Happy Trees wrote:understandable problem of people being confused by the bad terminology and presentation
This is really what it is, I think, exacerbated by how similarly named and poorly labeled some of these are on streaming services. The actual mix variations are pretty easy to wrap your brain around IMO:
- 2013 mix (new mix by Albini) - CD2 of 20th anniversary reissue, and standalone RSD vinyl. From what I can tell it's always labeled as "2013 mix."
- Original 1993 mix (Albini's mix of 10 songs plus Scott Litt's mixes of "Heart-Shaped Box" and "All Apologies.") - every other version of the album*, though there are multiple masterings of varying quality
*The exception to this is the censored Wal-Mart version, which also contains a third Litt remix ("Pennyroyal Tea") in lieu of Albini's version. Not sure why this happened, but I don't think this version of the album is going to be found anywhere other than in thrift shops, so it's not really a going concern for anyone trying to sort this stuff out today.
The original Albini mixes of "Heart-Shaped Box" and "All Apologies" appear as bonus tracks on the 20th anniversary but, to my knowledge, have never been released commercially as part of the proper album sequence. The Litt remix of "Pennyroyal Tea" appears as a bonus track on this reissue as well.
Compared to Beatles, Bob Dylan, etc., mix variations, where you've got stuff like this but also the confusion of mono vs. stereo, US vs. UK pressings, etc.,
In Utero is a piece of cake!