Bleach Songs Ranked

Bleach is the debut studio album by American rock band Nirvana, released on June 15, 1989, by Sub Pop. 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. The main recording sessions for Bleach took place at Reciprocal Recording in Seattle, Washington between December 1988 and January 1989. It is the only Nirvana album released on the Sub Pop label and their only album to feature drummer, Chad Channing. Bleach had sold 40,000 copies in North America before the release of Nevermind. It has since been certified platinum by the 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 50 Greatest Grunge Albums list. Here are all of the Bleach songs ranked.

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10. Sifting

“Drum intro. Feedback on the guitar. heavy metal riffing. Slow-medium tempo. Bass in background. Guitar later…distorted…throbs…hums…moans. Like the decelerating effect on the drum for the outro, a la machinery. Might put this track in my drum list here for the outro.”

9. Scoff

“Hopefully this is a track I marked down as being noteworthy…my notation isn’t clear sometimes…either I used a full stop or I’ve got this song as the best on the album (!). Interesting drum tone…has a “My Sharona” vibe to it. Heavy metal like riffing…heavy at times, whining at others. Lyrics are sung in character…amusing too. Song may recycle elements from other songs on this album. Should put this track in my drum list…just behind “My Sharona” perhaps.”

8. Mr. Moustache

“Feedback near intro. Bass chugging away in the background. Sorta childish poetry form…familiar lyrical melody. Sorta boogie rock kind of song.”

See more: Nirvana Albums Ranked

7. Paper Cuts

“I feel as if Paper Cuts was just one Nirvana song I would headbang to all day. Not kidding. If Kurt were still alive, I would be happy. “For the lady who I have maternal love for cannot look me in the eyes, and I see hers and they are blue and they cock,twist, and masturbate! I said so! ” That line/part of the song reminds me of Courtney Love even Nirvana made the a few years before Kurt even met her. Her eyes are blue and she took meth! One more thing you need to know is that, Courtbey hired a guy/police man to shoot Kurt in the head and I’m guessing that the guy had gloves on the entire time while he shot Kurt in the head. Before Kurt died, he took his last thing of the bad heroin. I know this song doesn’t have to do anything with Kurt’s death but the heavy grunge and deep sound reminds me of the pictures of Kurt with a little hole in his head. I love Kurt and hate Courtney… Be careful Frances.”

6. Floyd the Barber

“Found this track more noteworthy on second listen. Distroted intro then heavy metal beats and riffing. Mid-tempo. Not bad. Vocals not really heavy metal style though.”

5. Blew

“Deep bass. Sort of heavy metal riffing. Mid-tempo, bluesy rock and lead guitar. Can’t make out the lyrics. Not bad. Maybe a band like Creed sound something like this at times.”

4. Love Buzz

“Interesting bass notes…Arabesque? Open rock riff. Squiggly lead guitar at times and Arabesque notes, perhaps. It’s easily my favorite, there’s barely and vocals and it’s catchy”

See more: MTV Unplugged in New York (Nirvana Album) Live

3. Negative Creep

“Feedback/distortion intro. Heavy metal riffing. Distorted riff (intentional). Pounding, heavy little album that feels miles away from its polished successor. Rocks pretty hard for the most part, though the endless chugging, sludgy riffs does grate a bit here and there.”

2. School

“Distorted intro. Wonky riff. Mid-tempo hard rock. Phat bass at times. Had a question mark as to what the lyrics were but looking them up just now it’s pretty basic.”

1. About a Girl

“Vaguely “Come as you are” vibe for the intro (from their all time great “Nevermind” album). Beatles/Paul McCartney type melody, especially as far as the vocal melody goes. Harmonies at times. Probably the best known song on this album.”