Nirvana: Bleach / Live at Reading

Sub-Pop's deluxe-edition reissue of Nirvana's debut Bleach reminds listeners (if they have ever forgotten) of the band's lightning-fast progression from indie-thrashers to grunge-rock goliaths. By infusing Beatles-esque pop songs with metallic Pixies-punk and melodic aggression, Bleach is loud, fast, scattered, incomplete, and otherwise brilliant. Check out "Negative Bleach" as another reminder that the band's catalog runs deeper than Nevermind.

Nirvana's blistering set at the 1992 Reading Festival is the stuff of rock'n'roll legend and now can be yours on DVD, CD, or vinyl. As one of the greatest live performances of all time and certainly one of the most vital in-the-zeitgiest snapshots of the past twenty years, every hard-core music fan should probably own a copy in some form. Given the passage of time and the near final death of grunge's last con-artists (Nickelback be damned), now may be the perfect time to revisit Nirvana's ascendent peak in all its guitar-frenzied glory.