10 Amazing Rock Albums That Will Scare You To Death
9. In Utero - Nirvana
It's hard to really quantify one of the biggest rock bands in the world as being scary. If anything, Nirvana's rise to power off the strength of Nevermind felt like the coolest thing in the world circa 1992, blowing the rest of the hair metal scene out of the water with songs that were a lot more authentic to what rock and roll was supposed to be in the first place. We all may have been rocking out to Smells Like Teen Spirit, but Kurt Cobain was going through personal Hell, which finally showed up on In Utero.
Becoming more and more disenchanted with fame and growing withdrawn from his friends, the Kurt that shows up on this record lays into himself a lot more, being absolutely disgusted with his status as the voice of a generation and wanting to tear down every single piece of his legacy in the process. Using Steve Albini's abrasive production, everything about this album feels a lot more fiery, only taking breaks for ballads like Dumb in between some of the most emotional vocal performances Kurt ever made on songs like Heart Shaped Box.
That ugliness was not just for show either, with Kurt being found dead of a self inflicted shotgun wound a few months after this record came out, shattering everyone's illusion of what was really going on behind the scenes. This might have been the more aggro form of Nirvana that Kurt heard in his head, but when you look at what would come in the months that followed, you can hear his cry for help on this record.