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Nirvana: The Amplifications – Reflections on Kurt Cobain, Friendship, and the Revolutionary Band Thirty Years Later
Michael Azerrad reflects on the meaning of the revolutionary band, Nirvana, his friendship with Kurt Cobain, and the impact of the '90s thirty years later.
Includes 20 images of posters and ephemera from the time.
This is the compilation of the essay-like annotations from THE AMPLIFIED COME AS YOU The Story of Nirvana, excluding the underlying 1993 book.
Includes 20 images of posters and ephemera from the time.
This is the compilation of the essay-like annotations from THE AMPLIFIED COME AS YOU The Story of Nirvana, excluding the underlying 1993 book.
414 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 24, 2023
63 people are currently reading
561 people want to read
About the author
Michael Azerrad
10 books194 followersMichael Azerrad has written for a number of magazines, including Rolling Stone, Revolver, and Spin. He lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
August 20, 2025
I had been meaning to read this book for a long time, and you know how it goes: other books show up, you get busy, you forget, whatever. But I’m working on a project about alt rock in the 90s and I have always loved Nirvana and Kurt; then I found out a updated/annotated version of this book was out, and it seemed like the perfect time to finally sink my teeth into it (quick tip: if you write stories about your special interest, it’s a legit excuse to buy more books about your special interests because you are doing research! Tell your friends!).
And can I just tell you that I am devastated. I have been devastated by books (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) and documentaries about Kurt before, of course, I think most people in my age group have had this experience, but goddammit.
First off, Michael Azerrad is an excellent music writer, I absolutely loved his book about the 80s indie rock scene (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), because he has a gift for writing about something he clearly loves to death yet remains critical in his admiration. It makes for a very engaging reading experience especially if you share his love for the subject. This new edition of “Come As You Are” is quite remarkable because the original print was published just months before Cobain’s death, and Azerrad revisited it with the benefit of a 30-year rearview mirror, commenting on his old observations and conclusions, so you get both the ‘old’ book, and the new one. That’s about 600 pages of Nirvana stories, and even for fans, that can be a lot to take in.
I personally loved the format: a few paragraphs (in bold) of the original text, followed by Azerrad’s notes, unpacking the text, clarifying certain references or simply adding a bit of insight, a new perspective on statements Kurt and the band made to a music journalist who was still quite green and excited about his assignment. I think this must have been a humbling process for Azerrad, who had not been able to remain entirely objective with his subject, and who had an inkling that the narrative he was building was being used for a specific reason – namely for Kurt and Courtney to keep custody of Frances after the Vanity Fair exposé debacle. He attempts here to tease the reality away from the myth his book helped promote, and it makes for a rich biographical experience, giving him an opportunity to comment and emphasize certain elements that may have gotten lost in all the information, or simply build on his old text with new elements that came to light after publishing.
This has often been described as the definitive Nirvana bio, and I would tend to agree, especially this edition. Most of the original information was in the band’s own words, and it is quite thorough. Azerrad does a fantastic job of not only documenting the history of the band and its members but also exploring the context in which it all came to be, and why they were as impactful as they were. Paradigm-shifting bands like Nirvana are not common, and it must have been thrilling to write about them right as they had turned the world of popular music on its head: he is quite correct that there is a ‘before Nirvana’ and an ‘after Nirvana’ the same what that there is a ‘before the Beatles’ and an ‘after the Beatles’.
One of the interesting points Azerrad makes is that fame and fortune unexpectedly hit someone who had suffered from low self-esteem his entire life. This would make the whirlwind he was caught in difficult to cope with at the best of times, and clearly, the conditions were far from ideal. It is also chilling how many people who met Kurt had the distinct feeling that he would die young. There’s something eerie and haunting about how common that impression was.
And I am sorry, but I low-key hate his parents: I know they had no resources and understanding of how to manage a sensitive child like Kurt, but holy shit… Stories about his upbringing always break my heart. Empathy was such an important thing to him, and it’s clearly because he felt no one around him had any when he was young.
Kurt and the band being such strong allies of socially progressive ideas like feminism, anti-homophobia and anti-racism is often highlighted, and it always warms my heart to read. I was raised in a very progressive household, and all this seemed normal to me, but it’s important to remember how unusual this level of allyship was, especially coming from a straight white guy in the late 80s and early 90s. Azerrad points out that a lot of those ideas came to Kurt via his connection with the Riot Grrrl movement, and I found it really moving to think of the fact the Kurt simply listened to what those girls had to say and empathized with them enough to use his platform to help. For all his flaws, he truly had a good heart.
Azerrad also points out that a lot of stories about rock stars really are a kind of a mythology, and that Kurt was quite aware of that fact, as he discreetly revised his own history when he gave interviews and talked to Azerrad. Part of the goal of this revised edition was to present a more accurate version of events, but I think it’s also a great opportunity to try and understand why Kurt felt the need to be an unreliable narrator in his own story. Musicians often come under very intense scrutiny, and when people with sensitive natures find themselves under the magnifying lens, the urge to rewrite history to protect themselves can be hard to resist. Kurt suffered enough embarrassment and humiliation in his pre-fame life, and clearly wanted to make sure the public had no ammunition to hurt him any more than he had already been hurt.
This book is an important one in terms of documenting how rock bands and artist work and deal with fame and public attention. Things have changed a lot since Kurt's death, but public scrutiny is still very much a thing, and I wonder how he would have dealt with how the internet and social media handles celebrities. I'm going to take a guess that he would have hated it with every fiber of his being.
If you have read the original, non-annotated edition, it is well-worth revisiting with the additional material. For Nirvana fans, obviously, but for anyone interested in modern music and the bizarre industry that surrounds it.
And can I just tell you that I am devastated. I have been devastated by books (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) and documentaries about Kurt before, of course, I think most people in my age group have had this experience, but goddammit.
First off, Michael Azerrad is an excellent music writer, I absolutely loved his book about the 80s indie rock scene (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), because he has a gift for writing about something he clearly loves to death yet remains critical in his admiration. It makes for a very engaging reading experience especially if you share his love for the subject. This new edition of “Come As You Are” is quite remarkable because the original print was published just months before Cobain’s death, and Azerrad revisited it with the benefit of a 30-year rearview mirror, commenting on his old observations and conclusions, so you get both the ‘old’ book, and the new one. That’s about 600 pages of Nirvana stories, and even for fans, that can be a lot to take in.
I personally loved the format: a few paragraphs (in bold) of the original text, followed by Azerrad’s notes, unpacking the text, clarifying certain references or simply adding a bit of insight, a new perspective on statements Kurt and the band made to a music journalist who was still quite green and excited about his assignment. I think this must have been a humbling process for Azerrad, who had not been able to remain entirely objective with his subject, and who had an inkling that the narrative he was building was being used for a specific reason – namely for Kurt and Courtney to keep custody of Frances after the Vanity Fair exposé debacle. He attempts here to tease the reality away from the myth his book helped promote, and it makes for a rich biographical experience, giving him an opportunity to comment and emphasize certain elements that may have gotten lost in all the information, or simply build on his old text with new elements that came to light after publishing.
This has often been described as the definitive Nirvana bio, and I would tend to agree, especially this edition. Most of the original information was in the band’s own words, and it is quite thorough. Azerrad does a fantastic job of not only documenting the history of the band and its members but also exploring the context in which it all came to be, and why they were as impactful as they were. Paradigm-shifting bands like Nirvana are not common, and it must have been thrilling to write about them right as they had turned the world of popular music on its head: he is quite correct that there is a ‘before Nirvana’ and an ‘after Nirvana’ the same what that there is a ‘before the Beatles’ and an ‘after the Beatles’.
One of the interesting points Azerrad makes is that fame and fortune unexpectedly hit someone who had suffered from low self-esteem his entire life. This would make the whirlwind he was caught in difficult to cope with at the best of times, and clearly, the conditions were far from ideal. It is also chilling how many people who met Kurt had the distinct feeling that he would die young. There’s something eerie and haunting about how common that impression was.
And I am sorry, but I low-key hate his parents: I know they had no resources and understanding of how to manage a sensitive child like Kurt, but holy shit… Stories about his upbringing always break my heart. Empathy was such an important thing to him, and it’s clearly because he felt no one around him had any when he was young.
Kurt and the band being such strong allies of socially progressive ideas like feminism, anti-homophobia and anti-racism is often highlighted, and it always warms my heart to read. I was raised in a very progressive household, and all this seemed normal to me, but it’s important to remember how unusual this level of allyship was, especially coming from a straight white guy in the late 80s and early 90s. Azerrad points out that a lot of those ideas came to Kurt via his connection with the Riot Grrrl movement, and I found it really moving to think of the fact the Kurt simply listened to what those girls had to say and empathized with them enough to use his platform to help. For all his flaws, he truly had a good heart.
Azerrad also points out that a lot of stories about rock stars really are a kind of a mythology, and that Kurt was quite aware of that fact, as he discreetly revised his own history when he gave interviews and talked to Azerrad. Part of the goal of this revised edition was to present a more accurate version of events, but I think it’s also a great opportunity to try and understand why Kurt felt the need to be an unreliable narrator in his own story. Musicians often come under very intense scrutiny, and when people with sensitive natures find themselves under the magnifying lens, the urge to rewrite history to protect themselves can be hard to resist. Kurt suffered enough embarrassment and humiliation in his pre-fame life, and clearly wanted to make sure the public had no ammunition to hurt him any more than he had already been hurt.
This book is an important one in terms of documenting how rock bands and artist work and deal with fame and public attention. Things have changed a lot since Kurt's death, but public scrutiny is still very much a thing, and I wonder how he would have dealt with how the internet and social media handles celebrities. I'm going to take a guess that he would have hated it with every fiber of his being.
If you have read the original, non-annotated edition, it is well-worth revisiting with the additional material. For Nirvana fans, obviously, but for anyone interested in modern music and the bizarre industry that surrounds it.
October 31, 2023
I've read so many Nirvana books, in part because I've been convinced that the band in general and Kurt Cobain in particular are essentially unknowable. This edition of Come As You Are is, in my non-academic estimation, the very best book ever written about the band. That's partly owing to Azerrad's obvious knowledge of the scenes from which Nirvana sprung and took inspiration—a knowledge he deepened in the writing of Our Band Could Be Your Life years after Come As You Are was published—and partly owing to his patient, humble rebutting of basically every lie Kurt told him, from the very small to the very big. I have a lot more to say, but I'll leave it at: This is the best book ever written about the most important band of my lifetime.
April 12, 2024
For every diehard Nirvana fan, Michael Azerrad’s updated, annotated 2023 version of his 1993 hit biography, Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana will literally give you everything you ever wanted to know about Nirvana - and what you never even knew you needed to know.
When I say this is for diehard Nirvana fans, I’m advising extreme caution to those who perhaps like a few songs, acknowledge Nirvana’s deserved place in rock history, but aren’t necessarily enamored with the band.
Clocking in at a whopping 609 pages, this really will only sustain the interest of Nirvana’s most dedicated fans. For your average fan though, Azerrad’s initial 1993 version (which simply tells the story the way it is in this book, but without his commentary; thirty years of reflection and hindsight on the experience).
Thirty years later, he also comes to the realization that very perceptive Kurt and media-savvy Courtney hired him for a reason: obviously the fact that he was a Rolling Stone writer with sterling journalist credentials didn’t hurt, but as he acknowledges, ”In light of the debacle with their custody of their baby, Kurt and Courtney mainly just wanted my book to clear their name as parents; everything else in the story was just window dressing.”
When Azerrad first walked into the room and met Kurt in bed, he took it as fact that Kurt had a cold, as, he describes, ”he was just coming off a tour that went from Australia to New Zealand to Singapore to Japan to Hawaii, and naturally take a toll on anybody, even someone who had just turned twenty-five”, only to then say, ”It didn’t really seem like he had a cold, though, but I just partitioned it in my mind. In retrospect, it was obvious he was detoxing from heroin. But I was so naive. I just didn’t know. Or maybe I just didn’t WANT to know. I’ve always considered that inclination to be one of my weak points as a journalist. With the sketchy stuff, I tend to look the other way.”
Also: “And maybe Kurt, Courtney, and the whole apparatus around them realized too when they asked if I’d like to write this book. I was a pretty nice person. And maybe it was obvious that I was pretty green. Or they thought they could successfully hide the bad parts from me. Probably all those things were true. So they took a chance on me for this book. It was quite a risky gamble for them, but a canny one.”
You really do learn EVERYTHING in this narrative. How Kurt’s childhood and formative years led to his friendship with Krist Novoselic, which led to the creation of Nirvana. Kurt and Krist were Nirvana. Everyone else was replaceable, but the frontman, Kurt Cobain, with an enormous sense of empathy, apathy, anger and sadness just carried this unique feeling of reliability to nearly all of his fans, regardless of age, gender, stereotype (excluding the Boomers and Silents that came before Gen X).
Krist was the goofy to Kurt’s serious, the chatty to his shy, the grounded persona to Kurt’s often disconnect from reality. He was the glue that held the band (and especially Kurt) together, especially before Nevermind turned them into rock’s biggest stars overnight, when they didn’t have a team of accountants, road and sound technicians - essentially, people working for the record label that knew Nirvana was bringing in enough money that their every request would be granted.
It’s very easy to see how someone who never wanted the limelight could so easily withdraw into himself the way Kurt did with such a meteoric and sudden rise to fame. They went from playing the underground Seattle punk scene, where they’d be lucky to see a club with a holding capacity of 100 half-full with an audience, to selling out 60,000 seat international arenas.
I understand that many people may ask: “if someone doesn’t want to be famous, why even form a band? Why put out a record or strive for a record that you know will have commercial appeal?”
Well, a lot of people form bands simply because they love music: they love creating it, singing it, playing and performing it. It gives them a feeling, a sensation,especially when playing live, that little else can. A lot of really creative, introverted people can appear extroverted on stage, because it’s only through that musical outlet that their true self can shine.
I think many people mix up the idea that a lot of bands love to play music with the idea that they want to be world-renowned rockstars. Most musicians realize (if they haven’t from the start) that if they want to keep playing music for a living and not be forced to work a 9-5, they’ll have to at least obtain some moderate success. I think many musicians and bands also dream of becoming big (as Nirvana, at least Kurt, very well did) but never actually expect it to occur.
Let’s face it: to become as huge as Nirvana is going to surprise even the most egotistical musicians. Nirvana wasn’t “just another grunge/alternative band selling massive amounts of records.” They were literally the face of a generation, a clear point in the culture of music and rock and roll where 90s music and Gen X officially “arrived.”
And a lot of bands/musicians can want to become stars without really knowing just how awful that lifestyle can be (especially for the frontman: sure, he gets all the credit and all the attention, but is this always such a good thing? Especially when he’s dealing with a debilitating stomach condition, an out-of-control heroin addiction, increasingly suicidal thoughts?).
There’s absolutely no way anyone can go into this book somehow believing Kurt’s death to be “suspicious” (aka, Courtney had him murdered!) and read it, I mean, TRULY read it with an open mind, and the idea that, “hey, the author probably knows just a LITTLE more about the situation than I do, or all the random “investigators” and conspiracy theorists that never met Kurt or Courtney a day in their life.”
Because for me (and there’s plenty more info to support why this theory is ridiculous) it’s convincing enough that just 3 1/2 months prior to Cobain’s suicide, he tried to kill himself while on tour in Rome (AND there was an incident right before that as well). Guess who called emergency services and saved his life by having him resuscitated? Yes, Courtney Love!
So please explain to me then, those who are insistent that Courtney destroyed Kurt (he had no choice in the face of her witchy wiliness as a woman!) - why exactly she would go to such great lengths to save his life in Rome or on any other occasion, if her goal was to ultimately murder him 3 1/2 months later by hiring a hitman, and framing it as a suicide, with a letter penned in his handwriting and everything?!
Surely if she had wanted him dead, it would have been easier to have just let him overdose on tour, then claimed to have found him too late to save him, rather than waiting to get back to the States, wait until they were both in separate treatment facilities for drug addictions, then somehow manage to hire a hitman from the rehab center’s phone, convince Kurt to leave the facility he was in early, and then once he got home, to kill him, while planting a gun and a suicide note on him?! I swear, people refuse to think out the full scenario and just how absurd it would have to be to make it true.
It was actually incredibly depressing over the course of the book on just how many times Kurt referred to not wanting to live, to feeling nothing, to wanting to “blow his f^%king head off if he had to pretend to be happy one more day.” Also, did people just forget about his obsession with guns, the photo shoots he took part of just before his suicide with a shotgun in his mouth? Not to mention that suicide ran in Kurt’s family - both sides, to be sure.
But this book is absolutely not about Kurt and Courtney’s wild rock romance nor the entertainment of conspiracy theories of his death. Of course Courtney is mentioned quite a bit, though mainly not until the end, and not only for playing such an oversized role in his life (emphatically, though, Kurt, the band, and the label would declare, not in his music) but because she was the mother of his beautiful baby daughter.
It is so much more than that. Band history and the relationship between its members, as well as former members… early love interests of Kurt’s, such as Tracy Marauder and Tori Vail, Kurt’s often contradictory nature, the illusion of being a famous rock band vs. the reality, and so forth. It also talked about Kurt’s love of “collage art”, and how in many odd ways, this translated to the lyrics of his songs.
You know how a lot of Nirvana songs seem to make little, if any, sense at all, when looked at as a whole? That’s because they don’t. Yet, if you take a short verse here from “On a Plain”, a short verse there from “Negative Creep”, another short verse from “Drain You?” You’ll actually realize that there is quite a lot of biographical detail in Cobain’s lyrics, a lot of which is incredibly depressing, as well as incredibly self-aware. I don’t want to spoil anything though… trust me, read this book in its entirety and you’ll no longer be confused by the vast majority of the lyrics anymore.
Nirvana really was an incredibly progressive band in their time: writing in the liner notes of an album (was in Nevermind? Trying to find it in the book, I give up): “if you’re misogynistic, racist, or homophobic, f*ck you, don’t buy our record. I don’t care if you don’t like me, I hate you.”
Kurt also appeared solo on the cover of “The Advocate” magazine in 1992 - a magazine that catered nearly exclusively to a gay and lesbian audience, encouraging all fans of Nirvana, regardless of sexual orientation, to purchase the magazine. I know in today’s ultra-PC world no one would blink twice at this, but in 1992? When people were still equating HIV/AIDS as a “homosexual disease” and coming out as gay was absolutely not acceptable for 99% of the country’s population, let alone youth?
Yeah, it was a big deal. Get on YouTube and look up: “Kurt Cobain Stops a Sexual Assault.” I loved them for about a year and a half while he was still alive (despite I’m sure it being entirely inappropriate for me to listen to his music at such a young age - 9 or so?). His voice was just filled with emotion, so freaking raw, so passionate… something we will never see again. I cried for weeks upon the news of his suicide. I think it’s true what they say, at least in relation to Kurt…just being too much for this world, too sensitive, too kind, too guilt-stricken, too much, too fast, too soon. I’ll cherish his music and his memory forever.
Although sure, there was repetition, and little flaws in the book, I think that’s to be expected of such a voluminous story. Doesn’t take away from it being the sole biography published by a member of the press who actually got to spend a significant amount of time with the band, and the invaluable viewpoints that brings. Also please note: the biography is in no way authorized, just because he was close with the band (especially for a journalist). It’s true that Kurt read the manuscript before it was sent to publishing, but the changes made were trivial ones: “no, that was this aunt, you’re referring to another aunt here” or “no, that’s not the year that happened.”
Maybe he wasn’t as critical of them as he could have been, but I’d hardly present (either) version as some kind of fluff piece - certainly not this one, as he comments as to why he said/believed certain things at the time, or certain things he omitted in 1993 but that were okay to say in 2023.
As I said in the beginning of this review: five stars for the diehard Nirvana fans; for those that might prefer it a bit condensed, check out the 1993 original version. I’m watching way too many Nirvana videos, documentaries, and concerts after finishing this book.
PS: I’m hoping to edit this as well as shorten it later, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up, lol.
When I say this is for diehard Nirvana fans, I’m advising extreme caution to those who perhaps like a few songs, acknowledge Nirvana’s deserved place in rock history, but aren’t necessarily enamored with the band.
Clocking in at a whopping 609 pages, this really will only sustain the interest of Nirvana’s most dedicated fans. For your average fan though, Azerrad’s initial 1993 version (which simply tells the story the way it is in this book, but without his commentary; thirty years of reflection and hindsight on the experience).
Thirty years later, he also comes to the realization that very perceptive Kurt and media-savvy Courtney hired him for a reason: obviously the fact that he was a Rolling Stone writer with sterling journalist credentials didn’t hurt, but as he acknowledges, ”In light of the debacle with their custody of their baby, Kurt and Courtney mainly just wanted my book to clear their name as parents; everything else in the story was just window dressing.”
When Azerrad first walked into the room and met Kurt in bed, he took it as fact that Kurt had a cold, as, he describes, ”he was just coming off a tour that went from Australia to New Zealand to Singapore to Japan to Hawaii, and naturally take a toll on anybody, even someone who had just turned twenty-five”, only to then say, ”It didn’t really seem like he had a cold, though, but I just partitioned it in my mind. In retrospect, it was obvious he was detoxing from heroin. But I was so naive. I just didn’t know. Or maybe I just didn’t WANT to know. I’ve always considered that inclination to be one of my weak points as a journalist. With the sketchy stuff, I tend to look the other way.”
Also: “And maybe Kurt, Courtney, and the whole apparatus around them realized too when they asked if I’d like to write this book. I was a pretty nice person. And maybe it was obvious that I was pretty green. Or they thought they could successfully hide the bad parts from me. Probably all those things were true. So they took a chance on me for this book. It was quite a risky gamble for them, but a canny one.”
You really do learn EVERYTHING in this narrative. How Kurt’s childhood and formative years led to his friendship with Krist Novoselic, which led to the creation of Nirvana. Kurt and Krist were Nirvana. Everyone else was replaceable, but the frontman, Kurt Cobain, with an enormous sense of empathy, apathy, anger and sadness just carried this unique feeling of reliability to nearly all of his fans, regardless of age, gender, stereotype (excluding the Boomers and Silents that came before Gen X).
Krist was the goofy to Kurt’s serious, the chatty to his shy, the grounded persona to Kurt’s often disconnect from reality. He was the glue that held the band (and especially Kurt) together, especially before Nevermind turned them into rock’s biggest stars overnight, when they didn’t have a team of accountants, road and sound technicians - essentially, people working for the record label that knew Nirvana was bringing in enough money that their every request would be granted.
It’s very easy to see how someone who never wanted the limelight could so easily withdraw into himself the way Kurt did with such a meteoric and sudden rise to fame. They went from playing the underground Seattle punk scene, where they’d be lucky to see a club with a holding capacity of 100 half-full with an audience, to selling out 60,000 seat international arenas.
I understand that many people may ask: “if someone doesn’t want to be famous, why even form a band? Why put out a record or strive for a record that you know will have commercial appeal?”
Well, a lot of people form bands simply because they love music: they love creating it, singing it, playing and performing it. It gives them a feeling, a sensation,especially when playing live, that little else can. A lot of really creative, introverted people can appear extroverted on stage, because it’s only through that musical outlet that their true self can shine.
I think many people mix up the idea that a lot of bands love to play music with the idea that they want to be world-renowned rockstars. Most musicians realize (if they haven’t from the start) that if they want to keep playing music for a living and not be forced to work a 9-5, they’ll have to at least obtain some moderate success. I think many musicians and bands also dream of becoming big (as Nirvana, at least Kurt, very well did) but never actually expect it to occur.
Let’s face it: to become as huge as Nirvana is going to surprise even the most egotistical musicians. Nirvana wasn’t “just another grunge/alternative band selling massive amounts of records.” They were literally the face of a generation, a clear point in the culture of music and rock and roll where 90s music and Gen X officially “arrived.”
And a lot of bands/musicians can want to become stars without really knowing just how awful that lifestyle can be (especially for the frontman: sure, he gets all the credit and all the attention, but is this always such a good thing? Especially when he’s dealing with a debilitating stomach condition, an out-of-control heroin addiction, increasingly suicidal thoughts?).
There’s absolutely no way anyone can go into this book somehow believing Kurt’s death to be “suspicious” (aka, Courtney had him murdered!) and read it, I mean, TRULY read it with an open mind, and the idea that, “hey, the author probably knows just a LITTLE more about the situation than I do, or all the random “investigators” and conspiracy theorists that never met Kurt or Courtney a day in their life.”
Because for me (and there’s plenty more info to support why this theory is ridiculous) it’s convincing enough that just 3 1/2 months prior to Cobain’s suicide, he tried to kill himself while on tour in Rome (AND there was an incident right before that as well). Guess who called emergency services and saved his life by having him resuscitated? Yes, Courtney Love!
So please explain to me then, those who are insistent that Courtney destroyed Kurt (he had no choice in the face of her witchy wiliness as a woman!) - why exactly she would go to such great lengths to save his life in Rome or on any other occasion, if her goal was to ultimately murder him 3 1/2 months later by hiring a hitman, and framing it as a suicide, with a letter penned in his handwriting and everything?!
Surely if she had wanted him dead, it would have been easier to have just let him overdose on tour, then claimed to have found him too late to save him, rather than waiting to get back to the States, wait until they were both in separate treatment facilities for drug addictions, then somehow manage to hire a hitman from the rehab center’s phone, convince Kurt to leave the facility he was in early, and then once he got home, to kill him, while planting a gun and a suicide note on him?! I swear, people refuse to think out the full scenario and just how absurd it would have to be to make it true.
It was actually incredibly depressing over the course of the book on just how many times Kurt referred to not wanting to live, to feeling nothing, to wanting to “blow his f^%king head off if he had to pretend to be happy one more day.” Also, did people just forget about his obsession with guns, the photo shoots he took part of just before his suicide with a shotgun in his mouth? Not to mention that suicide ran in Kurt’s family - both sides, to be sure.
But this book is absolutely not about Kurt and Courtney’s wild rock romance nor the entertainment of conspiracy theories of his death. Of course Courtney is mentioned quite a bit, though mainly not until the end, and not only for playing such an oversized role in his life (emphatically, though, Kurt, the band, and the label would declare, not in his music) but because she was the mother of his beautiful baby daughter.
It is so much more than that. Band history and the relationship between its members, as well as former members… early love interests of Kurt’s, such as Tracy Marauder and Tori Vail, Kurt’s often contradictory nature, the illusion of being a famous rock band vs. the reality, and so forth. It also talked about Kurt’s love of “collage art”, and how in many odd ways, this translated to the lyrics of his songs.
You know how a lot of Nirvana songs seem to make little, if any, sense at all, when looked at as a whole? That’s because they don’t. Yet, if you take a short verse here from “On a Plain”, a short verse there from “Negative Creep”, another short verse from “Drain You?” You’ll actually realize that there is quite a lot of biographical detail in Cobain’s lyrics, a lot of which is incredibly depressing, as well as incredibly self-aware. I don’t want to spoil anything though… trust me, read this book in its entirety and you’ll no longer be confused by the vast majority of the lyrics anymore.
Nirvana really was an incredibly progressive band in their time: writing in the liner notes of an album (was in Nevermind? Trying to find it in the book, I give up): “if you’re misogynistic, racist, or homophobic, f*ck you, don’t buy our record. I don’t care if you don’t like me, I hate you.”
Kurt also appeared solo on the cover of “The Advocate” magazine in 1992 - a magazine that catered nearly exclusively to a gay and lesbian audience, encouraging all fans of Nirvana, regardless of sexual orientation, to purchase the magazine. I know in today’s ultra-PC world no one would blink twice at this, but in 1992? When people were still equating HIV/AIDS as a “homosexual disease” and coming out as gay was absolutely not acceptable for 99% of the country’s population, let alone youth?
Yeah, it was a big deal. Get on YouTube and look up: “Kurt Cobain Stops a Sexual Assault.” I loved them for about a year and a half while he was still alive (despite I’m sure it being entirely inappropriate for me to listen to his music at such a young age - 9 or so?). His voice was just filled with emotion, so freaking raw, so passionate… something we will never see again. I cried for weeks upon the news of his suicide. I think it’s true what they say, at least in relation to Kurt…just being too much for this world, too sensitive, too kind, too guilt-stricken, too much, too fast, too soon. I’ll cherish his music and his memory forever.
Although sure, there was repetition, and little flaws in the book, I think that’s to be expected of such a voluminous story. Doesn’t take away from it being the sole biography published by a member of the press who actually got to spend a significant amount of time with the band, and the invaluable viewpoints that brings. Also please note: the biography is in no way authorized, just because he was close with the band (especially for a journalist). It’s true that Kurt read the manuscript before it was sent to publishing, but the changes made were trivial ones: “no, that was this aunt, you’re referring to another aunt here” or “no, that’s not the year that happened.”
Maybe he wasn’t as critical of them as he could have been, but I’d hardly present (either) version as some kind of fluff piece - certainly not this one, as he comments as to why he said/believed certain things at the time, or certain things he omitted in 1993 but that were okay to say in 2023.
As I said in the beginning of this review: five stars for the diehard Nirvana fans; for those that might prefer it a bit condensed, check out the 1993 original version. I’m watching way too many Nirvana videos, documentaries, and concerts after finishing this book.
PS: I’m hoping to edit this as well as shorten it later, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up, lol.
December 7, 2024
Volto sempre à música dos Nirvana como algo formativo no meu crescimento. Este livro vai muito para além da música e a lenda de Kurt Cobain como figura de uma geração. Podemos tentar entender melhor o trágico desaparecimento para além do lugar comum das drogas de uma das figuras mais importantes do rock contemporâneo.
February 24, 2025
What makes this book amplified? The author went back and added commentary to his work from thirty years ago and it really makes this book unputdownable. Reading the original version, i would have given this a much lower score because it didn't seem particularly well written or insightful. All 3 members of Nirvana are introduced the exact same way "so and so was born on this date to these parents." Similarly, even though there were some frank discussions of Kurt Cobain's heroin issues, they all seemed very glossy. Azerrad's commentary, though, is amazing. Every time he interjects to tell you something that he couldn't reveal in 1993 feels like I'm solving some kind of mystery or given a peak behind the curtain. The book is also prescient about both Cobain's death and Dave Grohl's future as the leader of his own rock band.
What did I learn? Kurt Cobain was a very sad, conflicted young man who really need to take some time out for therapy and rehab. Throughout the book, it's obvious that Cobain doesn't know what he wants or he vacillates between an artistic anonymity and rock and roll mega stardom. He seemed to want to make popular music and then resented his audience as it grew for loving his music.
What didn't I learn? I respect the author for not speculating on Cobain's suicide or it's causes. Instead we got the tragic retelling of his last time seeing Kurt and the circumstances and his funeral. I respect that he didn't indulge in any conspiracy theories even though I would read an entire book about them. There is also mention of a fight between Dave Grohl and Courtney Love during the recording of In Utero but there are no details given. I would have loved to know more. I do have a friend of a friend who is friends with Grohl's (current or past) attorney and they have heard some of the stories about the animosity between the two and I would love to get those details. Krist and Dave come across as good guys in the book, and yet they were apparently so passive aggressive they would never confront Kurt about his heroin addiction, I suspect that haunts them to this day.
If you are going to read this book, definitely read the amplified version. The basic version isn't nearly as interesting.
What did I learn? Kurt Cobain was a very sad, conflicted young man who really need to take some time out for therapy and rehab. Throughout the book, it's obvious that Cobain doesn't know what he wants or he vacillates between an artistic anonymity and rock and roll mega stardom. He seemed to want to make popular music and then resented his audience as it grew for loving his music.
What didn't I learn? I respect the author for not speculating on Cobain's suicide or it's causes. Instead we got the tragic retelling of his last time seeing Kurt and the circumstances and his funeral. I respect that he didn't indulge in any conspiracy theories even though I would read an entire book about them. There is also mention of a fight between Dave Grohl and Courtney Love during the recording of In Utero but there are no details given. I would have loved to know more. I do have a friend of a friend who is friends with Grohl's (current or past) attorney and they have heard some of the stories about the animosity between the two and I would love to get those details. Krist and Dave come across as good guys in the book, and yet they were apparently so passive aggressive they would never confront Kurt about his heroin addiction, I suspect that haunts them to this day.
If you are going to read this book, definitely read the amplified version. The basic version isn't nearly as interesting.
May 6, 2024
I hadn't read Come As You Are in 30 years, and revisiting it in this "amplified" version brought a host of memories flooding back. The updated context Azerrad provides, taking the form of modern asides that interject the original text, turn the book into something unlike anything I've ever read. As someone whose entire world revolved around Nirvana at age 14, reading this felt like hearing from one of the few people on this planet who truly understand the foundation of a lot of my tastes, interests, and opinions. As tragic as the story of Nirvana is, Come As You Are is an incredibly life-affirming, cathartic, and confessional read, and it's never been better than this new edition.
April 6, 2024
Frank, revealing and honest -- this second-thought version of a venerable biography offers insight not only on Nirvana but on the biography writing process and the sometimes duplicitous role of the journalist in writing about rock bands.
October 26, 2025
It’s a strong bit of nostalgia that brought me to this. I saw a clip of Kurt being interviewed by Nardwuar on Instagram and remembered the two times I read Come as You Are. I looked back on here to follow up and see if Azerrad had written anything new. And it turned out he’d done this 30th anniversary update.
This was a great little refresher with a more candid approach to having been with there band in their heyday.
The book itself is great and these after the fact insights which take a more personal approach add a lot.
If you’re a fan and have never read it I think this version excellent.
This was a great little refresher with a more candid approach to having been with there band in their heyday.
The book itself is great and these after the fact insights which take a more personal approach add a lot.
If you’re a fan and have never read it I think this version excellent.
Read
March 3, 2024Azerrad has a nice wring style and while this is not as good as 'Our Band Could Be Your Life', it's still a nice overview of Nirvana, especially for those of us at a certain age . I checked out the eBook in addition and this '23 version does seem to be a fairly involved update from the previous version, so not sure which one would be more illuminating of the band - assume the latest is a bit more comprehensive.
October 5, 2024
I read the original edition of this a while back and it was worth it but frankly a bit of a mess. So why pick up an extra long version? I had the benefit of reading as a middle-aged dude far past my peak Nirvana-listening youth, so I liked the idea of Michael Azerrad regaining the advantage in revisiting his 30-year-old biography. This book is the original text interspersed with annotations to add details or more context. There's something like 270 pages of them, so it's essentially a complete additional book about the original. And it's a huge improvement. Feels like a cleaner, more directed narrative, with a lot less of what I called "notebook dumps of trivial non sequitur anecdotes that don't go anywhere." But also, to be clear and more fair, (and less snotty) the original needs to be understood as having been written in the middle of an ongoing story.
Right off the bat in the intro Azerrad echoed my thoughts, even as biographer and friend he admits Kurt was an unreliable narrator and a confused and contradictory young guy. He's able to clarify a lot of stories are probably apocryphal, or at least embellished. He's also a lot more critical (as are his interviewees, and me too, as the reader) of some pretty obnoxious behavior documented extensively in the book--destroying hotel rooms, sabotaging shows and interviews, etc.--by the band in the name of being rock stars. Kurt justifies himself by saying dumb things that only make sense to a teenager like "I just get bored" or "People are stupid and I can't stand them." That's why we all relate to your songs man, but it ain't a reason to show up to your job trashed. Even if sometimes it's easy sympathize. One thing that's been clear throughout my music biography reading is that the industry is pure insanity and full of creeps. (Jen Trynin's book is a good one to understand that, too.)
What also emerges throughout the annotations is a lot of guilt from Azerrad. At the time he just didn't understand all the warning signs about depression and drug use, and probably wouldn't have known what to do for Kurt if he had. No one really knew what to do. With the benefit of time and knowing the full story, the core theme of Kurt Cobain turns out to not actually be about a small-town band's unexpected fame (though it's certainly a thing, and adds ridiculous pressure and expectations onto someone thoroughly unequipped emotionally to deal with it). It's the the story of what chronic heroin addiction will do to a talented artistic genius and at heart a sweet person, and it is so, so sad.
...I was maybe going to leave it at that but don't want to end on such a bummer note. But it is a really sad story considering it's about people triumphing over a rough start in life to find success doing what they love. Kurt could've done anything he wanted, he just didn't know that and it sucks. (I also watched Montage of Heck too and it just made it worse.)
Lemme end instead on some positives:
* Kurt was a very early, very public LGBTQ ally in a time, place, and scene that really needed safe spaces.
* Krist Novoselic is a really excellent and underappreciated rock bassist. There were many times in the book I didn't like him, but more times I did. Even the bad stuff can be explained by youthful stupidity, pressures of fame, etc., and fortunately he had the chance to grow out of it.
* The songs still rule. Kurt's the core guy but credit to all the people who were ever in the band plus producers & musical influences. I have listened to these songs hundreds, maybe thousands of times. Azerrad mentions how he didn't listen to Nirvana for a long time because it made him too upset, but when he was re-struck by how good they were. Same here. Nothing quite like them. There's a reason kids are still wearing Nirvana t-shirts.
Right off the bat in the intro Azerrad echoed my thoughts, even as biographer and friend he admits Kurt was an unreliable narrator and a confused and contradictory young guy. He's able to clarify a lot of stories are probably apocryphal, or at least embellished. He's also a lot more critical (as are his interviewees, and me too, as the reader) of some pretty obnoxious behavior documented extensively in the book--destroying hotel rooms, sabotaging shows and interviews, etc.--by the band in the name of being rock stars. Kurt justifies himself by saying dumb things that only make sense to a teenager like "I just get bored" or "People are stupid and I can't stand them." That's why we all relate to your songs man, but it ain't a reason to show up to your job trashed. Even if sometimes it's easy sympathize. One thing that's been clear throughout my music biography reading is that the industry is pure insanity and full of creeps. (Jen Trynin's book is a good one to understand that, too.)
What also emerges throughout the annotations is a lot of guilt from Azerrad. At the time he just didn't understand all the warning signs about depression and drug use, and probably wouldn't have known what to do for Kurt if he had. No one really knew what to do. With the benefit of time and knowing the full story, the core theme of Kurt Cobain turns out to not actually be about a small-town band's unexpected fame (though it's certainly a thing, and adds ridiculous pressure and expectations onto someone thoroughly unequipped emotionally to deal with it). It's the the story of what chronic heroin addiction will do to a talented artistic genius and at heart a sweet person, and it is so, so sad.
...I was maybe going to leave it at that but don't want to end on such a bummer note. But it is a really sad story considering it's about people triumphing over a rough start in life to find success doing what they love. Kurt could've done anything he wanted, he just didn't know that and it sucks. (I also watched Montage of Heck too and it just made it worse.)
Lemme end instead on some positives:
* Kurt was a very early, very public LGBTQ ally in a time, place, and scene that really needed safe spaces.
* Krist Novoselic is a really excellent and underappreciated rock bassist. There were many times in the book I didn't like him, but more times I did. Even the bad stuff can be explained by youthful stupidity, pressures of fame, etc., and fortunately he had the chance to grow out of it.
* The songs still rule. Kurt's the core guy but credit to all the people who were ever in the band plus producers & musical influences. I have listened to these songs hundreds, maybe thousands of times. Azerrad mentions how he didn't listen to Nirvana for a long time because it made him too upset, but when he was re-struck by how good they were. Same here. Nothing quite like them. There's a reason kids are still wearing Nirvana t-shirts.
October 2, 2024
This is at the top of my list of best band biographies of all time. Azerrad does a great job diving into the good and the bad of Nirvana, Kurt, Krist, and Dave. Along with good info about most of Nirvana's song catalog, there's also a lot of info that's not widely known among fans. Here's a couple of stand out moments that intrigued me:
The royalty controversy-Honestly, I lost a lot of respect for Kurt when I read this. It's one thing to decide on a new royalty agreement once you've experienced success, but to make it retroactive and take away money from your bandmates after your album just exploded? Seems like a dick move. And he actually thought that Dave and Krist were the ones being selfish? That was all on Kurt. Massively disappointed with him. Although, I do wonder if Courtney was the one who pushed Kurt to change the royalties or not. Interesting to think about.
The "huge spat" between Courtney and Dave during the In Utero session: Considering all the bad blood between the two of them that continues on to this day, I wonder if it all stems from Courtney crashing the session uninvited? It's especially weird that no one wants to talk about it, according to the book.
Kurt's willingness to work with Steve Albini despite him being labled a "msygonist" by the punk community: Kinda hypocritical of Kurt, especially him saying that he'd be willing to work with msygonists if their art was good. Kurt was...an interesting individual, to say the least.
The effort Kurt went through to convince people (mainly Azerrad) that he wasn't a junkie: The fact that he could sit there and blame others for his heroin use is...well actually, pretty typical behavior for a heroin junkie. It's just sad.
Steve Albini's snobbery and general dickish-ness: nuff said. Which is why I wasn't sad when he died.
Azerrad's "nemesis" at Gold Mountain: I'm assuming this was the same person who fed Newsweek the quotes about Geffen and Big Gold Mountain not liking In Utero. Which brings me to...
The things Azerrad alludes to in the book, but doesn't talk about: The person who was reportedly close to the band and fed the quotes, why Dave and Courtney were fighting to begin with, and the incident near the end of Kurt's life that reportedly led to his od in Rome, the cancellation of the last Nirvana show, and ultimately, Kurt's Suicide. Dave and Kirst both claim to know, but neither will say. However, Azerrad does insinuate that it likely had something to do with Courtney admitting that she planned to cheat on Kurt, she and Billy Corgan being in London at the same time a few days before, and all either Dave or Kirst saying was "It was some fucked up shit that went down and there was something going on with his personal life". Did Courtney cheat on Kurt, and that broke him? I'm not sure, nor am I saying that's what happened. It's all a lot of stuff that none of us are privy to about one of the biggest rock bands of all time.
Maybe that's the point. Maybe we're not supposed to know, because we know so much already thanks to the press hounding Kurt up to and after his death. Maybe this is the final, completely private, part of Kurt and Nirvana that will remain private for his sake. As much as I (and many others) would love to know about the secrets, it's not up to us, ultimately. And it's why this book is the best way someone can learn more about Nirvana: It opens up the band on their terms, rather than having all their secrets exposed by scum like Lynn Hirschberg. (It also helps that all the members, Courtney, and so many of the people associated with the band all praised this book as being one of the best band bios ever).
The royalty controversy-Honestly, I lost a lot of respect for Kurt when I read this. It's one thing to decide on a new royalty agreement once you've experienced success, but to make it retroactive and take away money from your bandmates after your album just exploded? Seems like a dick move. And he actually thought that Dave and Krist were the ones being selfish? That was all on Kurt. Massively disappointed with him. Although, I do wonder if Courtney was the one who pushed Kurt to change the royalties or not. Interesting to think about.
The "huge spat" between Courtney and Dave during the In Utero session: Considering all the bad blood between the two of them that continues on to this day, I wonder if it all stems from Courtney crashing the session uninvited? It's especially weird that no one wants to talk about it, according to the book.
Kurt's willingness to work with Steve Albini despite him being labled a "msygonist" by the punk community: Kinda hypocritical of Kurt, especially him saying that he'd be willing to work with msygonists if their art was good. Kurt was...an interesting individual, to say the least.
The effort Kurt went through to convince people (mainly Azerrad) that he wasn't a junkie: The fact that he could sit there and blame others for his heroin use is...well actually, pretty typical behavior for a heroin junkie. It's just sad.
Steve Albini's snobbery and general dickish-ness: nuff said. Which is why I wasn't sad when he died.
Azerrad's "nemesis" at Gold Mountain: I'm assuming this was the same person who fed Newsweek the quotes about Geffen and Big Gold Mountain not liking In Utero. Which brings me to...
The things Azerrad alludes to in the book, but doesn't talk about: The person who was reportedly close to the band and fed the quotes, why Dave and Courtney were fighting to begin with, and the incident near the end of Kurt's life that reportedly led to his od in Rome, the cancellation of the last Nirvana show, and ultimately, Kurt's Suicide. Dave and Kirst both claim to know, but neither will say. However, Azerrad does insinuate that it likely had something to do with Courtney admitting that she planned to cheat on Kurt, she and Billy Corgan being in London at the same time a few days before, and all either Dave or Kirst saying was "It was some fucked up shit that went down and there was something going on with his personal life". Did Courtney cheat on Kurt, and that broke him? I'm not sure, nor am I saying that's what happened. It's all a lot of stuff that none of us are privy to about one of the biggest rock bands of all time.
Maybe that's the point. Maybe we're not supposed to know, because we know so much already thanks to the press hounding Kurt up to and after his death. Maybe this is the final, completely private, part of Kurt and Nirvana that will remain private for his sake. As much as I (and many others) would love to know about the secrets, it's not up to us, ultimately. And it's why this book is the best way someone can learn more about Nirvana: It opens up the band on their terms, rather than having all their secrets exposed by scum like Lynn Hirschberg. (It also helps that all the members, Courtney, and so many of the people associated with the band all praised this book as being one of the best band bios ever).
March 10, 2024
I am glad I held off on reading the original because I really liked this annotated version. It was interesting getting some deeper insights from hindsight. It's heavy, as you might imagine.
Read
December 29, 2024It took me an absurdly long time to read this book because I mostly read it in bed, before falling asleep, four or five pages at a time. "Come as you are" was published in 1994, and this annotated version came out last year. The annotation/commentary is interwoven with the original text, and elaborates on or clarifies things that appeared in the original. Unsurprisingly, Kurt Cobain's suicide provides much of the grist for the mill for the commentary. Strictly speaking, Nirvana was before my time--"Nevermind" was released when I was in the first grade. However, my siblings are significantly older than I am, were in the primary Nirvana demographic, and I followed and copied their tastes religiously, so "Nevermind" was one of the first CDs I ever owned (along with AC/DC and Boyz II Men; broad cultural literacy was important to me even then). A couple years later, my dad took away my copy of "In Utero" when he noticed that the disc cover art was a photo of a man in drag. The worst part was that he just took the CD itself without putting it in its case, and I was fanatical about my CDs not getting scratched. Rather than throw it away, for some reason he just put it on top of the refrigerator, so if he wasn't home I'd take it down and listen to it and then carefully put it back. I was like 9 years old at the time and didn't really even understand what his problem with the picture was, but I later appreciated that this kind of conflict with a homophobic and bigoted dad, growing up in a total cultural backwater, was a badge of honor for a Nirvana fan.
In addition to lots of fun/morbidly fascinating anecdotes about Nirvana and extensive interviews with Kurt Cobain, the book provides a really nice narrative of how grunge rock developed and got commercialized and commodified. I found the discussion of Kurt's suicide to be quite sensitive (no conspiracy theories or grand proclamations about exactly how or why it happened, which is what you would expect from someone who actually knew and cared about the person). Finishing this book prompted me to go back and watch the unplugged concert, which was deeply moving.
In addition to lots of fun/morbidly fascinating anecdotes about Nirvana and extensive interviews with Kurt Cobain, the book provides a really nice narrative of how grunge rock developed and got commercialized and commodified. I found the discussion of Kurt's suicide to be quite sensitive (no conspiracy theories or grand proclamations about exactly how or why it happened, which is what you would expect from someone who actually knew and cared about the person). Finishing this book prompted me to go back and watch the unplugged concert, which was deeply moving.
August 11, 2024
Reading this was like meeting up with a childhood friend after you’ve both grown up. I read the original book as a youngster, as a Nirvana obsessive, and this text was formative and made me more obsessed with the legendary band. To slowly realize a decade or more later how a good amount of it was falsified and PR mythology from a credulous author added to my overall sense of distrust of *waves hand generally around*
So I was intrigued to read that the book had been revisited, with a mea culpa by the author.
He’s still suspiciously fawning over Kurt but does add some examples of times he was naive or misguided by him, and some updates from the passage of time. It’s tempting to analyze the author they way he finds patterns in what Kurt says and does–Kurt had his drug addiction, and the author would readily admit to being addicted to being in the good graces of Kurt’s circle.
Mostly Azzerad just adds extra color and background occasionally, like a DVD directors commentary. It’s repetitive, and just reinforcing or restating what’s there or pointing out a contradiction. Occasionally there will be something substantial which makes sifting through the rest worth it, like the images potentially having an encoded meaning on the back of In Utero.
Then reaching the last chapters, the author pulls back the curtain to reveal more of his personal feelings and expands on the devastation Kurt’s addiction and suicide caused to him and the surrounding community. He’s no longer a step-removed journalist but an embedded anthropologist, now a survivor with deep trauma, and he’s not the only one still struggling with it. This coda made the whole book even more haunting and layered than before and wrenches everything from directors commentary to an eye-opening memoir of grief that I wasn’t prepared for.
So I was intrigued to read that the book had been revisited, with a mea culpa by the author.
He’s still suspiciously fawning over Kurt but does add some examples of times he was naive or misguided by him, and some updates from the passage of time. It’s tempting to analyze the author they way he finds patterns in what Kurt says and does–Kurt had his drug addiction, and the author would readily admit to being addicted to being in the good graces of Kurt’s circle.
Mostly Azzerad just adds extra color and background occasionally, like a DVD directors commentary. It’s repetitive, and just reinforcing or restating what’s there or pointing out a contradiction. Occasionally there will be something substantial which makes sifting through the rest worth it, like the images potentially having an encoded meaning on the back of In Utero.
Then reaching the last chapters, the author pulls back the curtain to reveal more of his personal feelings and expands on the devastation Kurt’s addiction and suicide caused to him and the surrounding community. He’s no longer a step-removed journalist but an embedded anthropologist, now a survivor with deep trauma, and he’s not the only one still struggling with it. This coda made the whole book even more haunting and layered than before and wrenches everything from directors commentary to an eye-opening memoir of grief that I wasn’t prepared for.
February 20, 2024
Really really great read. I love the way Michael Azerrad dissects things. It’s cool just having more information in general, but in particular I enjoyed the deconstruction on the Cobain “myth” and his analysis of his artistic sensibilities. Just a cool dude writing on another cool dude.
September 2, 2024
It was an interesting juxtaposition reading this along Fab4 Mania, another book about the fervor around a popular rock band. Definitely different times and viewpoints in each book, but similar rock paradigms.
I’m glad they had this version of the book (featuring just the new material from the new Amplified Come As You Are). I read the original back in the 90s and have read several books (and countless news articles) about Nirvana since then, so wasn’t eager to rehash the book, especially with some of the embellishments it contained.
These “amplified” notes are honest and transparent from Azerad, especially where Cobain and Love were leading him astray. And he’s able to factor in the hindsight and revelations that have happened since the first book.
I will have disagree with his assessment that “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” is just filler on In Utero. It’s a Top 5 Nirvana song for me (even if, as revealed here, it may have stolen from a Melvins song).
I’m glad they had this version of the book (featuring just the new material from the new Amplified Come As You Are). I read the original back in the 90s and have read several books (and countless news articles) about Nirvana since then, so wasn’t eager to rehash the book, especially with some of the embellishments it contained.
These “amplified” notes are honest and transparent from Azerad, especially where Cobain and Love were leading him astray. And he’s able to factor in the hindsight and revelations that have happened since the first book.
I will have disagree with his assessment that “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” is just filler on In Utero. It’s a Top 5 Nirvana song for me (even if, as revealed here, it may have stolen from a Melvins song).
October 30, 2024
If you read the original version of this book, you MUST read the updated version. If you never read the original, you will get the benefit of reading both simultaneously. By that, I mean, this lays out the text of the original, followed by updates all along the way. This isn't just a new version with additional chapters. Every few paragraphs of the original is treated to reflection and enhancement, page by page. Amazing. I don't know how a "biography" could be any better. It has the naïve/starstruck vantage point of the original, written in the moment, at the time, and then a more realistic, less idealised perspective, decades later. Just incredible insight.
April 13, 2024
I read the original book about 20 years ago and thought the book was great, so I was really looking forward to reading the book again with added details to "amplify" the original. And it was great. It was great to read some added details, or see clarifications. But it was also interesting to read how the opinions stood the test of time and the added text either changed or reinforced the original. It was a very tough revisit for the author but I'm glad he did this. I highly recommend this book to any Nirvana fan.
April 7, 2024
I cannot even begin to describe how much I enjoyed this volume. I had read the original Come As You Are and I loved it, but the addition of Azerrad's reflections and revelations 30 years later are a must-read. The format is one that I wish more writers would follow - it is like seeing a story from 2 different people, and since we grew older at the same time, it is a bit like seeing our own reactions to the story of the three people who changed the music world.
January 19, 2024
DNF but not because it was a bad book. I borrowed this from library and didn't have enough time to finish it. It was making me too sad and feel all the feels and I could only read small bits at a time. I will probably buy it at a later time so I can read it bit by bit so I won't get terribly depressed 😔.
January 18, 2024
Nirvana was so important to 13-15 year old me. Was absolutely crushed about losing Kurt. Never knew the full story of his life and pain.
January 29, 2024
Maybe too amplified? Honestly it’s a bit repetitive and Cobain doesn’t come across as a sympathetic person at all.
September 27, 2025
The only thing semi-similar I can think of is David Lipsky's Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself, the annotated transcript of a Rolling Stone journalist's time with DFW, which served as the basis for the related movie, The End of the Tour. Can very much imagine this getting a similar treatment, the journalist's friendship with his subject and the reconsiderations and regrets of having had that experience. Would make a fantastic movie, really.
Azerrad was a Rolling Stone journalist who wrote a cover story on Nirvana that led Kurt and Courtney to ask him to write an "unauthorized" bio about the band, which became Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana. But this, published some thirty years later, pretty much consists I believe of annotations on the original biography, which I'd listened to recently and enjoyed. I'm not sure what this book looks like in print (see The Amplified Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana) but this audiobook, read by the author, seemed superior or at least more interesting -- hits the same major biographical points as the original bio, in less detail, with the perspective shifted from third to first person, adding an engaging, mature, often almost moving "privileged insider" dimension.
Azerrad is largely absent from the bio but in this he reflects on his friendship with Kurt and the band, going on tour with them, how he had been used by Kurt and Courtney in a way in part to show that they were good parents, how Kurt had fed him lies as part of the general myth-making (Kurt had never really ever lived under a bridge in Aberdeen, eg), and of course he reflects on Kurt's inevitable tragic end, presenting the full complexity of the situation. He's particularly insightful about how Kurt, well versed in the history of rock music mythologizing, cast himself as a sort of doomed romantic hero, creating at every turn a series of perceived antagonists.
Loved the bit where the author compares Kurt to Jerry Garcia (hesitant heroin-addicted figurehead of a supremely revered band), although without mentioning that Jerry's father had drowned when Jerry was four years old, an essential rupture in his childhood like Kurt's parents' divorce when he was seven.
I've generally enjoyed this unexpected detour in Nirvana-world recently, and I'd recommend you maybe listen to this one first before listening to or reading the original bio.
Azerrad was a Rolling Stone journalist who wrote a cover story on Nirvana that led Kurt and Courtney to ask him to write an "unauthorized" bio about the band, which became Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana. But this, published some thirty years later, pretty much consists I believe of annotations on the original biography, which I'd listened to recently and enjoyed. I'm not sure what this book looks like in print (see The Amplified Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana) but this audiobook, read by the author, seemed superior or at least more interesting -- hits the same major biographical points as the original bio, in less detail, with the perspective shifted from third to first person, adding an engaging, mature, often almost moving "privileged insider" dimension.
Azerrad is largely absent from the bio but in this he reflects on his friendship with Kurt and the band, going on tour with them, how he had been used by Kurt and Courtney in a way in part to show that they were good parents, how Kurt had fed him lies as part of the general myth-making (Kurt had never really ever lived under a bridge in Aberdeen, eg), and of course he reflects on Kurt's inevitable tragic end, presenting the full complexity of the situation. He's particularly insightful about how Kurt, well versed in the history of rock music mythologizing, cast himself as a sort of doomed romantic hero, creating at every turn a series of perceived antagonists.
Loved the bit where the author compares Kurt to Jerry Garcia (hesitant heroin-addicted figurehead of a supremely revered band), although without mentioning that Jerry's father had drowned when Jerry was four years old, an essential rupture in his childhood like Kurt's parents' divorce when he was seven.
I've generally enjoyed this unexpected detour in Nirvana-world recently, and I'd recommend you maybe listen to this one first before listening to or reading the original bio.
June 24, 2024
Fascinating, riveting, poignant, and incredibly well-written follow-up to Michael Azzerad's biography of Nirvana. He's had close to thirty years to think about and decide what else he could say about Nirvana's and Kurt Cobain's influence and ultimate place in the rock pantheon and zeitgeist of the early 1990s. He does not disappoint. The book is full of stories, updates, remembrances, and insightful musings about Nirvana's journey from an unknown band, to a modestly known band with a rising following, to the explosion that catapulted them to the pinnacle of rock stardom. It's funny, fascinating and in many parts sad, because none of the band members were prepared for the onslaught of what happened after the release of Nevermind, especially Kurt Cobain. Grand in scope, but intense in detail, the book is a wonderful read.
May 21, 2024
Eh…. I guess I would have to be a die hard fan to want to read this all! It was a lot. I liked nirvana….but I wasn’t a huge fan. I was also 10 or so when I liked them and I didn’t really understand their songs. I just liked the guitars and angst sound. Now, as an adult I can see why my parents didn’t like me listening to them. Haha! I’m still just a couple of songs type of fan. I will say they came out right when the music scene needed some sprucing up. I also never realized how punk was such a big influence!
I think it’s sad that Kurt Cobain was always a sad melancholy child, teen, and adult. Depression is real. Get help if you need it! No stigma!
I think it’s sad that Kurt Cobain was always a sad melancholy child, teen, and adult. Depression is real. Get help if you need it! No stigma!
September 1, 2024
Qué maravilla de doble libro: esta edición aparece treinta años después de la original y el autor inserta notas adicionales, abriendo un diálogo que nos permite dimensionar o reentender la historia que aquí se cuenta. Con una voz sensible y reveladora, Azerrad es un narrador muy presente que participa y sobre todo juzga mucho: a la banda, a quienes los acompañaban, a las circunstancias que lo rodeaban e incluso a sí mismo, como confidente y como escritor. Esta historia le va a interesar no nada más a los fans de Nirvana, sino a quien quiera conocer cómo son los demonios que asolan a nuestros ídolos o a quienes les entusiasma la crónica en general.
November 27, 2024
What a devastating ending and book. This Summer, I had the opportunity to visit Aberdeen, Washington. We went to places mentioned in this book. You really get a sad appreciation for Kurt. Such a great loss to the music world. I never read the original book but the commentary by Michael Azerrad was greatly appreciated. During my trip to Seattle, we did get to see a free concert by Kris and his band. There was a bit of a 30th Anniversary going on at that time. If you love Nirvana, this book is highly recommended. Be warned, it is a heavy book but well worth your reading time.
May 14, 2025
What I find most remarkable about this biography is Michael Azerrad's peripheral presence through most of the band's run. His fly-on-the-wall, embedded-but-mostly-neutral account of some of the most significant events in the trio's career. I wish more musical biographers emulated this.
The author's style is disarmingly relaxed and sincere, warm and approachable. Even as he recounts some of the most harrowing moments in Nirvana’s history, he maintains a remarkable neutrality, and offers analysis that is consistently perceptive, balanced, and deeply resonant
The author's style is disarmingly relaxed and sincere, warm and approachable. Even as he recounts some of the most harrowing moments in Nirvana’s history, he maintains a remarkable neutrality, and offers analysis that is consistently perceptive, balanced, and deeply resonant
May 23, 2025
A brief aside first: it made smile every time and even laugh out loud sometimes when reading the names of the rock history books that were being referenced and quoted (things like “Gunk: The Transcendental and Pre-Colonial Origins of Drop-D Tuning in the Puget Sound.”
Really enjoyed this book. I wouldn’t have asked for such a mixed-timeline chronology but I think it really works. Like so many, I had my Nirvana phase in my youth and it was really enlightening to get to experience someone else reminiscing on their time in close proximity to the band with a new lens as well.
Really enjoyed this book. I wouldn’t have asked for such a mixed-timeline chronology but I think it really works. Like so many, I had my Nirvana phase in my youth and it was really enlightening to get to experience someone else reminiscing on their time in close proximity to the band with a new lens as well.
September 23, 2025
I'm not even a particular Nirvana fan (I came across the cover band/vacuum cleaner story and immediately added it to my tbr), but this was very interesting. At first I was annoyed that my library only had an annotated edition, but it was actually a real benefit given the constellation of Kurt's own particular way of shaping the truth, the author's omissions in the original text, and thirty years' hindsight on Kurt's death.
Also, Courtney Love just makes incredibly entertaining reading. Unironically, she was my favorite person in the book.
Also, Courtney Love just makes incredibly entertaining reading. Unironically, she was my favorite person in the book.
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