Nirvana
In Utero

THE REVIEW

After two years from the immediate success of Nevermind, Nirvana returns to the scene with a totally different album: IN UTERO.

In Utero marks a noticeable departure from the album that had made their (fortune) as Kurt Cobain said: "I never listen to Nevermind. After its release, I never listened to it again". A comprehensible comment, considering the catastrophic effects it had on him. What to do? He tried to bury that sound with Incesticide, which was not warmly welcomed by critics. And so, after a year of work, In Utero comes out, perfectly faithful to their style, unlike Nevermind. Raw, hard, fragile, delicate; it faced quite a few challenges during publication because it was deemed obscene (due to the cover) and due to the content of some songs. This album is at times a true love and despair letter, written by Cobain; perhaps even deeper than Nevermind.

The production is entrusted to Steve Albini, who had worked with Pixies and Wedding Present, artists much appreciated by the band. Despite Albini having the honor of working with Nirvana, he did not establish a great relationship with them: he had made not very positive criticisms regarding the band's previous albums. 

The work features tracks significantly influenced by the Beatles, but they never betray the band’s basic sound, for example Serve the Servants, All apologies, which evidently deals with the marriage between Cobain and Love in Hawaii, and Heart Shaped Box, which is one of the pinnacles of the group’s creativity and inspiration; it also resulted in a video not to be overlooked. Scentless Apprentice and Francis Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle are two of the songs that best express Nirvana's music in general, as well as two excellent Grunge pieces; the first one is backed by a rather powerful drum, and the second talks about an old actress, who, having gone mad, was made to be treated by her mother in a psychiatric hospital. Cobain saw his reflection in her and wrote the song. The inner reflection is entrusted to the whole album, but particularly to one song, the hardest and most explicit that Cobain ever wrote: Rape Me. It was rejected by several major commercial chains, and Nirvana had to change Rape to Waif; the subject is not new to Nirvana, who had written Polly based on a true event. The song is raw, desperate, beautiful, which starts bitterly, and ends even worse. Finally, for those who bought it in Europe, there are also the seven minutes of Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through the Strip, pleasant and tough.

A historic element for the band, which surely felt more at ease after having produced such a work, than with their previous album. Nevermind may be more beautiful and more successful, but this is more original. These are the true Nirvana.