Bleach Album

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Lore & Background

After the release of their debut single "Love Buzz" on Sub Pop in November 1988, Nirvana rehearsed for two to three weeks in preparation for recording a full-length album, even though Sub Pop had only requested an EP. The main recording sessions for Bleach took place at Reciprocal Recording in Seattle, Washington between December 1988 and January 1989, with local producer Jack Endino. The album was edited and sequenced, but Sub Pop head Bruce Pavitt 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. Endino billed the band thirty hours of recording at $606.17. Jason Everman, a guitarist who was impressed by Nirvana's demo with Melvins drummer Dale Crover, supplied the money. He briefly joined the group as second guitarist. Everman was credited on the album sleeve and is pictured on the cover, even though he did not perform on the album. Bassist Krist Novoselic explained, "We just wanted to make him feel at home in the band."

In Their Own Story

The album's working title was Too Many Humans. It was renamed Bleach after frontman Kurt Cobain found an AIDS prevention poster while Nirvana was driving through San Francisco. The poster advised heroin addicts to bleach their needles before use, featuring the slogan "Bleach Your Works." The album cover was photographed by Cobain's then-girlfriend Tracy Marander during a concert at the Reko Muse art gallery in Olympia, Washington. On February 25, 1989, Nirvana played at venues on the west coast, including the University of Washington. The group began its first European tour, a double headliner with the band Tad, at the Riverside venue in Newcastle upon Tyne on October 23, 1989. On December 3, they played a "triumphant" set at the London Astoria. 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.

Reader's Guide

Bleach had sold 40,000 copies in North America before the release of Nevermind. It has since been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and has sold more than 1.9 million copies in the United States alone. 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 chart. In April 2019, Bleach was ranked No. 13 on Rolling Stone's list of the "50 Greatest Grunge Albums". In 2009, Sub Pop released a 20th anniversary edition of Bleach featuring a live recording of a 1990 Nirvana performance in Portland, Oregon as bonus material. For the 20th anniversary, 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.

Did You Know?

• The album's working title was 'Blew' before Cobain renamed it after seeing a poster reading 'Bleach Your Works' in a drug abuse clinic.
• Guitarist Jason Everman is pictured on the cover and credited on the sleeve, but he did not actually perform on the album.
• Three songs on the album were recorded in January 1988 with Melvins drummer Dale Crover, not with the band's then-drummer Chad Channing.
• The recording cost only $606.17 for thirty hours of studio time, which was paid for by Jason Everman.
• Sub Pop head Bruce Pavitt ordered the album to be completely re-sequenced after it had already been edited and sequenced.

Recording Origins and Budget Constraints

After the release of its debut single "Love Buzz" 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. 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. 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 Melvins drummer Dale Crover. Despite attempts to re-record them with new drummer Chad Channing, the band ultimately decided to remix the versions recorded with Crover for the final version of Bleach. "Big Long Now" was omitted from the album because frontman Kurt Cobain 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. Still, Sub Pop head Bruce Pavitt 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. Endino billed the band thirty hours of recording at $606.17 ($1,541.34 in 2024). Jason Everman, 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 on the album sleeve and is pictured on the cover, even though he did not perform on the album. Bassist Krist Novoselic explained, "We just wanted to make him feel at home in the band."

Musical Style and Artistic Compromise

According to Cobain, the music on Bleach showcases the grunge and 1970s-influenced heavy rock sound Sub Pop were endorsing. "There was this pressure from Sub Pop and the grunge scene to play 'rock music'", Cobain said, and noted that he "[stripped] it down and [made] it sound like Aerosmith". 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 when crafting the record. Critics have also described the album as sludge metal, alternative rock, punk rock, hard rock, and indie rock, with only glimpses of the pop rock seen on the band's succeeding album, Nevermind. Bleach was heavily influenced by the Seattle-based sludge metal scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s, pioneered by the Melvins. Author Gillian G. Gaar wrote that Bleach "[has] its 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". "Love Buzz" is a cover of Dutch band Shocking Blue. The original song is notable for its psychedelic rock style and its extensive use of the sitar. Novoselic said in a 2001 interview with Rolling Stone that the band had played a tape in their tour van that had an album by the Smithereens on one side and one by the band Celtic Frost 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".

Commercial Trajectory and Certification

Bleach did not chart upon initial release, but was well received by critics. When reissued internationally by Geffen Records in 1992 following the breakthrough success of Nirvana's second album, Nevermind (1991), Bleach peaked at number 89 on the Billboard 200, number 33 on the UK Albums Chart, and number 34 on the Australian albums chart. Bleach had sold 40,000 copies in North America before the release of Nevermind. It has since been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and has sold more than 1.9 million copies in the United States alone. 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 chart.

Lyrical Themes and Critical Legacy

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 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. 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 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. In April 2019, Bleach was ranked No. 13 on Rolling Stone's list of the "50 Greatest Grunge Albums".