Editing In Utero (section)

===Production and mixing dispute===
After the recording sessions ended, Nirvana sent unmastered tapes of the album to several individuals, including Gold Mountain and Ed Rosenblatt, the president of DGC's parent company, [[Geffen Records]]. When asked about the feedback he received, Cobain told [[Michael Azerrad]], "The grown-ups don't like it." He said he was told his songwriting was "not up to par", the sound was "unlistenable", and that there was uncertainty that mainstream radio would accept Albini's production.<ref>Azerrad, 1994. p. 331</ref> Few at Geffen or Gold Mountain had wanted Nirvana to record with Albini, and Cobain felt he was receiving an unstated message to scrap the sessions and start again.<ref name=":1" />

Cobain was upset and said to Azerrad, "I should just re-record this record and do the same thing we did last year because we sold out last year—there's no reason to try and redeem ourselves as artists at this point. I can't help myself—I'm just putting out a record I would like to listen to at home." However, a number of Nirvana's friends liked the album, and by April, Nirvana was intent on releasing ''In Utero'' as it was. According to Cobain, "Of course, they want another ''Nevermind'', but I'd rather die than do that.  This is exactly the kind of record I would buy as a fan, that I would enjoy owning."<ref name=":1">Azerrad, 1994. p. 332</ref>

The band began to have doubts about the record. Cobain said, "The first time I played it at home, I knew there was something wrong. The whole first week I wasn't really interested in listening to it at all, and that usually doesn't happen. I got no emotion from it, I was just numb."<ref>Mothersole, Ben. "Nirvana's Kurt Cobain: Getting to Know Utero". ''Circus''. November 30, 1993.</ref> The group concluded that the bass and lyrics were inaudible and asked Albini to remix the album. He declined; as he recalled, "[Cobain] wanted to make a record that he could slam down on the table and say, 'Listen, I know this is good, and I know your concerns about it are meaningless, so go with it.' And I don't think he felt he had that yet&nbsp;...  My problem was that I feared a slippery slope."<ref>Gaar, 2006. p. 69</ref> The band attempted to address their concerns during the [[Audio mastering|mastering]] process with [[Bob Ludwig]] at his studio in [[Portland, Maine]]. Novoselic was pleased with the results, but Cobain still did not feel it was perfect.<ref>Azerrad, 1994. p. 336</ref>
[[File:BobLudwigGateway.jpg|alt=|thumb|Audio mastering engineer [[Bob Ludwig]] (pictured in 2008) was recruited to help make the album sound acceptable to DGC Records.]]

Soon afterward, in April 1993, Albini told the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' that he doubted Geffen would release the album.<ref>[[Greg Kot|Kot, Greg]]. "Record Label Finds Little Bliss in Nirvana's Latest". ''Chicago Tribune''. April 19, 1993.</ref> Years later, Albini said: "I wasn't there when the band was having their discussions with the record label.  All I know is&nbsp;... we made a record, everybody was happy with it.  A few weeks later I hear that it's unreleasable and it's all got to be redone."<ref>Gaar, 2006. p. 66</ref> While Albini's remarks in the article drew no reply from Nirvana or Geffen, ''[[Newsweek]]'' ran a similar article soon afterwards that did.<ref>Goodman, Fred. "Nirvana to 'Newsweek': Drop dead". ''Rolling Stone''. June 24, 1993.</ref> Nirvana wrote a letter to ''Newsweek'' denying any pressure to change the album and saying the author had "ridiculed our relationship with our label based on totally erroneous information". The band reprinted the letter in a full-page ad in ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''.  Rosenblatt insisted in a press release that Geffen would release anything Nirvana submitted, and the label founder, [[David Geffen]], made the unusual move of calling ''Newsweek'' to complain.<ref>Azerrad, 1994. p. 336–37</ref>

Nirvana considered working with the producer [[Scott Litt]] and remixing some tracks with [[Andy Wallace (producer)|Andy Wallace]], who had mixed ''Nevermind''.  Albini vehemently disagreed, and said the band had agreed not to modify the tracks without his involvement. He initially refused to give the [[Mastering (audio)|master tapes]] to Gold Mountain, but relented after a phone call from Novoselic. The band eventually had Litt remix songs intended as singles; "Heart Shaped Box" and "All Apologies" were remixed at Seattle's [[Bad Animals Studio]] in May 1993.<ref>Azerrad, 1994. p. 337–38</ref>

The rest of the album was left unaltered aside from a remastering.<ref>Azerrad, 1994. p. 338</ref> Albini was critical of the final mix; he said, "The record in the stores doesn't sound all that much like the record that was made, though it's still them singing and playing their songs, and the musical quality of it still comes across."<ref name="goldmine" /> According to Albini, ''In Utero'' made him unpopular with major record labels, and he faced problems finding work in the year following its release.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Steve Albini: "I realised that other people's opinions of me had no power over me… I still don't give a shit if I get judged"|url=https://www.kerrang.com/features/steve-albini-i-realised-that-other-peoples-opinions-of-me-had-no-power-over-me-i-still-dont-give-a-sh-t-if-i-get-judged/|access-date=2021-05-02|website=Kerrang!|date=January 25, 2021 }}</ref>