*dusts off the old smiley face t-shirt*
Diehard Nirvana fans and clueless Virginia Tech mascots might as well circle September 24 on their calendars as this year’s actual Christmas, because that’s the day that the 20th anniversary “In Utero” box set will be released, and holy heck does it come stocked with a lot of musical goodness. Some people might point out that the only real hype in this 3 CD, 1 DVD set is a “recently discovered” instrumental track that we’ve never heard before, but after Rolling Stone’s big reveal from earlier today, it seems that there’s still plenty to get excited about for the kids of the flannel era.
For starters, the box set will contain two versions of Nirvana’s third (and sadly final) studio album, the first being a digitally re-mastered version of “In Utero” that’s still sitting on my shelf in a cracked case somewhere, and the other being a new “2013 album mix,” which doesn’t tell us much, but it’s still something that gets my hopes up. As for the rest, feast your eyes and prepare your ears…
CD 1: Remastered version of the original album, as mixed by Steve Albini and Scott Litt, plus B-sides, bonus tracks and compilation cuts, as well as previously unreleased Albini mixes of “Heart-Shaped Box” and “All Apologies” (Litt’s mixes of those two songs appeared on the album).
CD 2: A full “2013 Mix” of the album; it’s not yet known who’s behind that or how it differs. Plus pre-album demos of eight of In Utero’s 12 songs, as well as an in-studio jam and the newly unearthed, two-minute instrumental “Forgotten Tune” that was recorded at an In Utero-era rehearsal.
CD 3: The full 17-song performance for MTV’s “Live & Loud” that was recorded at Seattle’s Pier 48 on Dec. 13, 1993.
DVD: Full video of the “Live & Loud” concert, plus a dozen bonus tracks, including “Live & Loud” rehearsals, the original “Heart-Shaped Box” video and its director’s cut, and various live performances filmed in Europe. (Via Slicing Up Eyeballs)
So, the price… $150 on Amazon for pre-order right now. That’ll certainly cut into your Breaking Bad LEGO set savings, so make sure that you plan accordingly.
You can check out a full song list for each of the CDs and the DVD at Rolling Stone, but also of note on that second disc, aside from the inclusion of “Forgotten Tune,” is the Upland Studios demo of “Marigold,” which is the first ever solo recording of Dave Grohl.
