Baby Nirvana

Okay I'm going to admit to you readers out there that I really have not told only but a few people.  Are you ready?  Steve Albini's mix of In Utero by Nirvana is pure F*&kin' genius.  It's the only version I will listen to.  When it was circulating around the file sharing I grabbed it very quick and fell in love.  It's easy to do too.  The Albini mix is rougher and chunkier sounding and better then the commercial release.

I was not a big Nirvana fan when they were around.  This was due to the fact that I heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit" like every hour.  The repetition of this song was too painful to endure.  I'm not sure what radio and MTV plan was to put this on extreme heavy rotation, but it wore the band and the song out. I can only imagine hearing "Free Bird" every hour on a multitude of radio stations.  It got worse with every single that Nirvana put out.  I stopped listening to them all together for about two years.  It was when I saw the video (again overplayed) for "Heart-Shaped Box" that I knew the band was on to shedding their commercial image.  The video was different and a bit of a nod to the Avant-Garde.  The middle solo in the song was pretty close to to the next best thing.

Seeing Nirvana only once made me realize that they were on to something special and even if MTV was not part of it they could have been on to more then legendary status.  Kurt's words along with the power trio sound in full effect, they had broke the Grunge mold and certainly could have been a forerunner into a stupid MTV made up genre of music.  What made In Utero different was the way it was recorded and produced.  Hearing the story that Steve Albini was going to help them with an album I knew they were going to ditch the image that was set up for them.  Steve famous with his own musical projects, and also as an awesome producer who loved thick, loud and non commercial sound was a match made in heaven.

Nirvana was a great band and with Albini at the helm they were much better and most of all I think they found their voice.  With a lot of their music being saturated on MTV they needed to distance themselves from that.  Nirvana was not the only guilty one.  Bands like Portishead, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and countless others.  I equate it to when I hear Classic Rock songs that we all know get played over and over.  You know the tunes, you don't need me to remind you of those songs we here too many times.  With In Utero this was Nirvanas chance to break free of that commercial success.

When I listen to the Albini's mix I see what he wanted to do to the band.  He wanted to the best of how they were before fame got to them and key that raw alternative sound that they had.  He did a great job, sadly the record company did not see it that way.  I really wish they let the band and Albini have the creative control they should have.  Nirvana was unique and interesting even songs they put on soundtracks or even that great No Alternative showed us their true roots.  Two songs that should have been on the album "Sappy" and the eerie "I Hate Myself And Want To Die" are great and along with "Heart-Shaped Box" and "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter" are prime examples of classic Nirvana.  Classic Nirvana is what I like and I hope you too.  If you have this mix; play it loud.