Every Nirvana Project Ranked From Worst To Best
4. Bleach
No artist really exists in a vacuum. Despite many bands knocking it out of the park on their first outing, it doesn't always work out like that. For as much of a cultural shift was felt with the release of Nevermind, even Nirvana had to start somewhere on Bleach.
Then again, that's not to say that Bleach is even a bad record. Being their first outing on the famed indie label Sub Pop, this record shows the bare skeleton of what made this band so special. While the tunefulness of Cobain's voice is still there on cuts like About a Girl, this is a much more caustic affair than you would have gotten on later albums. In fact, this is probably the one Nirvana record that comes recommended for any metal fan, with riffs that are as much indebted to Metallica as they are to Flipper on songs like Negative Creep and School.
However, that kind of slapdash delivery does leave some songs not reaching their full potential until they hit the live stage. Also, it's a bit hard to consider this a full-on Nirvana album considering that Chad Channing is still behind the drumstool before Dave Grohl took over just a few years later. As it stands though, this is a solid-as-hell first outing from a group destined to become giants.
Best Tracks: Negative Creep, About A Girl, Paper Cuts