Recommendations of the Editorial team
A gold record for Nirvana’s final album, 1993’s In Utero – presented to Steve Albini, who recorded the album, and stored in his archives for decades – is now for sale. The late engineer’s experience with the project turned difficult when the trio’s label insisted on remixes and dismissed Albini’s approach as too rough. The plaque, which recognizes sales in Indonesia and has a peculiar history, is available through Steve Albini’s Closet, which was launched after the engineer’s death. The blind bid auction starts at $5,000; Bids can be submitted until May 3rd.
The offering explains how Albini’s punk rock attitude led to him receiving an Indonesian award. “When Steve received his RIAA Gold for ‘In Utero,’ he sent it back to the band’s management as part of his fundamental rejection of major labels and their way of working,” it says. “He later asked – possibly on the advice of others – to get the award back. Unfortunately, it was no longer found, although it is unclear exactly what happened to it.
“Instead – and presumably as a kind of retaliation – Steve was sent this INDONESIAN gold record for ‘In Utero,'” the offer continues. “And that was the only souvenir of the multi-platinum record in his archives. So no, it’s not the RIAA version, whose current whereabouts are unknown – but IT IS the one Steve had and kept.”
Cobain’s desire for Albini
The avowed Pixies fan Kurt Cobain wanted Albini – who at the time had a dubious reputation for fronting a band called Rapeman and writing corresponding essays – to record Nirvana because he loved “Surfer Rosa” and other records that Albini had produced in the late eighties and early nineties. Cobain had also been a fan of Albini’s first band Big Black and had attended their farewell concert in Seattle. “If he turns out to be an asshole, at least I’m going to use him for his recording skills,” Cobain told Michael Azerrad in the book “Come as You Are.” “He made a few sexist statements, but that’s just the scene he’s in.”
When Cobain approached Albini in the fall of 1992 about recording the third album – after “Nevermind” had become a worldwide hit – Albini said he had to think about it. In a four-page fax he sent the band in November 1992, he praised their instinct to “knock out an album in a few days, with high quality but minimal ‘production’ effort and without interference from the concrete heads in the front room.” He also explained how he saw his role: “I don’t think it’s ethical to pay royalties to a producer or engineer. … I want to be paid like a plumber: I do the job and you pay me what it’s worth.” Albini wrote that he couldn’t sleep at night taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from the trio. He reportedly only accepted $100,000 for his work.
Nirvana recorded “In Utero” over two weeks at Minnesota studio Pachyderm in February 1993. Cobain managed to record all of the album’s vocals in “about seven hours,” as he told Rolling Stone, and drummer Dave Grohl finished recording the drums in three days. “He was one of our heroes, I was totally intimidated,” Grohl told Revolver in 2013.
First take, first impression
“We had to prove ourselves to Steve,” bassist Krist Novoselic said in 2013. “So we went in and did ‘Serve the Servants’ straight away. The first song you hear on the album – we recorded it in one take. That’s how we got Steve on our side.”
They also harmonized personally. Albini and Grohl set fire to the alcohol used to clean the tape recorders and together made fun of acquaintances. Albini called Evan Dando of the Lemonheads, pretending to be Madonna’s assistant, and left him on hold for 45 minutes. Another time, at Cobain’s instigation, Albini called Gene Simmons and pretended to be the singer. “He had a little Kurt voice on him,” Grohl said. “It was hilarious.”
But the good mood evaporated when Nirvana’s label representatives decided that the album sounded too rough for the mainstream – and allegedly used Albini as a scapegoat for a potentially bad-sounding record. “The rumors of trouble came from the record label,” Albini said at the time. “They tried to undermine the trust of the band.” Even years later he stuck with this version and explained to “Tape Op”: “[Das Label] led a media campaign to get the band to re-record the album – it was pretty creepy and weird.”
Remixes and Aftermaths
Cobain took responsibility for the conflict in a Rolling Stone interview, claiming he didn’t like the production. “We had no idea why we didn’t feel the same energy as we did with ‘Nevermind,'” he said. “We eventually decided that the vocals weren’t loud enough and the bass couldn’t be heard at all.” They hired REM producer Scott Litt to remix three singles: “All Apologies,” “Heart-Shaped Box,” and “Pennyroyal Tea.”
“I felt like I did a good job at the time, and everyone who wasn’t in the room when the album was recorded judged it after the fact,” Albini said in 2013. “It seemed like ignorant complaining to me then – and it still seems the same today.” Albini took the opportunity to remix “In Utero” for a 2013 reissue as he had originally planned.
