Nirvana: The Chosen Rejects

By Troy Smith and Kurt St. Thomas

Book Overview

"Basically, this is the real thing. No rock star contrivance, no intellectual perspective, no master plan for world domination. You're talking about four guys from rural Washington who wanna rock..."--Everett True, Melody Maker, March 18th, 1989

In 1992, Nirvana's breakthrough anthem, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," introduced a new underground sound to the mainstream music world. The record-breaking sales and global recognition that followed should have been a welcomed payoff for the hard-working punk band. Instead, that bright optimism quickly faded into bitter dissatisfaction, as the trio became conflicted about their unexpected success, and about having an audience that was the epitome of everything they had attempted to rebel against.

Nirvana's sonic catapult from obscurity to international stardom and their chart-topping success changed the face of rock music world-wide. In Nirvana: The Chosen Rejects, the authors have used a wealth of sources, including personal interviews with Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, in order to reconstruct Nirvana's meteoric rise and the subsequent fall of their troubled lead singer. The result is a front row perspective of the musical influences that helped nurture Nirvana's seminal sound, the stories about the creation of their albums, and the ideas that shaped their songs. Nirvana: The Chosen Rejects also contains a comprehensive discography and an A-Z listing of every Nirvana song officially released.

Kurt St. Thomas and Troy Smith were an award-winning programming team at WFNX-FM, Boston (MA), one of the nation's top alternative radio stations in the early 1990's. The pair wrote and produced the definitive Nirvana interview compact disc, Nevermind, It's an Interview, as well as interview CDs for Paul Weller, The Breeders, and Frank Black. St. Thomas lives in New York City, and Smith resides on Cape Cod, MA.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312206631
• ISBN13: 9780312206635
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 310 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

The True Story

Nirvana: The Chosen Rejects is a book about the life of the band Nirvana. It starts out with the life of lead singer and lead guitar Kurt Cobain. The book takes you through his childhood growing up in Aberdeen, Washington. Next it shows you how Kurt and Krist Novoselic (bass) met and became friends. Nirvana: The Chosen Rejects goes through the trials of the band was put through. Looking for the drummer that fit there style and Kurt's problem with drugs. The book goes all the way through the existence of Nirvana and after Kurt's death. It talks about Kurt's marriage to Courtney Love and the birth of his child Frances Bean. One thing that I like that sticks out in the book are all the quotes that were gathered and placed in it. It gives almost like it was written by the band. There is plenty of evidence that supports the author's words and the quotes the give Nirvana: The Chosen Rejects its credibility. At the beginning of each chapter it has a quote that makes you think. The thing that I disliked about the book is that it didn't give to much information about the life of drummer Dave Grohl. It just talked about when he was apart of the band from Nevermind and on. The authors didn't give much incite in to his childhood or anything he did pervious to Nirvana.

Super Great

"Nirvana: The Chosen Rejects" is a great book for all Nirvana fans!It is very no nonsense, has great attention to detail and reads very easily. The authors had interviewed all the band members, so they were dealing with first hand information and not just researching previously written material. Which means, you aren't reading the same old information. Most of all, "Nirvana: The Chosen Rejects" has the most amazing discography and a listing of all Nirvana's songs. This is the most comprehensive listing I have ever seen! Buy this book for the discography/song listing alone and you won't be disappointed.

thank god for this book

finally! a book about nirvana that let's you in on what was important, namely the people and the music. a book about nirvana from someone who actually knew the band. a book about nirvana that confirms their importance and greatness. This is a must own for anyone who listened to rock in the nineties.... no..... a must own for anyone who listened to rock EVER. includes what is probably one of the most extensive guides to EVERY SONG NIRVANA EVER RECORDED. sorry, i am just too excited. i have been waiting for something like this for a long long time. Hail Kurt St. Thomas. Hail Troy smith. And hail Nirvana!

Attention to detail

Got an early copy of this and found it to be very good. There is excellent attention to detail and rather than being another book about "the drama" it sticks to facts and figures, including a comprehensive list of stuff at the end of the book that i've never seen anywhere before. It seems objective and doesn't really try to paint a picture of what the author wants the story to be, which i've found other Nirvana books to be like.

this is killer

Finally a book about Nirvana the band and not just Kurt Cobain's drug habit. I thought the part with all of the songs listed and the sources was incredible. Great color photos. This book is totally worth it.