User ratings in Music are temporarily disabled. More info
  • Record Label:
  • Release Date:
Bleach: Deluxe Edition Image
Metascore
85

Universal acclaim - based on 19 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 131 Ratings

  • Summary: The debut album for the grunge band is remastered and reissued with a 1990 live recording of a concert at Portland, Oregon's Pine Street Theatre.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 19
  2. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. Sure, it’s valuable as a blueprint for music that would change everything (for a while, anyway), but also as a repository for the perfect synthesis of grunge’s anger and Kurt Cobain’s pop sensibility.
  2. Bleach is freshened up with remastered versions of unusually heavy songs like the haunting "Negative Creep," where Cobain howls about alienation and being stoned, and the pounding "Floyd the Barber," where the main subject of the eerie track is a man being strapped down and tortured by characters from "The Andy Griffith Show.
  3. Q Magazine
    80
    Bleach's grooviness is intrinsic to its enduring appeal, just as much as the cankerous layers of noise. [Dec 2009, p.128]
  4. Bleach showed instances of promise and a few songs went on to become some of the best they ever wrote, but in comparison, it pales to the band’s later work. So take it all in stride because Bleach is surely for fanatics but certainly not for everyone.
  5. 80
    One small quibble, though: while it’s great to have documentation of the band’s early live sound (and in many ways the versions of the songs from Bleach are superior thanks to the sprightly energy), you don’t really get a sense of the sheer ferocity and electricity Nirvana generated in a tiny, cramped college bar.
  6. Bleach is a stronger record than it is commonly perceived to be, and does deserve to be checked out in some form by fans of heavy riff-driven rock. Regardless, this reissue is underwhelming, seemingly more concerned with enticing Nirvana completists to purchase it for the live material than in illuminating why Nirvana’s first album was an important step in a career that has helped define rock music for the last two decades.

See all 19 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 13
  3. Negative: 2 out of 13
  1. Mar 29, 2011
    10
    I love this first album from Nirvana. Some of the songs on this records are awesome from Negative Creep, School to Love Buzz. Most of theI love this first album from Nirvana. Some of the songs on this records are awesome from Negative Creep, School to Love Buzz. Most of the songs are great and should be addressed as one of the greatest records ever made. Expand
  2. Jul 18, 2020
    10
    I Love this album! I really like how this is their first album and it was destroyer. I really like "Mr. Moustache", "Floyd the barber", "LoveI Love this album! I really like how this is their first album and it was destroyer. I really like "Mr. Moustache", "Floyd the barber", "Love buzz" and "Swap meet". Those are the songs that loop on your head, over and over. Expand
  3. Dec 3, 2011
    10
    Great album gets a much needed sound mastering. This isn't easy to digest after first listen, but the reward is awesome - you get to discoverGreat album gets a much needed sound mastering. This isn't easy to digest after first listen, but the reward is awesome - you get to discover something new after every listen. You could sense the genius in Cobain's songwriting, there are some incredible songs here, just the sound and production were very raw (obviously, everyone knows this album was made for $600). However, the songs are very passionate and engaging, you could almost tell that Kurt was going through some hard times. When I need a break from all the beautifully crafted "commercial" records such as say U2 or Pearl Jam, this is what I reach for, intelligent, tense and raw. Not to mention this deluxe version gets a bonus disc with a great early live gig wth a very good sound. Amazing are those early live gigs from Nirvana, is like someone knew they gonna be big and made soundboard recordings. Try finding early Smashing Pumpkins concerts with such a good sound! Expand
  4. Aug 7, 2021
    8
    I think this album is great.
    Best songs: About a Girl, School, Love Buzz
    Worst songs: -
  5. Oct 25, 2021
    8
    My first love in music. Nothing groundbreaking but almost a premonition to what was to come.
  6. Apr 10, 2021
    7
    this album is a 7 this album is a 7 this album is a 7 this album is a 7 this album is a 10
  7. Aug 27, 2021
    0
    pEDERASTIARVANA sON bASURA , yA DEJEN DE SACAR SUS ABORTOS ASQUEROSOS YA RETIRENSE Y HAGANLE UN FAVOR AL MUNDO Y A LOS ODIOS DE LAS PERSONASpEDERASTIARVANA sON bASURA , yA DEJEN DE SACAR SUS ABORTOS ASQUEROSOS YA RETIRENSE Y HAGANLE UN FAVOR AL MUNDO Y A LOS ODIOS DE LAS PERSONAS QUE VIVEN EN EL. Expand

See all 13 User Reviews