[hipster_bebop_junkie]

That makes sense. Your general beef with it seems to be more with Andy Wallace's work, then. I would suppose listening to the deluxe edition will satisfy you. I was referring more to the general identity, structure and dynamic of the songs when i mentioned that there weren't many differences between the rough stuff and the final record.

I see "Bleach" more lined up with the general aesthetic of Sub Pop's roster at the time, and probably wouldn't link it to SST Records strictly. "In Utero" is certainly great (and my favorite Nirvana album) but it's certainly flawed, even in some parts of the production. Having heard Steve Albini's mix, i don't consider that Scott Litt's work actually damaged the record.

I sort of agree with you on your commentary towards the "Curmudgeon" and "Even In His Youth" B-sides. Those are wonderful songs in terms of dynamics and performance. I would recommend you to get a copy of the January 1 of 1991 session that i mentioned before. Nirvana recorded "Aneurysm" which ended up on "Incesticide", "Oh The Guilt", an embryonic version of "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter" without vocals, "On A Plain", an early version of "All Apologies", and then killer versions of "Even In His Youth" and "Token Eastern Song". The raw power of this specific recording always made me wish to have a chance to listen to the actual master tapes of the recording sessions that spawned "Nevermind" in hopes that there were similar gems in there, i thought it would be possible judging by all the things that have been said about the whole process. I don't know if it would be worth to wait another decade for those, though.

As for your opinion about the "Nevermind" songs being shitty on record as opposed to their live versions, i have to say i somehow agree with that, and not only in the case of this particular album (although of course i wouldn't dare to deny its merits). I believe Nirvana's charm lies in the mighty power they had when performing live. I barely ever listen to any of the albums, but i'm still interested in getting whatever Nirvana live recordings that i'm missing in my collection.