Nirvana’s Bleach (1989) was the first album that the band released,
and it is often disregarded as just that: an attempt at dipping their
toes into the music world before coming out with their most recognized
album a few years later in 1991, Nevermind. However, their freshman
album has, essentially, what all their others have, yet with a more
simplistic honesty unaffected by being in the public eye: tracks that have found a happy medium of slow and fast paces, lyrics that will bounce around your mind days after you listen to them, value in every word that Kurt Cobain sings, and an importance equally placed upon the verses and instrumentals.

“Is there another reason for your stain?” Bleach starts off with
“Blew”, setting the tone for the album with rough edges and subtle
distortion, certainly leaving a permanent mark on the listener. “Floyd
the Barber” is next, and serves as an introduction to the imagination
of Cobain by using the same dark vibes of “Blew” to tell the story of the narrator’s surreal experiences with the cast of "The Andy Griffith Show." Next is “About a Girl”, which is Cobain’s tribute to both his 1960s pop music
influences and to his then girlfriend Tracy Marander, who wanted him
to write a song about her. The song differs from what one might expect
after hearing that description, telling the story of a dysfunctional
romance in which the singer “can’t see you every night/for free”
(based on a line from an argument between Tracy and Kurt). The range
from topics that could be found in a number of songs, like a failing
romance, to specific stories and happenings told in songs like the
aforementioned “Floyd the Barber” is admirable and gives people a
fresh look at how Cobain's mind worked, especially since he said in a
1993 interview with Spin that about 80% of the lyrics were composed
the night before recording and that he had resigned to simply
screaming negative lyrics that he didn't hold dear to him at all.

The rest of the album alternates between intense story-lines such as
the one used in “Paper Cuts”, based on Cobain’s fractured relationship
with his mother and his own sense of sexuality and embarrassment that
stemmed from his friends’ comments on her attractiveness, in which he
sings, “The lady whom I feel maternal love for/Cannot look me in the
eyes” and the repetitive but nonetheless interesting songs like
“School” and “Negative Creep” that are more open to interpretation
while still keeping the listener tied to the common theme of
introspection/confusion/moodiness. The quick bass/drum backing paired
with Cobain’s sometimes scratchy or growly vocals and guitar playing
provide an edge to the album that makes its lyrics even stronger, like
in the last song, “Downer”, in which Cobain quickly sings cynical
lines such as “Thank you dear God for putting me on this Earth/I feel
very privileged, in debt for my thirst.” This is one of the beauties
not only of Nirvana, but of this album; its rawness is what builds it
up, and it leaves you thinking, questioning your beliefs in the world
and making you take a second look at yourself and everything around
you.

Bleach is without a doubt chaotic, reflecting on Kurt Cobain's state
of mind at the time and the rushed recording, resulting in the
feedback and distorted vocals that make the album even more special,
and managed to transform it into a huge kick-starter for the
nationwide grunge revolution that was already rising up in Washington
at the time. The pessimistic lyrics do not push listeners away;
instead, they pull them back in, because despite Cobain's statement in
the 1993 Spin interview that he didn't care about them, they are from
such an exciting real place that they stand out from the other bands
of the scene at the time. Bleach is anything but a fad; although
Nirvana's record label sought to promote it as a part of the rising
grunge movement, it transcends this prescribed stamp. Not only does
Bleach earn a spot among timeless albums, it stays with you, forever
clinging to your mind; Bleach is, without a doubt, unforgettable.