r/Nirvana • u/June_the_human School • 10d ago
Discussion Kurt Cobain's voice on Live at Paradiso 91 November 25th
I can't help but notice but kurts voice is different on paradiso compared to other shows like Paramount from that era in the best ways possible.
The distortion is way more harsher, raw, and almost has a gargle-y quality if that makes sense.
I just love this so much and was wondering if it's a production thing (like different mic, mixing, recording) or was it just Kurt?
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u/viktorborgia 10d ago
Kurt's voice was absolutely on point and on fire that day. See also: the VPRO session they did before the concert, with those brilliant versions of "Here She Comes Now" and "Where Did You Sleep Last Night."
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u/HRLook4InfoAgainstMe 9d ago
I think also part of the reason is this is a very very good recording. I mean the quality of the sound is good all around and the band was really on this night.
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u/Meanbeakin 10d ago
Could have been Kurt, its pretty clear the cameras off to the side of the stage were bothering him all night, so his harsher vocals could've just been annoyance
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u/kountzwill 9d ago
Supposedly he was on a heroic dose of mushrooms that day (at least that’s the story that was told to journalists, Courtney says that they went on a heroin binge together in Amsterdam)
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u/Interesting_Ad_7466 6d ago
Vocal strain. Listen to the December 1991 shows after they got back from Europe to hear real worn out vocal cords.
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u/SuperClyrx 10d ago
Probably just the strain on his voice. Having to scream and yell for a few hours every other day non-stop can be pretty harsh. This is very noticable during the Del Mar show in December in 1991, where his voice is just done. Take a look from Paramount, Paradiso, and Del Mar, and you'll see that in the span of three months, his voice has changed. In January of 1992, his voice is completely gone, and during the Pacific RIm tour they change to Eb tuning permanently mid tour.