(Credits: Raph Pour-Hashemi)
Sat 4 April 2026 17:00, UK
Dave Grohl built his entire career on being nothing but genuine.
As much as his nice guy attitude might be a facade to some people, you could tell that he came by his music as honestly as he could whenever he started writing with Foo Fighters or drumming for Nirvana. But even after starting all over again after losing Kurt Cobain, Grohl spent his entire career knowing that he had already made one of the most openhearted records that he had ever made from behind the drum kit.
But Grohl wasn’t going to get that much of a word in when working with Nirvana. The last thing he wanted to do was disrupt the songwriting process whenever he came up with an idea, and seeing as though their breakout album still contained some of the biggest alternative rock songs of all time, it’s not like Cobain didn’t know what he was doing. Even after years of hindsight, there are many fans who still don’t know what to do with In Utero years after Cobain’s passing.
It’s easy for someone to play armchair psychologist and listen to the screaming and claim that Cobain was lashing out in pain about what fame had done to him, but there’s a lot more to it than that. He did say that he didn’t want to make another version of Nevermind, but when listening to the raw performances, there’s something else going on aside from him making a record that was less polished.
Steve Albini was definitely the right guy for the job when it came to production duties, but the feeling in the room is one of the best ways to listen to the band. There are a few things that are sweetened up in the mix, but even if you look past the singles, each song perfectly balanced the beautiful side of them and the nastier side, like the tired beauty of a song like ‘Dumb’ or hearing them almost making fun of the idea of having a hit song on a track like ‘Serve the Servants’.
And while a lot has changed in Grohl’s life ever since working with Foo Fighters, he still thinks that In Utero is one of the most transparent recordings that he ever made, saying, “We managed to capture the emotional state of the band. It was a weird time for us. It was a little too real. I think it’s one of the most honest recordings I’ve made in my entire life, and it’s heartbreaking that it’s not a band anymore. It’s like going back and reading all of your journal entries from years ago.”
At the same time, you can hear that kind of emotional honesty in the way that Grohl hits the drums as well. You have to remember that everyone in the band had to change their lives after becoming the biggest band in the world, and even if Cobain could sing about it, Grohl was the one that was able to let his aggression out a lot more, especially on ‘Heart Shaped Box’, which manages to sound more like a smack in the face than anything that turned up on Nevermind.
Grohl still wasn’t looking to rock the boat, but a lot of that musical honesty also comes from him getting his first official song with the band on ‘Marigold’. It’s easy to view that tune now as the beginnings of Foo Fighters before Grohl even formed the group, but you could tell that he was just having a blast working with his friends and trying to find a way to hone his songwriting skills the same way that Cobain was.
So while comparing Nirvana and Foo Fighters is almost inevitable, there’s no sense in trying to make Grohl’s outfit out to be the band that picked up where Nirvana left off. ‘Everlong’ and ‘Learn to Fly’ are fantastic pop rock songs for their time, but there’s a good chance that Grohl doesn’t have an album like In Utero in him. It’s just too emotionally vulnerable for anyone to try to top.
