Nirvana's Debut Album Released 37 Years Ago Today
What can $600 get you these days? Well, in 1988, that was enough for Nirvana to record and produce their first-ever album, Bleach, which was released on June 15, 1989.
Bleach didn't break any sales records, but served as an important precursor to the band's 1991 breakthrough album Nevermind. Originally released by independent label Sub Pop, Bleach was reissued internationally by Geffen Records in 1992, cracking the Billboard 200 at No. 89 and charting in the top 40 in multiple foreign countries.
As of 2016, Bleach had sold nearly two million copies worldwide. On the 37th anniversary of its release, it is still remembered fondly by music enthusiasts.
Bleach tracklist
- Blew
- Floyd the Barber
- About a Girl
- School
- Love Buzz
- Paper Cuts
- Negative Creep
- Scoff
- Swap Meet
- Mr. Moustache
- Sifting
The reissued album contained the bonus tracks "Big Cheese" and "Downer," while the 20th anniversary release in 2009 featured multiple bonus songs.
The legacy of Bleach
In 2019, Rolling Stone slotted Bleach at No. 13 on its ranking of the 50 Greatest Grunge Albums, writing that it "perfectly summed up the punishingly dreary sound of the burgeoning grunge scene" and was the band's "first step toward scene cred and an early cult following, setting the stage for their world takeover just a few years later."
"There was this pressure from Sub Pop and the scene to play ‘rock music,'" Kurt Cobain said in the biography, Come as You Are, via Rolling Stone. "We wanted to try to please people at first, to see what would happen."
In a retrospective review for AllMusic.com, Stephen Thomas Erlewine says Bleach "captures Nirvana at a formative stage, still indebted to the murk that became known as grunge, yet not quite finding their voice as songwriters."
"Bleach is more than a historical curiosity since it does have its share of great songs, but it isn't a lost classic -- it's a debut from a band that shows potential but haven't yet achieved it," Erlewine wrote.
You can access the full album on YouTube here.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 15, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published June 14, 2026 at 5:34 PM.