Album #7 : Nirvana - In Utero

Nirvana

In Utero (1993)

Can you believe it's been just over twenty years since this album was released? TWENTY YEARS. 

Now that you feel old, I must confess that I never really saw the appeal of Nirvana. I recall a number of my friends waxing lyrical like they were the second coming of The Beatles (and, in hindsight, in a way I guess they were, in terms of their importance and influence). I was, of course, familiar with the hits, but nothing else. And I didn't care to explore either, because the music did nothing for me. Call it a touch of musical snobbery.

I chose to tackle this album because it's not Nevermind and it is (rather tragically) the band's final studio album. It would have been easy to tackle Nevermind, aka The Nirvana Album Everyone Knows That One Song From, but I would prefer not to take the easy path. Additionally, everyone in the music press craps on about Nevermind. I don't see anyone talking about In Utero.

Let's remedy that.

The Album

Beginning with the autobiographical Serve the Servants, there are hints of the musical sounds contained within. This is very much a 'bare' recording, a conscious decision of noted producer Steve Albini. There are no overdubs on overdubs on overdubs, the drums are naturally booming with no part of the kit dominating the mix and Kurt Cobain's vocal is unaffected by studio effects. The opener is a steady track that is very much overshadowed by the rest of the album, though it does contain some particularly biting lyrics directed at Cobain's dad. Scentless Apprentice finishes the job of letting you know that this is not Nevermind; an aggressive, anarchic track, full of rage and fury. It's meaty and heavy, as all three musicians work in tandem to achieve a big, thumping sound. Even the guitar solo sounds like someone screaming in anguish.

Heart Shaped Box vies with All Apologies for the title of Best Known Song on This Album. It takes that Nirvana trademark of quieter, stripped-bare verses leading to raucous choruses and marries them with lyrics that are somewhat touching, in a dark kind of way ("I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn black" - AWWW SWEET). It's a compelling listen and a definite highlight of the album. Rape Me was apparently conceived by Cobain as an 'anti-rape' song; personally I don't see it. It does however seethe with rage, and Cobain's vocal at the close is that of someone whose anger is so great they are desperate to lash out. After that we get the greatest song title in Nirvana's history bar none, Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle. Not a bad song either, it had two particular highlights - firstly the bridge is really cool, a sweet riff married to a driving off-beat rhythm section; secondly, I really, really loved the line, "I miss the comfort of being sad". Don't know why, just a really poignant line.

Dumb comes out of nowhere. Easily the 'poppiest' song on the album, it lacks the abrasiveness of the other songs; the guitar and Cobain's voice sound gentler and the production is comparatively lush. It's also a slower, steadier tempo than anything else on In Utero. I found it a very enjoyable song. Very Ape is the first of two sub-2 minute punk tracks and in my opinion, the less good one; it's fairly forgettable. Milk It, on the other hand, is anything but. Grabbing you by the throat with a growling, angry riff, it then gives way to just drums, bass and vocals; except the bass is rumbling, the drumming deft and musical, and Cobain's vocal floats over the top, tying everything together. Just when you think it's safe to enjoy, though, the song gets loud again, and the abrasiveness is turned back up to 11. It's a brilliant song made even better by the passionate vocals of Cobain. Each time he turns the singing up to 11, the resonant room that Albini chose to record him in gives his voice a double-tracked effect...except at the end of this song, where it's clean and dry, and very effective. This was one of my favourite songs.

To understand the song Pennyroyal Tea, one needs to know that pennyroyal has been used throughout history as a herbal abortive, i.e. a natural drug to abort a foetus. In that prism the song's lyrics make sense - this is a song about a depressed person who is, in Cobain's words, "on their death bed, basically". The 'abortion' is an abortion of self. It's one of the few songs on In Utero that contains a catchy pop hook sound (it probably wouldn't be out of place on Nevermind) despite the subject matter. I also found the closing moments of the track interesting; the music gradually slows down before an almost anti-climactic end. Perhaps the subject of the song has succeeded in their suicide.....

Radio Friendly Unit Shifter sees Cobain as satirist. The song is anything but a radio friendly unit shifter. Discordant chords and pounding drums, lyrics exhorting you to 'hate your enemies' while asking 'what is wrong with me?', a guitar solo that is just chaotic noise....it's a pisstake and I love it. Tourette's greets us with the sound of someone saying, "Moderate rock". It's fair to say that that's a GODDAMN LIE, as we get the second sub-two minute punk song, but this one is actually fantastic. It's a slice of furious, burning punk rock that acts as the final proof that Nirvana were more than just that grunge band that wrote Smells Like Teen Spirit; they were also capable of musically aggressive expressions of rage. Their point proven, they close with what is probably the best song on In Utero, All Apologies. Cobain sounds fucking fantastic, and the purity of the vocal recording process again allows him to express himself with raw emotion and energy. The drums boom throughout the song, and there's even a touch of cello in the verses to add an extra dimension to the sound. It's a brilliant song and a tremendous way to finish.

The Verdict

In Utero is a great album, no matter which way you cut it. For people like myself whose only real exposure to Nirvana was through the radio-friendly Nevermind cuts, it can be jarring at times. Those pop hook moments that got the band so much airplay are rarely there. What they are replaced with, however, is something more real and honest. This really is, as the band claimed in its aftermath, the sound of a band making the sort of record they wanted to make, rather than a record that an executive would want them to make. It serves to highlight that Nirvana were also more than just a grunge band, playing dirty and loud guitar rock. While there's plenty of that, there are also a few more subtle touches that show a real skill and awareness of how to craft a song.

It's not perfect; there are still a few songs that are average at best, and apart from the sublime Dave Grohl the musicianship isn't of the OMG GENIUS school, but it's still bloody good. I can think of no higher praise than to say that In Utero will stay in my album collection permanently.

My rating: ****

Standout Tracks

Milk It

All Apologies

Heart Shaped Box/Scentless Apprentice (I can't split these two) 

Tomorrow, I delve into the much loathed (by me) world of hip-hop and review the debut release of one of the most influential and critically lauded rap groups of all time. Will I like it? Will I deride it as LOL PEOPLE TALKING OVER BEATS LOL? Tune in to find out.