Track Listing

1. Serve The Servants - Nirvana, Steve Albini
2. Scentless Apprentice - Bob Weston, Nirvana, Steve Albini
3. Heart Shaped Box - Nirvana, Steve Albini, Scott Litt, Bob Weston
4. Rape Me - Nirvana, Steve Albini, Bob Weston
5. Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle - Bob Weston, Nirvana, Steve Albini
6. Dumb - Nirvana, Steve Albini
7. Very Ape - Nirvana, Steve Albini
8. Milk It - Bob Weston, Nirvana, Steve Albini
9. Pennyroyal Tea - Nirvana, Steve Albini
10. Radio Friendly Unit Shifter - Bob Weston, Nirvana, Steve Albini
11. Tourette's - Nirvana, Steve Albini
12. All Apologies/Gallons Of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through The Strip - Nirvana

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1307 in Music
• Released on: 1993-09-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks
• Dimensions: .22 pounds
• Running time: 49 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Overwhelmed by sudden success, Nirvana promised to take a harsher, more abrasive route on their second major-label release. Enlisting Chicago-based noise maven Steve Albini (of Big Black fame), Kurt Cobain and company succeeded in producing a record that was violent, disillusioned, and deeply moving. Every song reads like a commentary on the cost of fame ("Serve the Servants") and the unhealthy relationship between performer and fan ("Milk It"). Of course, they might all simply be about Courtney Love. Gossip aside, there is no denying the sheer power of Cobain's song-writing, his singing, and the band's amazing, visceral power. Cobain even manages a John Lennon-like mantra at the end of the heart-wrenching "All Apologies". "All in all is all we are," he intones repeatedly, only for Cobain that's no consolation. --Percy Keegan

CD Description
Final studio album from the seminal grunge band, who chose alternative noise guru Steve Albini as producer. Raw blasts of distortion sit alongside some of Kurt Cobain's most bleakand beautiful songs. 'In Utero' includes the singles 'HeartShaped Box' and 'All Apologies'.

Customer Reviews

Visceral anguish
"Nevermind" was never supposed to be a big seller; Geffen only anticipated 25,000 sales. Nirvana had fallen in love with pop songs, probably on account of Kurt's relationships pre-Courtney, and this accounted for the lighter feel than the sludgy, angsty "Bleach". But it became a monster, a millstone around the neck.

When making "In Utero", Nirvana wanted a angrier, more intense sound, akin to the Velvet's "White Light/White Heat". They certainly got this, helped by employing Big Black's Steve Albini on the knobs. "In Utero" is a pummelling, enthralling, visceral assault, yet remains hook-laden and ends on the dream that "all in all is all we are". (A pantheistic view, like Wordsworth!).

They start with "Serve The Servants", a mission statement, a resume explaining how they'd where they are - "Teenage angst has paid off well / Now I'm bored and old". But then "Scentless Apprentice", with lyrics taken from the novel "Perfume" really takes it to a new level - Dave Grohl's pounding drums, Kurt's guitar rising and rising in intensity and that amazing shriek - "GO AWAY! GO AWAY! GO AWAY!!!!"

The songs are about the dysfunctional relationship of fame, and coloured with the imagery of symbiosis, which reflects both Kurt's fatherhood and the symbiotic/parasitic nature of fame. "Milk It", "Rape Me", even "Frances Farmer" are in this vein. I always think there's something misanthropic and self-hating about the punk attitude to fame and their fans - 'my fans are not worthy, they don't get us.' Elsewhere, in the softer touches, "Dumb" is a gentle ode to self-doubt (the key word in "I think I'm dumb" is 'think'), and and "All Apologies is a terrific rousing send-off, with nice subversive lines like "Everyone is gay".

Nirvana had two sides to them - the full-on sonic assault and the quieter more romantic side (hence why they covered "Here She Comes Now" by the Velvet Underground, a band with the same dichotomy). "In Utero" compellingly documents their punk rage.

Awesome. The best album I have EVER heard
In Utero is without doubt, the best album I have ever heard and it has to go down as one of the best albums ever. The one fault that Nevermind as an album had was that the sound, in my opinion was just too clean. In Utero, on the other hand, goes bac to the raw, rough at the edges passion that prevails on bleach, and surpasses it. Every song has a powerful meaning, every song is played with passion. The music makes you sit up, listen and think. It is a tribute to the true genius that Kurt Cobain was.

The album starts off perfectly, with Serve The Servants. On hearing this song, I knew that the album was going to be good. The first 5 songs are great, and although it slows down a bit, the pace is picked up again with the unbelievably emotional Pennyroyal Tea, continues with the ironic Radio Friendly Unit Shifter, tourette's and closes with a classic - All Apologies. It's almost as if Kurt is apologising to the mainstream for daring to be different, but thats all he could be - all in all is all we all are. The album is a classic, and should really be an essential purchase in everyone's record collection.

997 words, I apologize.
Everyone has an opinion on Nirvana it seems, even if it's just that they like the intensely catchly Smells like Teen Spirit riff which seemed to pervade the country (Even the BBC used it). Nirvana have been taken up by the black-hooded generation and put alongside the likes of Blink 182, Slipknot and other trite rubbish, this is wholly unfair and a real shame for the music, now don't think me snobbish for saying this but Nirvana was so much more than 'Punk' or even 'Pop Punk',this album shows it.

Whereas Nevermind contained what were basically 12 catchy pop-punk songs, albeit far more talented lyrically, In Utero is a torrent of emotion, anger, angst and melancholy. The opening track Serve the Servant is a thinly veiled attack, lines like 'I just want you to know dad, I don't hate you anymore' and 'I tried to hard to have a father but instead I had a dad', musically the song is a little poor but I think this is intended. 'Scentless Apprentice' is next and a fantastic simply, roaring punk song, yet if you listen closely aside from the crashing drums and vicious guitar riff there is a agonized, whining of feedback and high pitched squeal making the song very dark, Kurt's seemingly incoherent vocals adding to the doomy and abrasive feel of this song.

'Heart Shaped Box' is next and argurably one of the finest Nirvana songs, definetly the finest Video, after reading 'Heavier than Heaven' by Charles R Cross you can really understand this song a lot more. The song is lyrically a masterpiece with slightly disturbing lines such as 'Broken Hymen of your Highness' and 'I wish I could eat you're cancer, when you turn black', the meaning of this song, as with most of them, is open to debate, but it appears to be a love song. 'Rape Me' follows and though the 12 Year Olds may giggle at the title and Headmasters be offended by it, the song reeks of irony, I don't think it is a coincidence that a song, conceivably about how Kurt feels his music has been gutted by the Music industy, media and MTV has an almost identical riff to their MTV smash 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'. The album continues with 'Frances farmer will Have Her Revenge on Seattle' the fifth track, showing more of the angry, abrasive but haunting ways in which the band manipulate their instruments and then moves onto real beauty in 'Dumb', this gorgeous, haunting song leaves a real mark and shows Kurt's fantastic ability to write beautiful music. This tranquility is crushed with the 'ccrrrckckk crr crccckck' of 'Very Ape' (Good impression no?), a punk song but (now i'm repeating myself) just slightly darker and more abrasive and this particular song doesn't seem to become stale as quickly as most 'Punk' tracks seem to. Then, showing a twisted sense of humour and with possible references to his relationship with either Courtney or his fans we crash headlong into 'Milk It', a thoroughly dark, inaccesible track that takes a lot of effort to really enjoy, and then real enjoyment when you actually can. Pennyroyal Tea is up next, which I consider the weakest track on the album, having heard the 'Unplugged' version first I was struck by how poor the In Utero version is, but still, for those of you who just want heavyness, this won't dissapoint.

'Radio Friendly Unit Shifter' appears to be an attack on the media, it includes extremely strange 'boink' noises and is generally and odd and innaccesible track. 'tourette's' follows and again shows Kurt's fantastic sense of humour, and a fantastic prophecy on what would follow his music, a song named after a syndrome that involves someone shouting very loud at every opportunity is simply 4 power chords repeated with screamed vocals, though this seems to be an obvious joke (for what purpose i'm not sure), nowadays this sort of thing is not only normal but taken completely serious with bands having decided to get rid of that convention of 'singing' and might we say 'talent' and scream their words into a microphone. 'All Apologies' finishes the album off in beautiful haunting style and would all the homophobic idiots who enjoy this band take note of the line 'What else could I say, everyone is gay' and kindly stop enjoying the music. Kurt's enviable outlook on life is something to be appreciated, in a time populated by Guns 'n Roses, Aerosmith and other macho, chauvinistic and outdated bands, Nirvana promoted tolerance and thoughtfulness and that has to be a good thing in any time.

So there it is, my review, hope you enjoyed it. In Utero is a masterpiece and far surpasses Nevermind, though many extremely talented bands used their talent to create melodic and pretty tunes, Nirvana uses it's unquestionable talent to create a hate and angst filled, dark, haunting and beautiful masterpiece. In many ways, this is the perfect way to remember Kurt, along with the Unplugged session, he was a man who was so talented and inspirational. The thousands of imitators can reproduce what they view as Nirvana: Slipknot may be angry, but it's forced and obvious, the legions of Pop- and Ska-Punk may try to make bare, catchy riffs, but it's bought and packaged, the rawness of this album is real, unpackaged and unprocessed yet never throws itself in your face. I will get down off my soapbox now, if you've read up to here, let me just say thank you.