'In Utero': Classic or Dud?

CLASSIC

"Very Ape" just popped up on my ipod. It's a jam.

my favorite song on this!

This is my top album of all time. So that would make it classic, for me. Pretty much for the reasons given by sundar subramanian 7 years ago.

I thought I read somewhere that the 'additional mixing' was actually pretty minor and only to a few songs? anyway classic, i still listen to this a lot and hardly listen to Nevermind or Bleach.

plus all the sounds to tape were done with albini...it's not like you could make it sound like something totally different.

I was never hardcore enough to really love this record. Though I never would have admitted it at the time, I really loved Def Leppard and Boston and so Nevermind was just right. But I keep trying with this one.

easily my fav nirvana record

I only half liked it at the time -- thought they were trying way too hard to make a point. As a result, it was something of a chore to listen to, like punk rock lesson for you now. Plus, the sound was a bit cold for my taste; would have preferred something warmer and thicker.

In retrospect, I've got no complaints. Gets classicker every year.

my favorite too. i like the sound -- angrier than nevermind but prettier too -- and the songs better than the first two albums. livelier and more diverse, tone-wise. and as a sign-off, intended or not, "all apologies" is gorgeous and sad.

frances farmer is some of his best woe is me i hate being famous style lyrics.

she'll come back as fire
to burn all the liars
leave a blanket of ash on the ground <---this line always gets me

easily my fav nirvana record

-- Jordan, Wednesday, 20 August 2008 20:31

OTM

ever listened to this with the 'recommended' (albini) settings on your bass and treble? it doesn't sound very good.

???

Do tell.

rly what's those settings all about?

i love this, but i like nevermind a little more, i think. seems more playful

check the liner notes! there's something like: "it is recommended that you listen to this recording with the following settings" and there's a little diagram with bass at +1 and treble at like +7.

which i understand makes it sound more like what albini wanted. i don't know my nirvana lore enough to know the story.

and the songwriting strikes me as a bit more natural on Nevermind. but i'm no expert by any means.

@Goole: I see, you're right. I just never thought of adjusting my settings to that 'advice', thinking only that he should've mixed it different if Albini wanted me to hear it that way.

'On a plain', the song, is top notch as far as I'm concerned, but as a whole, In Utero gets to me way more.

wiki has a pretty good rundown of the pre-release disagreements about the mix

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Utero

(but no mention of the message in the liner notes)

In Utero is my favourite Nirvana album too. Nevermind is my least favourite, the production is too crisp and the songs are not diverse enough.

yeah, nevermind feels a little too sterile.

Sterile, exactly.

Noticed some love for Frances Farmer upthread, which I second. The chorus is one of his most direct and best.

Also great rock-out instrumental middle eight.

i've always liked In Utero more than Nevermind but it feels like a really challops fest here with everyone leaping up to say it's their fav like that's such a bold position to take

Yeah, what's wrong with you people? Stop agreeing!

I admire the courage in here.

moratorium on "challops"

plus moratorium on ppl challenging the challengingness of challops

I always miss the newsletters telling me whether I'm supposed to be agreeing or disagreeing with everyone this week.

i thought that at this point championing nevermind would be challops-ish. (i like nevermind a lot, fwiw. i've just always liked in utero more. this isn't revisionist or anything.)

xpost: is challops-ish ok? challopsy? challopesque?

if we can't challenge the challops and we can't poll, what are we going to do?

I think we need to poll the other options.

Classic. Way better than "Nevermind". It has the distinct sound of someone who couldn't give a shit while they were recording it, which is the only genuinely authentic r'n'r sound of all.....

I dunno, is it challops-ish or finally the time to just come out and admit In Utero owns Nevermind? I figure most of the people here, including me, vividly experienced Nirvana's birth and death. 'They' made Nevermind the masterpiece. Reading this thread makes me, once again, realise it's time to fiercely disagree.

interesting to read some of the Albini letter that he sent to the band prior to accepting the gig. especially considering what came after re the Scott Litt re-mixing and what have you.

"I think the very best thing you could do at this point is exactly what you are talking about doing: bang a record out in a couple of days, with high quality but minimal “production” and no interference from the front office bulletheads. If that is indeed what you want to do, I would love to be involved.

If, instead, you might find yourselves in the position of being temporarily indulged by the record company, only to have them yank the chain at some point (hassling you to rework songs/sequences/production, calling-in hired guns to “sweeten” your record, turning the whole thing over to some remix jockey, whatever…) then you’re in for a bummer and I want no part of it.

I’m only interested in working on records that legitimately reflect the band’s own perception of their music and existence. If you will commit yourselves to that as a tenet of the recording methodology, then I will bust my ass for you. I’ll work circles around you. I’ll rap your head in with a ratchet… "

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/absolute_nirvana_new_steve_albini_mixes_push_in_utero_anniversary_set

the litt mix of pennyroyal tea is better

^^^ front office bull-litt head

http://31.media.tumblr.com/b22308e4442fd4cdaee976d76241268f/tumblr_mtqy175XK21qel2y1o1_1280.jpg

LOL

That "All Apologies" demo has an almost Byrds-like thing going on.

very vaselinesy too

DOLL STEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE

not to nitpick but you misspelled STEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK

what if the band wanted to remix/sweeten it? What then?

TEST MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET

Listened to the compare of the Litt and Albini mixes of Heart Shaped Box and All Apologies, and I think I favor Litt's mixes by a good bit. If anything, Litt managed to keep some of the original stripped-down trio feel while beefing it up just enough to make it more radio-friendly.

what was the point of albini doing a NEW mix of this album? I like it, because I'm a sucker for things that sound different, but I'm not sure what was gained by it.

i just listened to a podcast with albini where he explained it--basically because they worked so fast they made a lot of mixing decisions on the fly and dave/krist wanted to do a mix that showed some of the possible paths not taken.

tell me which podcast plz

Loved the new remaster. If only they could've found a 50-year-old Steve Albini in the first place.

Vish Khanna's Kreative Kontrol: http://vishkhanna.com/2013/08/16/ep-24-steve-albini/

It's pretty fascinating.

xp

Paths not taken to get more money.

the interview up on Spotify is great too, Albini's mellowed in his old age!

oh and the full 4 page letter he wrote them is here http://vanyaland.com/2013/09/25/read-steve-albinis-incredible-letter-to-nirvana/
".. you can't design a car around the upholstery.. your experiences are specific to your records.. i'll rap your head in with a ratchet" sage advice left right and centre.

xpost thanks tarfumes!

there are countless formulas for pressing flowers

i thought it was called "Endino Jam" but apparently it's just called "Jam"

what a fucking boring song title

guh that albino interview/podcast was so full of nerdery and excellenly worded albini-asides, i was in albini-heaven!

I love that Albini drops a Jerky Boys reference in that letter.

"Forgotten Tune" is kind of a stinker.

So anyways (obv point coming up)

this 3CD set consists of the album as was, the mixes that got mixed, and CD2 is the album again, a bit remixed. And a live CD. Nice.

But when Fleetwood Mac remastered "Rumours" recently, the 3CD edition was £10. Even the superdeluxe one (4CD, 1DVD and an LP as well) is £50 new or thereabouts.

Makes yer fink.

I'm guessing £10 wasn't the rrp for the 3cd rumours tbh, though I think this Nirvana box is the sound of a barrel being scraped.

Well, that's the price I always saw it at, in shops. Fairly sure it wasn't being discounted.

so has anyone purchased this since the last time the thread was bumped? thoughts?

I just got the 'deluxe' cd thingo today, (2disc) today, am kinda curious what y'all make of it

does it have the albini mix?

got the 3xlp. albini mix is great. wonder where my bought 90s bootleg tape of the og albini demos is to compare.

it's the weirdest sensation

the cd has the original remaster and the 2013 mix

listening to the remaster, cant really tell much difference yet except that the um, the music seems to be less in the background, so kurt blends more with the music and the whole thing is a bit noisier. maybe, idk

who did the 2013 mix?

albini as well

i said to mr veg that i was hoping it'd have good liner notes so that i could remember why I wanted to buy this so bad 3 months ago

but it didn't?

nope. just a story by bobcat goldthwait about he knew nirvana when which is nice n all but cmon pony up with the nerdnotes jeez

yeah sounds like a let-down

it's still In Utero so letdowns are relative, at least :)

the 2013 rmix is no no way a letdown!

hearing almost-the-album is a p. much unprecedented opportunity imo

the 2013 albini mix is superior to the original in pretty much every way, I think.

you can also buy it on vinyl by itself which I recommend.

I haven't listened to that one yet - that will be my treat for today.

we were talking about the sleeve notes not the music

^^^

Great Conan Needs A Friend episode up this week w/Grohl, Novoselic and Albini discussing In Utero. There's a hilarious section where Albini recalls crank calling Gene Simmons, Evan Dando and Eddie Vedder during the production.

oh shit i need to listen to that

the evan dando call is widely available, but has anyone heard the simmons and vedder calls?
they would have been neat to put on the reissues save for the prospect of paying off gene simmons to be on a nirvana record...

albini’s kurt impression cracked me up
that laconic “do you know the Wipers”

also loled at kris saying that the first line of scentless apprentice was originally “..now i’m bald and old” when Kurt first sang it but kris shot him a look & he changed it to “bored” <3

for anyone else who was struggling to obtain this, here's a download link