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Come as You Are cover art

Come as You Are

By: Michael Azerrad
Narrated by: Kurt Loder, Michael Azerrad
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Summary

“Amazingly raw and candid . . . Come As You Are is as good as rock bios get.”—Billboard

Nirvana came out of nowhere in 1991 to sell nearly five million copies of their landmark album Nevermind, whose thunderous sound and indelible melodies embodied all the confusion, frustration, and passion of the emerging Generation X.

Come As You Are is the close-up, intimate story of Nirvana—the only book with exclusive in-depth interviews with bandmembers Kurt Cobain, Krist Noveselic, and Dave Grohl, as well as friends, relatives, former bandmembers, and associates—now updated to include a final chapter detailing the last year of Kurt Cobain's life, before his tragic suicide in April 1994.

©1993 Michael Azerrad (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Amazingly raw and candid . . . An unsparing and extremely honest depiction of the group’s highly tumultuous history . . . A wizardly combination of smart journalism and intelligent analysis, Come As You Are is as good as rock bios get.”—Billboard

“Really takes you inside both the business and soul of rock ’n’ roll, providing the lurid details and lucid pop criticism, too.”Los Angeles Times

Come As You Are is the first [book] to comprehensively tell the band’s tale from Aberdeen, Wash., to world domination.”Rolling Stone

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

The tone of the narration doesn't match the story

I've wanted to read/listen to this book for a while. I am finding this book hard to listen to as Kurt Loder is reading it as if it's a news report. The tone doesn't match what he is reading and this is a bit disappointing. It seems stiff and isn't flowing and I'm not able to focus on the words as I would be able to if the tone matched. I'm not sure if I will be able to finish it due to this.

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    5 out of 5 stars

Entertain Us. The story will, the narrator doesn't

The interviews and research are flawless and because this was written when the band were still going, this has something definitive about it. If you want the interviews for this book, watch About A Son which is the Cobain doc built on the audio recordings for this project.

The story of the boys is outstanding because it just was. But the narration is delivered with the energy of a grandad telling war stories in a care home between naps. I've heard this read by podcast hosts during Lockdown so I know it's possible to do it with vitality and spark.

It won't put you off purchasing. But it might make you think about returning it. This title benefits by being more balanced than the others you can read. The author isn't spinning a narrative because of a friendship with a widow, it's a title unburdened by the angle influenced by client journalism. The narrator is the author here, which means his delivery should be better because the words really are is. Indefensible really.

Great story, good book, get over the narration. It's so sleepy, that's okay coz so are you.

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