CD Odyssey Disc 1039: Nirvana

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

CD Odyssey Disc 191: Nirvana

From one of the worst albums in our collection to one of the best - and the first five star review in a while.

Disc 191 is...Nevermind

Artist: Nirvana

Year of Release: 1991

What’s Up With The Cover?: It's a floating baby chasing the almighty dollar. I don't really like this cover, as I'm not a fan of baby pictures, but I admit it is a strong and iconic image. The idea that we are born into this world and immediately loaded with all sorts of expectations about what success is (represented by the dollar bill). I also like the idea that the baby has been 'thrown into the deep end'. This cover says things start out hard and don't get easier. It may be a baby picture, but it is the best baby picture I can think of.

How I Came To Know It: Another Greg/grunge album from the early nineties. I'd like to think Greg brought this home before it broke huge on the music scene - he's usually a step or two ahead. Since I was into Celtic folk at the time, I probably would've missed it otherwise.

How It Stacks Up: I have four Nirvana albums, which I think is all of them discounting oddball stuff like "unplugged" or garage tapes. Of the four, "Nevermind" is the best.

Rating: 5 stars.

"Nevermind" is a hard album to write a review for. So much has been said about it that there isn't much more to add. Frankly, I think too much has been said about it. This is an incredible record, and it rightly deserves to be held among other great rock albums. Managing to hyperbolize such a record is a tough task, but somehow over the last twenty years, we've managed.

People liking it a bit too much is forgiveable when you listen to it. The first six tracks ("Smells Like Teen Spirit", "In Bloom", "Come As You Are", "Breed", "Lithium" and "Polly") are as good as any six tracks you'll hear on a record, and they come at you all in a row.

In a way I was happy to have the comparatively average "Territorial Pissings" come in at number 7, if only to give me a break from the onslaught.

"In Bloom" always stands out for me, and it's a song all the music critics who write a review of this album should listen to carefully. It is a song about the fan who loves the music, but isn't really connecting to it. It isn't necessarily about fakes, it just seems that Cobain thinks we're all fakes to the music experience. Maybe we are, and even if Cobain is a prick for saying so, I for one enjoyed the humbling experience of being called out. For other songs in the same vein, check out Cake's "Rock & Roll Lifestyle" and the most honest rock song ever written, Rush's "Limelight". (You'll hear me say that again before the Odyssey ends, trust me).

"Lithium" deals with the topic of mental illness in a way that makes you really feel the despair of the experience, and "Polly" tells the true story of a woman kidnapped and raped by a psychopath, who escapes him by pretending to fall for him. It is a disturbing song, and a convincing imagining of the inner workings of the disturbed mind.

I remember dancing to "Lithium" at Scandals night club in the early nineties on alternative Tuesday. Listening to it in the car brought that entire experience back to me viscerally, even many years and countless listens later. These songs are good because they aren't just good when you first hear them - they actually get better with age.

On this listen I was reminded that Nirvana is more than just Kurt Cobain's tortured vocals; their musicianship is excellent. I'm not a fan of Dave Grohl's "Foo Fighter" work, but I can't deny his drumming, which is excellent, and Chris Novoselic is no slouch on the bass either.

This album does have that annoying early nineties 'hidden track' where after an excellent song ("Something In the Way") there is ten minutes of silence followed by what is really another song. Even this cardinal sin was not enough to remotely pull this album down from five stars.

I'm not going to say much more, because it has all been said about this album. Besides, to paraphrase "In Bloom" while I like all the songs and I like to sing along, I don't know what it means. All I know for sure is it is a classic.

Best tracks: There are twelve tracks, and I love nine of them. The only weak spots are Territorial Pissings, Lounge Act and Something In the Way, but the latter only because of the hidden track what-not.