Bleach
| Nirvana
Bleach
Bleach is the debut studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on June 15, 1989 by Sub Pop. The main recording sessions took place at Reciprocal Recording in Seattle, Washington between December 1988 and January 1989. Since its release in 1989, Bleach has sold more than 1,900,000 copies in the United States alone. It is Sub Pop's best-selling album to date. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Bleach, represented an equally heretical notion to some indie aesthetes: Flipper-grade sludge-punk molded into Beatles-schooled pop schematics. -2009
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BBC
some Nirvana die-hards argue that Bleach is Nirvana’s finest work. -2007
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NME
Bleach is far too important to be cast aside as the runt of the litter – because here, for all the flaws and foibles, were the first flickering signs that Nirvana would become something special. -2015
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Loudwire
Most music fans didn't realize it at the time, but the seeds of a future musical revolution were being planted on June 15, 1989, with the release of Nirvana's debut album, Bleach. -2017
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Drowned in Sound
Bleach’s strangulated snarl is the sound of Kurt Cobain having a pretty clear idea as to his long-term aspirations, but as yet lacking the full toolkit for putting it all together. -2009
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Sputnik Music
Bleach is not nirvana's best work by any means, but the album succeeds through its energy, its sincerity, and the adventurous nature of the songs. -2005
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The Quietus
Bleach is a tentative toddler step towards the conquering pop nous that would secure the trio global figurehead status. -2010
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The Guardian
The band's first album combined the epic rock of Aerosmith with the gentle melodies of the Beatles to create a slow, stoned groove absent in later records. -2009
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Prefix Mag
Bleach is a raucous, aggressive record that attempts to weld punk influences to classic rock and pop, and it succeeds only in bursts. -2009
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Uncut
One small quibble, though: while it’s great to have documentation of the band’s early live sound (and in many ways the versions of the songs from Bleach are superior thanks to the sprightly energy), you don’t really get a sense of the sheer ferocity and electricity Nirvana generated in a tiny, cramped college bar. -2009
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Pop Matters
Less song-focused than later Nirvana works, Bleach acts as an interesting showcase of the band’s musical chops. -2009
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All Music
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.
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Ultimate Classic Rock
When Nirvana released their debut album Bleach on June 15, 1989, few could have predicted that the Kurt Cobain-led group would eventually change the world. -2015
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The Student Playlist
Bleach is the most accurate snapshot of the band Cobain himself would have wanted Nirvana to be regarded as. -2017
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Now Magazine
I remember being disappointed after subsequently discovering Bleach, the band’s debut. It didn’t have Nevermind’s hooks, precise quiet/loud dynamics or Butch Vig’s glossy production. Years later, it’s those attributes that make Bleach so endearing. -2009
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AV Club
Sure, it’s valuable as a blueprint for music that would change everything (for a while, anyway), but also as a repository for the perfect synthesis of grunge’s anger and Kurt Cobain’s pop sensibility. -2009
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No Ripcord
Even if the songwriting didn’t completely explore the full scope of Cobain’s capabilities, Bleach also represents that point in time when money was an object and the music was all that mattered, a precursor to a cultural shift that made Sub Pop a national brand.
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Billboard
Bleach is freshened up with remastered versions of unusually heavy songs like the haunting "Negative Creep," where Cobain howls about alienation and being stoned, and the pounding "Floyd the Barber," where the main subject of the eerie track is a man being strapped down and tortured by characters from "The Andy Griffith Show.
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Under the Radar
This music has history in its chords, and it is as powerful today as it was 20 years ago.
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Austin Chronicle
Toasty as vinyl, comparable to Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's CDs of Nevermind (1991) and In Utero (1993), firstborn Bleach reiterates its place not at the front of the line but in between its two older brawlers.
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The Boston Phoenix
Rock-stardom is not necessarily what you hear beckoning on Sub Pop’s 20th-anniversary reissue of Bleach, which comes with a sludgy live set taped at Portland’s Pine Street Theatre in 1990. In a way, though, that only makes this program of lumpen lumberjack-metal moves more interesting.
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Delusions of Adequacy
Bleach showed instances of promise and a few songs went on to become some of the best they ever wrote, but in comparison, it pales to the band’s later work. So take it all in stride because Bleach is surely for fanatics but certainly not for everyone.
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Rolling Stone
Beginning with a feedback overture and ending with full-on instrument destruction, the live set is a snapshot of a menacingly feral band about to become a beast.
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Q Magazine
Bleach's grooviness is intrinsic to its enduring appeal, just as much as the cankerous layers of noise.
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Mojo
Bleach sounds liked a valiant manifesto for something new that succeeded beyond anyone's wildest nightmare.
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Tiny Mixtapes
At the end of the day, Bleach is still the weakest of the band’s full-length albums, but there’s enough good stuff to merit a spin.
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Zrockr
Bleach is an interesting first step in the Nirvana catalogue. While this fan certainly prefers the later albums from the band’s commercial peak, there is no denying that there is a lot to enjoy about the debut record. -2015
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Subjective Sound
Bleach is an exceptional album that highlights the musical skill and sonic adventure Nirvana was capable of taking us on. -2017
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Sonic Abuse
‘Bleach’ is a far better precursor to the excellent ‘In Utero’ album than the streamlined commercialism of ‘Nevermind’. -2010
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Metal.de
"Bleach" is not for the good spirits or for "nevermind" kids, who see a hit in every song and expect everything to be played along from start to finish.
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Adrien Denning
Nirvana's debut doesn't deviate radically from the sound the likes of Mudhoney were achieving at the time
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Punk News
Sure, it might not have as many hummable singles and sing-along anthems as "Nevermind", but this album laid down the ground work for everything Nirvana ever was or would become.
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Punk Rock Theory
If you already own the album and are not a diehard fan, there’s no real reason to pick this one up. -2009
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Popdose
Naked, unpolished, yet groundbreaking nonetheless.
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Gigslutz
This was the first the public would hear of Nirvana, yet it gave little clue as to how astronomical their rise would be in the years to come.
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exclaim!
Bleach: Deluxe Edition's sound cleans up the original yet still relays the band's youthful vigour on the studio portion with its catchy, upbeat tunes, providing an engaging document of the wily havoc they were capable of when unleashed onstage. -2009
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