Nirvana’s Most Honest Work Gets the Deluxe Treatment

NirvanaCourtesy UMe

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Nirvana
In Utero 20th Anniversary Edition
UMe

In Utero deluxe

Nirvana’s third and final studio album, recorded in the wake of the band’s startling rise to the top of the commercial heap, reflected Kurt Cobain’s deep ambivalence about mainstream success. Recruiting iconoclastic producer Steve Albini to shore up their punk cred, the trio turned in a noticeably harsher, more demanding work than Nevermind, the band’s chart-busting breakthrough, confronting casual listeners with tracks like “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” and “Rape Me.” But there’s still no denying that Cobain had a strong pop sensibility (perhaps to his chagrin). However brusque the production and jagged the arrangement, “Heart Shaped Box” remains a darn catchy tune.

Various configurations of this edition offer additional goodies to savor. While different mixes of the same song may appeal to hardcore fans only, the B-sides are a real plus, notably “Marigold,” the first composition by drummer Dave Grohl (who went on to launch Foo Fighters), and Cobain’s regrettably prophetic “I Hate Myself and Want to Die”—and the live tracks seethe with tortured energy.

In any case, the original 12 songs of the album, a stirring, nonstop eruption of frayed nerves, remain required listening. In Utero may not have been Nirvana’s most listenable work, but it was probably their most honest. A pity it had to be their last.

THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

payment methods

THE FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

At least we hope they will, because that’s our approach to raising the $350,000 in online donations we need right now—during our high-stakes December fundraising push.

It’s the most important month of the year for our fundraising, with upward of 15 percent of our annual online total coming in during the final week—and there’s a lot to say about why Mother Jones’ journalism, and thus hitting that big number, matters tremendously right now.

But you told us fundraising is annoying—with the gimmicks, overwrought tone, manipulative language, and sheer volume of urgent URGENT URGENT!!! content we’re all bombarded with. It sure can be.

So we’re going to try making this as un-annoying as possible. In “Let the Facts Speak for Themselves” we give it our best shot, answering three questions that most any fundraising should try to speak to: Why us, why now, why does it matter?

The upshot? Mother Jones does journalism you don’t find elsewhere: in-depth, time-intensive, ahead-of-the-curve reporting on underreported beats. We operate on razor-thin margins in an unfathomably hard news business, and can’t afford to come up short on these online goals. And given everything, reporting like ours is vital right now.

If you can afford to part with a few bucks, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones with a much-needed year-end donation. And please do it now, while you’re thinking about it—with fewer people paying attention to the news like you are, we need everyone with us to get there.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate