Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was always known for pushing the envelope of sound and now a newly surfaced audio recording from 26 years ago gives fans a glimpse into Cobain's deep, dark mind.

"Montage of Heck" is a mixtape Cobain reportedly created around 1988, although it doesn't sound like most mixtapes music lovers made in the 1980s. Instead of cramming about 15 songs onto a tape, Cobain includes spoken word, a toilet flushing, William Shatner crooning, Cobain imitating James Brown and snippets from then-unreleased Nirvana recordings. It also includes songs from Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa and The Beatles.

The mixtape surfaced on the site Live Nirvana, which writes "It features sounds from Kurt's extensive and bizarre collection, manipulated recordings of the radio, elements from Nirvana demos, and sounds created or recorded by Cobain."

The site also notes the collage was made using a 4-track cassette recorder while the band was working on tracks for their first album.

There are two versions of the recording. A long stereo version runs 36 minutes and a short mono version runs eight minutes. Not all sounds or songs are found on both versions. Part of the short version was used as an intro to "Love Buzz."

The Guardian spoke to Cobain's ex-girlfriend, Tracy Marander, who said he made the mixtape using sounds from TV and other sounds he recorded. She said there "are a lot of copies out there" and she doesn't know where the copy is that Cobain gave her. She added that Cobain may have been stoned when he created the mixtape.

In 1988, the 21-year-old Cobain was two years removed from the band Fecal Matter and it was a year before Nirvana would release their debut album Bleach. Nirvana exploded onto the rock scene and following the success of their sophomore album Nevermind was labelled "the flagship band" of Generation X. Cobain struggled with depression and a heroin addiction in the latter years of his career before taking his own live at the age of 27. He and the other Nirvana members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.

Montage of Heck Track List:

  • “The Men In My Little Girl’s Life” by Mike Douglas
  • “The Sounds of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel
  • “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” by The Beatles
  • “A Day In The Life” by The Beatles
  • “Eruption” by Van Halen
  • “Hot Pants” by James Brown
  • “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves” by Cher
  • “Go Away Little Girl” by Donny Osmond
  • “Rocky Mountain High” by John Denver
  • “Everybody Loves Somebody” by Dean Martin
  • “The Candy Man” by Sammy Davis, Jr.
  • “In A Gadda Da Vida” by Iron Butterfly
  • “Wild Thing” by William Shatner
  • “Taxman” by The Beatles
  • “I Think I Love You” by The Partridge Family
  • “Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?” by The Barbarians
  • “Queen Of The Reich” by Queensryche
  • “Last Caress/Green Hell” covered by Metallica
  • “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin
  • “Get Down, Make Love” by Queen
  • “ABC” by The Jackson Five
  • “I Want Your Sex” by George Michael
  • “Run to the Hills” by Iron Maiden
  • “Eye Of The Chicken” by Butthole Surfers
  • “Dance of the Cobra” by Butthole Surfers
  • “The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey’s Grave” by Butthole Surfers
  • “New Age” by The Velvet Underground
  • “Love Buzz” by Shocking Blue
  • Orchestral music from 200 Motels by Frank Zappa
  • “Help I’m A Rock” / “It Can’t Happen Here” by Frank Zappa
  • “Call Any Vegetable” by Frank Zappa
  • “The Day We Fall In Love” by The Monkees
  • “Sweet Leaf” by Black Sabbath (intro)
  • Theme from The Andy Griffith Show
  • Mike Love (of The Beach Boys) talking about “Transcendental Meditation”
  • Excerpts of Jimi Hendrix speaking at the Monterey Pop Festival
  • Excerpts of Paul Stanley from KISS’ Alive!
  • Excerpts of Daniel Johnston screaming about Satan
  • Excerpts from sound effects records
  • Various children’s records (Curious George, Sesame Street, The Flintstones, Star Wars

The following Nirvana recordings can be heard in "Montage Of Heck":

  • "The Landlord Is A Piece Of Shit From Hell" - demo (short version only)
  • "Blandest" - studio version (brief snippet in short version only)
  • "Help Me" - demo (brief snippet in long version only)
  • Unidentified Song - demo (near the end of the long version only)
  • "Gypsies, Tramps And Thieves" - jam w/ Dale Crover (at the very end of the long version only).