Retro Spins: Nirvana - Bleach

 

Boy, nothing screams, "Happy Valentines Day", like Nirvana! Yeah...Obviously that's a pile of sarcasm.

I am not a Nirvana fan. Not by any stretch of the imagination. I personally attribute them to one of the major causes of the decline of music in the 90's, and was a little distraught when I found out that they didn't stay confined to that era. 

No, what I, and possibly others, didn't know was that Nirvana actually got their start in the 1980's, releasing their first album, Bleach, in 1989.

Ugh...Let's get this done and over with.

Kurt Cobain, and Krist Novoselic, met in high school, and while Cobain was always seemingly interested in starting a band, the latter feigned interest. Even after being given a demo of his work by Cobain, Novoselic wouldn't listen to it for three years.

The duo would go through a series of drummers between their inception and 1988, with Chad Channing, having the position for their debut album. However, when Bleach was first released, it didn't sell well. Probably because it's noisy, hot garbage, which is contradictory to everything that was the 80's.

And that's pretty much my summary of the whole thing. Bleach is loud, annoying, and with the exception of, About A Girl, doesn't contain anything noteworthy.

Now, before you say, "Oh, you're just a hater," let me make it clear that Nirvana's follow up, and breakthrough album, Nevermind (1991), is a solid album. As much as I despise the 90's as a whole, I do acknowledge that there are good albums from this era. They just aren't my preference.

Bleach feels unrefined, and with thirteen tracks, too long for this derailed mess to go on. There is no sense of focus. Rather, just an opportunity for Cobain to scream into a microphone for forty-three minutes.

Did I enjoy the album? Obviously not. I also knew going into it that I wouldn't. However, I did sit through the entire thing, giving it a fair opportunity to change my mind.

I picked Bleach up because I simply wanted to own a unique 1980's album, and it definitely is unique in comparison to the music of the era. It's a shelf piece, and not an album I suspect I will ever return to.

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THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
February 14, 1981

 

THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
January 14, 1987

Retro Spins: Nirvana - Nevermind

In 1991, I could take or leave Nirvana, and pretty much left it. I wasn't into the hype of grunge music, nor the "deep" lyrics of Kurt Cobain. To me, they were irrelevant. The problem I soon found myself facing was that they were eating up the airwaves of early 90's radio, and the music I enjoyed from the 80's was quickly disappearing.

The irony of Nirvan's popularity in the 90's was that the band actually got its start in the 80's, and even released their first album, Bleach, in 1989. However, at that time, nobody cared about them or even knew who they were.

As time went by, I learned to appreciate their songs a little more, but I was still by no means a fan. I, like so many others, had their album, Nevermind, because, well, it was 1991 and everyone did. Overnight, the schoolyard started changing. People were dressing different, acting different, and some were just becoming plain unlikable. It was as if grunge music was turning people into miserable shells, or at the very least, telling people they didn't have to pretend to be happy anymore. It actually kind of sucked, and things really haven't been the same since.

Mind you, I'm not blaming grunge music for the turn in youth culture. However, one would be remiss to not say there was definitely some contribution and influence to it. Nirvana was a big part of that scene, and it really showed just how true that was in the spring of 1994 when his dead body was found, allegedly from suicide.

What was interesting about listening to Nevermind as I prepared this post was how I too felt my own mood changing with each passing track. It was actually depressing me a bit. Yes, there were a lot of good tracks, but not in a peppy, want to sing along type of way. It was actually bumming me out the more I heard it. Plus, it was kind of just loud. That's saying something for someone who just reviewed a Marilyn Manson CD the week before.

Overall though, I would be lying if said I didn't immediately remembered tracks such as Smells Like Teen Spirit, In Bloom, Come As You Are, Breed, Lithium, Polly, Drain You, Lounge Act, Stay Away, On A Plain and Something In The Way. These songs were everywhere during the time frame, and you'd have to be going out of your way, or be deaf, to not have them ingrained into your skull. You literally couldn't swing a stick without hitting them back in the day. Quality wise, they still hold up and appear to have aged well with the times.

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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.

Kurt Cobain (NECA)

Kurt Cobain
NECA
2006

Kurt Cobain was the front man of Nirvana and one of the leading contributors to the grunge scene which exploded across the world in the early 1990's. Famous for his "deep" and poetic lyrics, Cobain is (arguably) considered one of the best song writers of that particular era.

During his brief musical career, Cobain penned hit after hit with songs such as Smells Like Teen Spirit, All Apologies, About A Girl and many more, soaring the band into superstardom success - Success which some say contributed to his decision to commit suicide in 1994. Though the band only completed three studio albums, their legacy lives on in numerous compilations, and live albums which fans still eagerly purchase today.

Between the mid and late 2000's, NECA was releasing a steady stream of rock icons, and included among them was Cobain. Two six inch versions, the Nevermind and Unplugged versions, were released as well as an eighteen inch Nevermind figure.

Nevermind

Unplugged

What's ironic about these figures is that it is our understanding that Cobain was never one for commercialism. We doubt highly that if he were around today that he would allow his likeness to be used for action figures.

18 Inch Nevermind

Regardless of where you stand with their music, there's no denying that Nirvana had and still has its fair share of loyal fans who loved the members of the band and their music. It's a tragedy that Cobain felt the need to take his own life, but in the end, he will live on forever through his music.

Join us next time when we take a look at Home Alone!

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