Bleach (Deluxe Edition)

Hot on the heels of Live at Reading is this dolled-up 20th-anniversary (!) edition of Nirvana's debut, which barely hit the radar on its initial release but whose resonance ballooned as the band scorched the earth. Now, its near-greatness is plain, most clearly on "About a Girl," in the abraded Lennon-McCartney chord changes, and in the existential grunge howl of "School." The bonus live tracks, also pre-Dave Grohl — from Portland,Oregon, February 9th, 1990 — include both songs, plus revelatory takes on "Been a Son" and the Vaselines' "Molly's Lips." Beginning with a feedback overture and ending with full-on instrument destruction, the liveset is a snapshot of a menacingly feral band about to become a beast.