Grunge icon and late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's posthumous solo album "Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings" will be released in November, 21 years after the rock legend took his own life.
Cobain's first-ever solo single "Sappy" was released earlier this month and features a home-recorded acoustic demo of the song with Cobain strumming one of his signature riffs and singing in an almost baritone voice. Cobain's iconic screams, Dave Grohl's intense drums and Krist Novoselic's distinctive bass are noticeably absent from the track.
"Sappy" was originally released under the title "Verse Chorus Verse" as a hidden track for the 1993 alternative rock compilation album to benefit AIDS relief titled "No Alternative." Unlisted on the tracklist for the compilation, the title was eventually reverted back to "Sappy" to avoid confusion with another unreleased Nirvana work at the time also titled "Verse Chorus Verse." "Sappy" was removed at the last minute from Nirvana's "In Utero" album, but a 2013 mix of the song was added as a bonus track to the 20th anniversary deluxe edition of the album.
One of the most anticipated tracks from the new album is Cobain's cover of The Beatles' 1964 single "And I Love Her," which was released earlier this month and is currently streaming on Spotify.
"And I Love Her" and "Sappy (Early Demo)" will be featured on a special, limited-edition, 7-inch vinyl to be released Nov. 20. Both songs will also be included on the standard and deluxe editions of the "Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings" album. Listen to Cobain's "And I Love Her" below and pre-order the 7-inch.
"Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings" serves as a companion album to the highly-acclaimed and Emmy-nominated 2015 documentary directed by Brett Morgen titled "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck." While researching for his documentary, Morgen uncovered 108 cassettes and over 200 hours of audio in the Cobain archives, the majority of which was recorded in the late 1980s when Cobain was living in Olympia, Washington.
"When I first heard it, I was in the storage facility and I had no prior knowledge of it," said Morgen. "I put it on and I immediately felt like there was some sort of portal into his mind, like it was one of the most pure expressions of Kurt that I encountered -- maybe more than in most of his songs.
"I think of this project as a companion to the film in that it tells the story in an aural manner," said Morgen. "It was constructed to unfold with a loose narrative, to stand on its own. But if you have seen the film, that experience will deepen your understanding of the 'Montage of Heck' album. And vice versa."
The album will be released on CD, cassette and digital formats on Nov. 13, the same day "Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck" will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray. The vinyl edition will be released on Dec. 11. The standard edition of the album will feature 13 tracks whereas the deluxe will have 31 (the track list is featured below). The DVD and album will also be included in a super-deluxe box set, which will boast the full-length feature film, 48 minutes of bonus interviews and extras, the 31-track deluxe album on CD and cassette, a 160-page hardbound book featuring exclusive interviews and photos, a puzzle, a movie poster, postcards and a bookmark. Pre-order the super-deluxe package on Amazon.
Image Credit: Rolling Stone
"Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings" Deluxe Track List:
1. "The Yodel Song"
2. "Been a Son (Early Demo)"
3. "What More Can I Say"
4. "1988 Capitol Lake Jam Commercial"
5. "The Happy Guitar"
6. "Montage of Kurt"
7. "Beans"
8. "Burn the Rain"
9. "Clean Up Before She Comes (Early Demo)"
10. "Reverb Experiment"
11. "Montage of Kurt II"
12. "Rehash"
13. "You Can’t Change Me/Burn My Britches/Something in the Way (Early Demo)
14. "Scoff (Early Demo)"
15. "Aberdeen"
16. "Bright Smile"
17. "Underground Celebritism"
18. "Retreat"
19. "Desire"
20. "And I Love Her"
21. "Sea Monkeys"
22. "Sappy (Early Demo)"
23. "Letters to Frances"
24. "Scream"
25. "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle (Demo)"
26. "Kurt Ambiance"
27. "She Only Lies"
28. "Kurt Audio Collage"
29 . "Poison's Gone"
30. "Rhesus Monkey"
31. "Do Re Mi (Medley)"
