In Utero

Was sad when it ended. Super great throughout and very raw.

Uber Classic. Not a bad song on it.

Kurt Cobain has become so mythologized that it’s hard to hear this album without the weight of all the stories—people imitating not just his music but his vices, as if self-destruction were part of the creative toolkit. In Utero is paradoxical in that way: it feeds the myth while simultaneously grounding it. The sessions are marked by Cobain being focused, sober, and absolutely uncompromising about the band not becoming a polished rock product. Bringing in Steve Albini—a famously abrasive engineer with a near-religious devotion to raw capture—was a deliberate act of defiance. And even that wasn’t enough to stop the label meddling with a couple tracks afterward, which only reinforces the album’s central tension: Nirvana trying to claw their way back to being a band instead of a brand. What makes In Utero endure is how unmistakably “Cobain” it is. Older songs reemerge with new venom. The adolescent snarl is still there, but it’s sharpened by the exhaustion of someone suffering from the success they never wanted. You can hear a man wrestling with a trajectory that feels inevitable and wrong at the same time. It’s a brutal, beautiful record—massive in its emotional weight, unvarnished by design, and still one of the clearest expressions of grunge’s capacity for both abrasion and honesty. Nirvana are considered one of the greats for a reason, and this is the album where all the contradictions that made them great are left fully exposed.

This would be a five star album based on All Apologies alone. Thankfully, it's got a few other good tunes in there as well.

no explanation needed

so unbelievably good it’s crazy

The best Nirvana record by far.

Jep, stadig ligeså fed som den var da jeg var 14

This was much better than I remembered it to be. So much variation!

Sensacional, barulhento e atemporal.

Brettert hart

Nirvana just has an authentic musical darkness and danger that is gripping. I don’t usually like this genre, but I love Nirvana. I don’t think this album has the same level of hits as Nevermind, but the album as a whole feels more polished.

It's a bold follow up. 5 Stars

For me, In Utero is clearly the better of the two good Nirvana albums.

Who can't love this??

Never sat down to this, interesting listen. Seattle Roots

One of the great albums. I go back and forth on this and Nevermind a lot. While Nevermind definitely has the better songs and is arguably top-to-bottom flawless, there's something about this raw, distorted squeal of anger that almost rivals it. A bleak listen, and it's hard to see where they could have gone after this, but a nearly unrivalled masterpiece of hatred.

Absolute classic

masterpiece

allora forse è una blasfemia ma forse è più bello di nevermind, sia chiaro nevermind è tipo 9,5 questo 10-, stiamo là insomma. Però boh alcuni pezzi mi piacciono troppo tipo scentless apprentice, dumb, all apologies, ma vabbè tutti pezzoni. RIP Kurt e Grande Dave Grohl

I saw Nirvana touring this album, maybe a few months before Kurt’s suicide. Truth be told, they were not a great live band, probably because of Kurt’s aversion to stardom. Anyway, I enjoy seeing kids/teens wearing Nirvana gear, maybe liking the music. I wonder what generations later think of them. This is a great album, beyond what it represented at the time and where is stands in musical history. I’m glad I got to be a front row fan to everything about this band.

Great album. I adored this growing up.

Melancholy masterpiece. Kurt, we miss you. What could've been....

Already heard this

Норм

I smiled when this came up. I know this album pretty well, but it's been a while. Quintessential 90s!! How fun! And the videos! Hey, wait! lol When I was in high school, I took a t-shirt and drew on it "I think I'm dumb," what a great memory. Milk It is a great song. I love this album. I'm glad to hear it again. Such nostalgia!

I had really only known most of these songs as singles on the radio back in the mid 90's. To hear them all together, parse the lyrics, and feel the vibe is to recontextualize this album as a 40 minute suicide note. RIP Kurt. Your songs will outlive us all.

Endless love for this album!

I'm quite familar with this one so not much new for me to add. Still a masterpiece of an album that goes hard all the way through.

Absolute banger

Tätä tuli esiteininä ja teininäkin luukutettua prkleesti c-kasetilta ja kyllähän tätä tulee vuosittain kuunneltua nykyäänkin. Mukavan rosoista ja angstista meininkiä, tarttuvat melodiat ja tunteikas tulkitsiva mikrofonin varressa. Vähän turhan tunteikas tosin kun ei pää kestänyt (pun intented)

Enpä ollut tätä levyä ikinä edes kuunnellut, että ei ollut tuttuja kuin nuo hitit, mutta eipä niissä muissa biiseissä oikein mitään järkevää ollutkaan. Hittejä riitti kuitenkin sen verran että kai se vitoseen lopulta kallistuu.

Well this was an easy listen. Another one of my all time records. It feels like Nirvana was building up to this album their entire shorter career and this is their defining work. I love when bands have a progression of each album getting better than the next, rather than starting off with a spark that they never seem to find again. They definitely found it here. And unfortunately we’ll never know if this is where Nirvana would have peaked, or what they had in store next. Thanks Kurt for leaving us with this fantastic record.

This is a great album and All Apologies is an all time album closer.

Even if there wasn't much of a Nirvana discography for tragic reasons, this would still be the best album of any band's career.

Possibly my favourite nirvana album

Generation defining

I tried to approach this objectively and with new ears, but I listened to this album to death when I was a teenager. I can't be objective. It's an easy 5.

An astounding album - perhaps even moreso because it was the follow-up to a breakthrough classic - marrying punk and hard rock into a perfect confection. “Pennyroyal Tea”, “Dumb”, “Heart Shaped Box”, and “All Apologies” are all quite different and all genuinely great. What is perhaps most impressive about this album is that the pressure from the label to make Nevermind II must have been immense, and they resisted it. This is fiercely original and more adventurous than Nevermind, but every bit as affecting.

Definitely a classic. The hits still hit, the deep cuts are rough and discordant. Its a punk album made purposely to alienate their new fans. As a statement of intent, its amazing. Some of the deep cuts aren't my cup of pennyroyal tea, but overall its a great album.

So expressive. Kurt has got to be one of my favourite guitarists - he's obviously studied the Beatles etc and has such a clear sense of harmony in songwriting.. And yet it's all so purely expressive and raw and free. Dave is incredible on this record too (Krist seems to get a little lost in the mix vs how prominent he is on nevermind) Vs the other two albums this one delivers that thick heavy sound and raw pinkish expression the best for me.

oh look, an album i've heard many times! what is there even left to say about nirvana that hasn't been said before? don't get me wrong though, this is goddamned outstanding; the aggressive grime and despondence is almost unmatched. an absolute classic from which came the foundations of my music taste. there will always be room for nirvana in my heart. I still prefer Bleach though... sue me!!! this listen did remind me of what a hell of an opener Serve The Servants is, ditto for All Apologies as a closer. Although this can also be attributed to having listened to this at 1am, I found myself getting emotional during Pennyroyal Tea in a way I haven't previously observed...a testament to the raw emotion imbued in this album, I suppose I feel obliged to give a 5 here... you cannot understate this albums' influence, and while it is not my personal favourite, out of respect for its sheer gravity I shall award it THE BIG FIVE

Super Dope

Rått album.

Hard to rate this anything else than a 5 because of how much I've listened to this previously and how influential it's been in my music taste but maybe it could be a 4 for a couple of the tracks that jam less for me (Scentless Apprentice notably) given how much I love Nevermind. That said, I could do it to With the Beatles but not sure I can do it to In Utero... 4.5?

I’m cautious of listening to In Utero too critically, so fundamental a component of my musical development was it. I really came to contemporary music in 1996, in the space after Kurt Cobain was a generational voice, but before he became eternal. I have a - probably false - memory of his death being announced on kids TV by two puppets. I had heard the name Nirvana, but didn’t hear Nirvana until it was too late to experience it in real time. The reality, in relation to the hype, was much smaller than I imagined - a three-piece. And more vulnerable - even here, where they rage and rip up most of the time. If I listen too closely now, the underlying fragility of the record may not take it. 5 We had In Utero as our weekend album and on Monday I still couldn’t find my tongue. It is a hard album to think about and talk about. It has meant a lot to me, although that meaning has taken many years to grow out of the mere puzzlement with which I first encountered this record at around age 14. Nevermind, which I was introduced to around the same time, was so immediate in its impact on me; a delightful sugar rush. In Utero barely felt like the same band. It felt indigestible at the beginning. Disappointing. Puzzling. Listening to In Utero now, decades on and familiar with every bar of it, it continues to puzzle because it gains power with every listen. I am as sure as I can be that it is quantifiably excellent; the work of a team of artists perfectly clear in what they want to achieve aesthetically and perfectly positioned to achieve it. How much of the engine of this artwork is the morbid fascination of Kurt Cobain’s self-destruction? That is a question that troubles me every time I listen to it. I have no such issue with Nirvana’s other records but here I cannot disentangle the intensity of the writing and performance on In Utero from its place in Kurt’s biography. I don’t just mean the screaming and feedback and amp kicking, there is also intensity in the lighter, more pleasant moments here. Dumb, Pennyroyal Tea, and All Apologies have a terrible beauty; the sort of light that reminds you of the depth of the darkness around you. Perhaps this is just my (romantic) misreading and Kurt made this record with smiles inside and out. He certainly gained a good deal of satisfaction in frustrating his record company’s expectations. Perhaps it was just more brilliant work by a brilliant young musician and I err in experiencing it as an ever deepening chasm. I feel sadder for Kurt than I used to. In Utero is better than ever. 5/5

Really solid. Heart shaped box top 50 song of all time. I don't care for the lyrics on Rape Me. Love the vibe of this album

Not listened through before but way better than I thought. Makes me reconsider nirvana

Francis Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle is my fav.

Teenage me loved this album. It's still great 30 years later.

Nothing much to say.

5/5 no question. Truly a perfect album with no exceptions. No notes. Absolute peak🎉

10/10

How the hell do you follow a world-changing album like Nevermind? How do you satisfy your millions of new fans who maybe don’t appreciate your weird punk roots? Now that every band in Seattle is famous thanks to you, what the hell can you do that will not be an absolute disaster and disappointment? You do this. You somehow manage to deepen your sound. You challenge your new fans but not enough to alienate them, but enough to get them to follow you to new places. It really is a triumph.

Ratings: 5: I will happily play this album anytime 4: I may occasionally play this album of my own free will 3: I will happily listen to this if someone plays it in the background 2: I will tolerate this if it is playing in the background 1: I will leave the room if someone plays this in the background Took me a while to get into this one (after buying it upon release back in the day), but it continues to grow on me, even after 32 years. Very Ape is an under-rated gem

Klassiker

Uterus time motherfucker

4.6 I always debated whether this or Nevermind was better and when I'd finally fully exhausted Nirvana around 19-20 I'd settled on In Utero. Revisiting via this list almost two decades later, I think I might have gone with the wrong one. Nevermind ultimately has no skippable songs, they have a few weaker ones, like Drain You, but In Utero has two tracks, Milk it and Tourettes that just don't really cut it imo. The opening 7 tracks or so are immense, and on par with anything on Nevermind, so it's a shame to see the album slightly stutter towards the end. Still, one of the best albums of all time so I can't complain too much.

First off I love this record. It may not be as fully solid as nevermind but the highs are insanely good. Heart shaped box is my favorite song for sure. Of all time from the band. Pennyroyal tea is also up there. Dumb as well but I do prefer the MTV unplugged version. Some of the other songs maybe aren't my favorite but a bunch are still great and they make up for the ones I dont care too much for. Its still nirvana. I would be curious what it would look like with them still around today but it worked out how it was going to work out. And I dont think I could take nirvanas 17th studio record. Ending on all Apologies is the perfect bow to a great run.

Their best album

So first time listening I full some amazing songs an some I mostly know from the unplugged set

Love this album

Cobain's unique pop sensibilities intentionally presented in a much less accessible format. For me, his intriguing melodic sense still shines through, and the abrasive production merely adds to the intrigue. Not like Nevermind, but just as rewarding in it's own way.

What could have been... Best Song: Heart Shaped Box Rating: 9.0/10 Stars: 5

Nirvana aren't my most favourite grunge band, but they really were great. Absolutely awesome album.

Esse foi tão importante pra mim que se eu desse outra nota seria injusto

Class

I wasn’t the biggest fan of Nevrmind but I liked this album much better. Still the same grungy formula but toned down a bit in a good way. Favorite songs: Heart-Shaped Box, Rape Me, Dumb, Pennyroyal Tea, All Apologies

All time great album.

Duh

Still holds up after all these years. Still a classic.

I needed this album to drop in my lap after the most recent slew of slop I was getting. Being able to revisit this classic felt like a god send!

Bängää

Raw, but mixing that with polished and poppier tracks just to keep everything in line. It's not wonder that it's a timeless classic.

So many great songs on one album. A great follow up to Nevermind. Not as popular as their first album but made sure the world knew grunge wasn’t going away.

4.5/5

Love the pared-back production, headphones on and it feels like they're playing in front of you.

Classic. Listening for long time

It's more raw and abrasive than Nevermind, but also has some of their best work. I've listened to this too many times to be impartial but I think it's an amazing album and an easy 5 stars.

Noisy, ugly, perfect

I don't think this is as good of an album as Nevermind, but I think there are some songs on this album that are better than anything on Nevermind

The favorite Nirvana albums of curmudgeons and contrarians everywhere, including me. Sometimes, people boil the Nevermind v. In Utero argument into "which one is Kurt's more honest artistic expression"? Is it the perfect pop album made pre-fame? Or is it the angry, antisocial house fire made as a reaction to overwhelming fame? I really don't know, and honestly I'm not sure it matters. For me, I just love noise rock, and depending on where you draw genre borders, In Utero may be the most commercially successful noise rock album *ever*. The songs throb, the guitars sear, and Cobain screams his throat raw on a lot of these songs. The Albini production job gets us all the way there, his dry, live, and unprocessed *ultra* visceral sound colors the whole experience that this album provides (Nirvana was forced to re-mix the singles, dig up the original Albini mix of them, they're fascinating.). And I think one of this album's biggest successes is that even though the songs are intentionally less accessible here, I think the song writing is just as potent as on Nevermind, even if the goal of the songs is a little different. We have two main types of song here: the rock songs, many of which are the heaviest, and most intense of Nirvana's career. Songs like Milk It, Scentless Apprentice, Radio Friendly Unit Shifter, and Tourette's go off like a Roman Candle, but never lose sight of that song writing. On the other hand there are the melodic songs here. They kind of overshoot Nevermind and end up as weird, sad, displays of pain. There are some hits here, but if you listen close enough, there are ghosts even in Heart Shaped Box, All Apologies, and Rape Me. And songs like Dumb and Pennyroyal Tea are just chilling to me. The lyrics here are also very interesting, Cobain writes about his body like a pile of meat and chemicals, and he writes about sex like it's body horror. Listening from front to back, the sadness and fury laced into this album is completely unignorable, and I think it's an incredible piece of art. Nevermind is probably a better album, but for some people, there's really nothing like In Utero.

Nirvana прекрасная группа, больше всего понравилась песня Rape Me

A classic, very much vibes.

A lot of grunge and punk is nearly impossible to listen to for me. Nirvana manages to create a listening experience that is grating but somehow still enjoyable to listen to.

Top 10 albums of all time for me

Two songs in and you know that the band had no intention to just making another Nevermind with mass appeal. Ultimately, you still get a few radio friendly songs and hits in their own right but you can tell that this is the band not compromising and putting out what they wanted. There is no telling where the band would have went from here but listening to this classic further highlight the tragedy of Kurt’s loss.

Not many bands have an album as good as 1991s Nevermind. Even fewer bands write an even better follow up album. Despite Kurt doing his best to “ruin” some tracks with his vocal delivery (Tourette’s, scentless apprentice, radio friendly unit shifter) or deliberate anti-guitar solos (Milk It) this is an essential album that’s less polished than Nevermind by design. An attempt to recreate the raw sound of Bleach. As powerful now as when it was released 32 years ago. Heart shaped box might be the best grunge tune of them all.

Better than Nevermind

Шумний ґрандж, дуже подобаються тут пісні. Альбіні накрутив звук. Трохи в тіні попереднього, але й там більш хітовий матеріал

Ще зі школи це мій улюблений альбом у нірвани. Все про нього вже сказано-пересказано, Альбіні ітд ітп

Everyone is gay.

End of an era.

This album perfectly captures the sound and attitude of Nirvana as a band, but also is an incredible dive into Kurt Cobain's mental health. The raw, noisy production and screamed choruses capture their punky spirit better than either of their previous albums, which also pairs really well with Kurt's lyrics. From the relationship with his dad on the intro to his relationship issues on Heart-Shaped Box and the feeling of depression on Frances Farmer, the album just paints such a vivid picture which hits even harder in the context of his suicide. The themes of this album are tied up perfectly on the last song of the album, which might be the band's best. In so many ways this is the perfect sendoff album and probably the best "final album" of all time and will always have a special place in my heart.

PERFECTO.

such a formative album for me

Suberb album. Slightly below never-ending but a solid 5 star album.

How do you follow ‘Nevermind’? Well, with ‘In Utero’ of course! A brilliant album that has big riffs, great vocals and deep lyrics. Kurt flying the flag for the INFPs here.

Grungy music from a tortured artist. Makes you feel.

Gave this a few listens because I did not rate it as highly as Nevermind back in the day. I was wrong. It is every bit as good

This album is super nostalgic for me to listen to. But now, more than 30 years on, it's so clear that Kurt had very strong instincts for writing great pop songs. I think he hated it and tried to disguise it all with noise and weirdness, but the pop still shines through. So many great tracks, all adding up to an uncomfortable slice of his life

A truly great album. It took my a few listens to warm up to it when if first came out but then I was sold!

I've listened to this before, I listened to it twice in a row while going through this backlog. I love the sound of it it's an album I'll chuck on occasionally but? I had nothing to say about it? One more spin lets see if i can have a thought this time. I've said I'm not a big grunge guy in the past but that was maybe based on nothing but britpop bias. I actually love the muddiness going on here and like to me thats The defining grunge sound. Unless it's just Nirvana being top of the pile and anyone else's mud would be shit idk. Need to go listen to more grunge ig. Easy to say the songs sound the same but there's actually a really good undulating energy to it that you don't need to know every song to feel. Started typing up which songs flow best together and ended up typing the tracklist. The end of All Apologies? what and album closer. Honestly and speaking as not a grunge guy it feels like a perfect version of what it is and like just what I want to hear when i want to hear some noisy sad guitar music. A 5 feels maybe generous but I can't see why not tbh. The 4 I gave to oasis is gonna have a lasting effect when making these decisions i fear.

It's hard for me to put my fav songs on this one but I'll try. Also something bout Cobains lyrics that I just love Fav : radio friendly unit shifter, dumb, very ape, milk it

Nevermind is a 5. Bleach is 4.5. Compared to most of the dreck on this list, In Utero is a 6. But how can I give it a 5 when it's really great, but not as great as Nevermind or Bleach? The answer was to read the other reviews. For reasons that I cannot comprehend, the British don't like grunge (but they LOVE prog rock, so apparently there's no accounting for taste). Had this not been Nirvana's final studio album, would we have considered it a sophomore slump or the beginning of the end?

FIVE FIVE FIVE RAAAGE

"Teenage angst has paid off well, now I'm bored and old" a goat opening line.

This one is hard to be objective about when it was such a big part of my young adulthood.

Nous sommes en 1993. Nirvana est, qu'on le veuille ou non, le plus grand groupe du monde. "Nevermind" a tout rasé sur son passage, transformant trois types du fin fond de l'État de Washington en messies d'une génération qui ne demandait rien, surtout pas qu'on lui colle des étiquettes. L'album s'est vendu par palettes entières, les clips tournent en boucle, et Kurt Cobain est devenu, malgré lui, le porte-parole de millions de gamins en chemise de flanelle. La suite logique, celle que n'importe quel label, n'importe quel manager, n'importe quel comptable aurait exigée, c'était "Nevermind 2 : Le Retour du Grunge Qui Fait Vendre". Un truc bien propre, avec des refrains calibrés pour les stades et une production bien carrée. En retour le groupe a envoyé le plus grand, le plus sonore, le plus magnifique "allez tous vous faire foutre" de l'histoire de la musique moderne. "In Utero" n'est pas la suite de "Nevermind". C'est son antithèse, son jumeau maléfique, son autopsie à vif. C'est un disque malade, enregistré par un homme qui l'était encore plus, et qui, au lieu de capitaliser sur son succès, a décidé de le saboter avec une joie féroce et désespérée. Le premier geste radical, c'est de confier les manettes à Steve Albini, le pape du son rêche, de l'enregistrement brut, de la philosophie "un micro dans la pièce et démerdez-vous". Il a enregistré les Pixies, les Breeders, toute la clique underground qui a inspiré Nirvana. L'engager, c'était un message clair à la maison de disques Geffen : vous vouliez de l'or ? On va vous donner de la rouille. Et quelle putain de rouille. Dès les premières secondes de "Serve the Servants", on comprend. La guitare sonne comme une scie sauteuse qui s'attaque à une carcasse de voiture, la basse de Krist Novoselic gronde comme un estomac vide et la batterie de Dave Grohl, habituellement si puissante, est ici sèche, nerveuse, presque minimaliste. Et puis il y a la voix de Cobain. Éraillée, fatiguée, mais d'une lucidité terrifiante. "Teenage angst has paid off well / Now I'm bored and old" ("L'angoisse adolescente a bien payé / Maintenant je m'emmerde et je suis vieux"). Tout est dit. Le type a vu le sommet de la montagne et il n'y a trouvé que le vertige et l'ennui. On connaît l'histoire : le label a failli s'étouffer en entendant le résultat. Ils ont paniqué, supplié, et fini par faire remixer quelques titres (les singles "Heart-Shaped Box" et "All Apologies") par Scott Litt, le producteur de R.E.M., pour les rendre à peine plus digestes. Mais le mal était fait. L'album est resté ce qu'il devait être : un monument de bruit, de fureur et de douleur. Mais "In Utero" n'est pas qu'un bloc de noise informe. C'est là que réside son génie absolu, sa beauté vénéneuse. C'est un disque de contrastes violents, un combat permanent entre l'agression et la mélodie. Pour chaque explosion de rage pure comme "Scentless Apprentice" ou le final apocalyptique de "Tourette's", il y a des moments de grâce et de fragilité à te briser le cœur. Prenez "Dumb". Une chanson d'une simplicité désarmante, portée par un violoncelle mélancolique, où Cobain chante son bonheur d'être "stupide", loin de la complexité écrasante du monde. C'est sublime. Prenez "Pennyroyal Tea", complainte d'un homme qui cherche un remède à son mal de vivre dans un thé aux herbes. Ou encore "All Apologies", avec sa mélodie lancinante et ses paroles qui sonnent comme un adieu apaisé. Ces chansons, ce sont les rares éclaircies dans un ciel de plomb, la preuve que même au fond du trou, Cobain était un mélodiste hors pair, un putain de génie capable d'écrire des chansons que les Beatles n'auraient pas reniées. L'album est une plongée dans les entrailles, au sens propre comme au figuré. Les titres parlent de boîtes en forme de cœur, de cordon ombilical, de cancer, de lait caillé. C'est une obsession pour l'anatomie, pour la maladie, comme si le corps lui-même était devenu une prison. Et au milieu de tout ça, il y a "Rape Me". Le titre à scandale, le morceau qui a fait couler le plus d'encre. Un cri de défi, une provocation ultime, mais aussi et surtout, selon Cobain, une chanson anti-viol, un hymne à la survie. Une chanson qui, comme l'album tout entier, te regarde droit dans les yeux et refuse de baisser le regard. Évidemment, il est impossible aujourd'hui d'écouter "In Utero" sans penser à ce qui est arrivé sept mois après sa sortie. Chaque mot, chaque note, chaque cri est teinté de cette fin tragique. L'album est devenu, malgré lui, une lettre de suicide hurlée à la face du monde, un testament sonore d'une beauté insoutenable. C'est peut-être ce qui le rend si puissant, si essentiel. Il ne s'agit plus seulement de musique. Il s'agit d'une vie qui se consume sous nos yeux. "In Utero" est un disque difficile, exigeant, parfois laid. Mais c'est un disque vrai. C'est le son d'un artiste au sommet de son art, mais au bout de son rouleau, qui a refusé le compromis jusqu'au bout. C'est un doigt d'honneur en platine, une cicatrice magnifique qui rappelle que le rock, le vrai, n'est pas fait pour être confortable. Il est fait pour te secouer, te déranger, et parfois, te faire sentir un peu moins seul dans ce putain de bordel. Un 5/5, c'est presque une insulte. Ce disque est hors catégorie. C'est un des rares albums que tu dois, en effet, écouter avant de mourir. Ne serait-ce que pour comprendre ce que signifie être dangereusement, magnifiquement, et tragiquement vivant.

GOAT. Automatically 10/10 for me. A huge part of my youth, not to mention an incredible album without the nostalgia factor. Can’t say enough about it.

Three stars

Synthesis of grunge. Takes the best of Bleach and Nevermind with a distorted rough poppy large sound. In my opinion, their best.

Banger album.

Prior to this album I'd only heard Nirvana's Nevermind, it's an album I go back to often, though I wouldn't call it one of my favorites. To me it just feels like a standard for what rock should be. It's imperfect, catchy, talented in all directions. It also holds a grudge and has nasty shit to say because it's blunt and honest. In Utero is that same feeling, amplified. I feel so blind having known about a few of these songs, but not listening to this project. 4.5/5

Favourite songs: Heart-Shaped Box, Dumb, All Apologies

Favourite tracks - Heart-Shaped Box, Dumb, All Apologies

Remember when Dave grohl was cool?

Best Nirvana album. Cheers.

Perfect final album. Better than Nevermind

I am instantly transported to my Sophomore year of college, playing Streetfighter on Sega in dorm rooms while drinking bad light beer. Aside from the nostalgia, it's a great album, full of rage and disillusionment. ONe of my top 10 rock albums of all time.

5/5 - The essence of the Grunge period concentrated into one final record. - (Nevermind) The Production: Sounds like it was recorded in a gas-station bathroom. Could've been recorded in a womb. The sounds of being born. - Catchy riffs, dirtier fuzz, less polish, looser feel, tighter - They couldn't make another and even if they could have maybe they wouldn't have recaptured the vision. This is lightning in a bottle.

had already listened to it, but its a great album, as any other nirvana release. As a matter of fact, its their best! :) really great overall.

Excellent! Not my fave from them, but still a great listen.

Outstanding grunge album. Ranging from loud and aggressive to softer and melodic to straight up noise at times. A staple of the era.

Listened in the truck via YouTube music. Bought this CD in Europe while in high school. Then found the Steve Albini mix on vinyl years later. Just ordered a 7” from Steve Albinis closet too.

As years go bye this album has become Nirvana's masterpiece to me. I know for Nirvana fan's that is probably blasphemy as it should clearly be Nevermind but I never dust off that album and give it a listen but I do listen to In Utero front to back at least once or twice a year.

I miss Nirvana. I miss the ethos of the 90’s. But here we are. Kurt is gone, the Foo Fighters sell out stadiums and societal collapse is imminent. Pickle ball could be fun I guess.

Nevermind holds its place as their best, but I probably listened to this more. RIP Kurt, RIP Albini, this record fucking bashes bricks.

a bit underrated

The Nirvana album where K Cobain's songwriting sparkled!

A tough gig to follow up Nevermind and to some extent they managed it. A deliberate attempt to try and return to their punkier beginnings and away from the production slickness that brought them fame at places feels, ironically, forced at times. However, this album is a corker, with no weak links. There are the hits in All apologies etc. but real gems in some of the abrasive tracks in particular Frances, Very ape, milk it - I love these tracks. It does have the feel of a band that was on the edge of destruction and if anything Kurt’s struggles enhance his songwriting and meaningful lyrics.

[And desperately tries to think of something more original to say then the 100k other reviews on here] Nevermind, this and Unplugged are like three different worlds, and all 5* albums. But this one always just leaves me feeling sad this was where it ended. Compared to all their contemporaries, their ability to evolve was marked. I would have loved to find out where the journey went next….

So much better than Nevermind. Fav: Frances Farmer will have her revenge on Seattle

Love love love Nirvana.

God nirvana is so good. I think this is my favorite of their albums. 4.5 rounded up

9.5

Fantastic album

Perfect follow up to Nevermind, I'd imagine the pressure to put out a big record was huge of the back of Nevermind being such a commercial success, In Utero may not have the big hits of Nevermind but it's just as good of a listen, love the balance from start to finish on this album.

This was the one Nirvana album I hadn’t listened to yet. I’m now sad we didn’t get more Nirvana. I think this is their best album, definitely not the most accessible, but their best & I really respect they didn’t play it safe.

God album

Again a band i didn't listen before. I have a feeling that I would really enjoy a small underground concert where this album would be played. I mean I like it. Not sure I would listen to them very often, but if in mood, it's vibin. Ou okay I know this Heart-Shaped Box song. Yea, I like them.

For the amount of time I spent listening to Nevermind in middle school, I realized I've never actually listened to In Utero. It's amazing what this band was doing and a shame they didn't have more to give. Would have loved to hear their continued evolution after this heavy wonderfully sloppy album. If you're someone struggling with suicidal thoughts, call or text 988 (in the states). There are people here for you and you deserve life.

maravilhoso

Great album, no notes. You either know some of the songs or don't. And if you don't, listen to the whole thing. And if you only know some, listen to some others. There are a lot of gems here.

My favorite Nirvana album. Much of this album was inspired by Kurt's favorite book Perfume.

An absolute classic - the sound of the PNW in the 90s. Love every moment of In Utero. 5/5

Pretty good

Very honest, very powerful and painful.

Nirvana has always been a weird band for me. Nevermind was huge, and it released as I was turning into an angsty teen…also a teen that was turning into kind of an elitist jerk about music. So, I loved Nevermind up until Nirvana turned into “the voice of a generation” and got played non-stop on radio and MTV. Then I hated Nirvana; for one thing, you couldn’t escape hearing it and it got real old, but also because when the jock and rich kids in your Christian high school start really getting into a band, that band loses one of the big things that made it special to you in the first place. Of course, that’s really pretty dumb, but that’s where I was in high school. All that’s to say, I didn’t listen to much of this record when it came out. I heard the hits, but had moved onto “cooler” pastures by 1993. Eventually, I grew out of this elitist jerk nonsense, realizing that it wasn’t really fair to me to deprive myself of great music on the basis of other people enjoying it also. After all, there’s usually a reason why good music is popular, and why should anyone else’s enjoyment of something affect my enjoyment of the same thing? If anything, joy becomes increased when it can be shared. So, after Kurt’s death and after growing up just a little, I followed back up with Nirvana and found that I loved them again. They’re not one of my all time faves or anything, but I do have a big soft spot for Nirvana and a nostalgic connection to them, and I’m sad that I deprived myself of enjoying them for a few years just cause I was kind of a dick. Anyway, In Utero rules. And I think I prefer it to Nevermind (just barely) because of the rawness of the recording. This album feels angsty like Nevermind, but with more abrasive urgency or something. Probably doesn’t need to be said at this point, but I’ll say it anyway: I still blame Courtney for Kurt’s death. 5/5

BEST SONGS: - All Apologies - Radio Friendly Unit Shifter - Pennyroyal Tea - Scentless Apprentice

An all time classic.

No notes.

Wow I guess I haven't got a Nirvana yet, but I guess we start from the end. I think Steve Albini's (rip btw) production style works more-or-less perfectly for Nirvana, as I think the abrasive, rough around the edges parts fit what they are as a band. I think the more acoustic songs or parts on here show how they were developing, all the more sad that this was their last album. Some of the weird guitar effects are really interesting, and I wonder how some were made. I think this album's style is being low production value, even down to the actual parts, and solos, none of which are actually that complicated, they're just quite strange (like the one in serve the servants), which I think pays off, especially compared with the album before, which is quite polished and complicated, at least production-wise. Favourite songs: all but 2nd and 3rd last maybe. Overall around 9/10

Classic. Best Songs are Rape Me & All Apologies

The recording preserves the rawness of the songs while also feeling immaculate. The image in my mind of this era of Nirvana is the Unplugged performance and to hear these songs again in their album form brings back that they weren’t that far removed from many of the other grunge /alt rocks acts of the time. I think without the unplugged performance Nirvana wouldn’t have reached the legend status that they have attained in the past 30 years. But, I think this is their best studio release.

Nirvana’s best album?

Delighted I finally got a Nirvana album. I assumed at least Nevermind would appear on here at some point so it was a joy to see In Utero was on here. I’ve loved their music for years but it’s been a little while since I’ve listened to In Utero fully and in the album order. It took me straight back to the first time I listened and the range of emotions it gave me. I feel so energised and vibrant when I listen.

This is a raw, bold and heavy record. They achieve an abrasive and unique grunge sound. The album feels focused and well crafted, a classic for Grunge and Rock in general. In terms or performances, Cobain is the obvious standout, his vocal quality and delivery are excellent, and his guitar playing is perfect for their sound, I love the harsh tone they achieved for the guitar. Grohl's drumming is also superb, super heavy and powerful, driving a lot of the energy of the tracks. Novoselic gets the most subdued role, but still fills a key role and does it well.I really liked the bassline on "Serve the Servants". Cobain's lyricism is noteworthy as well, his writing is playful but heavy. It's a dark record at times, even more when considering the allusions to suicide. Nevertheless, his writing feels personal, bold and works great for the sound they deliver here. In terms of favourites, it has many great tracks so it's difficult to choose. "Serve the Servants" is great, "All Apologies" is excellent and a classic by now, same with "Rape Me" and "Heart-Shaped Box". My least favourite was probably "Scentless Apprentice", it leans a bit too much on the noise side, but it's still a very good song and doesn't take away from the album.

Another one of my favorite albums, I remember the first time I heard All Apologies on the radio when I was a teenager. Excellent album...it's interesting to compare the original album with the 2013 mix that's in the Deluxe Edition.

Great album

One of my favorites of all time!

Fantastic album from start to finish

It’s hard for me to pick whether I like Nevermind or this more. Nevermind, while iconic, is more assessable, due to its polish. I mean, to the average person, Smells Like Teen Spirit is easier to listen to than say, Heart-Shaped Box. But In Utero is more “Nirvana”. It showcases the true sound of the band, which makes the fact of this being the last release from Nirvana just all the more tragic. Maybe the eternal mystery of what Nirvana could have been after this album adds to the appeal of it. I don’t really want to say hyperbolic terms like “Kurt Cobain was the voice of a generation” or some crap like that. I just see him as someone who somehow managed to strike a chord with the youth at the time. I’d go as far as to say that Nirvana and Kurt were really the only act to be “grunge”- moody, abrasive, and guttural. Every grunge act after has been chasing them for years. Listening to In Utero is bittersweet. It’s a worthy successor to Nevermind, but it makes you wonder if Nirvana would have had the same level of success, had history been different. But as it is, it’s a fitting end to one of rock’s shortest lifespans. Favorite track: All Apologies Other hits: Heart-Shaped Box, Rape Me, Dumb, Pennyroyal Tea, Milk It, Scentless Apprentice, Very Ape

Yeah this is fantastic. As raw as this album is, the melody and solid songwriting is what makes it. Classic.

The best.

Excellent record! In retrospect, one wonders what great things were still to come

Fucking yassss

Teenage angst has paid off well Now I’m bored and old These opening lyrics slay me every time. This is such a perfect follow up to Nevermind. It’s better in every way. It’s weirder, catchier, angrier, more tortured, and the band sounds so fucking tight. I was obsessed with “Scentless Apprentice” for a minute, and it still slaps. “Heart-Shaped Box” is one of the weirdest songs to top the charts. “Rape Me”’s opening riff sounds enough like “…Teen Spirit” that they got away with playing it on Saturday Night Live (angry Lorne Michaels face). “Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle” is on of my favorite all-time song titles, and “I miss the comfort of being sad” is a great anthem for someone on anti-depressants. “Dumb” is just perfect. The next 3 songs- we get “Very Ape”, a wild animal, with biting sarcasm and lightning fast guitar. Then “Milk It”, probably Nirvana at their weirdest musically and lyrically, but you actually hear Kurt chuckle a little before he goes into the final screaming chorus. Then there’s Pennyroyal Tea, an abortion jam. “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” is another perfect song title for a song about god knows what, followed by “tourettes” which doesn’t really have any lyrics, except for the printed ones that were anagrams for fuck, shit and piss. Finally, we’ve got “All Apologies”. Kurt is sorry for stealing that crayon (aqua sea-foam shame) and is she choking on the ashes of her enemies or her NME? This is Nirvana’s creative peak, and yeah what if Kurt Cobain didn’t kill himself blah blah blah, but I don’t want to think about what an aging Nirvana would look like. I’m glad this is the last album, it’s perfect. All in all is all they are.

Me biased, me love Nirvana. Five star foregone conclusion.

Nirvana was my first favourite band. I was 14 when I first really got into them and I bought all their albums on CD, including the live ones and the best of the box. I struggle to pick between Nevermind and this as my favourite Nirvana album though I usually lean towards Nevermind. I still love this album though. It’s rawer and more emotional. If you don’t like Nirvana you will certainly struggle with some of these tracks, it even took me a bit to get into Scentless Apprentice and even still I’m not its biggest fan. One of the easiest 5 stars for me and even though he died before I was born, I still miss Kurt.

Dope listen through one way. Good heavy metal scream rock

Dumb and Pennyroyal Tea are my favorites.

Probably my favorite Nirvana album.

5-star! This is, if not, better-than, Nevermind. I love this album

Never been a huge Nirvana fan. From the 90s Grunge I prefer Alice In Chains and Soundgarden, but this record is great! Their best by far! It's raw, it's energetic, it has some great vocals and instrumentation, and substance. Very cool!

Todo vocalista e todo baterista FODA deviam ser gravados exclusivamente pelo Steve Albini. PQP. O que ele faz com vocais e percussão é maravilhoso. Adoro o seu estilo de produção, e consequentemente, acabei adorando esse álbum que eu conhecia bem pouco. Nenhuma reclamação. 5/5

I wasn't an angry kid back then but i loved the music nontheless and still do

One of the best!

This record is likely in the top 20 of all time across all genres. Nevermind gets a ton of love, and that's great. But In Utero if a step beyond.

Amazing

esse eh meu preferido deles!!!!!! o nevermind não me pega muito, é limpinho demais. agora esse aqui jesus amado, a produção do steve albini + a força de vontade desses mano de fazer música não amigável pra rádio, é mto pica!!!! gritaria e guitarrada é só alegria. bom demais pra ouvir num dia atarefado e estressante!!

Loved it

In their prime. Polished and messy at the same time. Hooky and trashy. I love it. I could listen to this any time. Five stars.

4.5/5

I've always talked about how my favorite music tends to mix beauty with ugliness, and this is one of the very best examples on that. On its surface, it's a noisy album with abrasive guitar tones, blasts of feedback, dissonance, and screaming, but on the flip side, Kurt Cobain clearly knew what he was doing. The songs are well constructed with catchy melodies, interesting lyrics, and great production from Steve Albini. Though Nevermind was more influential, I think this is the better album. The sequencing is masterful -- "Serve the Servants" is a perfect opener with it's opening line of "Teenage angst has paid off well, now I'm bored and old", "Dumb is a great ending to side 1, "Very Ape" is a super cool opening to the slightly weirder side 2, and "All Apologies" is a great closer for both the album and the band's career. Other highlights for me are "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter", with one of Cobain's coolest bridges, and "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle", which is my favorite Nirvana track. 5 stars.

Classic. 5/5

For me, this was an amazing time to be alive experiencing music. I was never the biggest Nirvana fan but this album impressed me then and impresses me now. Would have loved to see what came next.

Heard it before, god knows how many times. This is a very important album for me and the best Nirvana album in general 5/5

Огонь

Somehow, this still doesn't seem to get the same kind of love as Nevermind, but it definitely rocks! Parts feel like an attempt to over-correct the sense that the band must have been selling out in some way to achieve their success, but more than three decades after whatever may have influenced the choices Cobain and the band made, it still mostly just sounds like a flat-out work of genius.

Another easy five stars for this one. I still remember picking this up when it came out. 100% expectation that it was going to be amazing, but worry and wonder about how was it going to stack up against Nevermind. I wasn't old enough to appreciate the nuance in production value at that time, and was more concerned on how it hit. It hit hard. This album is edgy and raw (Thanks Steve!) but is also the most sophisticated and varied album to date, displaying the promising evolution of Nirvana's songwriting. If it was a meatball, it would be sweet and sour. I would have loved to hear what came next....

Good Album. I have heard the singles before but I hadn't listened to tracks like Scentless Apprentice before. It was supposedly the only song not written by Cobain, so all the decisions like a chromatic crawl upwards during the verses was really surprising. I'll certainly revisit it at a later day

It's Nirvana. There's a specific feeling u only get listening to them

What a voice...the kind you could listen to sing the phone book and it would still sound great

I'm so conflicted on this one. Some phenomenal songs and some that make my skin crawl but I guess that's the point

Love this one Will I listen to again: 100%

Hard to go wrong with Nirvana. Every song on this album is good. It takes me back to high school and the early days of learning bass guitar.

Phenomenal

Fun fact about me. I own just about 400 records....and not a single one of them is a 90's record. Wild. Probably because i'm obssed with 1950-1979 but that's besides the point. Absolutely wild that this is the last bit we got of Nirvana. Overall a rockin record. I could do without a handful of them(personal preference, nothing actually wrong with them). Objectively had to go to listen to Nevermind right after this. RIP Kurt. Nobody's ever alone - remember that. Life can be tough sometimes - but you're NEVER alone.

Nother classic. Weirder than Nevermind, but I appreciate them trying to get back to weirder roots, a bit more raw on both ends. Solid acoustic tracks then heavy in between. The length of the album is perfect too, amazing

My college years were filled with the grunge explosion. There was little in my eyes Nirvana or Pearl Jam could do wrong. Another album that has cemented itself in my memory.

Nirvana!

I don't care what anyone else has to say, this was one of the most punk rock albums of the 90s. I remember waiting for this to come out and being blown away by the rawness and aggression. Such a perfect album, 30+ years later.

Grunge

5/5 Razorblade Lullabies Because this album doesn’t hold your hand. It bites it. It’s uglier than Nevermind, but so much more honest. It’s chaotic, bleeding, ironic, and mournful— a funeral pyre of noise and genius.

Completely different feel than Nevermind, with the exception of Rape Me which was written during that time period. For this record they returned to their Bleach sound, which feels more authentically them. Scentless apprentice is a masterpiece with an absolutely nasty signature Grohl drum groove. I love that they put such a divisive song second on the record, especially on the tails of their more mainstream Nevermind success. I dare you to not tap your foot to Frances Farmer, Very Ape (a favorite), and Milk It. Dumb is a Cobain classic. It’s dark and hilarious with a haunting cello — has some nice ride cymbal action too. Pennyroyal tea is a perfect blend of their older grunge sound and their new softer experiments. I love how they transition back and forth between those sounds on this record. The cello returns to close out the album with the droning melancholic All Apologies. It’s a no skip 5/5 for me.

I think this is my favourite Nirvana album, although they do all slap so hard. Perfect band.

Rating: 9.5/10 More raw than Nevermind, the highlights are some of the band's best material. Other songs are amazing as well, even though Nevermind is more consistently immaculate from start to finish. Cobain feels more pained and emotive on this album and the guitar riffs are so god damn filthy.

When I was 13, I used to babysit 4 shitty kids with even shittier parents. The mother was my sister's old friend so I couldn't really say no, even though I knew it meant I would probably not get paid, would have yo stay overnight even though they needed me for "2-3 hours, top" and would probably wake up to a 5 year old boy making me smell his fingers fresh out his ass. The last time I went there, I saw this album on top of a pile and stole it just to fuck with them a bit. I still have it and it is an all time favorite of mine. It's probably the only good thing I got from babysitting there.

I’m surprised it only took me a little over twenty albums to get the next Nirvana album. But here we are. In my review of Nevermind, I mentioned I didn't have much to add to the larger conversation around that album. After all, it is the one that broke the band into the mainstream, popularizing grunge and alternative rock music. The attention the band got was overwhelming, to the point of irking Kurt Cobain as he was thrust onto a high pedestal. Thus, for their next album, the band opted for a more visceral sound and songwriting approach to lash out and find catharsis in the discomfort. It's why Steve Albini was brought on for the production, to allow the noise to come out raw and unpolished. The door is kicked down with the abrasive guitar lines, punching rhythm section, and Kurt's strained vocals on "Serve the Servants", and this attitude pervades through the rest of In Utero. They hadn't stopped incorporating strong guitar hooks, such as on "Heart Shaped Box" and "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter". They also didn't stop taking risks that paid off on this record. From Dave Grohl writing the guitar line for "Scentless Apprentice", to the use of a cello from session musician Kera Schaley on "Dumb" and "All Apologies", to the quiet-loud-quiet progression that builds to out-right screaming on "Rape Me", to the sliding guitar lines over the reverbed kick drums on "Very Ape", there's a fair amount of experimentation throughout the runtime that made these songs stand out well. Given there was no desire to surpass what they did on Nevermind, Nirvana opted for the road untraveled. As such, In Utero is a different-sounding album that I enjoy just as much. While we would never hear what their next sound could have been after Kurt took his life, it is remarkable what we got.

Arguably the best album in Nirvana's catalog

Love you ma'am I hope you are at peace

# Album Name: In Utero # Artist: Nirvana # Rating: 5/5 # Comments: Honestly, for me this is a great album. It doesnt have the pop hits like nevermind but its a really good album. You can feel the rage in several songs. Then it completely changes tone and goes rather mellow in several tracks like PT, rape me and dumb. There's a slightly different direction on this album with the introduction of more strings. I would have loved to see where Cobain would have taken the band. The best track on the album for me is Radio unit friendly shifter. The lyrics and energy in the distortion is brilliant. Its not quite up there with the "best of the best" albums of all time but its a cracker. Low 5 from me. # Top Tunes: RUFS / HSB / rape me / dumb / all apologies / PRT # Would I listen to it again? Yup

Exceptional

Another amazing album. My favs are dumb, milk it, very ape, and heart shaped box. One of the few bands I wish I could’ve seen from before I was alive. I think this is probably their best album, but I listen to the unplugged almost exclusively when I listen to nirvana.

Teenage angst paid off well

Still remember when this came out. Still love it.

good

Not a huge grunge guy, but I do like a couple records quite a lot. And other than Pearl Jam's "Ten", this is probably my favorite. It waif's me.

Let's face it, Nirvana never put out a bad album. Kurt solidified that when he punched his ticket out of here. I do wish, however, that we could have Albini's production untouched, as I'm sure the album would be even better. Labels gonna label. It's still pretty great though.

Classic album. Before it's time and also ageless.

Absolute Masterpiece. The first verse is one of my favorites - Teenage angst paid off well, now I'm bored and old. Scentless Apprentice and Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle are great songs.

Absolutely incredible album

"Teenage angst has paid off well, now I'm bored and old." A big 'fuck you' from Nirvana to the huge commercial success of "Nevermind" The album that has been with me through my best and worst. No matter what I write, which words I choose to embellish my sentences with or how hard I try to explain, I fear I will never find the right words to even begin to tell the impact this album has had on me. If you've been fighting depression for too long, you know there comes a point when behind all that sadness, that pent-up anger, comes creeping the state of numbness. That's the point where you know you're in the deep end; you cannot feel anything, nothing brings you sadness, anger or frustration, let alone joy. During my lowest, up until the point when I first heard the line "I miss the comfort in being sad," I thought no one had ever nor would ever understand how I felt. Hearing that line felt like receiving the tightest hug filled with so much love and understanding from a great friend. "I miss the comfort in being sad" the exact words I'd wish to come up with to put my abstract feelings into concrete words. At least I was familiar with sadness; that was my natural state, where I felt home emotionally. And when, even sadness was taken away from me, all I could think was how I took it for granted and wished to feel something, even if it was only sorrow. My love for this album doesn't only come from "Frances Farmer", every single song on this album is just so raw and filled with so much emotion that one can bond with the album so quickly over so many great lines and feelings they convey. At least that was the case for me. Been hooked on this album ever since I first heard it and it has been on repeat since. Nirvana and especially Kurt made me the person I am today. They are the reason why I deeply attach to the music and musicians I listen to and have strong opinions about them and their art. Though I'd like to think I am doing better, I will never not keep Kurdt in my thoughts, especially for the way he was always there for the dumb, depressed 13 year old girl who thought life had to end then and there. It makes my heart ache every time I think about the album that I've found a friend in, who has always been there for me every time I needed and brought me such comfort, being their last. What a way to say goodbye Kurdt, still cannot believe you've been gone longer than you've been with us, man. I just wish the person who has brought me so much comfort could also find solace in his life. Miss you so much Kurdt, I always feel like I've lost a very dear friend whom I never got the chance to meet. I hope death is treating you kinder than life ever did. "There is nothing I could say that I haven't thought before" 11/10

No doubt there are hoards of selfish fans who mourn not just Kurt's death but all the music he/they would have made. Of course that opens big emotional can of worms, but where I go is just being grateful for what he did create/share. The elephant in the room feels like just how dangerous fame is. Reminds me of how if the public finds out about a beautiful beach it will be ruined in a short matter of time. I love the Frank Black energy in Scented Apprentice. The music industry is a real mind/soul fuck.

Perfect. I know it back to front. The most slick of their studio albums but it’s loud in every possible good way

Bonus points for sentimental value for 15-year-old-Dom whose room was covered in Kurt Cobain posters. Though admittedly, some songs were easier to sing along to back when my English was not great (looking at you, track 4).

This was great. I've not listened to much nirvana beyond nevermind, but I really enjoyed this. I'll be listening to this again at some point.

RAD!!!

Great album. Listened it thousand times

Smells like............

Was not a fan of this album as a teenager Didn’t get the whole craze around this band I appreciated this way more as a middle aged person. Caustic, Corrosive, distortion heavy goodness Singles from this album I never cared for. Still stands But songs like dumb and very ape and radio friendly unit shifter are amazing Not often a band eschews further polish and refinement in favor of less production and more grit

I literally listened to this several hours before generating this album. Anyway, this is an incredible and abrasive album. It's a great final album.

It's not quite "Nevermind" but that's not saying anything at all. You may as well be comparing the heat of two separate suns, the beauty of two different mountain ranges. It's like comparing two Nirvana albums. Pointless. Just enjoy.

Not much needs to be said. This one goes pretty hard

It starts with that chord then takes us on a journey of angst that is one of the best albums ever.

Beautifully messy and chaotic. Prefer this to the more polished Nevermind. RIP Kurt.

Since I started the 1001 generator, I've often wondered if we'll ever have the joy of hearing a style of music so unique that everyone recognizes the brilliance of the band behind it. That was Nirvana in the 90's. I love the energy and raw emotion in this album. Amazing.

This is iconic. Grunge at its best.

When I first heard this album, I thought Nevermind blew it out of the water, but as I listened to it more over the years, it is right up there with Nevermind. It may be the benefit of hindsight and how hyped never mind was and continues to be that I find myself going to In Utero and live album more.

Pleased to get this album, something I can give a full 5 stars without hesitation. This (and all the Nirvana albums) was on repeat throughout my teens. My friends I had a band in school, we would play Nirvana at the school summer show. Great times!

stone cold classic & their best album!! underrated how weird a band they were!!!!

Still awesome.

This is the 60th album I’m rating. I’ve only listened to Smells like Teen Spirit but it was great so this’ll probably be great too. Adding to my Playlist - Serve the Servants, Scentless Apprentice, Heart-Shaped Box, Rape Me, Frances Farmer will Have her Revenge on Seattle, Dumb, Very Ape, Milk It, Pennyroyal Tea, Radio Friendly Unit Shifter, Tourette’s, and All Apologies. Not Adding to my Playlist - Nothing. Scentless Apprentice - I can really tell Kurt liked the Butthole Surfers. Heart-Shaped Box - I’ve listened to this before. All in all I liked 12/12 songs. This wasn’t what I was expecting but it was great. Kurt Cobain has a very interesting lyrical style though.

This album fucks. Throw this on, windows down and volume up, and fly down an empty highway.

As if I needed an excuse to listen to this masterpiece of an album again but I’m so glad 1001 albums has given me one. Many compare it its predecessor and I honestly think In Utero is more raw and unique and one of the best (if not the best) album of the genre. If Nevermind is an angel then in utero is god.

So awesome! Not my favorite album of Nirvana's, but still super good. Love that sweet skinless angel lady on the cover. Some weird and aggressive sounds on this album but duh. Every song is good but Serve the Servants, Heart-Shaped Box, Rape Me (takes the cake for worst song to play around your parents), Dumb, Pennyroyal Tea, and All Apologies are my favorites. And that's, like, half of them. Iconic album for a reason.

All time classic, arguably the best Nirvana album. Top 3 grunge album.

The best Nirvana album. Nevermind gets all the praise since it had the hits but as far as musical ability goes this far exceeds it. 10/10

Yes, just yes. I mean it's Nirvana! 5/5

Heart-Shaped Box is not only my favourite Nirvana song but one of my all time favourites in general. Alongside Dumb, Rape Me and All Apologies. This album is up there with the best. Easy 5 from me!

The noise rock stuff is great

i'm not gonna be the guy that sighs eternally because of leonard cohen. because who the fuck cares about the guys that kurt sings about? music is everything that we should care. 5/5

This album is one of the all time greats! Almost every track on the album is hugely popular and influential. The production on this album is shockingly clean, and the lyrics are as raw as it gets. Genuinely one of the best albums ever, if you haven’t heard this album go listen to it.

Top 100 album

A standard in my house.

Bro wtf

даже не заметила как весь послушала. Пока лучший из тех что были

Super good rock album. Does so many new things and does them right. not a single miss.

Gran disco del grunge No tiene ninguno de los exitazos de Nirvana y aún así es increíble

Well done. Deeper as they grow. Tragic for what Cobain could have developed.

if I've learned anything from this list it's that Nirvana is actually the only good grunge band

Прикольно, кто нибудь вообще понимает о чем сука поется блят? зато звучит пиздато, груздновато так, мне нравки 5/5, и я знаю, что это мнение пизда какое заезженное, но мне поебать

Cosmo's Factory en In Utero na elkaar... Ik weet niet waarom ik dit verdien, goeie karma ofzo? Ja, what can I say? Dit is Nirvana op z'n best, maar dat is zo bij alle drie de albums. 5.0

Music that sounds like you're getting jumped down an alleyway. If Cobain wanted to shed some of the new fans the band had made after the success of Nevermind, he should have made the songs on this album worse. If that was the idea, the only song he succeeded on was Tourettes, which is terrible. The rest are great. In the top tier of 90's rock albums. 5 Stars.

My first interaction with Nirvana was via a hoody. I was 11 or 12, early into my first year of secondary school and for the first time rubbing up against a subculture with a dress code that wasn’t just “the latest Manchester United kit”. Soon after that I got hold of Nevermind, which was hidden in the bottom of my parents’ wardrobe for a month waiting for Christmas. And then, after Nevermind, it was everything I could get my hands on. The next year or two a frenzy to acquire as much Nirvana – albums, bootlegs, both respectable and entirely unofficial biographies about Kurt, the band, whatever; greeting “You know you’re right” and the journals like a second coming (rather than an invasion of privacy) – as I could carry home from the record fair, the HMV, the shops that stank of incense, wherever. It feels significant to me – and not just because I can still imagine the burning hot shame of being accused, accurately, of wearing a Nirvana hoody without knowing any of their songs; the spotlight that lingers over those preteen and early adolescent years becomes an X-ray in the decades that follow – that Nirvana has always been a puzzle for me. It wasn’t that big a jump in time between working out the identity of the band represented by that cool smiley face thing I liked wearing, to trying to work out why someone who could write songs and lyrics that stuck in my psyche like gravel sticks in the waffle soles of skate shoes would choose to ever stop doing that (“Heavier than Heaven”, another six months later, got me to understand how little a role “choice” played in all of it). A gap of maybe a month between overhauling my identity in reaction to a clothing trend, and reflecting on the real existential jeopardy that might break cover at any moment. “In Utero” sits right in the centre of my Nirvana puzzle. Let alone the fact I didn’t know what a “Radio friendly unit shifter” might be (I suspected something mechanical, which I guess was sort of right) and struggled to fully get across most of the album’s themes, the primordial soup of angst, anger and antipathy from which “Scentless Apprentice”, “Tourettes”, “Rape me”, “Very ape”, “Milk it” and even “Heart shaped box” emerged was a swamp I was willing to get bogged in. As the years rolled on, I found that “In Utero” jagged and caught on my loose threads in a way that Nevermind didn’t. I’d come back to find “Serve the servants” – for me arguably grunge’s greatest song - had clicked, or suddenly with a start realise that “Frances Farmer…” had a story with energy and intensity to match its bombastic middle-8 freak out. I’d listen to “All apologies” bleed into “You know you’re right” on DIY playlists and pretend they’re part of the same breath. I’d discover Leonard Cohen entirely because “Pennyroyal Tea” told me to. Throughout all this – 20 plus years of my life – there sat at either end of “In Utero”’s emotional polarity “Dumb” and “RFUS” – the first a song that lets itself be “just happy” and the other a song that demands to know “what is wrong with me?” Two totally contrasting attitudes to life, incompatible to the point of mutual annihilation – fittingly, completely sonically distinct (vale Steve Albini) from one other too. “Dumb” is dipped oneiric syrup and conjures pastel shades of diaphanous colours; it weighs you down while it lifts you up. “RFUS” is noise as geometry, wave forms crashing atop one another; an exhibition in art punk overseen by a mumbling, desperate, anxious, aggressive, defeated curator. Poles apart in almost every possible sense, then – but here’s where we come back to the puzzle. Because for a thinking, feeling person the idea that the contrasting perspectives of “Dumb” and “RFUS” ought be mutually incompatible will make logical sense, but also won’t ring true in the slightest. We’re all in moments one or the other, sure, but we’re all also often both. 23 years after I first heard “In Utero” I know that. I know that ambivalence is a fact of life; I even suspect that learning to self-regulate might be the whole point of it. Kurt perhaps didn’t, and certainly never had the chance to offer himself that kind of grace. It’s a puzzle, all this.

My favourite Nirvana album

Hacía tiempo que no escuchaba el disco! Una verdadera maravilla volver a oirlo. Ruido y melodía a partes iguales

It's hard to pick a favorite Nirvana album. But Serve the Servants is among my favorite Kurt Cobain lyrics (Teenage angst has paid off well; now I'm old and bored. I tried so hard to have a father; but instead I had a dad.) Scentless Apprentice is among my favorite Dave Grohl drum parts. The oft underrated Krist Novoselic does a lot of heavy lifting, especially on Pennyroyal Tea. And the whole album represents Kurts best guitar sounds, achieved with the help of engineer/producer, Steve Albini. In Utero sound is decidedly abrasive, its lyrics are dark; and as such, it had the bare minimum number of songs that could have gotten regular play on the radio. But it remains among the band's best work.

To say that I listened to this a lot in my teenage years is an understatement.. I may have been about a decade late to Nirvana, but I still wore the knees out of my jeans and wore flannel in the humid Upstate NY summers of the late 90s/early 00s. I was very much looking forward to giving this a listen for the first time in years. Would I enjoy this if I hadn't gone through a grunge phase? Dunno, but I'm enjoying it now. To this day, on the rare occasion that I get to sit at a drum kit, I inevitably bang out the Scentless Apprentice intro.

Final albums are often a chance to cement a legacy. Few stick the landing as perfectly as Nirvana. An album that perfectly encapsulates the darker sides of the human emotional spectrum that concludes with one of the best album closers in any genre, made all the more tragic by Kurt Cobain's suicide 7 months after the release of the album. Best track: All Apologies

It's a shame that Kurt couldn't get the help he needed, but as far as final albums, this one is pretty hard to beat.

Fuck it, 5 stars. I was too young but I get it, ya know? This one, I get it.

Exceptional

Just class

Resonates more in 2025 than it did when it came out. Brilliant album.

Good

Gear: Abyss DIANA MR Artwork: 👼🫀🌱 Production: 🥩😊👌 Music: 🥀🤬🆘 Rating: ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹/5

I think this is my favorite Nirvana album. Something about the emotion in Kurt's voice always gets me. Makes me feel all kinds of ways. Easy 5 stars for me.

Not my favorite album of theirs but still an easy 5.

There's a line I remember about this album — and don't ask me where I got this line from, but the way I remember it going is, basically, "IN UTERO was made with the purpose and intent of losing every fan Nirvana had made with NEVERMIND." Whether or not that's exactly true, it's always been the lens through which I've understood this album. It's not an entirely unreasonable assumption. You listen to the noisiest tracks off of NEVERMIND and there's a level of polish present in them so that they won't scare off people who bought the CD for "Smells Like Teen Spirit". The guitars are heavy, and the drums can do machine gun fills, but none of it's mixed to be too loud or abrasive. Meanwhile, you contrast that with a lot of the songs on this album, with its whining feedback, up-to-eleven fuzz and distortion, confrontationally descending riffs... Goodness, just how Kurt screams a lot of the lyrics. There's hardly any concessions to mainstream appeal beyond, like, one or two songs — and you could argue that they're only there because the album couldn't be 100% noise. They're not The Jesus & Mary Chain, after all. But, I mean, even the big lead single, "Heart-Shaped Box", doesn't strike me as exactly the friendliest sound for radio. Honestly, listening to NEVERMIND directly after IN UTERO, I can really understand why some people in my group said pretty quickly after the album was revealed that it was Nirvana's best. NEVERMIND, despite how good the material is and how important it is to popularizing grunge, can sound like a compromise when placed next to how raw and punk IN UTERO is. It can feel like NEVERMIND is only considered Nirvana's best album because it has the big pop hits, overshadowing the true genius found in songs on IN UTERO like "Milk It", "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle" and "Radio-Friendly Unit Shifter". For my money... I will say, I actually am inclined to agree with that to an extent, although I would still say NEVERMIND is my favorite. See, I'm someone who likes polish and big pop hits. "In Bloom" and "On A Plain" might not have that raw punk sensibility of abrasive noise, but damn it, they're killer songs with great hooks. NEVERMIND isn't as acclaimed as it is for nothing, after all, and I can't front: polish and hooks are more often than not I'm gonna return to first over anything else. I mean, I don't think it's not nothing that besides the songs that were released as singles, the track I return to the most from IN UTERO is "Dumb", an outlier in the track listing for being a mellower song with a cello. The rest, let's be real, can blend into the mush of "noise." But as for IN UTERO as Nirvana's best album, meanwhile — y'know, I wanna start off by making something clear about my perspective. When I say that this album was made to lose all of the fans they'd gotten with NEVERMIND, there's sometimes a part me that subliminally extrapolates that to their **entire** fanbase. As if this album was supposed to be their equivalent of Eminem's ENCORE or Bob Dylan's SELF PORTRAIT; just a giant middle finger to the fans, the critics, the label, the expectations, everything and everyone. Clearly, though, they did still want people to **like** this album; I don't think you'd have the mellower songs like "Pennyroyal Tea", "Dumb" and "All Apologies", and I don't think they would've left off songs like "I Hate Myself And Want To Die" if that were the case. What it's more about is that this album was designed, from its conception, to be the kind of album the band would like to buy. So, y'know, y'still got your share of pop-ish moments (Kurt **did** love MEET THE BEATLES!, after all), but it's louder and way more unrestrained. And if we're to view this album, then, as the band's "true sound," unchained from concessions... Yeah, in that sense, absolutely, it's the best thing they ever made. So, despite my small reservation about this album falling into "noise for noise's sake," I can't give it any less than a 5 like I gave their other two albums on this list. It's incredible, from Kurt, Dave and Krist's performances, down to Steve Albini's decision to get out of the band's way and let them make the sound they wanted to. I don't reach for it as often as NEVERMIND, but I don't hafta in order to recognize its greatness. All in all, that's all it is. Kurt Cobain (1967-1994) Steve Albini (1962-2024)

Kurt was a once in a generation kind of artist, and this album shows it in spades. Solid 5 Stars.

I’m at a 4.5 – I’ll have to talk my brain one way or the other. This is my first time listening to In Utero in full – much like Nevermind, I knew the bigger hits, but everything in between was a mystery to me. Granted, some of it was on the MTV Unplugged album we got around 350 days ago, but it’s been a while, you know? When I finished Nevermind, I thought I had a real sense of clarity about the hype behind Nirvana, and specifically, what Kurt Cobain really and truly meant to a rabid generation waiting for their sort of musical messiah that would inspire people and lead a counterculture revolution of sorts. Obviously, I’m exaggerating a bit, but from the way he’s still held up as this sort of mythical figure in the 27 Club and all that, it’s hard to not perceive him as something at least close to that. In a way, I’m very glad that this album is all about trying to deconstruct that image as much as possible – this is not the radio friendly unit shifter that Nevermind was. This is Nirvana, as a group, led by Kurt Cobain (but not defined by him), openly rejecting the MTV-driven movement that made Nevermind a monster smash success. This is riding the wave of what grunge would soon become, and what would soon be picked up on by Alice in Chains, the Smashing Pumpkins, and others – fuck the refinement of it all & make something raw that speaks to the soul and comes from the heart. There’s not anything like Smells Like Teen Spirit or Something in The Way on here, and it’s honestly kind of welcome. That’s not to say that the Nevermind style goes away; the tracks that do lean back into that style are fantastic, and the highlights of this album for me. However, this album still shines rather bright whenever it accepts its grungier, heavier, more gritty, and less polished sound. At its core, this is a raw album, and while Kurt Cobain’s lyrics tell the stories of each track, his presence feels less notable here than on Nevermind from a vocal perspective. Let me put it this way – imagine if Freddie Mercury just stopped belting, and just sort of… sang, without any of the showmanship that made him famous. It wouldn’t sound bad, but it would be noticed, and it would certainly feel different. That’s what Kurt does here – gone is the extreme polish, and in comes a man battered and wounded by the effects of global fame. Don’t get me wrong, his voice still has great standout moments, and his presence is unmistakably there, but it’s tinged with a combative tone, and that combative tone spread to the rest of the band, and arguably, to the rest of the genre following his suicide. That’s all preamble about Kurt – what do I think of the actual attempt, musically, to shift away from Nevermind’s style and introduce a grittier, more “raw” Nirvana that would still sound fresh and innovative? Well, I’d say it worked – I really do like the unpolished feel of this album. Dave Grohl’s drumming is still fantastic, but the overall feel of each track is looser, more reminiscent of the garage punk bands that inspired Kurt in the 80s. “Serve the Servants” is a great opener, and the album doesn’t really slow down from there, though it falters a little – stuff like “Rape Me” and “Milk It” didn’t quite mesh well with my tastes but they’re still solid tracks. I bounced totally off of “Radio Friendly Unit Shifters” & “tourette’s”, though I didn’t hate them – just a little too out there for me, even for Nirvana. Ultimately, while I don’t think it lends itself to the same knockout consistency of Nevermind, I also don’t think they wanted to achieve that at all. As far as how it translates into a full album, that’s where I’m stuck between a 4 and a 5, because I can’t really get a grasp on how much I liked the album for itself, and how much I liked it for the attempt to reclaim their own image. I don’t think it’s as good as Nevermind, but it’s still Nirvana, and some of my favorite songs from them (Heart-Shaped Box, Dumb, All Apologies) are on this album. I think, just based on the strength of those tracks (and most of the others), as well as the (mostly) successful attempt to disavow the idea of Kurt Cobain as a musical savior, that I’m gonna bump this up to a 5. God bless Kurt, though, man. Gone too soon.

Probably their best.

Listened to the album. Think I’m just happy.

Couple of stinkers but a couple of greatest evers

Sonic storm of lost love, pain, and wanting to be oneself. Fabulous work of art.

I was an angsty teenager who loved grunge, of course this album gets 5 stars. Amazingly I remember all the lyrics despite not listening to this album in years. The big thing with this list is figuring out which of the 5 star Nirvana albums is my favorite.

Serve the Servants - 9.0/10 Scentless Apprentice- 8.7/10 Heart Shaped Box - 9.7/10 Rape Me - 9.2/10 Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle - 9.4/10 Dumb - 9.3/10 Very Ape - 9.1/10 Milk It - 8.4/10 Pennyroyal Tea - 9.5/10 Radio Friendly Unit Shifter - 8.6/10 Tourette’s - 8.5/10 All Apologies- 10/10 OVERALL - 9.1/10

I was debating this one. It's my least favorite Nirvana Album. The highs are great but I find some of the songs to be just Okay. Really what I think happened is that I've heard the best songs on the album too many times. This album is great and it's no one's fault that I can't listen to it with fresh ears again. It's a 5 star album. What Nirvana did was revolutionary.

I’m not sure I like this album more than Nevermind but I do still enjoy it quite a bit. The sound is the tiniest bit more evolved as is the songwriting and performance. There’s still plenty of raw anger (Scentless Apprentice, Pennyroyal Tea, Milk It) and nearly every song has the quiet-loud-quiet-real loud dynamic but for whatever reason the songs sound musically more advanced than previously. It’s still very much a Nirvana album but judging on the pure amount of “I have to listen to this again” songs I think Nevermind edges it out. That said I’m comparing a great album to another great album. I like all of it. Its awesome. It’s the slightly more sophisticated side of them and it makes me sad that we’ll never hear what would’ve come after.

Nirvana's third album is great. While still having the formula that made them famous they seem to do all they can to make it less popular. It feels less produced and speaks less to the band being the front of teenage rebellion and more like they are old and wizened and jaded from their 2 years of fame. The singles are standouts as could probably be expected but the b sides are all solid. I like Nevermind better.

Scentless apprentice was too loud for me. The rest of the album is like really good.

Nirvana is another one of those bands where there’s not a whole lot I can say that hasn’t been said. Great album

Their best album, for me. The choice to return to Steve Albini for production really paid off here because this doesn’t sound like a band that hit the mainstream at all. It’s raw and it is gorgeous.

9.5/10

Massive album. A couple of my favorite Nirvana tracks are on this one. If you weren't around when this was released, internet search 'Waif Me' to see how much controversy this album caused.

Big sound, consistent, dynamic. Poppy, heavy. No filler.

This album felt like a test for those ‘new fans’ that got caught up in the wave of popularity from Nevermind. I absolutely loved (and still love) the comparitively harsh and punk elements of the album. Distortion, feedback and eye-widening lyrics. There’s still smatteings of the softer poppy side of Nirvana. The simple and haunting guitar intro and riffs on ‘All Apologies’ is just stunning. This is a 5 star all day long. No debate needed.

This was the best way to stick two fingers up at the corporate music industry. You hire one of the most scary of sound engineers to record the follow up to what is probably one of the biggest rock albums of all time, those Geffen Execs must have been shitting themselves when the name Albini was mentioned. For good reason, the influences are all there, hardcore Big Black with ‘Scentless Apprentice’, what a track! I remember buying ‘Heart Shaped Box’ and playing it stupidly loud about 12 times in a row (how my parents must have loved that), it’s probably the only Nirvana song I cannot get bored of. Plenty of loud/quiet Pixies influenced stuff. But the big middle finger to the millions of Nirvana fans who have never heard of Mudhoney, etc, is ‘Radio Friendly Unit Shifter’, not exactly what it says on the tin. What a follow up to the shiny Nevermind, the masses lapped it up, but I have no idea why. It’s not your average rock album is it? Musically it is a complete smack round the head, I can imagine it made the average listener think they were really cool, without really understanding they were being mocked. Bless them all and I wonder if they still own or even play it? It’s a massive 5.