bleach

Nirvana laid the groundwork for grunge with the harrowing heavy hopelessness and visceral venom of this sifting sonic sludge solicitude.  The group was started by Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987.  They initially brought in drummer  Bob McFadden and then Aaron Burckhard; but, after the pair relocated, they started playing with Melvins drummer Dale Crover, who then recommended Dave Foster.  They struggled to replace Foster until they found Chad Channing through a mutual acquaintance.   They were signed to Seattle independent label Sub Pop and released their debut single 'Love Buzz' in November of 1988. 

'Bleach'was recorded in six days  at Reciprocal Recording Studios in Seattle with producer Jack Endino and featured Kurt Cobain ('Kurdt Kobain') on vocals and guitar, Krist Novoselic ('Chris Novoselic') on bass, and Chad Channing on drums.   Dale Crover played drums on the demo versions of  "Floyd the Barber", "Paper Cuts", and "Downer" that were used for the album.   The sessions were billed  for  $606.17, which was paid by Jason Everman, who would become second guitarist for the band and is credited on the album although he did not play on it.  

Cobain would reveal:    “Chris and me are from Aberdeen, which is a really dead logging town on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The nearest town was Olympia, about fifty miles away, which is where we’ve moved to...I’m seeing America for, like, free and only having to work for two hours a day. It’s weird though, I’m not homesick yet. If we hadn’t done this band thing, we would have been doing what everyone else does back home, which is chopping down trees, drinking, having sex and drinking, talking about sex and drinking some more...The early songs were really angry; but as time goes on the songs are getting poppier and poppier as I get happier and happier. The songs are now about conflicts in relationships, emotional things with other human beings. When I write a song the lyrics are the least important subject. 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. But most of the lyrics on the ‘Bleach’ album are about life in Aberdeen...We’d been revolving around in bands for years.  I’d been writing songs since I was about thirteen. I’d never heard of Sub Pop before, although I suppose we didn’t exist in a total backwater; we had The Melvins in our town and we used to go and listen to them rehearse all the time.” 

'Bleach' did not chart when it was initially released but managed to sell forty thousand copies.  After the massive success of its followup 'Nevermind', 'Bleach' was re-released and went to number eighty-nine in the US, thirty-four in Australia, thirty-three in the UK, and twenty-four in Finland.  'Bleach' was eventually certified platinum with almost two million copies sold in the US, making it the biggest album that Sub Pop ever put out.  










http://www.nirvana.com/









'Love Buzz' is a cover of the song by the Dutch band Shocking Blue.  






'About A Girl' was written for Cobain's girlfriend Tracy Marander, who took the cover photograph for 'Bleach'.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhcttcXcRYY








'Bleach'full album:










All tracks written by Kurt Cobain, except where noted.


1. "Blew" 2:55
2. "Floyd the Barber" 2:18
3. "About a Girl" 2:48
4. "School" 2:42
5. "Love Buzz" (Shocking Blue cover) Robbie van Leeuwen 3:35
6. "Paper Cuts" 4:06
7. "Negative Creep" 2:56
8. "Scoff" 4:10
9. "Swap Meet" 3:03
10. "Mr. Moustache" 3:24
11. "Sifting" 5:22

Bonus tracks on most later reissues
12. "Big Cheese" (Originally the B-side of "Love Buzz") Cobain, Krist Novoselic 3:42
13. "Downer" (Not included on some cassette copies) 1:43


20th Anniversary Bonus Tracks (Pine Street Theatre live performance recorded February 9, 1990 - Portland, Oregon)
14. "Intro" 0:53
15. "School" 2:36
16. "Floyd the Barber" 2:17
17. "Dive" Cobain, Novoselic 3:42
18. "Love Buzz" van Leeuwen 2:58
19. "Spank Thru" 2:59
20. "Molly's Lips" Eugene Kelly, Frances McKee 2:16
21. "Sappy" 3:19
22. "Scoff" 3:53
23. "About a Girl" 2:28
24. "Been a Son" 2:01
25. "Blew" 4:32



deluxe: