Nirvana’s third and final album, In Utero, celebrated its 30th anniversary last month. To mark the occasion, surviving band members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, along with In Utero producer Steve Albini, sat down with Conan O’Brien for an hour-long conversation on his Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast.
The trio spoke at length about the In Utero recording process and comparisons to Nevermind; how they killed time in the studio by prank calling Gene Simmons, Evan Dando, and Eddie Vedder; the record label’s reaction to In Utero; and the depths of Kurt Cobain’s lyricism. For Nirvana geeks, the conversation won’t provide much in the way of new revelations, but it’s still a thrill hearing the three guys back in the same room together.
In a teaser clip released ahead of the full podcast episode, Novoselic, Grohl, and Albini also spoke about Nirvana’s dizzying rise to the top in the aftermath of Nevermind and how they dealt with such mammoth success.
This Friday will see the release of a deluxe edition of In Utero featuring 53 previously unreleased tracks, including two complete In Utero-era concerts: a 1993 performance in Los Angeles and their final Seattle concert in 1994.
Revisit our past essay on why In Utero lives on as Nirvana’s insubordinate masterpiece.
