Activision today officially announced the inclusion of two classic Nirvana songs in their upcoming Guitar Hero 5.
The songs, Lithium and Smells Like Teen Spirit, are from the Seattle band’s breakthrough blockbuster Nevermind, an album that is largely credited with pushing the grunge rock movement into the mainstream.
Rolling Stone had the first opportunity to break the news and get comment from the different parties involved. Some excerpts:
The licensing deal had been in the works for years, but Activision’s Vice President of Music Affairs Tim Riley is still pinching himself. Smells Like Teen Spirit is a song that we’ve had at the top of our wish list ever since I came to Guitar Hero, he tells Rolling Stone from his office in Santa Monica. So it s been a while.
Indeed, securing the proper approvals was no small feat. Not only did Cobain’s widow Courtney Love have to sign off on behalf of the estate, so did former drummer Dave Grohl and Universal Publishing, which administers the Nirvana catalog.
Naturally, Love did have some concerns. Namely, Cobain’s physique, Riley reveals. Courtney supplied us with photos and videos and knew exactly what she wanted Kurt to look like, he says. She picked the wardrobe and hair style, which turned out to be the Teen Spirit look, then we went back and forth over changes some subtle, some not so subtle. In column B Love’s reference to the Greek God Adonis, whose youthful good looks made the male deity an object of desire. She certainly had a physical image in mind, says Riley. She wanted him to have that sort of athletic definition but not overly so. And while Love has long had a reputation for being difficult, Riley’s experience was anything but. She was actually great to work with, he says. She got back with comments pretty quickly.
