I would strongly contest that the band was trying to drive anyone away with In Utero. Everything about it being this big eff you album was invented by the media (unfortunately not the only complete fabrication the media invented about Nirvana...) and unfortunately Albini bought into it, being the good little rebel leader he's supposed to be, but he later retracted his statement when he found out the truth of the matter. Nirvana did with In Utero exactly what they wanted to do with it, even when Kurt's excellent pop sensibilities overtook him and he unfortunately nixed Albini's original mix in favor of a more commercial one. In Utero is as close to a clone of Nevermind as humanly possible, there's no attempt to alienate anyone on that album.
As for my two cents on their catalog... I barely listen to Bleach. Good songs but the recording is too claustrophobic and Sub Pop was pulling too many strings -- sinching both the pop extreme and the experimental extreme, resulting in a rather one-sided album. On Nevermind the songs are still good but again the production is just too thin, I listen to the Smart Sessions more often than not. In Utero I enjoy greatly but still the material I listen to most is With The Lights Out. Raw, rich production on most of that material.
Lavender I love me some dirty, seething grunge too! Though I think it shines most brightly on a track like Pen Cap Chew or Anorexorcist.