Nirvana
In Utero

Breaking away from “Nevermind.” This is the obsession, the mission, of Cobain & Co post-1991. They do it fiercely with “Incesticide” (1992), a collection that revives the band's punk roots, and they reaffirm it, not without resigned self-irony, in this “In Utero” (1993). Self-irony that would have taken on macabre (and in hindsight prophetic) connotations if the production had accepted the originally proposed title, namely “I Hate Myself And I Want To Die”...

The mission, in my opinion, is absolutely accomplished. Different, distant from Nevermind. The sound is absolutely more genuine, deliberately raw. Great credit for this goes to the band, capable of resisting the pressures from managers, who opposed the initial release and forced Cobain and Novoselic to revise the entire album and even the cover (the fetuses drawn by Cobain were relegated to the back to sell the album in some supermarket chains). The lyrics’ content, which in “Nevermind” heavily focus on society and culture, are rich in autobiographical and intimate references. “Teenage angst has paid off well, now I’m bored and old” is the very first bitter line of the album (from “Serve The Servants”). The same “Pennyroyal Tea” is much more than it might seem. It’s not just about mint tea, there's a wordplay worthy of Cobain: from “Royal tea” to “Royalty,” understood as a percentage of the earnings or, even more clearly in the chorus, “Anemic royalty.” The theme of commercialization of music is present, though not very evident, in the bonus track, “Gallons Of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through The Strip,” presented in a cover note as “a piece to encourage the purchase of the album in favor of the devalued American dollar.” A very subtle irony that hides the discomfort of a band that in the span of two years went from Seattle clubs to worldwide fame (and thus commercialization) and especially the discomfort of a boy becomes, against his will, a generational icon.

In the hearts of fans, this album remains memorable for pieces like “Heart-Shaped Box,” which tells of the gift (the heart-shaped box full of improbable objects) with which Courtney Love won over Cobain, the aforementioned “Serve The Servants” and “Pennyroyal Tea,” the highly controversial and misunderstood “Rape Me” that sparked feminist outrage (but for those who know Cobain's subtle sarcasm, it’s easy to sense the provocation launched by the song), the nihilistic “Dumb,” a manifesto of alienation, and the light “All Apologies.”

In my opinion, an unjustly underrated album, in some respects superior to “Nevermind.” Worth rediscovering.