Steve Albini Letter to Nirvana

What a well thought out pitch.  He clearly waited a while to send it, just like you wait a while to call a chick who gives you her number.  While discussing dough, he slow played his hand and used reverse psychology...my guess is that worked out well for him.  History shows he got exactly what he wanted....they did record at Pachyderm with him.  Not saying all of it was not totally sincere, however, he said all the things that he knew they wanted to hear at that point in the bands career.  Well played Albini.  Cool find John...thanks.

To be fair before this he was also the guy who recorded The Jesus Lizard, Swans, Killdozer and a few other big names within the 80's punk season, and as a respected underground musician he had artist cred too. What he offered these bands is something most engineers couldn't - he liked this abrasive music. In a recent interview he was talking about how the rumours started before he agreed to do the remix, and that he had clients calling him asking where his rates going to change etc. etc. because he doesn't work with big buck artists most days.

I like his philosophy. I try to work on a similar line when it's relevant. Sometimes it's not what the music or the artist calls for.

I think In Utero is self indulgent, pretentious and OVERPRODUCED.

When people talk about Nevermind they talk songs, yes the production has been discussed numerous times on these forums but listeners discuss the songs.

When these same people talk about In Utero it's always about Steve Albini.

I think the best production is the one that puts the songs front and center, drawing no attention to the production. By this measure In Utero is overproduced. 

yep, agree jazznoise.

in utero is the one album that is anything but over produced. I love it for it. nevermind on the other hand.

I wouldn't say it was duplicitous at all.  He was not trying to be deceptive.  The letter does indeed "express his modus operandi" which was one purpose of the letter.  Other purposes of the letter were:

1.  To get the gig
2.  To make the record at Pachyderm
3.  To get a good price

Mission accomplished on all fronts.  There is nothing wrong with any of it.  We all have to sell everyday and this letter is a great sell.  It is, after all, the music "business".

Cool , I'm gonna listen to that link !

I'm a big Nirvana fan . I like Nevermind the best . I think it had the best songs and I like the sound of it . The Neve board and Butch Vig engineering with Andy Wallace mixing !! If I made a pro record , those are the two guys I'd want to work on it . 

I understand what jordanvoth is saying . 

Its over produced in trying to be raw . They overproduced it , with the whole goal when going to record was FOCUS ON THE SOUND , it was very produced .

Whereas Nevermind , they walked in the studio , and said lets record an album , without any focus on producing or getting a certain "sound" . All they cared about was the songs and performance , that was it .

To me In Utero is good , I like all Nirvana's stuff , but I do get sick of everybody focusing on the "sound" and just listen to the songs . Nevermind was all about the songs and music , In Utero was about the music but also making an album to shake off the people they thought weren't real fans . Well if your not 100% focused on making the best music you can but have other goals , like trying to be trendy or in Nirvana's  case trying not to be trendy , the music is gonna suffer to a degree and thats what I hear with In Utero . It could have been better if their main focus wasn't on trying to produce an album a certain way to scare off fans , but just focus on making the best music they could and not care about what other people think . 

So yeah I think its overproduced too . When you say In Utero EVERYBODY talks about the sound first , and then the music second . And to me it seems like that was Nirvana's mentality too . 

So In Utero is overproduced and Nevermind is straightforward... Hmm... ; )

Yep . 

Overproduced is not tons of compression , reverb and a ton of takes.........

When you produce an album its making it sound a certain way and that can be trying to be raw too....the whole point is "trying" to get a certain sound . 

Nevermind had no set agenda . It was record great songs and put out an album . Thats all the band focused on , they didn't focus on the sound at all . They had no idea what it would sound like . 

In Utero had an agenda which surrounded the whole recording of the album , to produce it to sound a certain way , achieve a certain rough sound . Thats where the over production got in the way of the music . Their focus was not 100% on music it was the "sound" of the album . 

Its exactly like those punk guys with the mohawks , leather jackets and metal studs........its not really punk , its really "Glam" . Dressing up , dying their hair , styling their hair , having to wear certain clothes . Having to wear their jeans a certain way . They think they are being different "not following the trends" but they are as trendy as the Glam 80's hair bands . They might not look the same as the Big Hair Glam guys , but its the same mentality , they are TRENDY . They are sheep following a trend , and just like a flock of sheep , you look at a group of them and they all look the same like a flock of sheep . 

Anyways "trying" to look rough tough like a punk , is the same as "trying" to look Big hair Glam Metal . Its the same mentality . Your trying to be "something" and that gets in the way of just being yourself .

And thats what I hear wrong with In Utero , its "trying" to be something which is overproduced but in a raw way . Whereas Nevermind , they just wanted to make great music and didn't care what the end result would sound like . 

Yeah I agree .

And this sums up with what happened with In Utero . Instead of just being themselves making music "they" liked , they allowed the fans , media , dictate their music . Suddenly when they got popular they started to cross the "cool" line into being "uncool" and mainstream . So instead of saying , f you , its all about the music and I don't care what everybody thinks , like what most punk bands try to pretend to do , when really  they care a WHOLE LOT about what other people think about them , so much so that it dictates their music . Nirvana goes and has to try and prove they are still "cool" and "punk" . In turn , the music has to suffer because its not really coming from the heart any more , its motive is trying to prove they're still cool .

Now I'm a big punk music fan . Thats my favorite music and Nirvana is one of my top favorite bands .

Its this whole damn gotta be "cool" gotta be "punk" gotta be "raw" , thing that gets in the way of ALOT of punk bands and it ruins music from really coming from the heart . 

Heh. I loved Nevermind. I disliked In Utero. I didn't hate it but I thought the music on Nevermind was good and the production fit the music. I felt that the music in In Utero was more like a B side quality and sounded like it wasn't mixed right.

Hm,
i was deeply into grunge that time, and Nevermind did not convince me soundwise at first, but In Utero did, and finally Nirvana got me with it... That time i came from the metal/hardrock side of things, and i really thought that Nevermind sounded a bit thin first and also that the drums did not fit, exactly like jazznoise said.
Nevertheless i liked the songs. But In Utero was a different beast.
Often people think that the second album of a band is too polished, while in many cases it is simply done more professionally, which is not a bad thing necessarily...

scumbum and I are on the same page it seems.

I think Nevermind is straight forward and In Utero is overproduced.
It's not an ultra ironic, hardcore, against the grain for the sake of it sort of thing. I just feel on Nevermind it's a production that took a backseat to the songs and on In Utero we have a production that is certainly calling attention to itself, whether it's working for or against the songs is up to the listener. It's production is definitely hard to ignore and that's why this album sparks debates and lengthy discussions like this.