And so we finally get the 20th anniversary edition of In Utero, perhaps the most difficult album in Nirvana's back catalogue to review. Listening again it is very difficult to divorce the content here from the legacy. For someone who was there at the time its a landmark for many reasons and whilst it is still the five star album it always was it is a bittersweet listen.



Taking the original album on its own merits this is a very strong offering. It has some of Nirvana's finest moments here alongside the screaming and wailing of numbers like Scentless Apprentice and others. There are moments of absolute genius here and twenty years does not diminish the power of Frances Farmer, All Apologies, Rape Me and pretty much every other track here. Its not the easiest listen, Pennyroyal Tea really gives the impression of how tired Cobain was of the music industry, it feels like it was an effort to make. One worth enjoying.



To remember the moment this was released is to put it in true context. Nevermind had conquered the world. Out of nowehere Nirvana had become the focus of a movement that pushed loud rock music away from poodle haired rockers and made it accessible to everyone. The expectation of this was huge. That it lived up to that was an achievement. That it exceeded it, in my opinion this is Nirvana's best album, was astonishing. However, the echo's of Cobain's frustration and increasingly unhappy state of mind is all over the album. Lyrics that openly discuss suicide as well as selecting songs that were less commercial than the B sides are just evidence of Cobain and the bands attempts not to just put out an easy follow up. The extra's here are proof of that. Anyone familiar with Nirvana at the time is familiar with the B sides Marigold and Moist Vagina and the tracks that ended up on compilations Sappy (appearing uncredited on the excellent No Alternative album) and I Hate Myself and Want To Die (at one time the title track of the album and it appeared on the Beavis and Butthead soundtrack). Putting these on the same disk as the original album makes for an interesting experience. Sappy is as commercial a track as Nirvana ever made, and maybe one of their best. Marigold is a shambling and beautiful number. What comes across is that they deliberately put on the album more challenging tracks than go the easy course. The different mixes add little. All Apologies has a mix with the Cello's far more prominent and the mix of Heart Shaped Box has a more discordant breakdown, but its not going to be a massive difference to anyone listening. Except the band. Never forget that Nirvana asked for these mixes due to their attention to detail. It may run counter to what you think but the bands attention to detail was huge and they constantly reworked and picked out detail of tracks. The instrumental numbers are good but realistically if you have this already you are not going to get much more out of this package than you already have. Especially if you have the B sides I mentioned above.



In Utero is the album of Nirvana's that is the most personal to me. Its the album I bought to take to uni with me, its the album I listened to when Cobain departed this mortal coil, it has other memories embedded into my DNA. Its a sad moment in music history where a band who had the world at their feet recorded a moment of brutal beauty. It is also a musical triumph. Nirvana delivered a landmark album that ended up being their swansong. Sad, beautiful, angry, frustrated and wonderful...name an album in the last twenty years that has this legacy. They are few and far between.