Nevermind vs In Utero

Jonny Arson

This is one debate that could run and run. No doubt that Nirvana's importance is still felt until this very day but one question and debate keeps on popping up again and again......... which is the better album? Nevermind or In Utero?

I personally I adore both albums but Nevermind for is the ultimate grunge album which inspired a generation. I feel Nevermind has the stronger songs in comparison to In Utero and is overall a better listen. In Utero may be the heavier of the two which will suit some people's tastes more but I feel Nevermind is by a long way the stronger album.

So what do you guys think?

Nevermind or In Utero?

projectmayhem

In Utero

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

No doubt that Nirvana's importance is still felt until this very day

is it? idk...

nevermind for me.

Doctor J

In Utero

Nevermind by a country mile. In Utero has it's moments but lacks consistency and Pennyroyal Tea is the worst song Cobain ever wrote, totally uninspired.

byte

In Utero

Nevermind > In Utero.

Why is Bleach not in the Poll? Or even Incesticide?

Den_M

I'm gonna have to go for In Utero. The songs were far more hard-hitting. Nevermind was too clean and polished sounding for me. In Utero has that great damaged and dirty sound to it, in songs like 'Radio Friendly..' and 'Tourettes'.

senordingdong

Incesticide was my personal favourite but of those two...I'm not sure.

Nevermind was a way better album, but In Utero was a way better Nirvana album.
I'll wait for other points to be made before I vote.

Rockee

Neither album is better, its just personal preference. Personally I go for 'Bleach'

plonk

In Utero

senordingdong wrote:

Nevermind was a way better album, but In Utero was a way better Nirvana album.
I'll wait for other points to be made before I vote.

Couldnt be said any better

DadaKopf

Are yous guyses mental? Obviously, In Utero is the best.

Rockee

No one is mental...each to their own!

Slash/ED

In Utero is the truer Nirvana sound imo, Cobain himself despised Nevermind in the end saying he was "embarassed" by it, it was "too slick". Though that was probably mainly down to the fact it was too successful and he just hated the idea that he 'sold out' so wanted to distance himself from all that.

Though that is it's greatest strenght, it's so easy to listen to, for a supposedly alternative album it can be picked up by pretty much anyone right away and that is not a bad thing at all. I just think there's more depth and far better songwriting in In Utero though. The songs have much more meaning and lyrically it's vastly superior, you can see how much Cobain had developed as a songwriter by the time it came to In Utero. In comparison alot of Nevermind is pretty bland.

Nevermind was probably more consistent, but In Utero had much more highs. Radio Friendly Unit Shifter, Heart Shaped Box, Rape Me, All Apologies, Pennyroyal Tea, Frances Farmer..., Serve the Servents and Dumb would be amoungst Nirvanas finest songs, easily. It's a harder sound to get into as the producing on it is far less slick, but it's rawer, has far more energy and aggression and I think is far far better, though I can see why people wouldn't even consider chooseing it before Nevermind. I just think In Utero is, as someone said, far more hard hitting and less bland and samey as Nevermind.

So In Utero all the way.

Bleach would be behind even Incesticide for me, despite having About A Girl, School and Love Buzz on it.

Goodshape

Nevermind's great, but I'll have to go for In Utero as being better.

I think Slash/ED sumed it up pretty well.

Earthhorse

In Utero

If you take Slash/ED's post and replace nearly every instance of In Utero with the words Nevermind, and vice versa, you'll be closer to the truth!

In Utero has some fine moments but Nevermind flows from start to finish. It has a perfect balance to it that In Utero never achieves. It's worth bearing in mind that some of the songs on In Utero were originally written for Nevermind but rejected on the basis that they were "too harsh" (sounding) for the album.

cournioni

In Utero

Personally, I prefer Nevermind. I could never get into In Utero.

hoody

"I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn black" = I love you

In Utero by a mile if you're a Nirvana fan

Nevermind if you're a fan of "Top 100 albums of all time" lists

meditraitor

In Utero

There would be no Nirvana fans without Nevermind, so on that note Nevermind, In Utero is a Gem though

Roar

Looked at my play count on itunes after seeing this thread, and In Utero's out in front.. Nevermind has a lot of magic tunes, dont get me wrong, but i've always leaned towards In Utero's.. its far dirtier, darker, heavier... Nevermind almost seems like a pop album in comparison...

*EDIT* ha ha that was my 666th post!

Slash/ED

Earthhorse wrote:

If you take Slash/ED's post and replace nearly every instance of In Utero with the words Nevermind, and vice versa, you'll be closer to the truth!

You think Nevermind is better lyrically and has better songwriting on it!? Preferences in matters of taste is purely objective but that's just wrong.

Also, for what it's worth, I reckon if you put this poll up on a Nirvana forum it'd be a landslide victory for In Utero, but Nevermind is a far more accessible album to people who wouldn't be hugely into the band.

And again, like the poster above me said, Nevermind is still an excellent album and one of my favourites but I always go for In Utero for the reasons he said.

Earthhorse

In Utero

Slash/ED wrote:

You think Nevermind is better lyrically and has better songwriting on it!? Preferences in matters of taste is purely objective but that's just wrong.

Damn straight I do! Surely that's part and parcel of preferring one album over another? That you find the songwriting, including lyrics, stronger?

I'm not sure your second sentence makes any sense. I think you meant to say 'subjective' rather than 'objective'. Lyrics are again a matter of taste and we could probably quote songs back and forth at each other and not change our minds.

For the record I'm hugely into the band and if the poll was thrown open would have no hesitation in voting for Unplugged in New York. There isn't one 'type' of Nirvana fan. It's a question for individuals to answer and of individual taste.

Giblet

The correct answer is Bleach.

Slash/ED

Earthhorse wrote:

Damn straight I do! Surely that's part and parcel of preferring one album over another? That you find the songwriting, including lyrics, stronger?

I'm not sure your second sentence makes any sense. I think you meant to say 'subjective' rather than 'objective'. Lyrics are again a matter of taste and we could probably quote songs back and forth at each other and not change our minds.

For the record I'm hugely into the band and if the poll was thrown open would have no hesitation in voting for Unplugged in New York. There isn't one 'type' of Nirvana fan. It's a question for individuals to answer and of individual taste.

I agree with the last paragraph, but I think it's less of a matter of opinion so say the lyrics are better on one album than the other rather than you prefer one album over the other, Cobain himself said he wrote most of the Nevermind lyrics minutes before recording as he was too lazy and had to change this for In Utero as people started asking questions about the lyrics.

Pencapchew

this really is a simple question, in utero is a better album in every sense...from the production to the lyrics. it'll be mainly kids and m.o.r music fans that'll choose nevermind as they know no better. obviously nevermind is going to be the more popular choice...millions of flies can't be wrong?? but its still a good album, just not as good.

Doctor J

In Utero

I think a lot of people will choose In Utero beacuse Nervermind was so successful and it isn't as cool to like something that other people like, eh?

Earthhorse

In Utero

Slash/ED, it's true what you say about how Cobain wrote for Nevermind but I'm more concerned with product than process. He may have written the lyrics at the last minute but if that's the case they're all the better for it.

Töpher

Personally prefer In Utero. not a Nirvana fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I am quite fond of IU.

Civilian_Target

In Utero

From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah....

Jimmy_Jazz

In Utero

Doctor J wrote:

I think a lot of people will choose In Utero beacuse Nervermind was so successful and it isn't as cool to like something that other people like, eh?

You're onto something there, Doctor. I've always preferred Nevermind anyway. It has Territorial Pissings on it. In Utero does not.

mickymg2003

I like in utero more. Its has better songs overall and its a lot grittier...for want of a better word.

Slash/ED

Doctor J wrote:

I think a lot of people will choose In Utero beacuse Nervermind was so successful and it isn't as cool to like something that other people like, eh?

That's certainly why alot of people, Cobain included, turned against Nevermind. But I still think it's a good album, just In Utero is alot better and has their best stuff on it. I prefer the rawness and aggression on it.

Slash/ED, it's true what you say about how Cobain wrote for Nevermind but I'm more concerned with product than process. He may have written the lyrics at the last minute but if that's the case they're all the better for it.

The overall product maybe, I disagree but it's a matter of taste. Lyrically, no, far far more thought was put into the In Utero lyrics (Pretty much any thought going in would be more than some of the Nevermind songs which he wrote just before going in to record) and they're better for it, they're very very well written sonfs lyrically some of them.

Chong

In Utero

In reality I adore all the albums.

Aporia

I'd have to go with In Utero.

Although Nevermind had some classic songs which made Nirvana, In Utero was more original. To me it was more "grunge". It's more honest and rough around the edges. Nevermind was too polished" In utero is simply one of the greatest examples of grunge-fuelled rock and proves Nirvana weren’t a one album band. With that said it aint Nirvana's best album I'll tell ya that much!

Earthhorse

In Utero

Slash/ED wrote:

Lyrically, no, far far more thought was put into the In Utero lyrics (Pretty much any thought going in would be more than some of the Nevermind songs which he wrote just before going in to record) and they're better for it, they're very very well written sonfs lyrically some of them.

Yes, but do you honestly think the songs suffer as a result of this? Do you honestly think that Polly is somehow a less meaningful song because Cobain may have only scribbled down a finished version of the lyrics before strolling into the studio to record it?

He may have spent more time on the lyrics to In Utero but this doesn't mean that they are better or even more meaningful. If anything, the opposite could be said to be true. He laboured over In Utero and it shows. The songs just weren't coming to him as readily as they had for Nevermind and so he found himself having to put more time in.

I'll grant you that Serve the Servants, Heart Shaped Box, Very Ape and All Apologies can lyrically stand toe to toe with anything else he wrote and also have meaning. But I think, pound for pound, Nevermind has more examples of songs that fit that criteria.

brianthebard

In Utero

I think nevermind works better as an album. In utero is brilliant, but much more disjointed. It's a collection of songs rather than a set of songs that work well together and strengthen each other.

With regards the suggestion that Kurt hated nevermind, I think anyone who is a fan of Nirvana needs to step back from the messianic worship of said singer and realise that he said a lot of bullsh!t from time to time. I personally don't believe that he hated Nevermind at all. Kurt was obsessed about being a scenester and not selling out, which was part of the reasoning behind making In utero so abrasive.

I'm sure after singing teen spirit for two years the album would become jaded for him but that's the same for most bands with a hit that big.