#44 Nirvana – In Utero

Before: Infamous grunge before they were really big.

Quiet-loud-quiet-loud but mainly just loud manic depressive grungyness. It felt like being mini tazered in both ears, a zapping shock connecting live through the head. Or a scuzzy cauldron of lava being rained on hard, in Seattle, fizzing and spitting, burning. Much shouting, screaming, wailing, under the supremely ironic name Nirvana. Masterful drumming throughout, somehow managing to sound relaxed through the wall of noise intensity. There are tender moments, but mostly there’s not, just a lot of heavy guitar and bonus feedback. Vocals like a pack of sandpaper, different grades of rough and broken, voicing variations of self and society-hatred, although most of the time I had no idea what was being sung. Does it help to know? Eating cancer was mentioned. Surprisingly punk in places and a sublime passage toward the end of Radio Friendly Unit Shifter.

After: Failed electroshock treatment with noisy ironic despair.

Counting down the Top 50 over at Best Ever Albums. They’ve taken 6,600 greatest album charts and compiled them into an overall chart.