Originally, DGC was not pleased with this album at all. Their first comment upon hearing the recording was, "Nice demos. When can we expect to hear the finished album?" They thought that it had no commercial value at all, and would let Nirvana's fans down after the slick, radio friendly Nevermind album. A few of the songs were later remixed or rerecorded, but the majority of the album stayed the same. One of the reasons why it may not have sounded quite as great as Nevermind is that In Utero was recorded in two weeks. Most of the vocals were done in one day, with the help of a lot of cough syrup, and a lot of the songs were recorded in one take. It was also plagued with problems regarding Krist's bass playing, which was frequently inaudible. But, after working out their difficulties with their company, In Utero was released on September 14, 1993 in the United Kingdom. Due to an unforseen delay, it was released in the United States on September 21, 1993. The foreign version also contained a secret track, Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through the Strip. It was labeled as a "Deflated American Dollar Purchase Incentive Track," and is now available on bootlegs and import CDs only. The woman on the cd is actually a guy in drag. The guy is Michael "Cali" DeWitt who was a nanny for Frances Bean Cobain (Kurt's daughter).

Note: Gallons Of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through The Strip starts at 23:59 on track 12. CD color may vary depending on where the album was pressed.

Kurt Cobain: Guitar, Vocals Krist Novoselic: Bass Dave Grohl: Drums Kera Schaley: Cello on Dumb and All Apologies Recorded by: Steve Albini in March 1993 at Pachyderm Studios in Minneapolis, Minnesota Technician: Bob Weston Additional mixing on Tracks 3,12 by: Scott Litt and Adam Kasper Photographers: Kurt Cobain Robert Fisher Micheal Lavine Karen Mason Wendy O'Conner Charles Peterson Neil Wallace Illustrations: Muscle system: Alex Grey Symbols: Rodger Ferris Art Design/Direction: Kurt Cobain, Robert Fisher

Album Pictures Front Inner #1 Inner #2 Back U.K. Sticker CD

Song Information

Serve the Servants - An autobiographical song about the whole Nirvana experience, the 'witch hunt' on Courtney Love, and a sarcastic response to the emphasis placed on the divorce of Kurt's parents

Scentless Apprentice - Based on the novel "Perfume" by Patrick Suskind, about a perfume maker who kills virgins for their scent.

Heart-Shaped Box - Themes of co-dependancy and many other themes.

Rape me - In Kurt's words, the song is a sort of poetic justice. A guy rapes a girl. He ends up in jail and is raped there.

Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle - A song about the story of Frances Farmer, who was wrongfully declared insane.

Dumb - Ignorance is bliss. There is a certain care-free happiness involved in being dumb. Drug related thems dominate the song.

Very Ape - An Attack on the stereotypical macho man.

Milk It - A song about co-dependancy, it heavily carries the medical theme.

Pennyroyal Tea - A song about making a tough decision and the difficult choices around it and the guilt following it. Pennyroyal Tea is an abortive substance.

Radio Friendly Unit Shifter - According to Kurt this Song is a throwaway. A bunch of random poetry lines thrown together. The title is a reference to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and it's slick, radio-friendly sound.

tourette's - This song has no meaning at all. Kurt just screamed alot. Based on tourette's syndrome, which causes one to shout out obscenities at any time.

All Apologies - Contrary to popular belief, this song is not about Francis and Courtney. This song is about someone giving up on life.

Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through the Strip (Import version) - More or less, a poem to words. This is an improv-style song. Called "Devalued American Dollar Purchase Incentive Track" inside the booklet on the uk version of in utero.