September 21, 1993 - In Utero

A month and a half after my last release, 9 months after the B-side album "Incesticide" and two years since their breakthrough second album "Nevermind", Nirvana released their third album "In Utero" on September 21, 1993. After last album with Butch Vig, Nirvana changed producers on this album, working with Steve Albini, who produced a couple of Kurt Cobain's favourite albums, and wanted a more complex sound as Kurt thought "Nevermind" was "one dimensional". They recorded this newest album fairly quickly and were happy with the results, but their record label DGC was unhappy with Albini's production quality. They re-recorded the two singles that would be released, but the rest of the album remains the same. Let's see what all that fame has done to grunge gods Nirvana!

The album begins with "Serve The Servants" and Kurt leads the way with a nice, simple guitar riff and his unique grunge-y voice singing overtop. Kuet references Nirvana's newfound fame with the opening line "teenage angst has paid off well" and things sound more laid-back and relaxed on this song than most of their last album. The chorus is also pretty simple with Kurt repeating the name of the song, but Dave Grohl's drums sound solid and he plays a loud fill before they kick into another verse and chorus. After this chorus Cobain breaks out into a guitar solo overtop the main riff and it's the opposite of simple as he plays a pretty sweet little solo! It seems a bit out of left field, but I'm not complaining! After the solo they play a couple choruses before the song slowly devolves to a finish with Grohl adding some nice drums. The next song is "Scentless Apprentice" and Grohl starts us off with a catchy drum beat and then Krist Novoselic plays his bass riff to the same rhythm. Kurt plays some trippy guitar overtop at first, and then he too plays the same riff as all three members are nicely rocking out this cool beat. Kurt sings a solid stop-and-start verse that fits the mood nicely and then he plays a short guitar bridge that builds up and then the guitar shifts to very loud and distorted for the chorus and Cobain does some fantastic visceral high yells. He sounds like he's just unloading with all the breath he has and I think his strained, gasping vocals sound awesome. They return to the catchy verse and build up to another loud and crazy chorus before Kurt plays a "solo" that is really just some long-held, very distorted guitar notes. Then it's time to do it all one last time and finish with a final loud chorus and this song also seems to dissolve at the end as everything slowly breaks down to a stop. Track 3 is "Heart-Shaped Box" and it was the first single and it would become another mega-hit for Nirvana. Kurt plays a quiet but cool guitar riff and Novoselic adds some solid bass in the background while Grohl lightly drums along to form this iconic main riff. Kurt sings in a nice softer voice for the verse but the mood becomes heavier as they nicely shift into the chorus. The now loud guitar sounds great and Kurt sings a very catchy chorus and it's no surprise that this was a no-brainer single. They play another nice light verse followed by a heavy chorus and then Kurt plays a guitar solo that is pretty short, but it sounds nice and epic and then the guitar falls away and returns to the light guitar of the beginning. They play a final verse and final chorus before Kurt ends the song with one final slow guitar strum that echoes out. Everything is pretty cool so far! Up next is "Rape Me" and Kurt opens the song by himself playing a decent acoustic guitar riff as he sings "rape me, rape me my friend". These are some pretty weird lyrics, but Kurt's voice sounds good as usual and after one verse alone Novoselic and Grohl join in for a loud chorus as Kurt switches to electric guitar. The rhythm section sticks around for the next verse as Kurt returns to acoustic and they nicely jam through another verse and another loud chorus. There's a cool new part that sounds pretty heavy and has some nice drumming by Grohl, then the rhythm section drops out as Kurt alone plays the next verse. They're all back to it for a final loud chorus and then Kurt just yells "rape me!" over and over to end the song. I still think the lyrics are strange but Kurt sounds great belting it out, especially how long he holds the final note. Track 5 is "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle" and Kurt alternates between a very quiet guitar riff and a much louder one as he sings the verse during the quiet part and holds a long note overtop the loud part that also has Novoselic and Grohl playing some nice, loud stuff. They shift into the chorus nicely as Kurt holds some more long notes overtop a slightly different but still loud and grunge-y riff. It gets quiet again as they start the next verse and after this verse and another chorus you'd think it's solo time. Kurt doesn't quite solo, but he leads the way with some cool guitar and Grohl plays some nice loud drums in the background. Kurt ties things nicely back to the main riff and they close things out with a final verse and chorus to complete another solid song. The next song is called "Dumb" and Kurt leads the verse, playing a light guitar riff while singing a nice light verse. He moves into the chorus with the line "I think I'm dumb, maybe I'm just happy" and Novoselic and Grohl play a light rhythm section to match but the main instrument in the chorus is actually cello(!), played by Kera Schaley. The cello along with Kurt's light guitar gives a very sad feel to the song, but it sounds quite nice and so does Kurt lightly singing along. They repeat this nice light verse and chorus and then the cello sticks around for a new bridge riff and while it's obviously not a headbanger, it is done really well and things sound pretty good. They then play a final.verse and chorus before Kurt chants "I think I'm dumb" several times to end this short and sweet song. Track 7 is even shorter, clocking in at under two minutes and it's named "Very Ape". Novoselic plays a distorted and cool bass riff to start us off and Cobain plays an upbeat, almost pop-y guitar riff to make for an unusual, but toe-tapping main riff. This song sounds like it could have been off "Bleach" as they play through a couple repetitive but catchy short verses. The chorus sounds catchy as well and Kurt sounds great half yelling the lines "out of the ground, into the sky". They play snother couple short verses and then one more chorus and then this little jam is over! A cool song for one so short for sure. Up next is "Milk It" and after a very distorted and trippy opening Grohl cues us up nicely on drums with a cool stop-and start beat and the bass and guitar both play some nice heavy stuff that also perfectly fits the stop and start rhythm and things sound pretty sweet. They return to the off beat tweaks and noises of the trippy opening and Kurt begins the verse overtop this before things snap back to the heavy riff. Kurt is now yelling full tilt overtop the heavy riff and things sound pretty awesome. After this great chorus we do it again as they slow down briefly before slamming back in with Kurt doing some more great yells. After this chorus we get one of the strangest "guitar solos" you'll ever hear as Kurt plays some crazy light tweaks and twangs that are difficult to describe, almost like an anti-solo. I think it's pretty cool not only because it sounds so interesting but because it's unpredictable and nothing anyone could've expected. After this "solo" they play a final verse and final awesome heavy chorus before nicely and abruptly bringing things to an end. Track 9 is "Pennyroyal Tea" and you hear Kurt clear his throat before he gets the first verse started with some light guitar and some light singing. Novoselic and Grohl play some nice light stuff to match and they all nicely shift to heavy for the chorus as everything gets much louder and Kurt leads the way with some electric guitar and some long-held notes that sound pretty good. They repeat the quiet verse and loud chorus formula before it's solo time and Kurt delivers a wonderful solo that is fairly slow, but it sounds very epic and awesome and he takes his time and delivers a pretty cool solo. Then it quiets down for a final verse and after a long final chorus they nicely break things down slowly to end things. The next song is called "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter" and it has a very distorted opening that I think sounds cool before Grohl starts up a catchy drum beat, Novoselic plays a catchy bass riff and Cobain follows up with some simple but nice and grunge-y guitar. Kurt holds one long note while he sings the verse overtop the noise and Grohl's drums and the grunge-y riff returns for the chorus as Kurt continues to sing in a bit of a quieter voice that's kind of hard to understand. After another verse they start the chorus, but midway through they shift to a nice new riff briefly with some solid guitar before nicely shifting back to finish up the chorus. They play another verse and chorus and then it's time for a distorted guitar "solo". Kurt's not actually playing that many notes, but he's holding them and tweaking them in unnatural ways that sound very choppy and distorted, another sort of anti-solo. Some might not like this style, but I think things sound pretty cool and this "solo" lasts over a minute and takes us right to the end of the song, devolving to a quiet finish. Track 11 is "Tourette's" and it's only about a minute and a half long. We hear Kurt just say "moderate rock" before the band jumps into a nice fast-paced, grunge-y main riff. Kurt's vocals for this verse sounds like he's losing his mind and it's pretty much incomprehensible. I love every second of it as Kurt is yelling so high and just letting it all out. He plays a new epic guitar riff as they shift into the chorus and he holds a couple long "heeeeeey"s in this pretty cool chorus as well. They move quickly into another verse and chorus and then jam out one final verse that also kind of devolves at the finish. Pretty sweet for just a minute and a half. Up next is "All Apologies", the other mega-hit off this album that is still a rock radio staple to this day. Kurt leads the way with a light guitar riff that is undeniably catchy and Novoselic and Grohl add a nice light rhythm section to match. Kurt sings a light verse to match the mood and he sounds even better when he yells somr words loudly overtop the quiet backdrop that also includes some more nice cello from Schaley. The music shifts to a bit heavier for the chorus as Kurt sings in a more typical grunge-y voice. He sounds great when he sings "married, buried" and Grohl does a nice little drum fill as well before they return to the light mood. They play another nice verse followed by another heavy chorus and with a few extra drum fills from Grohl they segue nicely into the "solo" as Murt sings "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah". The solo is just the main light riff played louder and heavier, but it does sound pretty solid. During the solo Kurt starts to sing "all in all is all we are" over and over in the background and when the music finally comes to a stop we hear him sing it a couple final times to close out this no-brainer single. The final song on the album is "Gallons Of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through The Strip" and it's the longest song on the album at over seven and half minutes. Kurt plays some twang-y and distorted guitar while Novoselic keeps the pace on bass in this weird opening and when Grohl joins in with a light drum beat the guitar stops and Kurt sings lightly overtop the bass. The guitar eventually returns and Kurt shows some more emotion with some nice yells. They play another verse in the same fashion and the bass and drums just continue to keep the pace while Kurt sounds like he might be making some stuff up on the spot. He mumbles to himself a bit, and then delivers some pretty sweet guitar out of nowhere that sounds especially loud over the quiet backdrop. Kurt's next verse is filled with funny ramblings as we hear him say "c'mon dude you think of one" and we hear Dave shout something back but I'm not sure what. Kurt just laughs a couple times and we even hear him say "fuck man this is a waste of time" followed by "one more solo!" followed by a very long and distorted solo that sounds pretty sweet to me. At one point everything goes quiet, but then the solo resumes as Kurt continues to play some distorted and cool stuff. The solo ends with Kurt yelling "you're personally responsible for" and then he just rambles overtop the same rhythm section. After his long amble we're treated to another guitar solo! Kurt is still on point with another pretty sweet solo and they just keep coming in this strange but pretty cool song. Like alot of the songs on this album, they dona great job of letting things slowly devolve until we've reached a slow crawl and the album finally ends.

That is the end of "In Utero" and I thought it was a pretty fantastic album! Each and every song was solid, not just including, but especially some of the shorter ones and Kurt Cobain displays some of his best vocal and guitar performances of his career. "Nevermind" may have been their breakthrough, but "In Utero" is an improvement on it in almost every aspect, in my opinion. This easily rises to their top spot in my books and I think it's a contender for the best grunge album of all time. Nirvana have seemingly reached the peak, where will they go from here though?