BRETT MORGEN’S DOCUMENTARY on Nirvana’s frontman, Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, takes its name from what might just be the weirdest mixtape ever. The half-hour audio collage, which a 20-year-old Cobain made in the late 1980s, is a hodgepodge of classic songs, rare novelty records, TV audio, nature sounds, scraps of demo material, and a few disgusting sound effects—it’s Cobain’s talent at its most cacophonous.

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Kurt Cobain’s “Montage of Heck”: The Mixtape That Reveals the Mind of a Genius

Published: March 23, 2025

Long before playlists became the standard way of sharing musical tastes, Kurt Cobain created a remarkable audio collage that provides a fascinating glimpse into his creative process and influences. Known as “Montage of Heck,” this homemade mixtape from 1988 has become a treasured artifact for Nirvana fans and music historians alike.

What Is “Montage of Heck”?

Created around 1988, “Montage of Heck” is a 36-minute audio collage assembled by Kurt Cobain using a 4-track recorder. Unlike today’s playlists, which simply arrange songs in sequence, Cobain’s creation is a true sonic collage—layering, manipulating, and juxtaposing diverse sound sources to create something entirely new.

The mixtape incorporates snippets from over 50 sources, ranging from classic rock songs to children’s records, television themes, sound effects, and Cobain’s own vocalizations. It represents an early example of his experimental tendencies and dark sense of humor that would later find their way into Nirvana’s music.

The Complete “Montage of Heck” Tracklist

What makes “Montage of Heck” particularly fascinating is the breadth of Cobain’s musical palette. The complete tracklist reveals his wildly eclectic taste:

Telly Savalas, “The Men in My Little Girl’s Life”
Traditional, “Ring Around the Rosie”
Earle Hagen and Herbert Spencer, “The Fishin’ Hole” (The Andy Griffith Show theme)
Olympia Beer commercial
The Hobbit (1977 version)
Saccharine Trust, “Remnants”
Simon & Garfunkel, “The Sounds of Silence”
The Monkees, “The Day We Fall in Love”
Black Sabbath, “Sweet Leaf”
Butthole Surfers, “Eye of the Chicken”
Alan Mills and Joseph Raposo, Curious George Rides a Bike (1970 7-inch record)
Van Halen, “Eruption”
Peter Brown, “Do You Wanna Get Funky With Me”
James Brown, “Hot Pants (Pt 1)”
Cher, “Gypsys, Tramps, and Thieves”
Donny Osmond, “Go Away Little Girl”
Bay City Rollers, “Rock and Roll Love Letter”
Traditional, “Star Light, Star Bright”
John Denver, “Rocky Mountain High”
Oscar the Grouch, Bert & Ernie Sing-Along
Dean Martin, “Everybody Loves Somebody”
Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966)
Star Wars audiobook
Kiss, Alive!
Dean Martin, “Little Green Apples”
Eddie Bond, “Buford Pusser Goes Bear Hunting With a Switch”
Sammy Davis Jr., “The Candy Man”
Three Little Pigs (1933)
Iron Butterfly, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”
Traditional, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”
The Flintstones
The Troggs, “Wild Thing”
June Foray, Monster Shindig
Jimi Hendrix, “Hey Joe” (Jimi Plays Monterey version)
The Beatles, “Taxman”
The Partridge Family, “I Think I Love You”
News report on Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination
Carroll O’Connor and Rob Reiner dialog from All In The Family episode “Judging Books by Covers”
The Barbarians, “Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl”
Butthole Surfers, “The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey’s Grave”
The Velvet Underground, “New Age”
Queensrÿche, “Queen of the Reich”
Iron Maiden, “Run to the Hills”
Froot Loops commercial
“Cottleston Pie” (lyrics from the book Winnie-the-Pooh)
Led Zeppelin, “Whole Lotta Love”
Thor, “2045”
The Jackson 5, “ABC”
Black Flag, “Salt on a Slug”
“Introduction to Manned Mercury Spaceflight” (on a record released with Hasbro’s GI Joe Mercury Space Capsule)
George Michael, “I Want Your Sex”
Queen, “Get Down, Make Love”
Nirvana, “Unidentified Demo”

This juxtaposition of sounds—from heavy metal to children’s music, from psychedelia to punk, from commercial jingles to serious news reports—reflects the creative approach that would later define Nirvana’s sound: the ability to combine seemingly incompatible elements into a coherent artistic statement.

Finding “Montage of Heck” Today

For those looking to experience this piece of musical history, several options exist on Spotify:

1. “Montage of Heck: The Original Kurt Cobain Mixtape” – A 40-song playlist attempting to recreate the original mixtape’s source material
2. “Kurt Cobain’s Montage of Heck Mixtape” – A 30-track version of the significant songs used

It’s important to note that these playlists include the original songs that Cobain sampled, not the actual audio collage itself with its unique edits and manipulations. The original collage, with its distortions, speed changes, and layered sounds, isn’t officially available on streaming platforms due to copyright complexities.

The Documentary Connection

In 2015, filmmaker Brett Morgen released the authorized documentary “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck,” which borrowed its title from the mixtape and featured previously unreleased material from Cobain’s personal archives. Alongside this film came two official album releases available on Spotify:

• “Montage Of Heck: The Home Recordings” – A 13-track collection
• “Montage Of Heck: The Home Recordings (Deluxe Soundtrack)” – An expanded 31-track version

These albums feature Cobain’s demos, spoken word pieces, and experimental recordings, but they don’t contain the original “Montage of Heck” mixtape. Instead, they offer different but equally compelling insights into his creative process.

Why “Montage of Heck” Matters

Beyond its historical significance, “Montage of Heck” provides valuable context for understanding Nirvana’s music. Many elements that would come to define the band’s sound—the juxtaposition of melody and noise, the shifts between quiet and loud, the dark humor underlying serious themes—are present in embryonic form in this early audio experiment.

The mixtape also challenges the often simplistic narrative about Cobain as merely a grunge pioneer. His willingness to incorporate sounds from children’s records, classic rock, and diverse pop culture sources reveals a more complex artistic sensibility than he’s sometimes credited with.

Experiencing the Original

For those seeking the authentic “Montage of Heck” experience, the original audio collage can be found on various archival websites and YouTube uploads. While these versions exist in a legal gray area, they provide the only way to hear Cobain’s creation as he intended.

What makes the original so powerful is not just the selection of sources but Cobain’s manipulation of them—speeding up and slowing down recordings, layering multiple samples, adding distortion and effects, and creating jarring transitions that would influence experimental musicians for decades to come.

A Window Into Creative Process

Whether experienced through the original recording or through the various Spotify playlists that attempt to recreate it, “Montage of Heck” offers valuable insights into the artistic mind of Kurt Cobain. It shows that long before Nirvana changed the face of popular music, Cobain was already experimenting with the sonic collisions and juxtapositions that would make his band’s music so revolutionary.

In an era when algorithms build playlists for us, there’s something refreshingly human about Cobain’s handcrafted audio journey—a testament to artistic vision that continues to inspire listeners today.