Nirvana Bleach

Legend has it that Nirvana’s first album cost all of $606.17 to record, and no one in the band had the money to pay for it except “second guitarist” Jason Everman, who didn’t play on the record and was only briefly a member. The Seattle label Sub Pop—very deliberately marketing a Pacific Northwest “grunge” scene—determined the running order (after only requesting an EP) and, according to Kurt Cobain, influenced his writing toward the dark, negative, and outrageous. Fair enough, but there’s pure inspiration in the rage of “Negative Creep,” “School,” and “Mr. Mustache” and signs of pop in “About a Girl.” The 20th-anniversary deluxe edition features a March 2009 remastering from the original tapes by George Marino. It also adds a pre-fame live concert from the Pine Street Theatre in Portland, Ore., in February 1990; it's an early look at the group’s live abilities based on a repertoire of Bleach and early tracks such as “Sappy,” “Spank Thru,” a cover of The Vaselines’ “Molly’s Lips,” and “Been a Son.”