Content warning: The following article mentions explicit content and rape in the context of the album. 

On Sept. 21, 1993, grunge icon Nirvana released their final album, “In Utero.” The album followed Nirvana’s sophomore album “Nevermind,” which resulted in overwhelming success due to its lead single “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” Following the success of “Nevermind,” Nirvana skyrocketed into worldwide fame. Although “In Utero” is widely praised by fans for its unconventional sound and Cobain’s lyricism, it was not the ending that Nirvana fans were expecting, and it is certainly one of my least favorite grunge albums. 

“In Utero” opens with the iconic line, “Teenage angst paid off well, now I’m bored and old,” from “Serve the Servants.” The fast-paced guitar tone immediately sounds much darker compared to “Nevermind,” and is more similar to Nirvana’s dark debut “Bleach.” Though grunge has always been known as messy, due to its overuse of distorted electric guitar, Nirvana takes the gain-driven distortion a little too far with this album. In addition, Nirvana has been known to utilize cynical lyrics and a disorganized musical structure compared to other grunge bands. However, there is a lot of out-of-place screaming on the album, making numerous songs unenjoyable — most notably on “Scentless Apprentice.” During the whole song, I just wanted to give Kurt Cobain a cough drop due to his senseless screaming.

However, the album did carry much more of a creative drive compared to their previous work. The music video for “Heart Shaped Box” caused a lot of drama in the ‘90s for the way the band portrayed religion since a Christ figure is seen nailed to a crucifix. Nirvana also included a young child dressed as a Ku Klux Klan member, a fetus hanging from a tree and a man on his death bed. The music video’s shocking scenery blended well with Cobain’s historic, catchy guitar riff. This, along with Cobain’s narrow vocal range that mixed well with Dave Grohl’s drum beat, made it one of Nirvana’s most captivating videos. People were shocked that video was able to be played on MTV as often as it was, due to a rise of censorship amongst musicians in the ‘90s. 

Nirvana has always been in the media, whether it was for praise or controversy.  “In Utero’s” startling song, “Rape Me” is self-explanatory as to why it’s problematic. On the first listen of the song, it is hard not to acknowledge Cobain’s grotesque lyrics. While it was later to be determined as an anti-rape song, it is still a little too uncomfortable of a song for me to enjoy. Despite the discomfort, “Rape Me” has one of the best musical buildups on the album. In general, I have mixed feelings about the song — musically, I like the guitar and vocal buildup, but that could be due to the fact that the guitar riff is a complete rip-off of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” 

  I like some of the middle tracks on “In Utero”  — “Dumb” is re-listenable and so are the next tracks “Very Ape,” and “Milk It.”  I enjoy the songs due to Cobain’s sneering lyrics. Although Cobain oftentimes fell short as a singer and guitarist, his lyrics are what made him a great musician. But despite being one of the most applauded lyricists for his time, oftentimes Cobain’s writing was the only good part of a song and the musical composition fell short, making some of their tracks unenjoyable. A good example of this is track 10: “Pennyroyal Tea.” The song shines with Cobain’s emotionally charged lyrics, but I don’t like the production or how Cobain restrains the song with his narrow vocal range. Even worse, following tracks, “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” and “Tourette’s” are some of Nirvana’s weakest songs. None of Cobain’s lyrics stand out in an emotional tone. The disappointing tracks sound more like engrossing, aggravating background noise that I’d like to change.

 Finally, the album closes out with one of Nirvana’s most famous and rather musically annoying songs “All Apologies.” I praise the song for the creative and catchy guitar opening, but Cobain’s overused screaming tone overshadowed other musical components on the track, which makes the song fall short for me. 

“In Utero” has been certified platinum five times in the U.S. and sold 15 million copies, just half of the 30 million copies that “Nevermind” had previously sold. Nirvana’s tone, lyrics and the way they presented themselves is something I have little interest in. “In Utero” has a couple of good songs — namely,  “Heart Shaped Box” and “Dumb” — but the other 10 songs are skippable — which are how the other Nirvana albums are for me as well. Nirvana only has enough good songs out of their three albums to make one good album.

Just because I don’t claim Nirvana as my favorite grunge band doesn’t mean I don’t recognize or respect the work they put out: without the release of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Nevermind,” grunge may not have ever broken through the mainstream media. But what did “In Utero” bring? What did it change? For me, it changed nothing. While some credit it as a remarkable album and the conclusion to grunge, as it was Nirvana’s last album before Cobain’s death, it didn’t give me the rush of serotonin that “Nevermind” brought me. The album falls short because it took a wrong direction with Cobain’s out-of-place screaming and more exaggerated tone, becoming an album that I couldn’t musically find interest in. It is applauded with multiple rereleases and awards more for being their last album, rather than the quality of actual production. Overall, “In Utero” is a disappointing and unexpected finale for these grunge legends.

The Pathfinder gives Nirvana’s “In Utero” a 5/10.