The 20^th anniversary reissue of In Utero, just released by Universal, catalogues the making of the band’s third studio album, an untimely farewell marked by the death of lead singer Kurt Cobain. Their ascent was sudden and their reign short-lived, but the indelible mark Nirvana left doesn’t seem to fade away.

Destruction precedes creation and in the wake of the monstrous success of 1991’s Nevermind, Nirvana set out to put themselves back together with their anxiously awaited follow-up record. Their first major label release made them the biggest band in the world and blew the lid off of the tight-knit Seattle community of musicians where they got their start. Grunge was no longer a term innocently used to describe the “Seattle Sound.” It was a profitable commodity and Nirvana, its main distributor. The band was ill-prepared for such a response and Cobain in particular struggled with the complexities of sudden fame and fortune. Idolized by fans but scrutinized by the press, his infamously destructive attempts at coping, nearly tore the band apart.

Less than two years after Nevermind was released, Nirvana began to work on songs for their next album, eight of which appear in demo form on the reissue. They recruited an initially reluctant and infamously outspoken, Steve Albini to produce. His work on the Pixies’, Surfer Rosa and PJ Harvey’s Rid Of Me was indicative of the raw sound that Nirvana hoped to capture their third time around. Albini was very vocal about his disdain for meddling record labels and encouraged the band to pay for the sessions themselves. They worked out of Pachyderm Studio in Cannon Falls, Minnesota and completed the album in just under two weeks. If Nevermind was Generation X’s anthem, In Utero was the band’s own personal manifesto and is nothing short of a masterpiece.

The album’s exterior, while furiously determined and unapologetic, only partially masks the frailty and confusion embedded in its bones. Albini’s mostly hands-off approach to production left the sound blatantly unfiltered and even at its loudest, the record is exposed. Kurt Cobain’s lyrics are more focused and direct than his previous work and while the songs are filled with jabs at the music industry and those who buy into it, he never seems to alienate his fans. He questions himself just as much as he challenges them and his honesty is what makes him relevant to this day.

Following their session with Albini, both the band and the label decided that certain songs needed a bit more polishing. They called on R.E.M.’s long-time producer, Scott Litt to remix “Heart Shaped Box” and “All Apologies,” which made it onto the ‘93 release. Both of Steve Albini’s versions appear in the reissue as well as a Scott Litt mix of “Pennyroyal Tea.” One particularly special inclusion is a 2013 remix of the record,which brought Albini, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic back in the studio to unearth a newly imagined take on the work they did twenty years ago. While this bittersweet reunion is a reminder of the tragic ending of Nirvana’s story, the reissue allows fans to look back on the album that cemented the band’s place in rock history, and twenty years from now we’ll still be listening.