Nevermind’s production hasn’t aged well. Any more compression on that sucker, and it would really sound like fucking Boston.

I wish someone would give Steve Albini a long weekend with the original tapes. I’ll bet he could restore some dynamic range and, ironically, make the record sound even huger. It deserves a modern, Vig-less remix.

(Man, imagine if Albini had recorded the original drums — the mind reels)

— merlin

Astute observation. Nevermind is my least favorite Nirvana album for this reason - listen to Bleach and Nevermind back to back and the difference is obvious. (Love the Boston dig too… would anyone have made the sonic comparison of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” to “More Than A Feeling” with a different producer?)

The choice of Steve Albini as producer on In Utero was a backlash reaction and overt attempt to get back that sense and sound of urgency apparent on their earlier recordings. Cobain was a huge Pixies fan, so best bet is he thought that by bringing in Albini he could make In Utero sound like Surfer Rosa, but it was too late - they were already a slick studio band with a coat of Vig-shellac that even Albini’s heavy-handed production methods couldn’t penetrate.

Source: merlin