Bleach
Released: 1989
Label: SubPop
The Band:
Kurt Cobain - Lead singer & lead guitarist
Chad Channing - Drums
Krist Novoselic - Bass
Jason Everman - Guitar(Doesn't appear on any of the albums songs, he only toured with them on Bleach)
Review
1.Blew - A really catchy song, it starts with the bass line, then the guitar screeches in and plays a really heavy grungy sounding riff, then Kurt starts singing in a really misserable voice, overall a good song.
2. Floyd The Barber - A dark sounding song with a basic riff, the song is based around some TV show's characters, i'm not fully sure, but by the sound of the lyrics, it's about getting "used" as to speak by these people(e.g. "Floyd breathes hard I hear a zip, pee pee pressed against my lips" "I was shamed", "I can't see I'm really scared" and so on..), there is also a really catchy solo in there, it has a "twangy" sound, overall a great song, one of my favourites anyway.
3.About A Girl - Forget about the heavy songs you've heard so far on Bleach, this is a really calming, soothing song, it's about one of his girlfriends Tracy basically, the riff is a clean sounding soothing sound, half way through the distortion kicks in and Kurt does his solo, then back to the soothing riff, a few lines - "I need an easy friend", "You hang me out to dry", and many more. A really great song.
4.School - A really basic song, still catchy, it kicks in with Kurt doing the distorted one note bends, then drums kick in and eventually Kurt starts singing "Would you believe it, just my luck", the songs meaning is about his school i'm guessing and how he got detentions, but that's only my guess, yeah a great song.(with a solo too)
5. Love Buzz - A Shocking Blue cover, in the shows this song would be a fan favourite, with a really good bass line to start it off, then the drums coming in then the guitar screeching in, yeah this has got to be one of the best songs on the entire album although a cover song it got released as a single along with Big Cheese, the lyrics are really good too. An amazing song.
6.Papercuts - A really dark sounding song, the lyrics are dark, basically everything about this song is, it's about a family Kurt stayed with once and the stuff he saw, bad things by the sound of it, overall it's an OK song, not great.
7.Negative Creep - Now we're talking, this song is really good, very heavy, very fast, it mixes punk with heavy I think, this song is about people always telling Kurt to be more positive as a teenager, but basically he's always negative about things leading to Negative Creep, one line stands out "Daddy's little girl aint a girl no more", I think this is meaning he's not the little cutie he used to be anymore, he's this negative person, anyway the riffs are good in this one. One of my favourties
8.Scoff - As you hear the drums leading the song, you know Kurt's going to do some really cool riff, as he does. A really heavy riff and song, I'm not sure what the meaning is to this song, well the lyrics are pretty good, but overall a great song.
9. Swap Meet - The song kicks in with the guitar playing a heavy riff, then the bass and drums kick in, and eventually the lyrics are going, not failing to impress, this song has got to be one of thee best songs on Bleach, it's really good in my opinion, what i like most is the lyrics - "Keeps his cigarettes close to his heart, keeps her photographs close to her heart, keeps the bitterness close to the heart", I really think these particular lyrics are good, overall a great great song.
10. Mr. Moustache - This has got to have the best riffs on Bleach, a really fast one noted riff that keeps making weird noises, the meaning of this song is basically attacking macho men and general strong people, in school Kurt would get bullied and stuff for being too thin and skinny, this would really hurt his feelings. If this song had no bass I don't think it would be no where near as good simply because as Kurt does the 2nd riff, you can really hear the bass, and it sounds awsome. Yeah this is one of my favs.
11.Sifting - I haven't got a clue what this song is about, by the sounds it's about teachers, preachers and wetting the bed, anyway it has a slowish heavy riff, with the drums bashing that snare, overall a OK song
12. Big Cheese - Starts off with a really ghostly sound, then the 2nd guitar and the lead play a scratcy basic riff, the drums keep changing from fast to slow, about half way through the song, you hear some sort of dog barking, don't know why, anyway the lyrics are good, I don't understand them personally, but yeah a great song.
13. Downer - The last track, and what a track it is to finish off on, it's personally an amazing song to me, it starts off with the bass and drums doing the main riff, then the guitar screech in with the distorted riff, followed by Kurt's "weird" lyrics - "Portray insaninty, act out of loyalty.......wish away pain", anyway this is a really amazing song, short but still good.
The Next Part
Whilst Nirvana was on SubPop records, they played a lot of heavy songs, not neccesarily fast heavy songs, but had that heavy feeling to them(E.G. - Negative Creep, Blew, Big Cheese, Floyd The Barber and many more). In Seattle, Bleach was becoming a popular album, Nirvana already would be selling out shows not even noticing there accomplishment, "Love Buzz" a Shocking Blue cover was to become a single with "Big Cheese" on the B-Side, overall Bleach is a really really great album, my favourite.
