Professional admits he wasn’t a big fan of Kurt Cobain’s band before working on the album In Utero
When he began work on his latest studio album, In Utero (1993), the Nirvana he was determined to “change the team” that was “winning”. Although he had enormous success with the album Nevermind (1991), the group led by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain He chose to explore a different sound, less commercial and more linked to his punk roots.
Thus, the name of Steve Albini. The producer was on the rise in the alternative segment for having produced the band’s debut albums. Pixies (Pink Surfer) It is Breeders (Pod). However, he wasn’t a big fan of the grunge movement’s most popular band.
In a statement to the biographer Michael Azerrad (via Far Out), Albini was short and thick when explaining his opinion on Cobain and its partners at the time. The professional considered them “not very noticeable”.
“I thought they were an unremarkable version of the Seattle sound. I thought they were pretty typical of bands from that time and place.”
In another statement, now to the documentary Sonic Highways — promoted by Foo Fightersband led by the drummer of Nirvana, Dave Grohl —, Steve He said that he had been scouting for some time to work with the trio, but hadn’t even noticed. The attacks were very discreet.
“There were rumors that I had been asked to work on Nirvana’s next album. I had no contact with the band at that time. I remember getting some drunk phone calls. It was someone saying weird things about records, but I didn’t know they were talking to Kurt Cobain from Nirvana.”
Little familiar
In 2021, when talking to the Music Radar(via Igor Miranda website), Steve Albini reaffirmed that he was not a fan of Nirvana before In Utero. However, he admitted that, until then, he had not listened to the band carefully either.
“I was not a fan of Nirvana before I started working on that record. I wasn’t familiar with their music, but what I had heard was very one of a kind. And the guy being part punk, part grunge, part garage, with a lower tuning from Seattle, a hybrid of Stooges It is Melvins. I had this impression of their music without listening carefully.”
The project presented by Kurt Cobain attracted him. Albini He liked the idea of working on an album that wouldn’t sound so commercial.
“In ‘In Utero’ They wanted to make an intentionally more primitive record, and by ‘primitive’ I don’t mean rudimentary, I mean a record in which the band’s sound was without any varnish.”
Interestingly, the singles from In Utero — “Heart-Shaped Box”, “All Apologies” and “Pennyroyal Tea”the latter with its release canceled in the format after the death of Kurt Cobain — went through mixing with the aim of bringing a more palatable sound. Scott Litt (REM) was in charge of the work. Steve He didn’t like it, but he understood.
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
