In Utero Cover Art

On Tuesday, May 7, performer, engineer, organizer, and champion of the underground music scene, Steve Albini passed away at age 61. The punk legend’s death was confirmed the following day, provoking an onslaught of memories and memorial posts that paid tribute to his historic standings. Amongst the messages was a four-page letter Albini sent to Nirvana before he agreed to record their final album, the acclaimed In Utero set. 

Populated from Nirvana’s official Twitter/X account, the famed Washington state-rockers letter, marked Nov. 17, 1992, and addressed to Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic (scribed Chris in the note), and outline’s Albini’s approach, in part, “if a record takes more than a week to make, somebody’s fucking up.”

Albini proposes, “I think the very best thing you could do at this point is exactly what you are talking about doing: bang a record out in a couple of days, with high quality but minimal ‘production’ and no interference from the front office bulletheads.” Confirming his inclusion, Abini added, “If that is indeed what you want to do, I would love to be involved.”

“If, instead, you might find yourselves in the position of being temporarily indulged by the record company, only to have them yank the chain at some point (hassling you to rework songs/sequences/production, calling-in hired guns to ‘sweeten’ your record, turning the whole thing over to some remix jockey, whatever…) then you’re in for a bummer and I want no part of it.”

He continued his proposal, “I’m only interested in working on records that legitimately reflect the band’s own perception of their music and existence. If you will commit yourselves to that as a tenet of the recording methodology, then I will bust my ass for you. I’ll work circles around you.”

Tapping into his preferred methodology, Albini added, “I consider the band the most important thing, as the creative entity that spawned both the band’s personality and style and as the social entity that exists 24 hours out of each day. I do not consider it my place to tell you what to do or how to play. I’m quite willing to let my opinions be heard (if I think the band is making beautiful progress or a heaving mistake, I consider it part of my job to tell them) but if the band decides to pursue something, I’ll see that it gets done.”

Sticking to his word, the band and Albini partnered on the project, which resulted in In Utero, the third and final studio LP from Nirvana, known for classics such as “Heart-Shaped Box” and “All Apologies.” Released on September 21, 1993, six months prior to Cobain’s suicide. 

Scroll down to view the complete letter below. 

Read Steve Albini’s obituary here.