In Utero


  1. Pennyroyal Tea (4)
  2. All Apologies (6)
  3. Dumb (8)
  4. Rape Me (13)
  5. Serve the Servants (15)
  6. Heart Shaped Box (16)
  7. Very Ape (18)
  8. Scentless Apprentice (22)
  9. Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle (24)
  10. Radio Friendly Unit Shifter (32)
  11. Milk It (33)
  12. Tourette's (34)
In Utero could have theoretically been the greatest album of all time, but it still would be scrutinized in comparison to Nevermind.  Nevermind was a juggernaut that simply couldn't be overshadowed.  Rightfully so.  Nevermind never lags, whereas In Utero is very uneven.  It has three songs in the top 10, but it also has three in the bottom 10.  It's best aren't quite as good as Nevermind's, but it's worst aren't as bad as Bleach's.  It's the perfect "middle" album essentially.  

Part of me thinks the unevenness of it was intentional.  Cobain stated many time how he was embarrassed by Nevermind, and he had that punk rock identity crisis of whether he "sold out" or not on the album.  I think some of the songs on In Utero were purposely put out in their, ahem, current state just to prove, "see I'm not a sellout, check out these noisy (translation: bad) songs."   

My one controversial ranking is probably Heart Shaped Box.  I've read one prominent Nirvana historian say that is the greatest song they ever wrote.  I ranked it at number 16!  While I like it, it probably is shocking to see it placed below a song like Serve the Servants.  Which isn't a knock on Servants, it's just that that song has really grown on me the last five years and I'm positive I like it better than anybody else. Teenage angst has paid off well, now I'm bored and old. I love that opening lyric.   

All that being considered, In Utero is better than nearly any rock album that has been put out in the last 10 years.  Maybe longer.         

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