Nirvana- Incesticide (1992)

Cards on the table time: Nirvana always have been and always will be my favourite band. Not only have I listened to all the albums and indeed singles to death over the years, I've done the same with all the usual naughty bootlegs that emerged in the '90s, I've seen Montage of Heck, I;ve sighed at the stupidity of Nick Broomfield, and I've read both biographies of Kurt Cobain- the one by Charles Cross is the one you want. Basically, if I ever go on Mastermind this will be my specialist subject, above even Doctor Who.

So where better to start than their most obscure album, with a splendidly weird cover by Kurt himself. Album it is, despite the varied history of the songs; none of them had been officially released previously. And as an album it's a tale of two halves- Side One is full of potential singles, with "Dive" as the standout track. Yet side Two is the more interesting, giving us a sense of Kurt Cobain's songwriting when he wasn't particularly trying to be popular- and it's a truly wonderful mix, if one that grows on you over time- "Mexican Seafood" is a magnificently silly song about, er, vaginitis, proof that Kurt was a much sillier and more fun-loving person than commonly supposed, while "Aneurysm" is both awesome and exhibits a structural complexity that belies Kurt's reputation as a writer of catchy but simple songs.

A superb album, in spite of being the arguably the least popular, and one that never gets old,