After being inexplicably in the
doldrums, I got to work this morning and started to feel energized and
positive. I can’t credit this next album though. It is energized enough, but
not exactly positive.
Disc 1039 is…In Utero
Artist: Nirvana
Year of Release: 1993
What’s up with the Cover? Ever wonder about the inner workings
of the angels? Ever wish you hadn’t asked? This picture provides at least one
piece of wisdom though – which is why you should never have a drinking
competition with an angel: they have a hollow leg.
How I Came To Know It: My old roommate Greg introduced
me to Nirvana. This was just me years later, finally admitting he had done me a
good turn, even if I didn’t appreciate it at the time.
How It Stacks Up: I have four Nirvana albums. Of the four, I put
“In Utero” in at number two, just behind “Nevermind” (reviewed way back at Disc 191).
Ratings: 4 stars
Oh, Nirvana,
sometimes I wish I could just give all of you a great big hug, but maybe that
would have just spoiled all the amazing music you made. “In Utero” is another
example of exactly that. Building on the success of the classic “Nevermind,” “In
Utero” showed that despite a career cut short by Kurt Cobain’s suicide, Nirvana’s
brilliance was no fluke.
Once
again, Nirvana manages to seamlessly blend punk, metal and classic rock
sensibilities that at the time we all liked to call “grunge.” Actually, that’s
what it’s called; just because the movement eschewed having commercial labels
applied to it, doesn’t mean they weren’t there. It’s called grunge.
You don’t
find a band that is more loaded with self-loathing, sadness and futile rage
than Nirvana, and “In Utero” just adds to that canon of despair. Advancing
through the album you’ll hear the band invite themselves to be raped (“Rape Me”), invoke the long-dead ghosts
of mentally ill film stars (“Frances
Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle”) and express confusion over
whether they are dumb, happy or just some kind of confused fraud pretending to understand
the difference (“Dumb”).
“In
Utero” is even crunchier than “Nevermind” and while it doesn’t have the primal
fury of their earliest release - 1989’s “Bleach” - it more than makes up for
that with more thoughtful song structures and range. The album is equally at
home with crunch-riddled songs like “Scentless
Apprentice” and “Frances Farmer…”
and soft almost acoustic numbers like “All
Apologies.” On masterpieces like “Rape
Me” they combine both elements; alternating hard and soft as they deftly
show internal turmoil, quietly bubbling away until it bursts in an explosion of
musical fury.
This is
music for the disaffected, disenfranchised youth of the early nineties (Full
disclosure: I was both, but chose folk music as my emotional outlet in the
day). For those who chose grunge, it was easy to latch onto Nirvana. Kurt
Cobain’s lyrics speak out against the mouth-breathers of the world, best
expressed on “All Apologies” as:
“I wish I was like you
Easily amused.”
His vocal
style is the perfect match to this disconnected experience: half growl, half
strangled cry, and yet strangely gifted at carrying the tune. And that is
Nirvana’s secret: underneath all the growl and guitar feedback, the bones of
these songs are beautiful melodically. They crunch along with a punk edge, but
they also have a mournful lilt to them that draws you in by both the guts and
the heart.
I don’t
put this album on that often, but listening to it for the last couple of days I
can’t think of a good reason why not. It is chock-full of fast-paced, brilliantly
constructed rock and roll, with a liberal dose of teeth-gritted frustration.
Maybe it is the latter that put me off – sometimes you just don’t want to feel
bad. But listening to it this time, “In Utero” didn’t make me feel bad at all,
it just give me an outlet to shake all that negative energy out of me.
It is
sad that while Cobain gave this emotional outlet to so many people, he could
never shout out his own demons, leaving us too soon, with all his future
masterpieces unwritten. Luckily, before that happened he gave us one last
moment of brilliance with “In Utero.”
Best
tracks: Scentless
Apprentice, Heart-Shaped Box, Rape Me, Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on
Seattle, Dumb, All Apologies
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