Unlike most Nirvana songs, "Sliver" was recorded in the studio before it had ever been played live. Its live debut was on September 22, 1990 at the Motor Sports International Garage in Seattle, the only show that Peters ever played with the band. "Sliver" also represents Peters' only appearance on a Nirvana studio recording. Cobain was happy with the time Peters spent with Nirvana, telling Azerrad, "The chemistry was definitely there...We could have ended up writing some really good songs together." As Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic explained, however, "If Dan were to have joined our band it would've been certain that Mudhoney was finished, and we didn't want to be responsible for that."