FIRST listen to In Utero - The last one and the story behind it 

Liked it! Even big fans may learn something they didn't know, and you get to fill in some blanks yourself in while listening

Loved the video, I liked that you decided to take a more retrospective approach to the history, rather than a boring wiki regurgitation! Your opinions on each track seemed to be cut a little short to make room for the info parts. Maybe keep a but more 'fresh ears' commentary as the video is titled 'FIRST Listen'. I'd love to see you take a look at the unplugged performance. Keep experimenting, you will find the right balance!

I've seen quite a few of your album listens and I have to say this documentary-esque style is actually what I was hoping for. Not just as a fan of the records but as a musician who was inspired by this one in particular and knows the instruments as well as the stories, it's great to see others pick up on things and learn about it as well as be honest about their appreciation

it was excellent! ive never seen a reaction like it! very, very innovative and well done:D, good work....i made a VERY long-winded comment...the bottom line about rape me is, is that it was definitely a double meaning, of course it was "anti-rape" kurt was an ardent feminist, BUT it was also VERY much about how the music press/media and the tabloid media and even respected media had metaphorically "raped" him and courtney's privacy (because when she got pregnant, they all speculated on whether the couple was usisng....when the baby was born, it was taken away from them unless there was strict supervision that first year at least).....so "rape me" is also about a very angry, sarcastic, bitter kurt saying "yes, rape me, please...do it again, ruin ky life, i appreciate it, really".....it was an analogy for their "figuratively being *raped* by the press/media", even Mtv did it, and THATS why he wanted to play it at the Mtv awards show

sorry, that was long-winded again....but u obviously, DEFINITELY worked hard on the mini-docu-reaction...its awesome, ive watched 1000 reactions, never see anything like it:) .....keep it up, stand out like that/thus:)

Strong agree

Yeah... that's the only Nirvana I can listen to.

Best unplugged ever..side note Pat Smear was my next door neighbor in West L.A in the early 80s...a very cool mellow guy .was in a band called Twisted Roots then...good times

Absolutely

@@zedxxx9 ª

Thanks so much!!

@@CallMeCaroline please reaction album fleetwood mac - rumours

@@zahira_rania Even better - TUSK!

I second this. It adds a lot of extra clues about what kind of artist Cobain was.

I agree ☝🏼 that’s how I learned to appreciate Nirvana and it’s like re discovering how poetic Kurt Cobain was as well as the whole band as a whole, very good suggestion

YES !!

Most definitely! Especially “Where Did You Sleep Last Night”

@@landa60984 goddamn right

He's one of my fave producers (and i generally don't like them). This is one of his best records, hands down.

Caroline should review a Shellac album. :)

_And_ vocals and amps. He’s the master of natural reverb for rock music like this.

He produced Pod, The Breeders first album and it's one of my favourite albums.

Centuries before, Beethoven was doing the same. In fact, I consider Nirvana to be the Beethoven of rock music. Had Beethoven been alive nowadays, this is probably what he would have sounded like.

You realize how many artists actually do that right?

Sappy was inspired by a classical song , can’t remember what classical artist , Liszt maybe ?

Cobain did admit he wanted the pixies sound.

The pixies suck. Ana is their only good song.

I mean, it was his fave novel. He didn't reference lots of literary works in his writing but he did frequently make direct refs to things, Frances Farmer for instance et al.

Maybe it's also a way of saying "I'm making a record that's the opposite of Smells Like Teen Spirit"?

the novel is officially called the same as in German: "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer".

@@saemikneu Oh, OK, I could have sworn I read that that's the title they used for the English translation, or at least one version of it (I mean it wouldn't be the first time a title wasn't directly translated but changed into something different entirely), but researching it on Google now I only find articles and stuff referring to the Nirvana song, so I guess I stand corrected, thanks!

It was the first song he wrote directly based on a different story. He always added that it was indicative of his lack of creativity.

Nah, they're still extremely well written songs, even if they're very loud. They kinda don't have anything to do with one another. If you can't notice what is a well written, orchestrated song, based entirely on the volume? you don't need to be talking about music. period.

Kurt did not write the Man Who Sold the World, he's covering a Bowie song.

@@treetopjones737yeah and that’s not the only song on the album

@@treetopjones737 although there are some covers, unplugged also has a lot of nirvana songs bro

☝️👍

The Kinks album “Something Else” and “Village Green..” are full of great songs.

@@sevenoh70 I never thought of Nirvana as Punk, punk influenced for sure. Nirvana reminds me of the Wipers and other American post punk indie bands from the 80s

I can see how the term would be lost on someone who grew up after radio and buying physical copies of music in stores were a big thing. I rarely buy CDs these days and can't recall the last time I bought one in an actual store, and I only started listening to radio again recently after finally fixing my car radio. Agreed on the Kinks, although I suspect that she's more likely to like other artists who are just as good and important, and more recent than the 60's. I've been gently but persistently trying to get her to try either Heart, Pink Floyd or Pearl Jam, and hope that at least one eventually takes. I think she'll like all of them.

@@kovie9162 you maybe right but the sixties had great songs and arrangements back before Rock and Roll became Rock, if you know what I mean

Thanks for throwing this in there. If you don't listen to music alot or aren't a musician I wouldn't expect you to get the reference, but given she is an experienced musician herself I thought it was odd how she didn't pick up on this.

Thank you. You beat me too it and explained it better than I would of. Still one of my favorite tracks from the album along with Milk It and Very Ape.

He actually didn't do many harmonies on the records, that's Kurt mostly. He did most of the live harmonies though, apart from late 93 early 94 when Pat Smear - who has an angelically soft, high pitched voice - took over.

My fav Nirvana album. I can't think of a darker pop/rock record than The Manics' The Holy Bible though.

@@Emmet_Moore Well yeah they are both suicide note records. Both artists were facing the exact same problems with crises of identity and such. Brilliant records, The Holy Bible being perhaps the most literate record of all time while in Utero being Kurts dark magick hail mary of confession through obfuscation hopefully leading to transformation and transfiguration. Both two sides of the same coin, I hope they both found peace wherever they are.

@@Emmet_Moore Nirvana is not Pop-Rock lmao They can make poppy songs but they have always been PUNK. Pop-Rock is friggin Weezer

@@WickedHill I meant pop as in popular music, as opposed to like opera or avant-garde spoon-banging

@@Emmet_Moore spoon banging sounds like a cafeteria freestyle

For example, Kurt loved Queen & David Bowie ( obviously, he covered the Man Who Sold the World ).

I’ll be honest, I always thought he was being disingenuous about that whole thing and that he actually wrote the song as a metaphor for how the media treated him and certain people in his life sold him out. He just said it was literal because he didn’t want to offend anyone by using such a metaphor and basically comparing his experience to something that extreme and traumatic. The lyrics make more sense as a takedown of the press than it does as a literal statement. That’s just how I always saw it. Obviously, his word on the matter infinitely outweighs mine or anyone else’s, but the dude was pretty self-conscious, so I think it’s fairly likely.

I feel better knowing I wasn’t the only one in their 30s when I got into Nirvana

Ive listened to this album since the 1990s Milk It and Very Ape are definately funny Kurt had a great dry sense of humour and He definately chortles during DOLL STEAAK MMMPH TEST MEEEAT.

I thought the Pixies were his favorite band.

@@forastero4ever no. He loved a lot of bands: Pixies, Vaselines, Sonic Youth, Black Flag, Wipers, Breeders, etc. Beatles were at the absolute top though.

@@RAMONES3122 interesting I didn’t know he was a fan of Black Flag. Do you happen to remember more to share about anything he said about them?

@@YariAzQuran Kurt stated somewhere that "Downer" was his attempt to do the Black Flag thing. They were definitely an influence on him.

Exactly

Good interpretation although he did say in an interview that it was an anti rape song

Lina! So cool to see you follow Caroline as well.

Saba! I agree! And great to see you here! 😊

Thank you Saba! So happy to hear that 😊

The reason why no one else replied to this comment is because of Jealous fuckers.

Yikes

''depressing'' is somewhat subjective based on one's own perception

@@gordonbennett7931 In contrast to "happy" and "indifferent" this is definitely depressing. Even more so for the talent wasted.

@@matthewstroud4294 Well in terms of the music alone, there is a difference between sad and depressing. I doubt that Kurt or the band ever sat down whilst he was alive and thought 'this is depressing music' whilst listening to the songs. For sure the lyrics are undoubtably cutting at times (and intentionally so), but there is also a lot of humour which seems to be missed among younger listeners who weren't alive at the time. I was 16 when Nirvana came on to the scene and no one I know, myself included, thought the music was depressing. The band were actually pretty funny in interviews. It was an exciting time in case you weren't one of those who got to experience that. I'm just trying to separate the music in it's own right with the perception of the music post Kurt's death.

@@gordonbennett7931 I was there mate. It taps into a certain teenage angst. But, ultimately what is the message: life sucks. And I don't think that's a good message, because it doesn't unless you actively choose to evade the choice to live. Art is important as "fuel for the soul". That is why I judge Cobain as an artist, but one that has a bad message. Not everything we see described as art is art. Picasso was capable of great art (early examples show this), but he decided to produce twisted disgusting images on purpose. He's an artist, but I judge his work based on what he says about humans, and I think he's wrong.

@@matthewstroud4294 Personally I don't agree that the message Kurt or Nirvana were ultimately trying to convey as artists was that ''life sucks''. Hence why I previously brought up the subjective nature of one's own perception. So, whilst that might be the message you ultimately take from the music, it's not necessarily the message others would perceive or, as mentioned, that the band would intend.

Although I'm not familiar with this song never having been a real Nirvana fan (not a criticism of them, just not my thing), if indeed this was Cobain's point, then I have to grudgingly (sorry Caroline!) agree with you that kind of sweeping it under the carpet as "controversial" is doing it and Cobain's intent a disservice. I'm only wondering if it was her doing this, or RU-vid, since its censorship filters and policies tend to be pretty harsh (I've had so many inoffensive and uncontroversial comments hidden because they were too long or one too many or had a "bad" word or two in them). That said, she's always presented this channel as a light and fun music-centered one, and if she did indeed decide to downplay the meaning and significance of this song, it could well have been because it's simply too heavy, serious and painful a topic for a channel like this, and giving it a cursory treatment would itself be a disservice. Perhaps that was why she did this? However I still want to know who blanked out Grohl's f-bomb. 🤨

What'd you think of Incesticide?

@@lottofever3061 Back in high school I had an overdubbed tape of Incesticide that I wore out. Back then it was my favourite Nirvana album. I like the punkier stuff from Nirvana, so it fits. Ramones are my all time favourite band, and Sliver and Molly’s lips are very Ramonesque 🥴

Don't agree their first album bleach is the best

@@akplumber4084 That’s the hipster vote. Don’t tell me, you were into Nirvana before Nevermind came out. Bleach is NOWHERE near as good as Nevermind or In Utero and anyone who says it is just wants to be cool - but fails.

@@bungle3912 no no I didn't get into Nirvana really until 9899 but I had in utero in like 95 my brother got nevermind when it came out I remember seeing Nirvana play on Saturday Night Live both times but I was born in 83 so I was a wee bit Young I really can't stand the songs they play on the radio

@@bungle3912 one of the biggest reasons I love bleach is because it took them $600 and eight hours to record the album and that's awesome

​@@bungle3912Blew, School, About a Girl, Negative Creep or Love Buzz are great songs. We can have discovered Nirvana thanks to Nevermind and prefering Bleach, that is not antithetical.

YEAAAAH

same

It's about MTV.

What's more important, imo, is the angry attitude he "asks" it with, making the song definitely sarcastic; it sounds like he's violently spitting in a potential r**ist's face, not at all like wanting to make it sound like something desirable in any way

Incesticide has some of my favorite Nirvana songs and it’s the one I come back to the most

Precisely. Having watched a fair number of reaction videos by all sorts of "reactors", to me the ones that most appeal to me and make me want to watch more reaction videos by them are ones where the "reactor" has taken the time and trouble to learn some things about the artist and works they're reacting to and not just flying blind, which gets old after a while even if it can be fun at first. They don't have to go overboard and learn everything there is to know, that's not necessary, but gaining some basic familiarity with the artist and their works gives their reaction videos depth and substance and shows that they actually care and aren't just trying to clickbait folks into watching their channel. It's about showing some respect to their viewers and the artist and their art and earning the right to be taken seriously. I think that Caroline has always done this informally, by using her phone to read up on a song while reacting to it and better understand the context, or buying that book with the music and lyrics to every recorded Beatles song. But now she's starting to do it more formally and in a more structured way, and I like that. My only "complaint" is that I wish she'd start picking music she's more likely to like, as I don't think she likes Nirvana all that much, which is fine and neither do I, but why react to them if they're not really your cup of tea? There's so much else out there that she's more likely to like. She's clearly into melody and harmony and complex and inventive song composition, and Nirvana is all about attitude and punk rage, not musicality.

Try Pearl Jam to get a broader sense of grunge. I'm not saying that you'll love it but I suspect that you'll appreciate it more. I too have never been able to get into Nirvana, but love Pearl Jam.