Nirvana - In Utero (Steve Albini Mix) (1993)

In 2003, the UK division of Universal Records released a limited edition, vinyl only reissue of Nirvana's 1993 album 'In Utero', to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the release of the album. These vinyl copies were pressed in Germany, and when they hit the stores people who were familiar with the original release were surprised to hear a distinct difference in the overall sound of the album, most noticeable on 'Heart Shaped Box' and 'All Apologies', the two big singles from the album. It has been widely known for some time that Steve Albini was the first choice as producer for the album, but when he submitted his mix to the record company, they had serious issues with it, complaining that the vocals were too low in the mix, there was too much 'effect' on the drums, and some of the guitar parts were either too loud or were overly distorted. While most of the observations are quite accurate, those same qualities were (and still are) what Albini is known and loved for, and Kurt Cobain himself had specifically requested that Albini record 'In Utero', based on his production on 'Surfer Rosa' by the Pixies, which was one of Cobain's all-time favorite records, and the complaints regarding the sound were in fact what Cobain wanted so much in the first place. While the band was initially quite insistent on the album being released as recorded by Albini, they eventually came to agree with the criticism and decided to remix some of the songs, and possibly add some guitar overdubs where needed. When Albini was informed about all of this, he was not happy, as he is well known for his strong-willed nature and highly opinionated approach to recording an album, and the mechanics of the recording/entertainment industry in general. At first he refused to allow his mix of the album to be changed in any way, as before the recording sessions had started he had made an agreement with the band to ensure that his final mix would not be altered or remixed, although unfortunately for him, this agreement was not in writing. He later agreed to let the two proposed singles from the album, 'Heart Shaped Box' and 'All Apologies', be remixed by someone else, but made it clear that he didn't think anybody could improve on his versions. Geffen hired Scott Litt to remix both tracks and to add a few overdubs to 'Heart Shaped Box', after which the whole album was sent to a mastering studio which, Albini claims, screwed up the sound even more by narrowing the stereo separation, boosting the mids, and generally softening the sharp-edged overall sound. The album, containing the Scott Litt remixes, was officially released on September 21, 1993 and debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200. Ten years later, it seems that Universal UK made a significant mistake when pulling the 1/2" master tapes for their 2003 vinyl reissue, and they accidentally used Albini's original, unmastered mix instead of the final masters, and this album is ripped directly from one of these 2003 vinyl copies, making it a huge improvement on some poor quality bootlegs that are circulating online at the moment, some of which appear to have been recorded at the wrong speed, and we can now hear what Cobain originally wanted the album to sound like.  

Track listing

01 Serve The Servants
02 Scentless Apprentice
03 Heart-Shaped Box
04 Rape Me
05 Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle
06 Dumb
07 Very Ape
08 Milk It
09 Pennyroyal Tea
10 Radio Friendly Unit Shifter
11 tourette's
12 All Apologies