Wait until next year

I can still remember buying In Utero, on cassette, in my local Our Price. I can remember the anticipation that surrounded its release. There was rumours it was going to unlistenable, that Steve Albini had presided over a messy, noisy session and had done nothing to make it more palatable. The sheen of Nevermind would be gone, replaced by a murky punk. It sounded awesome – the idea of a hugely successful band making an album that would alienate all but their most devoted fans greatly appealed to my teenage self. Loving bands as a teenager is all about having those bands to yourself. They are your secret, your refuge, your way of knowing that while you might feel like you’re on your own you have something your peers can’t get their hands on, something they don’t understand. That is obviously harder when you love the biggest band in the world. Read the rest of this entry »