Product Description

'Bleach' was the debut album from Seattle grunge legends Nirvana. Originally released in 1989 on indie label Sub Pop and later reissued by Geffen in 1992, it is a fusion of down-tuned rock and melodic punk. Heavily influenced by The Melvins, Sonic Youth and most notably The Pixies with their punk attitude and pop melodies. The drums on the album were playedby Chad Channing who was replaced by Dave Grohl in 1990.

Track Listing

1. Blew
2. Floyd The Barber
3. About A Girl
4. School
5. Love Buzz
6. Paper Cuts
7. Negative Creep
8. Scoff
9. Swap Meet
10. Mr Moustache
11. Sifting
12. Big Cheese
13. Downer

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27393 in Music
• Released on: 2002-10-21
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
In 1989, Nirvana were mentioned in the same breath as Mudhoney, Tad and The Melvins--just another band doing the rounds on the Seattle underground. Bleach doesn't adequately explain why, so many years on, Nirvana remains a household name when so many of their contemporaries have been forgotten, but it offers the first essential clues. "About A Girl", for instance, which was later memorably revived for their MTV Unplugged In New York album, is one of Nirvana's finest moments--a Beatles-esque light touch between the caustic likes of "Floyd The Barber" and "School". It was when Nirvana toned down the fuzz-metallic tendencies so characteristic of the Sub Pop label that Cobain's gift for melody shone through- -notably, the cover of Shocking Blue's "Love Buzz". Of course, Cobain quickly realised this, and much better was to come with 1991's classic Nevermind. --Louis Pattison

Customer Reviews

Nirvana at their rawest
This is my favourite nirvana album, I first heard it when I was 11, I'm now 27! I had previously heard Nevermind and fell in love with Lithium, so I had to discover their earlier work. As often is the case I love the earlier albums most, they seem to be more honest, and with Bleach, Nirvana were at their rawest and grungiest.

This album is raw and aggressive, but also catchy and makes you wanna get up and go mad! No one track really stands out as the whole album flows well, mixing pop/rock (About a girl/Negative creep) with slow grungier tracks (paper cuts/sifting). 5/5

You either get it or you don't...
To put it bluntly, you can always tell the people who really get what Nirvana were about - they're the ones who recognise Bleach as the best album, In Utero as the next best, and Nevermind as the weakest. Equally you can always tell the trendy d*ckheads trying to show off how "alternative" they are - they're the ones who think Nevermind is the only good Nirvana album and are completely baffled by the other two studio albums.

This is Nirvana at their most experimental and interesting, in my opinion. The closest thing to a "hit single" is About A Girl (an almost Rolling Stonesy flash of troubled brilliance), but if what you want is hit singles then Nirvana really shouldn't be the place to look. About A Girl aside, Bleach is just sheer glorious downtuned fuzzy ecstacy, raised up from underground obscurity by Kurt's ear for a vocal melody. Simple as that. And that's why it's dated far better than Nevermind, and still retains its edge.

You'll either love it or hate it. But if you're someone who bought Nevermind because it's One Of The Greatest Albums Ever Made, I'll bet you're probably not gonna like Bleach.

The Best Pure Grunge Album
Recorded on a shoestring budget and released back in 1989 when Seattle was still a relatively obscure musical backwater, it was nevertherless clear that Nirvana were something special. Grunge contemporaries like Tad, Mudhoney and Soundgarden certainly had some fine moments but none were able to produce records of such consistent excellence.

All of the ingredients for a grunge classic are here: slow, heavy riffing of sludgy guitars and lyrics which convey the stifling frustration of being a social misfit in a small American town.

What sets `Bleach' apart from its peers, though, is Cobain's seemingly innate deftness of touch and pop sensibility. This really shines through on `Blew' and the rightly celebrated `About a Girl' (which Cobain feared might be too poppy for his label) but is also present on heavier numbers like `Floyd the Barber', `School' and the claustrophobic `Sifting'. Even the out-and-out thrilling thrash-fest of `Negative Creep' can be sung (or screamed) along to.

`Bleach' caught the ear of David Geffen and `Nevermind' catapulted Cobain to reluctant superstardom, but the seeds of greatness were sown in this brilliant record, arguably the greatest grunge LP recorded.