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IN UTERO Nirvana

(MCA)

he suits at Warner were apparently clutching their chests over this one, but Nirvana’s latest release, In Utero, is just as memorable a set of songs as the monster Nevermind, making up for its lack of throat- grabbing tunefulness with sheer anger. Far more logical than what I would have expected from such a bunch of nihilists, Jn Utero features the same brutish drumming (actually, amore quick-handed drum- mer could make this stuffswing), Kurt Cobain’s howling, moments of: vulnerability, and ageres- sion piled high. Actually, songs like ‘‘Heart- Shaved Box,’’ ‘‘Rape Me,”’ (a ‘Teen Spirit’’ relative) and ‘‘Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle’’ could have appeared on Nevermind. The album is produced by former Rapeman and Big Black guy, Steve Albini, who Carlier this year gave PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me one Of the flattest mixes I’ve ever heard. Jn Utero’s Sound, however, isreasonably dynamic (though owhere near so beefy as Butch Vig’s).

Even more manic-depressive than Nevermind, In Utero is a darker, more intense and more idiosyncratic work. When people talk about albums of the nineties, it’! be this -- not Nevermind -- that gets mentioned. =

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