My roommate and I listened to In Utero beginning to end today, and it reminded me of all the reasons that it's my favorite Nirvana album, and one of my top...7 favorite albums. Consider the context: Nirvana's previous studio album, Nevermind, had turned the pop landscape on its head by showing that tracks as aggressive as "Lithium" could still be considered pop. Now, with fans and critics looking for the grunge Abbey Road got something quite different. So here's what i love about In Utero.1. They kick off side 1/track 1 by burning their status as "critical darlings" in effigy. Dear music critics: "Teenage angst has paid off well/Now I'm bored and old/Self-appointed judges judge/more than they have sold." So, basically (and poetically), fuck yourself.
2. If tracks like "In Bloom" and "Drain You" from Nevermind represent the perfect amalgamation of the Beatles and the Sex Pistols, consider those 2 forces to be pitted against each other on this album. Consider that 2 back-to-back pairs include "Milk It"/"Pennyroyal Tea" and "Tourette's"/"All Apologies."
3. The inaccessible wail of some of my favorite Nirvana songs of all time: "Milk It" (featuring the incredible chorus "Doll steak/Test meat") and "Tourette's" (basically 2 minutes of incoherence ending up with Cobain yelling "Mean heart/cold heart/cold heart/cold heart/cold heart" and of course, "Scentless Apprentice," one of the only songs written by the entire band, featuring the chorus, "Get away/go away/go away"
4. On the other hand, they still produce some of the most infectious, affecting songs of their catalog. Give me "Pennyroyal Tea", "Heart-Shaped Box", "Dumb", and "All Apologies" over the Nevermind chart-toppers any day.
5. All Apologies? One of the great album closers of all time. A song that would absolutely not have been out of place on Revolver. And, by the way, who really thinks Kurt Cobain didn't kill himself? "In the sun/In the sun/Married/Buried"...come on.
I do think that, around age 12-14, kids begin to identify with music in a greater way as their own personality develops. So for me, In Utero (and another album by a disaffected artist projecting his dystopian vision on a slightly larger scale - The Downward Spiral) kind of taught me what music could do as more than just music. Maybe I would have ended up a kinder, gentler soul if I felt the same way about...I don't know, Stone Temple Pilots or something.
Todd says he's going to blog about the first Led Zeppelin album. Let's see if he means it.
3 comments:
In Utero is my fav too. I still think he didn't kill himself :( However, I've also been known to have delusions on the reg.
You do know that he initially wanted to name the album I Hate Myself and I Want to Die, right?
Irrelevant. I don't doubt he was suicidal and would have eventually killed himself. I just don't think he did that particular day.
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