With the Lights Out by Nirvana, album cover
Album · Compilation

With the Lights Out

LabelGeffen
Popularity65.8

With the Lights Out is a box set from the American band Nirvana, released on 23 November 2004 by Geffen. It gathers three CDs and a DVD of rarities: B-sides, demos, rehearsal tapes and live recordings. The title is borrowed from a line in "Smells Like Teen Spirit", their 1991 single.

It arrived well after the three studio albums, Bleach, Nevermind and In Utero, and offers a different angle on the band, closer to the rehearsal room than the finished record. It was originally planned for 2001, but a legal battle with Courtney Love, Kurt Cobain's widow, held it up for several years. For anyone who knows the main albums well, it is a chance to hear how the songs and the band's noisy, punk-edged sound took shape. In the US it had sold 546,000 copies by 2016.

With the Lights Out: tracklist, credits and charts

18 tracks · 1:13:09

Tracklist

  1. 1Rape Me (Solo acoustic)Kurt Cobain3:22
  2. 2Rape Me (demo)Kurt Cobain3:02
  3. 3Scentless Apprentice (rehearsal demo)Cobain, Grohl, Novoselic9:33
  4. 4Heart Shaped Box (demo)Kurt Cobain5:31
  5. 5I Hate Myself and Want to DieKurt Cobain4:02
  6. 6Milk It (demo)Kurt Cobain4:33
  7. 7Moist Vagina (demo)Kurt Cobain1:56
  8. 8Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through the StripCobain, Grohl, Novoselic7:33
  9. 9The Other Improv (demo)Kurt Cobain6:23
  10. 10Serve the Servants (Solo acoustic)Kurt Cobain1:35
  11. 11Very Ape (Solo acoustic)Kurt Cobain1:51
  12. 12Pennyroyal Tea (Solo acoustic)Kurt Cobain3:29
  13. 13MarigoldDave Grohl2:33
  14. 14SappyKurt Cobain3:25
  15. 15Jesus Doesn’t Want Me for a Sunbeam (rehearsal demo)Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee3:56
  16. 16Do Re Mi (Home demo)Kurt Cobain4:23
  17. 17You Know You’re Right (Home demo)Kurt Cobain2:29
  18. 18All Apologies (Home demo)Kurt Cobain3:33
Produced by
Jack Endino, Ian Beveridge, Craig Montgomery, Greg Babior, Steve Fisk, Butch Vig, Steve Albini, Lance Bangs
Recorded at
Oakwood Apartments, Word of Mouth Studios, Poises Rehearsal Space, BMG Ariola Studios, Pachyderm Recording Studio
Recorded
1987–1994
Mixed by
Adam Kasper, Bob Weston
Engineered by
Ian Beveridge, Craig Montgomery, Steve Albini
Label
Geffen
Length
1:13:09

Line-up

  • Kurt Cobain · acoustic guitar, lead vocals, guitar
  • Dave Grohl · drums (drum set), lead vocals
  • Krist Novoselic · bass guitar, accordion
  • Melora Creager · cello · guest
  • Pat Smear · guitar · guest

Peak chart positions

ChartPeak
US Billboard 200 · 200419
UK Albums Chart · 200456
UK Rock & Metal Albums · 20042
US Top Music Video Sales (Billboard) · 20043
Canadian Albums (Billboard) · 200410
Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 200416
French Albums · 200420
Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 200421
Italian Albums · 200421
Ireland 2 · 200423
All 18 charts
Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 200425
Scottish Albums (OCC) · 200426
Swiss Albums · 200428
Norwegian Albums · 200431
Austrian Albums · 200434
New Zealand Albums · 200439
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) · 200448
Dutch Albums · 200465

Certifications

RegionCertification
United Kingdom · 2015Silver
United States · 2004Platinum
Australia · 2024Gold
France · 2022Gold
United Kingdom · 2023Silver

From MusicBrainz and Wikipedia. Only what the sources record is shown.

65.8
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
2.3k
ListenBrainz listeners
56k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
—
Deezer fans (all editions)

Released the same week

Also released on 23 November

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Releases and pressings

How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
SourceDateNote
MusicBrainz23 November 2004
Wikipedia infobox23 November 2004
Wikidata23 November 2004
US release23 November 2004earliest US date
7 editions
DateCountryLabelBarcodeKind
2004DEGeffen602498648384other
23 November 2004MXGeffen602498646663original
23 November 2004MXGeffen602498646656original
23 November 2004XWGeffen602527685885original
23 November 2004USGeffen602498646649original
23 November 2004MXGeffen602498646670original
——Geffenother
Cover art sources

itunes · native: native 1500x1500

SourceSizeVerdict
itunes ✓1500×1500native: native 1500x1500
coverartarchive2889×1620rejected
fanarttv1000×1000upscaled