by Marcus Errico
August 7, 1996, 3:30 p.m. PT

The track list for Nirvana's long-expected, plugged-in live album--the group's final offering--finally has been confirmed by Geffen Records. Bassist Krist Novoselic assembled the album, From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah, which will showcase 16 songs culled from more than 100 hours of live recordings, including previously unreleased material. The record, Nirvana's first since MTV Unplugged in New York, will hit stores in October.

"Nirvana started as a live band," Novoselic writes in the liner notes. "Don't all bands? We played around for two years before the release of Bleach in June of 1989. Live shows were our bread and butter before the phenomenal release of Nevermind in September of 1991. We'd hit the road for months at a time. At the end of the tour, we'd split one or two grand three ways, then call the tour a success."

Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl, the surviving members of the ground-breaking Seattle band, began compiling the album two years ago but found listening to tapes of bandmate Kurt Cobain too painful. The project was scrapped, and the band released their Unplugged performance instead. Now, finally, Grohl has taken time off from fronting the Foo Fighters and joined Novoselic to plow through all available concert tapes.

The album is peppered with rarities and hits. These gems include what Novoselic calls the first Nirvana song, "Spank Thru" (recorded in Rome on Nov. 19, 1991), as well as modern rock staples like "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Del Mar, California, Dec. 28, 1991) and an early version of "Breed" while it was still called "Imodium" (London, Dec. 5, 1989).

The rest of the lineup consists of "School" (Amsterdam, Nov. 25, 1991), "Drain You" (Del Mar, Dec. 28, 1991), "Aneurysm" (Del Mar, Dec. 28, 1991), "Been a Son" (Amsterdam, Nov. 25, 1991), "Lithium" (Amsterdam, Nov. 25, 1991), "Sliver" (Springfield, Massachusetts, Nov. 10, 1993), "Scentless Apprentice" (Seattle, Dec. 13, 1993), "Heart-Shaped Box" (Los Angeles, Dec. 30, 1993), "Milk It" (Seattle, Jan. 5, 1994), "Negative Creep" (Seattle, Oct. 31, 1991), "Polly" (London, Dec. 5, 1989) and "Tourette's" (Reading, England, Aug. 30, 1992).