One of the high points of songcraft in early, unpolished independent Nirvana:

It has a legit beginning of feedback half-steps, not just the beginning of the guitar riff. Simple but passionate verses. Groovy choruses with neat harmonies that sound more like alternate verses. Soundgarden-esque instrumentals after the choruses. A tuneful guitar solo by Nirvana standards. A true ending and not just the song being over.

With all those passages, it's the closest thing to a Nevermind song from before they made that leap.

It's kind of a cousin to "Aneurysm," actually. It wasn't originally on the Bleach album, where it can be found now, but was a B-side on their "Love Buzz" single. It was only added to Bleach as a bonus track for the CD release after the band found popularity. Instead, like "Aneurysm," it was a more epic song that stood on its own, a breakthrough bridging two eras. "Aneurysm" bridged Nevermind and In Utero. But before that, "Big Cheese" bridged Bleach and Nevermind. Interestingly, Krist Novoselic has rare writing credits on both.

Chad Channing's drumming, aside from some basic flair in the verses, is boring. Dave Grohl's creativity would be the final missing piece for this group. "Big Cheese" shows us a time when Kurt's singing and songwriting carried the whole show. Dave Grohl's addition was like the great runningback coming in to compliment a gifted young quarterback with a 4,000-yard season already under his belt.

The thing that has always intrigued me about songs from the Bleach period is the huskiness of Kurt Cobain's voice. He sounds more like a raving, constipated lunatic than a rock star. He doesn't get enough credit for redefining his singing style as much as his songwriting for subsequent albums.

I noticed that Rolling Stone had this song ranked #58 of all Nirvana songs. Come on, Rolling Stone, get it together.