1001 Albums Summary

The magnum opus of the most influential band in the last 30+ years. Once albums turn 10+ years old, “influence” it has is typically a large contributor to the hindsight of how good/important that album is. I’d say the countless failed attempts to mimic the raw but still crispy mixing, distorted strings, blunted drums, and vocal-chord shredding Cobain-isms are more flattering than just having a string of records (positively) influenced by In Utero — this record ruined a generation of artists and (in my opinion) basically birthed butt-rock because no one else is capable of making this sound work. Your Puddle of Mudds, Bushs (post Sixteen Stone), Disturbeds, Breaking Benjamins, Nicklebacks of the world are all trying to do this sound (and awfully-so). If this album didn’t click because of its rawness, check out Nirvana’s MTV unplugged set (it’s on Apple Music and Spotify). A good chunk of that set is stripped-back acoustic versions of these songs that can let you appreciate the songwriting and musicianship that a lot of people fail to appreciate because of how loud and abrasive this album is. I’d also encourage you to watch https://youtu.be/R3XIGon2RjY?si=x6t-Q2ifgFwg9oRs. There’s a reason why chunks of this record openly mock its predecessor Nevermind — In Utero is Nirvana’s defining album: abrasive, different, boundary-pushing, angry, and a general fuck you to anyone that wanted 15 tracks in the style of Smells Like or Come as You Are again. Best: Heart Shaped Box, Frances Farmer, Milk It, Radio Friendly Unit Shifter Worst: n/a