SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Rolling Stone magazine’s four-star review of Nirvana’s recently released “With the Lights Out” (Geffen/UMe) box set concludes with, “if you think you want it, you do.”
It turns out that America DOES want it, and in record numbers.
The three-CD/one-DVD rarities compilation MORE THAN DOUBLED the previous record for box sets sold in a week during the soundscan era with 105,760 (the previous mark was held by Bruce Springsteen’s “Tracks” with 46,516). The sales mark also places the album at #19 on Billboard’s album chart, and will be followed by immediate Platinum certification by the RIAA when eligible (30 days after release date).
“With the Lights Out” spans Nirvana’s entire history, from its inception in 1987 to 1994, by bringing together 81 tracks (68 of which were previously unreleased), including home and studio demos, outtakes and live performances.
“With the Lights Out” has also earned across-the-board critical raves, including Jon Pareles in the New York Times (November 29, 2004): “Boxed sets are as close as rock bands get to writing their own history, and Nirvana strives to define a certain legacy on ‘With the Lights Out”… It’s Nirvana as the band Kurt Cobain thought it should have been: noisy, anarchic, unadorned and true in sound and spirit to the independent underground rock he cared about most.”
