Nirvana's in Utero (33 1/3) [Paperback]

Gillian G. Gaar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2006

Though Nevermind was Nirvana's most commercially successful album, and the record that broke them — and the grunge phenomenon — internationally, In Utero has increasingly become regarded as the band's best album, both by the critics and the band members themselves. Instead of sticking to the "grunge pop" formula that made Nevermind so palatable to the mainstream, Nirvana chose instead to challenge their audience, producing an album that the band's creative force, Kurt Cobain, said truly matched his vision of what he had always wanted his band to sound like. Here, the full story behind the creation of In Utero is told for the first time.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gillian G. Gaar is the author of She's a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock'n'Roll and Green Day: Rebels With a Cause. She served as project consultant on the Nirvana box set With the Lights Out. She lives in Seattle.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The record was replete with references to babies, childbirth, and reproduction (the album’s very title means "in the womb"); witch hunts, the loss of privacy, illness and disease, and ambivalence about fame. The songs expressed a heartfelt anguish that would later cause some to interpret the entire album as a cry for help, but even at the time of its release In Utero could easily be read as an album focused on physical and spiritual sickness. Rather than being overwhelmed by circumstances, however, Cobain’s songs on In Utero show him – for the most part – still able and willing to fight back. As such, among Nirvana’s recorded efforts, it stands as Cobain’s most personal work.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Continuum (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826417760
• ISBN-13: 978-0826417763
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gillian G. Gaar is a Seattle-based author. Her first book, She's A Rebel: The History of Women in Rock & Roll was published in 1992. In addition to her own books, she has appeared in various anthologies, including The Nirvana Companion, Trouble Girls: The Rolling Stone Guide to Women in Rock, Goldmine: The Beatles : Two Decades of Commentary. Digest (volumes one and two), Best of the Beatles Book, The Stranger Guide To Seattle, Music: The Little Black Book, 33 1/3 Greatest Hits Vol 2, A Survey of American Culture, and various editions of The Scribner Encylopedia of American Lives. She was editorial assistant for Krist Novoselic's book From Grunge To Government: Let's Fix This Broken Democracy! She has also written liner notes for collections by Laurie Anderson, Judy Collins, Heart, Pat Benatar, Paula Cole and Mat Kearney, among others. She was also a project consultant/liner note writer for Nirvana's box set "With The Lights Out." She has written for numerous magazines, including Rolling Stone, Mojo, Q, Goldmine, The Seattle Times, The Stranger, Option, and No Depression, and was a senior editor at Seattle music paper The Rocket.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From "In Utero" to birth, October 6, 2006

By 

Scott Bresinger (New York, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nirvana's in Utero (33 1/3) (Paperback)

At the time of its release in 1993, Nirvana's final studio album, "In Utero," was so hotly anticipated that controversies arose before most people had even heard it. As a successor to a bajillion-selling behemoth ('91's "Nevermind," in case you've been under a very large rock for the last 20 years), how could it not be? Of course, once the album hit stores, and especially since Kurt Cobain's suicide, none of the backstory seemed to matter. Now, more than a decade later, author Gillian G. Gaar (apparently, a true "G") revisits the album that confirmed that Nirvana was a serious rock band and not some grunge-pop poseurs (and I can't tell you how many times I've had to defend my Nirvana t-shirt to passers by back in the day!).

This short book, one of Continuum Publishing's 33 1/3 series of books about classic pop music albums, focuses mainly on known facts. Therefore, many chapters detail the varied recording sessions that eventually resulted in the finished album. For instance, in the first chapter, Gaar covers the history of the song "Sappy," the best song the band wrote that never made it onto a proper album. We find out about the musical and lyrical changes the song had over the years. Unfortunately, Gaar doesn't print most of the lyrics from any version, so it's hard to appreciate these changes, much less interpret them. This sets up a pattern for the rest of the book, so mostly we get a string of dates and studios with relatively little context.

Also absent are details about the state of Cobain's physical and mental health during the "In Utero" sessions. Of course, based on the lyrics he wrote (we learn that Cobain would wait until the day of the vocal recording to finish them), it couldn't have been very good. These questions go beyond idle gossip even for fans, so it would've been good of Gaar to include that. Of course, this kind of material is covered tastefully in other books (most notably Charles R. Cross' Cobain bio, Heavier than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain), so some further reading may be required.

What Gaar does have, and in spades, is access. She was a project consultant on the Nirvana box set "With the Lights Out" (it gets referenced almost too much for my taste), and therefore some major players granted interviews. These include surviving band members Krist Noveselic and Dave Grohl, and the album's producer, Steve Albini. The notoriously acerbic Albini is rather restrained here, heaping praise on the band and holding back his feelings about DGC Records. One of the biggest controversies surrounding the album were press reports that the label felt the harsh, noisy album was "unreleasable." Nobody in the book seems to know if this was actually the case, and the company executives either weren't interviewed or still won't talk. As it turns out, the finished album was considered a triumph of artistic integrity, even with the remixing on a couple of tracks by R.E.M. producer Scott Litt.

Still, the book provides a fascinating snapshot of the band's creative development. It's definitely reccommended for Nirvana fans, as well as to all kinds of music obsessives. Even though some questions remain, this is a satisfying, if brief, read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Organized collection of Information., September 27, 2006

By 

J. Little "Film and Nirvana Buff" (B.F.O.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nirvana's in Utero (33 1/3) (Paperback)

Great Read, there are lots of tidbits that have come out over the years organized for you to make sense out of. There are several previously points that are clarified as the author did a thorough job researching the ambiguous nuggets of information and rumors floating about. She interviewed those in the know close to the band, members of the band, as well as renowned experts in the field of live recordings and concerts. Is everything in this book a revelation? No, but with Nirvana existence 12 years in the past and with all session and demo information that we've learned about over the years, the constant expectation of something groundbreaking and new is probably going to leave you disappointed more often than not. There is some new info, yes. Did I buy it for that? No, not at all. Personally, I like hearing information that we've known presented in a nice, organized, and well written fashion as much as (if not more than) new information. The new stuff is just icing on the cake. Great job on the book, Gillian. I hope that you continue to share Nirvana with us in all the various ways you have already.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The final word on the post Nevermind sessions, December 7, 2006

By 

C. Moise (Baton Rouge, LA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nirvana's in Utero (33 1/3) (Paperback)

Anyone that is interested in questions like what Nirvana outtakes are still in the vaults or how many takes of a particular song were recorded will love this book. Most of the interviews are brand new and add insight to Nirvana's post Nevermind recording sessions. Let hope Gillian gets a chance to write books on Bleach and Nevermind for 33 1/3 as well..

Chris