Bleach

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Bleach album cover
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EDITOR'S PICK

Total Tracks: 13   Total Length: 43:07

eMusic Review 0

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Douglas Wolk

eMusic Contributor

Douglas Wolk writes about pop music and comic books for Time, the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Wired and elsewhere. He's the author of Reading Comics: How Gra...more »

03.15.10
A fascinating document of what Kurt Cobain wanted to be
Label: Sub Pop Records

The best-selling Sub Pop album ever pulled the entire label up along with it in the crazy months after Nirvana's follow-up Nevermind transformed the rock landscape. Bleach isn't the monument that Nevermind was (the album was famously recorded for less than the cost of a decent guitar, and it kind of shows), but it's a fascinating document of what Kurt Cobain wanted to be and what he couldn't help being — a scuzzy punk noisenik with a pop jones he couldn't hide. There's a lot of thud and bluster here — "Paper Cuts" is all dissonant irritation — alongside some terrific, mammoth Led Zep/Aerosmith riffs, like the one that powers "School." "About a Girl" was supposedly inspired by the Beatles, which was not the world's most uncommon reference point unless you happened to have been a shaggy-haired Flipper fan in 1989; even better is Nirvana's first single, "Love Buzz," a cover of an obscurity by the '60s Dutch pop band Shocking Blue. Cobain growls it like a threat, but he knew it was a promise.

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Nirvana Mix Tape

markhighwire

Blew, School, Negative Creep...this album rocks. But it's not all grunge. About a Girl is downright pretty. I always think of Bleach as a Nirvana Mix Tape, much as Let it Be is the Replacements' mix tape...

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Band

Aquarius-Rabbit

I like Nirvana, because of their music type. I love Stake Punk. Nirvana rock on!!

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This is a Staple

Commonseur

This is an incredible album that wasn't made for most people to like. If you like heavy music, check this out and you'll listen to it all the time. And, it's totally acceptable to play Love Buzz twice in a row at a party...

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cool for historians

ItsOKtoExplode

if you love music, and you like latter-day nirvana, this is great to check out. you definitely don't need it. it's interesting, but i'm not going to go back and listen to it again and again. it's a collector's item.

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Under rated album

psmgamer2005

Its a classic album I never knew Nirvana had an album before Nevermind came out. It doesn't have the production value of Nevermind but its the roots of Nirvana that would change the way that we listen to music. My favorite tracks would be About a Girl and Negative Creep both are the standouts in this album. For those who have never heard this album do yourself a favor and listen to it. Its worth a listen to hear where Nirvana started out before they became big with their Nevermind album. I'll admit that I hated this album at first but it grew on me. It just has the energy that you can feel that Kurt Cobain and crew put everything on the line for this debut album and it really shows.

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Yep, total classic

MelvinRamone

Like the others said, Bleach is more than just academically interesting. While it is in some ways a bit of a MELVINS knock off, it's a damn good one that even features Dale Crover's one of a kind drumming. Even the MELVINS themselves only topped it a few times. Many, Many serious rock fiends consider this Nirvana's best record and that's not just because the wanna sound cool sayin' it.

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jsuspect killed it

jackwolfe

this is a great album in its own right. most critics put down the second half cuz it doesn't have "about a girl" and they don't listen to it more than once and they don't rock at all.

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Total Classic.

Jsuspect

I disagree with the All Music Guide review. Bleach is more than just a historical curiosity, it is a strong record all around, and anyone who heard this before Nevermind came out knew to expect something big from Nirvana. I listen to this album once every year and it has the power to transport me back in time, a time when I was still excited about new music.

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This is one case where the legend really precedes the record itself. Cut for about 600 dollars in Jack Endino’s studio over just a matter of days, this captures Nirvana at a formative stage, still indebted to the murk that became known as grunge, yet not quite finding their voice as songwriters. Which isn’t to say that they were devoid of original material, since even at this stage Kurt Cobain illustrated signs of his considerable songcraft, particularly on the minor-key ballad “About a Girl” and the dense churn of “Blew.” A few songs come close to that level, but that’s more a triumph of sound than structure, as “Negative Creep” and “School” get by on attitude and churn, while the cover of “Love Buzz” winds up being one of the highlights because this gives a true menace to their sound, thanks to its menacing melody. The rest of it sinks into the sludge, as the group itself winds up succumbing to grinding sub-metallic riffing that has little power, due to lack of riffs and lack of a good drummer. Bleach is more than a historical curiosity since it does have its share of great songs, but it isn’t a lost classic — it’s a debut from a band that shows potential but haven’t yet achieved it. – Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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