Nirvana — Bleach [reissue]

At the end of the live portion that's been added to this reissue of Nirvana's first album, Bleach, lots of distortion and feedback can be heard before some out of control thwacking and smashing comes in. It's followed by cheering and more feedback until it finally stops and it becomes clear what was happening: Kurt Cobain was smashing his guitar.

This needs to be brought up to make a point. Cobain seemed, from the very beginning, to possess this wild spirit that would either enable him to do anything or ultimately be his detriment.

That instantly comes across on the reissue of Bleach, which has been remastered for its 20th anniversary. To be sure, this isn't Nirvana's best album. You could argue the power of Nirvana's tunes is better conveyed by the MTV Unplugged In New York album because they've been stripped down and that makes Cobain's lyrics even more emotionally raw. But it's quite clear something special is going on with Bleach, from the beginning of "Blew" through "Downer." The same feeling can be felt on the disc's live portion, which was recorded at a show at Portland, Ore.'s Pine Street Theatre in 1990.

At the same time, the songs' anger, rawness and the sheer pain in Cobain's voice makes them teeter dangerously on the edge of careening completely out of control. You get the feeling that things have been just barely held together here. Displace one note it and would be chaos.

The songs never spin out, though, and that's probably why I find it impossible to listen to Bleach without getting goosebumps. Bleach clearly possesses a stripped down power that neither Nevermind nor In Utero had, but maybe that comes from listening now and knowing what the future would bring. 

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