Nirvana: In Utero Review
There are some albums in a person’s life which defy something more than great music–they become a staple in the fabric of ones life. In Utero is that album for me. This is one of the first albums I ever purchased, and has stuck with me throughout time. I was only nine or so when first hearing In Utero, so at the time, it was nothing more than loud and angry music that I loved. Yet when I reached High School this album became so much more. It was an album with depth, with heart, and with pure unadulterated anger that was hiding nothing. In Utero is Nirvana’s finest achievement.Nirvana began their musical career with the debut album Bleach - a raw album that showed a band which had some way to go before hitting full stride. Then Nevermind hit the scene opening up with the four chord riff that would hold the world hostage. Kurt had developed his song writing capabilities by leaps and bounds and wrote some of the greatest melodies in rock. Nirvana however, had sacrificed much of it’s raw power for a solid hook on Nevermind. This would ultimately lead to their final album In Utero. It would bridge the gap between Bleach and Nevermind. It captured the intensity of Bleach without sacrificing the melodies of Nevermind. It was the album that Nirvana was bound to create.
Fans who were exclusive to the cleanly produced Nevermind received quite a shock when listening to In Utero. Recording engineer Steve Albini created an album that sounded raw enough to be confused with a live recording. Songs like "Scentless Apprentice" and "Radio Friendly Shifter Unit" have an extremely aggressive hard rock/punk sound with crunchy riffs and the purist of primal screams. Bleeding through the intensity are memorable melodies and strong choruses, and even the most raucous of songs like "Milk It" will have listeners singing along. Throughout all of the heavy chaos, In Utero wasn’t without its fair share of radio friendly hits, notably "Heart Shaped Box" and "All Apologies" top the list.
In Utero captured the very height of Kurts lyrical capabilities. The amount of memorable lines are endless. The opening lyric of the album gives a glimpse of what’s in store–"Teenage angst has paid off well." This is Kurt’s most introspective album and is a diary of his entire life–from his parents divorce on "Serve the Servants", "That legendary divorce is such a bore", to his chronic stomach illness on "Pennyroyal Tea", "I’m on warm milk and laxatives, cherry-flavored antacids." Three songs in, is the eclipse of Kurt’s lyrical prowess. "Heartshaped Box" has lyrics that are absolutely unforgettable, "She eyes me like a Pisces when I am weak / I’ve been locked inside your heart shaped box for a week / I was drawn into your magnet tar pit trap / I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn black." The final line leaves a lasting impression like no other lyric in Nirvana’s career.
This long winded review doesn’t even touch on all I want to say, but I need to know when to stop. Nirvana’s In Utero is the greatest album of their short career. It’s intensity is unmatched, the lyrics are untouchable, and the melodies ring in my head. All of the best characteristics of Nirvana were culminated to create In Utero. Everything great about this band is at its height in their final record. It is sad to think that there could have been so much more to offer, but as Kurt said in "Milk It", "Look on the bright side, suicide." Unfortunately when he wrote those lyrics he was being literal.
Grade: A+
posted by Jeff at 4:13 PM
16 Comments:
Well, I hope you aren't too offended by the lashing out I give this tomorrow morning when it's scheduled to post. Granted, it's not an F, but not an A+ either. ;)
Ah, no way! Between you and Bob, why can't In Utero get any love? This is one of my favorite albums of the 90s--probably top 2 or 3.
I love it, Jeff! And I think you did an excellent job of reviewing it,you have a gift for expressing what music means to you (I envy you for it!).
This album gives me shivers up my spine .... and not in a good way either. I liked Bleach, I could stomach Nevermind, but In Utero was like a annoying mess just slapped together and shoved out there. It's like they were trying to hard to stay edgy and instead it's just a bunch of songs that grate on my nerves.
I also had a college roommate who liked to sing songs off of this at the top of his lungs around 6:30 every morning so that didn't help either. Although I can't blame Nirvana for my good for nothing college roommate.
Layla - Thanks, this album means a ton to me. In High School I would probably have rated it as my second favorite album behind Dark Side.
Mark - Damn, am I the only one who likes this album???
The music that gets inside us as teens is a HUGE part of who we are. There are a bunch that my wife chuckles at when I want to rock out to my old school jams.
I'm going to write a post today about tolerance of intolerance. It's hard, especially reading the critical responses to your review. The blasted review starts out saying in no uncertain terms that this is a personal review. How can anybody question any of it? Why would they feel entitled to? Jeez.
Kurt's painfully beautiful voice, best showcased I think on the unplugged album's "Pennyroyal Tea", is soul-piercing. Like Jack White's. Gives me fucking chills, and in a good way. Knocks the day's cobwebs outta yer head.
But Nirvana is part of a group of bands that speak a special language. It's part of its time, perhaps defining it for those entranced. It's art, tied to a time. How can anybody give anything more than a personal opinion. So fuck off with your complaints, "forever in debt to your priceless advice", pff.
Guess for right now I'm failing with aplomb at the tolerance of intolerance thing...
Peace.
Daniel - I don't mind if people disagree with my review. I encourage people to share their thoughts on the music. I don't think they were necessarily slamming my view on the music, instead just the music itself. I would hope that everyone notices people have different tastes and views.
Anyway, Nirvana is definitely a band of the time. I often wonder how they will be treated in the future. They are definitely one of my favorite bands, yet I still find them extremely overrated. After Kurt's death they were treated like The Beatles. While Kurt's guitar playing is packed with emotion and he always delivers great riffs and melodies, I can't figure out why people would hail him as a guitar god. His guitar playing was pretty simple and far from complex. The youth of today are embracing Classic rock. I wonder how future generations will treate Nirvana? Will the hype wear off?
d.edlen/jeff,
I think I fall into the period where these guys were huge and I was supposed to love them -- but didn't. Maybe it's my memories of people fawning over them that drive me more crazy than the music itself. But for what it is, this one just doesn't do it for me. My first album by them was Incesticide -- and while it's not amazing either, I think I probably would hold it the highest among all their albums kind of because it was my first.
In Utero is where Cobain's talent was outshone by his ego. As uncomfortable as he seemed to be with fame, it oddly went straight to his head and he believed he could write any kind of garbage and pass it off. If he wanted to be Flipper, he ought to have avoided fame in the first place. What made Nevermind good and such a breakthorugh album was his ability to be part of the burgeoning grunge thing (that was such an antithesis to the state of rock music at the time) and still have close ties to pop music. On In Utero, Cobain thought he could really shake things up, but there is no room for Flipper wanna-be's in the pop world and someone of his meager talents certainly couldn't bridge that gap.
Hatter - Interesting that Insecticide would rank at the top considering it's a B-sides album. I like it a lot but it would fall below Nevermind in terms of rank. "Aneurysm" is classic though, and possibly one of their best songs.
I was actually thinking of doing another post about Nirvana beind the kind of band people love to hate due to all the hype. I'm still debating whether or not to write it. But I caught Nirvana at the very tail end of their career, and even then I was really young. So I never witnessed all the craze first hand, I just witnessed the aftermath.
Bob - I agree that the fame got to Kurt's head. His entire life was just one big contradiction. He would hate that his songs were played on MTV yet he would also complain that his videos weren't played enough. But even with that sad I sort of see this as being a very natural album for the band. Bleach was really raw with a hint of pop and then there was Nevermind which was polished and had a much heavier pop sound. I always felt that In Utero was what Nirvana wanted to sound like and because of their huge success they could have the freedom to do what they wished. I feel Bleach was trying to cater to the half of Kurt that was devoted to punk and that whole scene. Nevermind was the band Kurt channeling his other more pop oriented half. In Utero was melding the two together to create the most natural sound for Nirvana. Kurt might not be the most techinically gifted musician (far from it), but I think his ability to write a song which sounds both heavy and full of energy while maintaining a great melody is an incredible talent. I see him as being one of the best song writers of the 90s easy.
I think you might be right that In Utero is the result of Cobain being able to do what he wanted based on the success of Nevermind, but to me that just argues for his mediocrity. When left to his own devices, he couldn't find any direction or true voice.
Bob - I guess to each his own with the quality of the album. I personally can't get enough of it and usually regard it as one of the best albums of the 90s, but from the look of things I feel like I'm in the minority...
I think you're in the minority among the visitors to your site. I think you're in the majority when looking at rock fans in general. It is widely regarded as a great album, but I still think everyone's off their rockers!
Bob - Nobody is off their rockers! This album simply rocks.
It is kind of weird that this album is generally well-received and yet here we all are having a go with it like a punching bag. I have to admit, prior to this review, I knew of no one personally who liked this album. Weird, eh?
Hatter - I don't really have many friends who like Nirvana. Most find them overrated, but I think it may be because they weren't around during the major grunge movement. Either was I, but considering they were one of the first bands I ever got into I always connected with them.
I still don't understand all the hate though, if anyone here likes either Bleach or Nevermind, I don't find it all that different than the two.
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