Everyone has a different opinion on what Nirvana’s best album is, but no matter which you prefer, not many people would share the opinion that their final record In Utero is anything approaching “meh”.
Craig Montgomery, however, worked as Nirvana’s live sound engineer from 1989 to 1993, and isn’t much of a fan of the album, which of course spawned tracks like ‘Heart Shaped Box’, ‘All Apologies’, ‘Scentless Apprentice’ and ‘Pennyroyal Tea’ on its way to selling 15 million copies.
As Ultimate Guitar reports, in his recent Reddit AMA, Craig made the point that it was a bit undercooked compared to the first two Nirvana records, and he claims that In Utero was severely impacted by various distractions throughout the years.
“Meh,” he began when asked his thoughts on In Utero. “It has a couple good songs on it, but a lot of them were recycled old ideas.
“Because of everything that had been going on the previous couple years (all the touring, legal and drug troubles) there wasn’t much writing or rehearsing going on.
“I don’t like the sound much either,” he concluded, without going into much detail, and we imagine the mood around the Nirvana camp in general had deteriorated a little by the end of 1993.
Apparently In Utero is “meh”, despite giving us tracks like this
Courtney Love would seem to disagree, as her recent picks for her favourite songs were mostly taken from In Utero, including ‘Heart Shaped Box’, which she’s always maintained was written about… her.
Craig also gave his thoughts on what Kurt Cobain was like on tour, matching up with what we’ve come to expect of the troubled frontman.
“He was a funny, smart, witty , sarcastic guy, usually fun to be around for sure,” Craig said. “Sometimes quiet and needing alone time though. He lived for playing shows.”
Some amazing footage surfaced recently of Nirvana’s performance back in 1989 to an empty store, and shows Kurt Cobain still working out his live performance style as he repeatedly launches himself across the stage.
