10 Perfect Rock Albums Of The '90s
1. In Utero - Nirvana
There's a good chance that any Nirvana album could have found its way onto this list. From the minute they broke onto the scene in the back half of '91, Kurt Cobain and his band of misfits became the poster children for the age of irony going forward. While Nevermind was the thesis statement for what the '90s would become, In Utero is what happens when fame overtakes its author.
After coming off the massive hype from Nevermind, Kurt was determined to pull a complete 180 with the next release, bringing in Steve Albini and cranking the distortion up to 11. Even though this is a far more scattered project musically than Nevermind, each of the songs feel like little doorways into Kurt's psyche, from the snide cynicism behind something like Serve the Servants to the gentle beauty of songs like Dumb and All Apologies.
As much as this was a breath of fresh air from what we were used to, no one thought that it was going to be our last goodbye, with Kurt being found dead just a few months after the album's release. Though we'll probably never be able to know what Kurt would have done past this decade, In Utero is still one of the most compelling looks into Kurt Cobain the man rather than Kurt Cobain the teen idol.