Nirvana – In Utero [Stereo] (20th Anniversary Edition)

(DDA) — Lacquers cut by Kevin Reeves, likely from a digital source or UMG would have actually been honest in their marketing of the new repress of this edition. Originally released in 2013, direct metal mastered all-analog from the original master tapes by Steve Rooke at Abbey Road Studios. The same packaging (and misleading/false hype sticker stating the 2013 information) was retained for the 2024 repress even though the cut is not only new, it was almost certainly mastered via traditional lacquer cutting, not direct metal mastering. Given that the only remaining DMM cutting lathes in the world are in the Czech Republic at GZ and Kevin Reeves is an American mastering engineer, it’s pretty doubtful this new cut is DMM, let alone all-analog from the original master tapes. The 2013 mastering/sourcing approach made this release an audiophile reissue; since the 2024 cut is presented with no concrete source or mastering information and is what is currently available to consumers, I am forced to downgrade this release to standard reissue status.

Two 45 RPM LPs and one 33 1/3 RPM LP on 180-gram vinyl!

20th anniversary edition; the 33 1/3 RPM LP includes all of the remastered B-sides, never-before-heard mixes and bonus tracks from the original album release

Direct metal mastering from the original analog tapes

Download card included — 320kbps vinyl ripped AAC MP4s

This 20th Anniversary three-LP edition of the unwitting swansong of the single most influential band of the 1990s, features the original album remastered at Abbey Road Studios on two LPs and for the first time available at high fidelity 45 RPM, plus a 33 1/3 RPM LP of all the remastered B-sides, never-before-heard mixes and bonus tracks from the original album release. All three LPs are on 180-gram vinyl.

A reactionary statement to the phenomenal commercial success of Nevermind, In Utero remains Nirvana's most noisy, caustic, uncompromised, and aggressive album. It's also the band's best, a brilliant combination of contagious hooks, feedback-drenched squalls, bruised beauty, and biting lyrical wit intended to blindside causal listeners with raw emotion, difficult listening, and painful honesty. Rife with medical imagery and references to disease, sickness, decay, and dismay, In Utero is the distraught sound of personal catharsis and unyielding trauma. More revealingly, the record doubles as a haunting foreshadowing of singer Kurt Cobain's suicide that took place just months after its release.

Unhappy with the high-gloss production and pop-based arrangements on Nevermind, Nirvana set out to make a harsher album that would literally alienate millions. While the trio succeeded in its goal of getting intimate with blistering dissonance and acerbic tones, In Utero resonated with the public, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard charts and ultimately selling more than four million copies.

(Above description from AcousticSounds.com)