An album fit for anemic royalty.
On September 21, 1993, DGC Records released Nirvana’s third — and final — studio album. Less than seven months later, the enigmatic frontman would tragically die by suicide. With the 30th anniversary of his passing on the horizon (not to mention the 30th anniversary of In Utero) Cobain — and Nirvana — have been honored with the re-release of their second number-one album.
Nevermind was the trio’s first number-one album (US Billboard 200); In Utero was the unapologetic studio album that demanded to follow in Nevermind’s footsteps. And follow, it did. It would also be the band’s last studio album and one that listeners would pontificate over for decades to come, analyzing each potent lyric as Cobain’s feelings were worn on his second-hand sleeve.
The remastered version of October 2023’s In Utero is nothing short of a masterpiece and it has the price tag to prove it (just pennies under $325, to be exact, provided fans dig deep into their pockets and opt for the biggest, baddest version available). But listeners opting for the 8LP Vinyl Super Deluxe edition not only receive an astounding 72 tracks (53 of them previously unreleased, until now) but they’re immersed in all-things Nirvana, the Super Deluxe edition featuring an assortment of band paraphernalia.
But fans aren’t forced to shell out several hundred dollars to experience In Utero in all its twenty-first-century glory. After all, would the man who rebuked fame and fortune be on board with charging listeners a small fortune to experience his music? You can choose from four different packages, the 2 CD Deluxe edition coming in at a modest $19.98. However, only the Super Deluxe editions feature the bonus material. These coveted bonus tracks are two complete concerts: Live in Los Angeles, which the band played on December 30, 1993, and Live in Seattle, which Nirvana played the following year on January 7th and 8th. These two shows would be the band’s final performances in Seattle — and the U.S., which means the Super Deluxe edition offers some incredible music from Nirvana’s brief watershed of a career.
Fans opting for the 8LP Super Deluxe edition will receive 5 B-sides (all music that’s been previously released). But the B-side tracks have been remastered for an incredible listening experience, with early ‘90s Cobain, Novoselic, and Grohl transported directly into twenty-first-century speakers. Additionally, six live songs from the In Utero tour have been added. These tracks hail from shows in Rome (February 22, 1994), New York (November 1993 as part of the In Utero North American Tour and shortly before the band’s transcendental MTV Unplugged show on November 18, 1993), and Springfield (November 10, 1993). The legendary Jack Endino artfully reconstructed these live tracks, courtesy of stereo soundboard recordings. The result is something stunning and akin to owning an exclusive Nirvana time machine.
Yes, the remastered 2023 version of In Utero features the original 12 tracks the infectious lead singer bleated thirty years ago, plus so much more. This means that Frances Farmer is once again seeking revenge on Seattle as Cobain screams through pursed lips, his gravelly smoker’s grit summoning “All Apologies.”
Carlos “Cake” Nunez, a writer and musician, became friends with Kurt while interviewing him for fLiPSiDE. Carlos remembers how he met different members of the band, along with his experience at the LA Forum show featured on the album. “SNL was Pat Smear’s first true appearance with Nirvana, which I watched on TV the night of September 25, 1993. But I will never forget that experience or being flown to see Pat perform the first live show with Nirvana at the Phoenix State Fair in Phoenix, Arizona. Then I was at the LA Forum show on December 30, 1993, and had backstage passes. That was something else! Watching their soundcheck of “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” was amazing because no one else except security and the management was in the room. I mean WOW!”
Listening to this remastered album is surreal and, quite frankly, nothing short of phenomenal. It’s easy to press “play” on a studio album and wonder how many times a track took to record. Despite the band’s relative “off-the-cuff” sound, there was always a degree of calculation afoot. Cobain took tremendous pride in his music — his art — and was undeniably talented. Novoselic and Grohl brought forth an insurmountable amount of skill and together, the trio curated some of the most prolific and stirring music the world has ever had access to. But listening to remastered tracks from live performances is a reminder that Nirvana was effortlessly talented and that Cobain’s raw, candid performances were simply undeniable; tragically, his pain was unquantifiable.
The remastered version of In Utero offers up multiple performances of the album’s infectious tunes, but “All Apologies” is one that always sticks out, especially when armed with the knowledge of Cobain’s tragic passing. As “All Apologies” slices through the air, Cobain’s haunting lyrics are perfectly in tune with the gnarled distortion that rang out from his Boss DS-2. Grohl was the eternal pace car and Novoselic kept an irrefutable bass line. “What else should I be? All apologies” was the portent the whole world missed. But thirty years later, Cobain’s smoker’s grit still rips through speakers everywhere, as Nirvana is one of the bands that the world simply can’t get enough of.
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