Nirvana: Bleach (20th anniversary, 2LP) [SUB POP]

Why you'll love it

This 20th anniversary edition pairs Nirvana's remastered debut with a bonus LP recorded live at the Pine Street Theatre in Portland in February 1990. Bleach was famously recorded with Jack Endino for about $600.

This edition

• 20th anniversary edition
• 2LP set: the album plus a 1990 live LP
• Remastered by Jack Endino
• Sub Pop pressing

About the album

Before Nevermind changed everything, Nirvana were a scrappy Aberdeen, Washington trio making sludgy, heavy rock for Seattle's Sub Pop label. Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and drummer Chad Channing recorded Bleach with producer Jack Endino at Reciprocal Recording for a famously tiny budget (around $600), and it sounds gloriously raw.

"Negative Creep" and "School" are grinding and furious, "Blew" sets the murky tone, and "About a Girl" (a Beatles-y pop song hiding in plain sight) hinted at what was coming. The bonus LP captures the band live in Portland in 1990, tearing through Bleach songs plus "Dive," "Spank Thru," "Molly's Lips" and an early "Been a Son."

Also at Kops: more Nirvana on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Sub Pop, a 20th anniversary edition of the 1989 album.