Published on Mar 13, 1997
When Nirvana broke through the American market in late 1991 with
their hit “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” thousands of people
immediately identified with theangst that Kurt Cobain was wailing
about and pumping through his guitar. At first, I was not one of
those people (though I think today that
Nevermind is an incredible album).
Going back to Nirvana’s 1989 debut on the Seattle-based Sub Pop
label,
Bleach, you may think you’ll hear the first signs of the
greatness that this band was to achieve. My thought: keep on
looking, ’cause it ain’t here.
Recorded allegedly for around $600, Cobain (then going as Kurdt
Kobain) and crew attempt to bash out their anger through their
music. But the songwriting is still very green, the playing
uncertain, and the overall vibe is often confused for a yawn, which
you’ll find yourself doing a lot.
It’s not even the same lineup that gained worldwide fame; behind
the drum kit sits not Dave Grohl (who came on after
Bleach was recorded) but Chad Channing, and a second
guitarist, Jason Everman, is in the lineup. Bassist Chris Novoselic
is still there, and he is undoubtedly the most fluent at his
instrument of this lineup.
Bleach‘s best-known song is “About A Girl,” which was made
famous on the posthumous live album
Unplugged In New York. As an electric guitar-based work, it
is iffy; compared to the acoustic version, it is wretched.
Some of the songs just fail to live up to their potential.
“Floyd The Barber” could have been a great song, as could have
“School,” but the weak songwriting is the first blow that does each
one in. The second blow is the uncertainty of Cobain’s and
Channing’s playing. (It should be noted that on a few cuts,
including “Floyd The Barber,” Dale Crover was the drummer of
record.)
In fact, the best song on the whole album is one which Nirvana
didn’t write – “Love Buzz.” The guitars have a great feel to them,
Novoselic’s bass riff is mesmerizing, and even Channing’s drumming
has a confident feel about it. Some of this control is lost on
“Negative Creep,” but this is tha closest sign of what was to come
that the band ever shows.
Besides the songwriting, the biggest problem with
Bleach is with the crappy production job, if there even was
any – I can’t find a producer listed anywhere on the liner notes
(unless recorder Jack Endino served as producer as well). The sound
is extremely muddy and cluttered, taking away whatever energy the
band was truly showing in the performance. This band needed a real
producer – and got one in the guise of Butch Vig on
Nevermind.
Sometimes an album defies description in either its good or bad
features. It is very difficult to talk about the problems
Bleach has, because there are so many. In general, this one
may be only for the diehard Nirvana fans – and even they may end up
running for the exits.