''Bleach'' is the debut
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by American
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Nirvana
( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...
, released on June 15, 1989, by
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...
. After the release of their debut single "
Love Buzz
"Love Buzz" is a song by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue. It was written by Robbie van Leeuwen and first released on the group's 1969 album '' At Home''. The song was covered by Nirvana, released as their debut single in 1988.
Nirvana cover versio ...
" on Sub Pop in November 1988, Nirvana rehearsed for two to three weeks in preparation for recording a full-length album. The main recording sessions for ''Bleach'' took place at
Reciprocal Recording
Reciprocal Recording was the name of a recording studio in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States that was founded in 1984 and officially closed in July 1991.
History
Chris Hanzsek and Tina Casale opened Reciprocal Reco ...
in
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
between December 1988 and January 1989. It is the only Nirvana album released on the Sub Pop label and their only album to feature drummer
Chad Channing
Chad Channing (born January 31, 1967) is an American musician who is best known as the drummer of the grunge band Nirvana from 1988 until 1990, during which time they recorded and released their debut album ''Bleach''; he also appears on "Polly ...
.
''Bleach'' did not chart upon initial release, but was well received by critics. When reissued internationally by
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint.
Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...
in 1992 following the success of Nirvana's second album, ''
Nevermind
''Nevermind'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a major label and the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl. Produced by Butch Vig, ''Neve ...
'', ''Bleach'' peaked at number 89 on the
''Billboard'' 200, peaked at number 33 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
and number 34 on the Australian albums chart. In 2009, Sub Pop released a 20th anniversary edition of ''Bleach'' featuring a live recording of a 1990 Nirvana performance in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
as bonus material.
''Bleach'' had sold 40,000 copies in North America before the release of ''Nevermind''. It has since been certified
platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
by the
RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
and has sold more than 1.9 million copies in the United States alone.
[Ask Billboard: Rihanna's (Quirky) Record in the Hot 100's Top 10 With 'Needed Me'](_blank)
''Billboard''. Retrieved October 6, 2016. It is Sub Pop's best-selling album to date and is unlikely to be surpassed by competitors.
Frontman
Kurt Cobain's death in April 1994 also led to a resurgence in the album's popularity, reaching number one on the
Top Pop Catalog Albums
Top Pop Catalog Albums is a 50-position weekly albums chart produced by ''Billboard'' Magazine which ranks the best-selling catalog albums in the United States, regardless of genre. ''Billboard'' defines a catalog title as one that is more than 18 ...
chart.
In April 2019, ''Bleach'' was ranked No. 13 on ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
s 50 Greatest Grunge Albums list.
Recording
After the release of its debut single "
Love Buzz
"Love Buzz" is a song by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue. It was written by Robbie van Leeuwen and first released on the group's 1969 album '' At Home''. The song was covered by Nirvana, released as their debut single in 1988.
Nirvana cover versio ...
" on Sub Pop in November 1988, Nirvana practiced for two to three weeks in preparation for recording a full-length album, even though Sub Pop had only requested an
EP. The main sessions for ''Bleach'' took place at
Reciprocal Recording Studios in Seattle, with local producer
Jack Endino
Jack Endino (born Michael M. Giacondino; 1964) is an American producer and musician based in Seattle, Washington. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands including Mudhon ...
.
Nirvana began recording with a five-hour session on December 24, 1988. The band recorded again on December 29–31, and on January 14 and 24.
[Gaar, Gillian G. "Verse Chorus Verse: The Recording History of Nirvana". ''Goldmine''. February 14, 1997] Three of the album's songs – "Floyd the Barber", "Paper Cuts", and "Downer" – were recorded during a previous session at Reciprocal Studios in January 1988, featuring
Dale Crover
Dale Crover (born October 23, 1967) is an American rock musician. Crover is best known as the drummer for Melvins and has also been the drummer for Men of Porn, Shrinebuilder, Crystal Fairy and, for a brief time, Nirvana. He is also guitarist an ...
on drums. Despite attempts to re-record them with new drummer
Chad Channing
Chad Channing (born January 31, 1967) is an American musician who is best known as the drummer of the grunge band Nirvana from 1988 until 1990, during which time they recorded and released their debut album ''Bleach''; he also appears on "Polly ...
, the band ultimately decided to remix the versions recorded with Crover for the final version of ''Bleach''.
[Azerrad, 1994. p. 91] "Big Long Now" was omitted from the album because vocalist/guitarist
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...
felt "there was already enough slow heavy stuff on ''Bleach'', and he 'didn't want that song to go out'", according to Endino.
The album was edited and sequenced, but Sub Pop head
Bruce Pavitt
Bruce S. Pavitt (born March 7, 1959) is the Chicago-born co-founder of independent record label Sub Pop. He attended Evergreen State College where he hosted a show on Evergreen's KAOS radio station before founding Sub Pop.
History
After briefly ...
ordered that the album be completely re-sequenced. The record was further delayed for several months until Sub Pop was able to secure sufficient funds to issue it.
Lead singer
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...
felt pressured to create music for ''Bleach'' that conformed to the
grunge
Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...
music style favored by his record label and the contemporary Seattle music scene. The album is regarded as quite negative and bleak; Cobain claimed that most of the lyrics were written the night before recording while he was feeling "pissed off", and that he did not regard them highly.
Endino billed the band thirty hours of recording at $606.17.
Jason Everman
Jason Mark Everman (born October 16, 1967) is an American musician and soldier who played guitar with Nirvana and Mind Funk, and bass in Soundgarden and OLD. He later served tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan with the U.S. Army as an Army Ra ...
, a guitarist who was impressed by Nirvana's demo with Dale Crover, supplied the money. He briefly joined the group as second guitarist.
Everman was credited as a guitarist on the album sleeve, and is the other guitarist on the cover of the album, even though he did not perform on the album. Bassist
Krist Novoselic
Krist Anthony Novoselic (; ; born May 16, 1965) is an American musician and activist. He was the bassist and co-founder of the rock band Nirvana.
Novoselic and Kurt Cobain formed the band Nirvana in 1987 along with drummer Aaron Burckhard, wh ...
explained, "We just wanted to make him feel at home in the band."
[Azerrad, 1994. p. 92]
Music
According to Cobain, the music on ''Bleach'' conformed with the
grunge
Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...
genre
Sub Pop
Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...
heavily endorsed. "There was this pressure from Sub Pop and the grunge scene to play 'rock music'", Cobain said, and noted that he "
trippedit down and
ade
Ade, Adé, or ADE may refer to:
Aeronautics
*Ada Air's ICAO code
* Aden International Airport's IATA code
*Aeronautical Development Establishment, a laboratory of the DRDO in India
Medical
* Adverse Drug Event
*Antibody-dependent enhancement
* A ...
it sound like
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...
." Cobain also felt he had to fit the expectations of the grunge sound to build a fanbase, and hence suppressed his arty and pop songwriting traits while crafting the record.
[Azerrad, 1994. p. 102] Krist Novoselic said in a 2001 interview with ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' that the band had played a tape in their tour van that had an album by
the Smithereens
The Smithereens are an American rock band from Carteret, New Jersey, United States. The group formed in 1980 with members Pat DiNizio (vocals & guitar), Jim Babjak (guitar & vocals), Mike Mesaros (bass guitar & vocals), and Dennis Diken (drum ...
on one side and one by the band
Celtic Frost
Celtic Frost () was a Swiss extreme metal band from Zürich. They are known for their strong influence on the development of extreme metalBukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal''. Barnes & Noble Publishing, 2003. p.43 and avant-ga ...
on the other, and noted that the combination probably played an influence as well. The songs were described as "deliberately bleak, claustrophobic, and lyrically sparse, with none of the manic derangement or sense of release of the live performance". Cobain said that the song structures were "one–dimensional", and said that he sought to present a more "polished and urbane side of himself".
[Sandford, 2004. p. 112]
''Bleach'' was heavily influenced by the Seattle-based
sludge metal
Sludge metal (also known as sludge or sludge doom) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that originated through combining elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. It is typically harsh and abrasive, often featuring shouted vocals, heavi ...
scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s, pioneered by
Melvins
Melvins (sometimes The Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Initially, they performed as a trio but later also sometimes appeare ...
. Author Gillian G. Gaar wrote that ''Bleach'' "
asits share – some would say more than its share – of dirty sludge",
and Sub Pop describes the single
Love Buzz/Big Cheese to be "heavy
pop sludge."
[ Kindle edition]
Describing the various songs on ''Bleach'',
Christopher Sandford
Christopher Sandford (1902–1983) of Eye Manor, Herefordshire, was a book designer, proprietor of the Golden Cockerel Press, a founding director of the Folio Society, and husband of the wood engraver and pioneer Corn dolly revivalist, Lettice Sa ...
wrote: "'Paper Cuts' includes a folk-influence melody and ponderous rhythm of an early
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
number; 'Mr. Moustache' addressed itself to Nirvana's male fans; 'Downer' showed the same exceptional contempt for the group's audience". Sandford felt "School" – which features only four lines of lyrics – was memorable for its chorus that "served as the rip". While "Scoff" is "a parting salvo at
obain's parents, "Negative Creep" was written by Cobain about himself. According to Sandford, "About a Girl" has a "chiming melody and ironic chorus".
[Sandford, 2004. pp. 116–118] In ''
Sounds
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
'' magazine, Keith Cameron said the song "was exhilarating and it was exciting because that was the nature of the music, but there was also an almost palpable sense of danger, that this whole thing could fall apart any second. There was never any relaxation from the first note to the last". In his book ''Nirvana: The Stories Behind Every Song'', Chuck Crisafulli writes that the song "stands out in the Cobain canon as a song with a very specific genesis and a very real subject".
[Crisafulli, Chuck. ''Nirvana: The Stories Behind Every Song''. ]Da Capo Press
Da Capo Press is an American publishing company with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. It is now an imprint of Hachette Books.
History
Founded in 1964 as a publisher of music books, as a division of Plenum Publishers, it had additional of ...
, 2006. , p. 28–36
In one of his first interviews, Cobain told ''Sounds'' journalist
John Robb, "When I write a song the lyrics are the least important thing. I can go through two or three different subjects in a song and the title can mean absolutely nothing at all. Sometimes I try to make things harder for myself, just to try to make myself a bit more angry. I try out a few subconscious things I suppose, like conflicts with other people. Most of the lyrics on the ''Bleach'' album are about my life in Aberdeen."
In 1993, Cobain told ''
Spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning
* Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis
* Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...
'' that on ''Bleach'' he "didn't give a flying fuck what the lyrics were about" and claimed that 80 percent of the lyrics were written the night before recording.
[Steinke, Darcey. "Smashing Their Heads on That Punk Rock". ''Spin''. October 1993.] He was often still working on the words on the drive to the recording studio.
He explained: "It was like I'm pissed off. Don't know what about. Let's just scream negative lyrics, and as long as they're not sexist and don't get too embarrassing it'll be okay. I don't hold any of those lyrics dear to me."
Nirvana biographer
Michael Azerrad
Michael Azerrad is an American author, music journalist, editor, and musician. A graduate of Columbia University, he has written for publications such as '' Spin'', ''Rolling Stone'', and ''The New York Times''. Azerrad's 1993 biography '' Come ...
noted that, nevertheless, many of the songs on the album reflected Cobain and various incidents in his life. "Mr. Moustache" was inspired by Cobain's dislike of macho behavior, while "School" was a critique of the Seattle music scene, particularly Sub Pop.
Release and promotion
The album cover was photographed by Cobain's then-girlfriend Tracy Marander during a concert at the Reko Muse art gallery in
Olympia, Washington
Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region.
European ...
.
[True, 2007. p. 125–6] On February 25, 1989, Nirvana played at venues on the west coast, including the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
.
[Sandford, 2004. pp. 378–379] The group began its first European tour, a double headliner with the band
Tad, at the
Riverside
Riverside may refer to:
Places Australia
* Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania
Canada
* Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon
* Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta
* Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...
venue in
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
on October 23, 1989. On December 3, they played a "triumphant" set at the
London Astoria
The London Astoria was a music venue at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England.
Originally a warehouse during the 1920s, the building became a cinema and ballroom. It was converted for use as a theatre in the 1970s. After further develop ...
. Christopher Sandford related: "when the style pundits noted Cobain's 'patent lumberjack shirts and ugly fifties geometric-patterned jerseys', seeing an example of 'low-couture chic' they missed the point that flannel shirts and sweaters were everyday dress in the marine climate of the Northwest". Cobain took note and said that he never intended to start a fad or act as a role model.
The album's working title was ''Too Many Humans''. It was renamed ''Bleach'' after Cobain found an
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
prevention poster while Nirvana was driving through
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. The poster advised
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
addicts to bleach their needles before use, featuring the slogan "Bleach Your Works".
In Australia, ''Bleach'' was released on
Waterfront Records
Waterfront Records was an independent record label based in Sydney that released recordings by Australian bands during the 1980s and 1990s.
History
Waterfront records was started in 1982 by Steven Stavrakis who at the time was an employee of ...
and re-issued on various colored covers and colored vinyl prior to 1992.
Due to increasing dissatisfaction with Everman over the course of the Bleach tour, Nirvana canceled the last few dates and drove back to Washington. No one told Everman he was fired at the time, while Everman later claimed that he actually quit the group. Although Sub Pop did not promote ''Bleach'' as much as other releases, it was a steady seller for a Sub Pop release.
[Azerrad, 1994. p. 134] However, Cobain was upset by the label's lack of promotion and distribution for the album.
In April 1992, following the success of Nirvana's second album ''
Nevermind
''Nevermind'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a major label and the first to feature drummer Dave Grohl. Produced by Butch Vig, ''Neve ...
'', Sub Pop released a remastered version of ''Bleach'' on LP, CD and cassette.
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label established by David Geffen and owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M Records imprint.
Founded in 1980, Geffen Records has been a part of Interscope Geffen A&M since 1999 and h ...
handled the international release. The CD version was packaged in a cardboard foldout case that included a bonus booklet filled with photos of the band from 1987 to 1990. For the 20th anniversary of the album, Sub Pop released on November 3, 2009 a deluxe reissue of ''Bleach'' featuring a March 2009 remastering from the original tapes by George Marino and a live recording of a 1990 show at
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
's Pine Street Theatre. Everman is no longer given credit on the album, but can still be seen on the front cover and is given a special thanks in the booklet.
Reception
''Bleach'' did not sell well but received positive reviews from critics when it was first released. It "became a moderate hit on
college radio
Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...
and the
underground
Underground most commonly refers to:
* Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth
Underground may also refer to:
Places
* The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston
* The Underground ...
/
DIY
"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...
circuit", according to Charles M. Young in ''
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide
''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...
''.
In ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'',
Edwin Pouncey gave ''Bleach'' an eight-out-of-ten rating and wrote, "This is the biggest, baddest sound that Sub Pop have so far managed to unearth. So primitive that they manage to make label mates
Mudhoney
Mudhoney is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988, following the demise of Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters. Orig ...
sound like
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
, Nirvana turn up the volume and spit and claw their way to the top of the musical garbage heap." ''
Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...
'' reviewer
Push
Push may refer to:
Music
* Mike Dierickx (born 1973), a Belgian producer also known as Push
Albums
* ''Push'' (Bros album), 1988
* ''Push'' (Gruntruck album), 1992
* ''Push'' (Jacky Terrasson album), 2010
Songs
* "Push" (Enrique Iglesias s ...
deemed Nirvana "the only Sub Pop act to date whose songs consistently equal the standard set by their mates Mudhoney".
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moo ...
of
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...
was impressed by the album, finding it "primal" and the songwriting "completely melodious" but also "punk", and during the
mastering of Sonic Youth's 1990 album ''
Goo'', Moore expressed his desire for a sound similar to that of ''Bleach''.
In a retrospective review for
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
,
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
opined that "Kurt Cobain illustrated signs of his considerable songcraft" on ''Bleach'', "particularly on the minor-key ballad 'About a Girl' and the dense churn of 'Blew'", summarizing the album as "a debut from a band that shows potential but haven't yet achieved it."
Author
Dave Thompson stated in 2000 that "history
ouldn'thear a word against
he album
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
, but added that if "one just came down from a few decades on Mars, 42 minutes of growly, lo-fi probably wouldn't change your life too much".
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
wrote in ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', "Familiar now with Cobain's extraordinary gift, we can hear it loud and clear on the 1989 debut album, ''Bleach''. Cobain's gigantic, goofy, bass-playing buddy Krist Novoselic added drollery to the band's chaotic irreverence." Christgau later commented that while he found Endino's production "way too dry for grunge, a way of music that benefits from extra sputum", he nonetheless considered ''Bleach'' "a major album".
Anthony Carew from
About.com
Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...
said that ''Bleach'' defined "the entire decade of the '90s" and argued that while Nirvana's later albums "were more widely acclaimed, caused a bigger cultural impact, and were generally more accomplished", "the band's essence was at its most essential on their debut."
Before ''Nevermind'' was released, ''Bleach'' had sold 40,000 copies in North America. The 1992 re-release of the album was more successful on the charts, with ''Bleach'' eventually reaching number 89 at the
''Billboard'' 200,
number 33 on the
UK album charts
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
,
[Roberts, David, ed. (2006). '']British Hit Singles & Albums
''British Hit Singles & Albums'' (originally known as ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' and ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums'') was a music reference book originally published in the United Kingdom by the publishing arm of ...
''. number 19 edition. HIT Entertainment. . number 34 on the
Australian Recording Industry Association chart,
[Kent, David (1993). ''Australian Chart Book 1970–1992'' and ''1993–2005''. St Ives, N.S.W. .] and number 22 on the
Finland charts.
[Pennanen, Timo (2003). ]
Sisältää hitin: levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972
'. Otava Publishing Company Ltd. . Kurt Cobain's death in April 1994 also led to a resurgence of popularity, with ''Bleach'' entering the
Top Pop Catalog chart at number six in the week following his death,
and eventually earning the top spot on May 7.
The 2009 deluxe edition entered the Catalog Albums chart at number seven. ''Bleach'' was certified
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".
Platinu ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
in February 1995,
and had sold an estimated 1.9 million copies in the United States by September 2016.
It has also been certified Gold by the
Canadian Recording Industry Association
Music Canada (formerly Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)) is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It a ...
. It is Sub Pop's best-selling album release to date.
Track listing
Notes
* "Love Buzz" was replaced by "Big Cheese" on the 1989 UK release,
but included on the 1992 UK CD reissue.
* "Big Cheese" was originally the B-side of "Love Buzz".
* "Downer" is included on the 1990 CD, but not the 1990 cassette. Included on both the 1992 CD and 1992 cassette.
*The 20th anniversary live bonus track "Spank Thru" was previously released as a b-side on CD versions of the "
Sliver
Sliver may refer to:
Entertainment
*Sliver (novel), ''Sliver'' (novel), a 1991 novel by Ira Levin
**Sliver (film), ''Sliver'' (film), a 1993 film adaptation of the novel
**Sliver (soundtrack), ''Sliver'' (soundtrack), the soundtrack to the 1993 fi ...
" single in 1991.
*The 20th anniversary live bonus track "Molly's Lips" was previously released as a single in January 1991.
*The 20th anniversary live bonus track version of "About a Girl" was previously released as a b-side on CD and 12" vinyl versions of the "
Sliver
Sliver may refer to:
Entertainment
*Sliver (novel), ''Sliver'' (novel), a 1991 novel by Ira Levin
**Sliver (film), ''Sliver'' (film), a 1993 film adaptation of the novel
**Sliver (soundtrack), ''Sliver'' (soundtrack), the soundtrack to the 1993 fi ...
" single in 1991.
Personnel
;Nirvana
*
Kurt Cobain
Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...
(credited as "Kurdt Kobain")[True, 2007. p. 124] –
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
,
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
*
Krist Novoselic
Krist Anthony Novoselic (; ; born May 16, 1965) is an American musician and activist. He was the bassist and co-founder of the rock band Nirvana.
Novoselic and Kurt Cobain formed the band Nirvana in 1987 along with drummer Aaron Burckhard, wh ...
(credited as "Chris Novoselic") –
bass
*
Chad Channing
Chad Channing (born January 31, 1967) is an American musician who is best known as the drummer of the grunge band Nirvana from 1988 until 1990, during which time they recorded and released their debut album ''Bleach''; he also appears on "Polly ...
–
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
*
Jason Everman
Jason Mark Everman (born October 16, 1967) is an American musician and soldier who played guitar with Nirvana and Mind Funk, and bass in Soundgarden and OLD. He later served tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan with the U.S. Army as an Army Ra ...
– guitar
(pictured in the cover photo and credited, but he did not perform on the album)
; Additional personnel
*
Dale Crover
Dale Crover (born October 23, 1967) is an American rock musician. Crover is best known as the drummer for Melvins and has also been the drummer for Men of Porn, Shrinebuilder, Crystal Fairy and, for a brief time, Nirvana. He is also guitarist an ...
– drums on "Floyd the Barber", "Paper Cuts" and "Downer", backing vocals on "Downer"
*
Jack Endino
Jack Endino (born Michael M. Giacondino; 1964) is an American producer and musician based in Seattle, Washington. Long associated with Seattle label Sub Pop and the grunge movement, Endino worked on seminal albums from bands including Mudhon ...
–
producer
* Tracy Marander –
photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...
*
Charles Peterson –
photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...
* Lisa Orth – design
* Jane Higgins – execution
Charts
Original 1989 release
1992 re-release
20th anniversary edition
Certifications
Release history
Notes
References
*
Azerrad, Michael. ''
Come as You Are: The Story of Nirvana''.
Doubleday, 1993.
*Berkenstadt, Jim;
Cross, Charles. ''Nevermind: Nirvana''.
Music Sales Group
Wise Music Group is a global music publisher, with headquarters in Berners Street, London. In February 2020, Wise Music Group changed its name from The Music Sales Group.
In 2014 Wise Music Group (as The Music Sales Group) acquired French cla ...
, 2003.
*Cross, Charles. ''
Heavier Than Heaven
''Heavier Than Heaven'' is a 2001 biography of musician Kurt Cobain, the frontman of the grunge band Nirvana. It was written by Charles R. Cross.
For the book, Cross desired to create the definitive Cobain biography, and over four years condu ...
: A Biography of Kurt Cobain''.
Hyperion, 2001.
*
Sandford, Christopher. ''Kurt Cobain''.
Da Capo Press
Da Capo Press is an American publishing company with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. It is now an imprint of Hachette Books.
History
Founded in 1964 as a publisher of music books, as a division of Plenum Publishers, it had additional of ...
, 2004.
*
True, Everett. ''Nirvana – The True Story''.
Omnibus Press
Omnibus Press is a publisher of music-related books. It publishes around 30 new titles a year to add to a backlist of over 250 titles currently in print.
History
Omnibus Press was launched in 1972 as a general non-fiction publisher to complem ...
, 2006.
External links
*
Bleach' at
Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...
Live Nirvana Sessions History – ''Bleach''
{{good article
1989 debut albums
Nirvana (band) albums
Grunge albums
Sub Pop albums
2009 live albums
Nirvana (band) live albums
Sub Pop live albums
Albums produced by Jack Endino