ended up receiving praise from the critics and achieved cult status over the years.

Standout songs: Hunger Strike, Call me a Dog, Pushin Forward Back

Pearl Jam – Ten

Pearl Jam is one of the most recognizable rock bands in the world, which isn’t so surprising considering they had a monster debut record. Ten wasn’t an immediate success, as it saw slow sales following the release while critics were not crazy about it. Following the success of other grunge bands, however, the album gained traction, and it managed to crack the Top 10 on Billboard 200 a year after its initial release. The music fans and critics found a new appreciation for the record afterward and it is now considered one of the greatest albums ever. 

Standout songs: Even Flow, Black, Jeremy

Alice in Chains – Dirt

Alice in Chains already found some success with their debut Facelift, but Dirt was the album that really established them as one of the grunge greats. The record featured a heavier sound than most of the other grunge album at the time but still dealt with dark and gritty themes like depression, pain, and anger. Dirt is now considered as a classic that influenced numerous acts afterward.

Standout songs: Would?, Angry Chair, Rooster

Nirvana – Nevermind

When talking about the best albums in grunge, people often intentionally fail to make Nevermind their top choice. This is mostly because it’s not cool enough to make the commercially most successful album also the best one. But we won’t make that mistake.

Nevermind is undoubtedly the greatest thing that grunge has given us. It was an album that summed up the voice of an entire generation and introduced a different way to make music. It has made grunge mainstream, which in return gave a chance to awesome bands that would never get a record deal otherwise.

Even if we disregard the impact that Nevermind had on not only grunge but music in general, we are still left with an album that is engaging and exciting to listen from start to the end. It was like that back in 1991, and things haven’t changed a bit today.

Standout songs: All of them

The post The Essential Albums of Grunge appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

The short set contained only 5 songs: the band played “Lithium”, “In Bloom,” and “Been a Son”. Then, violet, Grohl’s 13-year-old daughter, sang “Heart shaped box” which was followed by “The Man Who Sold the World” – the famous cover of David Bowie’s song the band performed at their iconic 1994 MTV Unplugged performance.

“We said we weren’t going to do this for another four or five years but we couldn’t resist the temptation,” Novoselic told the crowd during the show. Among other artists that performed in the gala were L7, Marilyn Manson, and cheap trick. The event also featured giant poster art by artist Kii Arens.

You can check out the classic band’s performance below:

The post Nirvana (Sort Of) Reunites for a Short Set With Beck and St. Vincent appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

The collection, named “Kurt Was Here”, features different art pieces left by the deceased musician — sketches, paintings, handwritten lyrics, etc. — printed on T-shirts and sweatshirts. 

Although there have been numerous cases of fashion companies coming out with Kurt Cobain related articles over the years, this is the first official usage of his art for commercial purposes. Handpicked by daughter Frances, the collection is a collaboration between The End of Music, LLC and Live Nation Merchandise, and is available to purchase through KurtCobainShop.com.

 “We believe that the importance of art is exceedingly potent in today’s social and political climate,” Live Nation wrote to Rolling Stone, “and that it is the right time to share this collection of Kurt’s work with artists, collectors, and fans, allowing them to experience Kurt’s legacy in a new way, and collectively celebrate his lasting impact on the world.”

Kurt Cobain was a unique voice in music whose lasting impact on our culture cannot be underestimated. The world of fashion is just another step in his ongoing legacy.

The post Kurt Cobain’s Daughter Releases Sweet T-shirts With Her Dad’s Art appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

The set that the band performed at Seattle’s Pier 48, alongside their unplugged set on MTV, is considered to be one of the best shows played by the band. It consists of 17 songs and was initially performed after the release of In Utero, the last studio album of the band. It contains songs such as “Scentless Apprentice,” “Pennyroyal Tea,” “Rape Me,” “Serve the Servants,” “Sliver,” “Heart Shaped Box” and other songs from the album. The only song from the show that hadn’t made its way to YouTube is their cover of David Bowie’s song The Man Who Sold the World.

It is not the first time this performance became available to the fans. It was included on the 2013 special release of the deluxe edition of In Utero which was released in honor of the album’s 20^th anniversary. Earlier this year, Grohl and Novoselic announced that it will also be made available on streaming services.

The post Nirvana Puts 1993’s “Live and Loud” on YouTube appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

“Live And Let Die”

Guns N Roses Cover:

Paul McCartney and Wings Original:

“Black Magic Woman”

Santana Cover:

Fleetwood Mac Original:

“Hallelujah”

Jeff Buckley Cover:

Leonard Cohen Original:

“Nothing Compares 2U”

Sinéad O’Connor Cover:

Prince Original:

“Twist and Shout”

The Beatles Cover:

The Isley Brothers Original:

“Hurt”

Johnny Cash Cover:

Nine Inch Nails Original:

“The Man Who Sold The World”

Nirvana Cover:

David Bowie Original:

“All Along the Watchtower”

Jimi Hendrix Cover:

Bob Dylan Original:

The post 8 Covers that Are Better Than the Original appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

Washam shared a recording of 1992’s jam session with Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, during which they played a handful of songs including an early version of “Scentless Apprentice,” which ended up appearing on In Utero, the third studio album from the grunge legends.

“At the Nirvana rehearsal studio,” Washam wrote in the caption to the video. “Dave was obviously new to guitar , but had some songs he wanted to try out with a band. I had just quit playing in Tad and Dave asked me to come over and “jam”. I had never met Dave or Kurt and Krist even though I had heard Kurt was a fan of a band I used to be in, Scratch Acid.”

Besides Nirvana’s “Scentless Apprentice,” which starts at 24:35 mark of the video, the YouTube users also discovered that early demo of Foo Fighters’ “Make a Bet,” was also part of the jam session. You can hear both songs and a few others in the video below.

During his career, which spanned over 35 years, Rey Washam played with numerous high-profile alternative acts including previously mentioned Scratch Acid and Tad, as well as Ministry, Lard, and Butthole Surfers offshoot Daddy Longhead. Washam also supposed to be a replacement for Jason Schwartzman on Phantom Planet’s tour in 2004 but the tour never kicked off.

The post Hear Early Demo of Nirvana’s “Scentless Apprentice” appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

The remaining members of the original Nirvana lineup reunited at Foo Fighters’ Cal Jam festival last weekend (October 6). Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear joined Dave Grohl on stage to perform a six-song set which opened with “Serve The Servants.” They also played their biggest hit “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for which they were joined by rock n’ roll legend, Joan Jett.

The atmosphere was electric and the crowd went wild for their high energy, iconic performance. Joan Jett smashed the vocals and although nothing will ever compare to the groundbreaking original 27 years ago, Saturday night was a show to remember.

You can see the full set list below:

Serve The Servants (with John McCauley)
Scentless Apprentice (with John McCauley)
In Bloom (with John McCauley)
Breed (with Joan Jett)
Smells Like Teen Spirit (with Joan Jett)
All Apologies (with Joan Jett and Brody Dalle)

The post Nirvana Reunite at Cal Jam 2018 appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

Krist Novoselic was the bassist and founding member of Nirvana, so reuniting with his former bandmates on stage was a pretty special occasion. The Vaselines were one of Kurt Cobain’s favorite bands and Nirvana used to cover the song in their early days playing together. A recording of the band’s cover from their John Peel Session in 1990 was included in their outtakes compilation ‘Insecticide’ in 1992.

Dave Grohl introduced the song by saying: “This is an old song, we haven’t done this song together in a long time”.

Giants in Trees will be forming at Cal Jam 2018 at Grohl’s concert on October 16th so there’s a chance Nirvana fans might have the opportunity to witness the reunion one more time.

The post Dave Grohl Reunites With Krist Novoselicto to Play an Old Nirvana Cover appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

Despite its popularity, there are still lots of things about the album that most people don’t know. Well, you’ll be able to learn them now as we reveal 10 things you probably didn’t know about Nirvana’s Nevermind.

1. The now iconic cover of the album almost ended up looking differently since photographer Kirk Weddle liked a photo with a baby girl more. But the label ended up deciding for a baby boy.

2. The album’s back cover contains a collage of photographs showing an image of Dante’s Inferno, Chim Chim the monkey, and an obscure supermarket ad among others. But, if you look really closely, or maybe use a magnifier, you can see a photo of Kiss figurines.

3. Kurt Cobain considered several other titles for the album and almost named it “Sheep.”

4. After the release of Nevermind, lots of other bands saw Nirvana’s potential and wanted them as opening acts. Kurt Cobain refused that, including the offers from Metallica and Guns’ N Roses.

5. There are around 50,000 copies of the album out there that don’t have the hidden track “Endless Nameless” due to an error at the pressing plant.

6. Nirvana was kicked out of a Nevermind release party hosted in one of the Seattle bars. The members of the band arrived drunk and then started making chaos forcing the hosts to kick them out.

7. Rolling Stone gave the album four out of five stars upon its release. The magazine then named it the greatest album of the ’90s and one of the greatest all time.

8. Nirvana’s label, Geffen Records, didn’t expect the album to have huge sales and initially printed only 250,000 copies. We know how that ended.

9. Nevermind was made on a budget of $65,000, considered extremely low figures when compared to other artists.

10. On Nevermind’s 20th anniversary, a five-disc version of the album was released. It contains an original record, early recordings, rehearsals, sessions, alternate mixes and live audio and DVD footage.

The post 10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Nirvana’s “Nevermind” appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

Love explained that some of the early lyrics for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” can be found in Cobain’s published journals, while others were never made available to the public before. She then went on to recite the first verse and chorus:  

“Come out and play / make up the rules / I know I hope / to buy the truth / who will be the king and queen / of all the outcasted teens.”

“We’re so lazy / and so stupid / blame our parents / and the cupids / a deposit, for a bottle / stick it inside / no role model”

Love also revealed several other alternative lyrics, including:

“Come out and play/ Make up the rules/ I know I hope to buy the truth/ Who will be the king and queen of all the outcasted teens?”

“We’re so lazy and so stupid/ Blame our parents and the cupids/ A deposit for a bottle/ Stick it inside, no role model.”

During her chat with host Rob Harvilla, Love shared other stories about Cobain, including the origins of his “beef” with Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and how he wrote Nevermind track “Dumb” in 20 minutes during a plane ride.

The post Courtney Love Shares Alternative Lyrics for Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

Unfortunately, it’s been a while since grunge music ruled the charts or event got significant attention, but that doesn’t mean people have forgotten about it. The likes of Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains are still keeping this genre relevant with critically acclaimed albums, while new generations are beginning to appreciate classical grunge records.

This is why we decided to present our picks for the top five essential grunge albums and remind you of their greatness, or introduce it to you if some of them did not previously catch your attention. The ranking was made by taking in consideration the albums commercial success, critical receptions, the way they stood the test of time and of course, our subjective opinion about them. So let’s get it started.

Soundgarden – Badmotorfinger

People often forget that Soundgarden was already seven years old and had two albums under their belt before the grunge craze started. With Badmotorfinger, however, the Chris Cornell-fronted group made their first breakthrough. Thanks to the band’s focus on songwriting, heavy sound, and the emergence of grunge, Badmotorfinger quickly became a huge hit and managed to sell a million copies in a year. It was also praised by the critics and even got Grammy considerations.

Standout songs: Outshined, Rusty Cage, Jesus Christ Pose

Temple Of The Dog – Temple Of The Dog

Temple Of The Dog is one of the unique projects in the whole of grunge. It was conceived as a tribute to Mother Love Bone’s late frontman Andrew Wood and consisted out of members of Mother Love Bone, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. The band released only one album in 1991, but that was enough to make them one of the grunge legends. The record wasn’t as commercially successful but ended up receiving praise from the critics and achieved cult status over the years.

Standout songs: Hunger Strike, Call me a Dog, Pushin Forward Back

Pearl Jam – Ten

Pearl Jam is one of the most recognizable rock bands in the world, which isn’t so surprising considering they had a monster debut record. Ten wasn’t an immediate success, as it saw slow sales following the release while critics were not crazy about it. Following the success of other grunge bands, however, the album gained traction, and it managed to crack the Top 10 on Billboard 200 a year after its initial release. The music fans and critics found a new appreciation for the record afterward and it is now considered one of the greatest albums ever. 

Standout songs: Even Flow, Black, Jeremy

Alice in Chains – Dirt

Alice in Chains already found some success with their debut Facelift, but Dirt was the album that really established them as one of the grunge greats. The record featured a heavier sound than most of the other grunge album at the time but still dealt with dark and gritty themes like depression, pain, and anger. Dirt is now considered as a classic that influenced numerous acts afterward.

Standout songs: Would?, Angry Chair, Rooster

Nirvana – Nevermind

When talking about the best albums in grunge, people often intentionally fail to make Nevermind their top choice. This is mostly because it’s not cool enough to make the commercially most successful album also the best one. But we won’t make that mistake.

Nevermind is undoubtedly the greatest thing that grunge has given us. It was an album that summed up the voice of an entire generation and introduced a different way to make music. It has made grunge mainstream, which in return gave a chance to awesome bands that would never get a record deal otherwise.

Even if we disregard the impact that Nevermind had on not only grunge but music in general, we are still left with an album that is engaging and exciting to listen from start to the end. It was like that back in 1991, and things haven’t changed a bit today.

Standout songs: All of them

The post The Essential Albums of Grunge appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

The short set contained only 5 songs: the band played “Lithium”, “In Bloom,” and “Been a Son”. Then, violet, Grohl’s 13-year-old daughter, sang “Heart shaped box” which was followed by “The Man Who Sold the World” – the famous cover of David Bowie’s song the band performed at their iconic 1994 MTV Unplugged performance.

“We said we weren’t going to do this for another four or five years but we couldn’t resist the temptation,” Novoselic told the crowd during the show. Among other artists that performed in the gala were L7, Marilyn Manson, and cheap trick. The event also featured giant poster art by artist Kii Arens.

You can check out the classic band’s performance below:

The post Nirvana (Sort Of) Reunites for a Short Set With Beck and St. Vincent appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

The collection, named “Kurt Was Here”, features different art pieces left by the deceased musician — sketches, paintings, handwritten lyrics, etc. — printed on T-shirts and sweatshirts. 

Although there have been numerous cases of fashion companies coming out with Kurt Cobain related articles over the years, this is the first official usage of his art for commercial purposes. Handpicked by daughter Frances, the collection is a collaboration between The End of Music, LLC and Live Nation Merchandise, and is available to purchase through KurtCobainShop.com.

 “We believe that the importance of art is exceedingly potent in today’s social and political climate,” Live Nation wrote to Rolling Stone, “and that it is the right time to share this collection of Kurt’s work with artists, collectors, and fans, allowing them to experience Kurt’s legacy in a new way, and collectively celebrate his lasting impact on the world.”

Kurt Cobain was a unique voice in music whose lasting impact on our culture cannot be underestimated. The world of fashion is just another step in his ongoing legacy.

The post Kurt Cobain’s Daughter Releases Sweet T-shirts With Her Dad’s Art appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

The set that the band performed at Seattle’s Pier 48, alongside their unplugged set on MTV, is considered to be one of the best shows played by the band. It consists of 17 songs and was initially performed after the release of In Utero, the last studio album of the band. It contains songs such as “Scentless Apprentice,” “Pennyroyal Tea,” “Rape Me,” “Serve the Servants,” “Sliver,” “Heart Shaped Box” and other songs from the album. The only song from the show that hadn’t made its way to YouTube is their cover of David Bowie’s song The Man Who Sold the World.

It is not the first time this performance became available to the fans. It was included on the 2013 special release of the deluxe edition of In Utero which was released in honor of the album’s 20^th anniversary. Earlier this year, Grohl and Novoselic announced that it will also be made available on streaming services.

The post Nirvana Puts 1993’s “Live and Loud” on YouTube appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

“Live And Let Die”

Guns N Roses Cover:

Paul McCartney and Wings Original:

“Black Magic Woman”

Santana Cover:

Fleetwood Mac Original:

“Hallelujah”

Jeff Buckley Cover:

Leonard Cohen Original:

“Nothing Compares 2U”

Sinéad O’Connor Cover:

Prince Original:

“Twist and Shout”

The Beatles Cover:

The Isley Brothers Original:

“Hurt”

Johnny Cash Cover:

Nine Inch Nails Original:

“The Man Who Sold The World”

Nirvana Cover:

David Bowie Original:

“All Along the Watchtower”

Jimi Hendrix Cover:

Bob Dylan Original:

The post 8 Covers that Are Better Than the Original appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

Washam shared a recording of 1992’s jam session with Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, during which they played a handful of songs including an early version of “Scentless Apprentice,” which ended up appearing on In Utero, the third studio album from the grunge legends.

“At the Nirvana rehearsal studio,” Washam wrote in the caption to the video. “Dave was obviously new to guitar , but had some songs he wanted to try out with a band. I had just quit playing in Tad and Dave asked me to come over and “jam”. I had never met Dave or Kurt and Krist even though I had heard Kurt was a fan of a band I used to be in, Scratch Acid.”

Besides Nirvana’s “Scentless Apprentice,” which starts at 24:35 mark of the video, the YouTube users also discovered that early demo of Foo Fighters’ “Make a Bet,” was also part of the jam session. You can hear both songs and a few others in the video below.

During his career, which spanned over 35 years, Rey Washam played with numerous high-profile alternative acts including previously mentioned Scratch Acid and Tad, as well as Ministry, Lard, and Butthole Surfers offshoot Daddy Longhead. Washam also supposed to be a replacement for Jason Schwartzman on Phantom Planet’s tour in 2004 but the tour never kicked off.

The post Hear Early Demo of Nirvana’s “Scentless Apprentice” appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

The remaining members of the original Nirvana lineup reunited at Foo Fighters’ Cal Jam festival last weekend (October 6). Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear joined Dave Grohl on stage to perform a six-song set which opened with “Serve The Servants.” They also played their biggest hit “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for which they were joined by rock n’ roll legend, Joan Jett.

The atmosphere was electric and the crowd went wild for their high energy, iconic performance. Joan Jett smashed the vocals and although nothing will ever compare to the groundbreaking original 27 years ago, Saturday night was a show to remember.

You can see the full set list below:

Serve The Servants (with John McCauley)
Scentless Apprentice (with John McCauley)
In Bloom (with John McCauley)
Breed (with Joan Jett)
Smells Like Teen Spirit (with Joan Jett)
All Apologies (with Joan Jett and Brody Dalle)

The post Nirvana Reunite at Cal Jam 2018 appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

Krist Novoselic was the bassist and founding member of Nirvana, so reuniting with his former bandmates on stage was a pretty special occasion. The Vaselines were one of Kurt Cobain’s favorite bands and Nirvana used to cover the song in their early days playing together. A recording of the band’s cover from their John Peel Session in 1990 was included in their outtakes compilation ‘Insecticide’ in 1992.

Dave Grohl introduced the song by saying: “This is an old song, we haven’t done this song together in a long time”.

Giants in Trees will be forming at Cal Jam 2018 at Grohl’s concert on October 16th so there’s a chance Nirvana fans might have the opportunity to witness the reunion one more time.

The post Dave Grohl Reunites With Krist Novoselicto to Play an Old Nirvana Cover appeared first on Hot Pop Today.

Despite its popularity, there are still lots of things about the album that most people don’t know. Well, you’ll be able to learn them now as we reveal 10 things you probably didn’t know about Nirvana’s Nevermind.

1. The now iconic cover of the album almost ended up looking differently since photographer Kirk Weddle liked a photo with a baby girl more. But the label ended up deciding for a baby boy.

2. The album’s back cover contains a collage of photographs showing an image of Dante’s Inferno, Chim Chim the monkey, and an obscure supermarket ad among others. But, if you look really closely, or maybe use a magnifier, you can see a photo of Kiss figurines.

3. Kurt Cobain considered several other titles for the album and almost named it “Sheep.”

4. After the release of Nevermind, lots of other bands saw Nirvana’s potential and wanted them as opening acts. Kurt Cobain refused that, including the offers from Metallica and Guns’ N Roses.

5. There are around 50,000 copies of the album out there that don’t have the hidden track “Endless Nameless” due to an error at the pressing plant.

6. Nirvana was kicked out of a Nevermind release party hosted in one of the Seattle bars. The members of the band arrived drunk and then started making chaos forcing the hosts to kick them out.

7. Rolling Stone gave the album four out of five stars upon its release. The magazine then named it the greatest album of the ’90s and one of the greatest all time.

8. Nirvana’s label, Geffen Records, didn’t expect the album to have huge sales and initially printed only 250,000 copies. We know how that ended.

9. Nevermind was made on a budget of $65,000, considered extremely low figures when compared to other artists.

10. On Nevermind’s 20th anniversary, a five-disc version of the album was released. It contains an original record, early recordings, rehearsals, sessions, alternate mixes and live audio and DVD footage.

The post 10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Nirvana’s “Nevermind” appeared first on Hot Pop Today.