The 20^th anniversary re-issue of iconic grunge band Nirvana’s 1993 album ‘In Utero’ will include previously unreleased track ‘Forgotten Tune’.

Next month will mark two decades since Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic released, ‘In Utero’ – which would unfortunately be their third and last studio LP. In celebration – or perhaps memorial – of the event, DGC will re-release a three-disc version of the album on 23^rd September, with 70 tracks, including the original album, B-sides, remixes, and live recordings, and the newly-unearthed instrumental track, ‘Forgotten Tune’.

There is no question that 1991’s ‘Nevermind’ is the bands, and grunge’s, seminal album, and one of the defining records of the 90’s alt-rock era. The nude baby reaching for the hooked dollar on the cover, the doomy intro to ‘Come as You Are’, the thinly veiled self-loathing lyrics of ‘Lithium’, the anthemic ‘Stay Away’,  and of course, every moment of the signature track, ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ – all these aspects and many more are the amongst building blocks of grunge’s legacy.

However, more than a few will argue that ‘In Utero’ is, musically and lyrically, a better album. Far more ‘raw’ and less polished than its predecessor, it has been called the album that ‘Cobain wanted to make’, and it certainly feels, in a phenomenological sense, like more of an insight into the warped mind of one of musical history’s most celebrated tortured-artists, and a more cathartic straight-through listen compared to ‘Nevermind‘, which, through no fault of its own, can feel more like a greatest-hits collection.

From the opening  punk-dirge of ‘Serve the Servants’, to the inhuman banshee-shriek of ‘Scentless Apprentice’, the catchy-but-sickeningly-graphic surrealism of  ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ – perhaps Nirvana’s best song – to the dulled defiance of ‘Rape Me’, from ‘Pennyroyal Tea’, a song about a catatonically depressed man (that blisters in hindsight, knowing what would happen just a few months later) to the apt closer, ‘All Apologies’, it’s an harsh and often unforgiving album, but one that really has to be listened to.

The ‘In Utero vs. Nevermind’ debate is maybe a little futile – anyone with a passing interest in rock should own both – but the re-issue may well be worth a look simply for volume alone, it seems to be more of a Nirvana tribute collection than anything else, blending old and new in what might be among the more comprehensive Nirvana collections around.

The full track listing for the 20^th anniversary re-issue of ‘In Utero’, due for release on September 23^rd, is below:

DISC ONE

1. “Serve the Servants” (Albini mix/original release)
2. “Scentless Apprentice” (Albini mix/original release)
3. “Heart-Shaped Box” (Litt mix/original release)
4. “Rape Me” (Albini mix/original release)
5. “Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle” (Albini mix/original release)
6. “Dumb” (Albini mix/original release)
7. “Very Ape” (Albini mix/original release)
8. “Milk It” (Albini mix/original release)
9. “Pennyroyal Tea” (Albini mix/original release)
10. “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” (Albini mix/original release)
11. “Tourette’s” (Albini mix/original release)
12. “All Apologies” (Litt mix/original release)
13. “Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through the Strip” (ex-U.S. bonus track)
14. “Marigold” (B-side; “Heart Shaped Box)
15. “Moist Vagina” (B-side; “All Apologies”)’
16. “Sappy” (from “No Alternative” compilation)
17. “I Hate Myself and Want to Die” (from “The Beavis And Butthead Experience” compilation)
18. “Pennyroyal Tea” (Litt mix)
19. “Heart-Shaped Box” (Albini mix/unreleased)
20. “All Apologies” (Albini mix/unreleased)

DISC TWO (2013 album mix plus pre-album demos)

1. “Serve the Servants” (2013 mix)
2. “Scentless Apprentice” (2013 mix)
3. “Heart-Shaped Box (2013 mix)
4. “Rape Me” (2013 mix)
5. “Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle” (2013 mix)
6. “Dumb” (2013 mix)
7. “Very Ape” (2013 mix)
8. “Milk It” (2013 mix)
9. “Pennyroyal Tea” (2013 mix)
10. “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” (2013 mix)
11. “Tourette’s” (2013 mix)
12. “All Apologies (2013 mix)
13. “Scentless Apprentice” (Rio demo)
14. “Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle” (Laundry Room demo)
15. “Dumb” (Word Of Mouth demo)
16. “Very Ape” (Rio demo)
17. “Pennyroyal Tea” (Word of Mouth demo)
18. “Radio Friendly Unit Shifter” (Word of Mouth demo)
19. “Tourette’s” (Word of Mouth demo)
20. “Marigold” (Upland Studios demo)
21. “All Apologies” (Music Source demo)
22. “Forgotten Tune” (Rehearsal)
23. “Jam” (Word Of Mouth demo)

DISC 3 (“Live & Loud:” Live At Pier 48, Seattle, 12/13/93)

1. Radio Friendly Unit Shifter
2. Drain You
3. Breed
4. Serve the Servants
5. Rape Me
6. Sliver
7. Pennyroyal Tea
8. Scentless Apprentice
9. All Apologies
10. Heart-Shaped Box
11. Blew
12. The Man Who Sold the World (David Bowie cover)
13. School
14. Come as You Are
15. Lithium
16. About a Girl
17. Endless, Nameless