Want to make my really dark brown hair a slightly lighter brown.?

I'm a guy with medium length dark hair.. it looks black to most unless I'm under light because it's pretty thick and poofy at times. I've only dyed my hair once like 5 years ago and all I did was buy the color of brown I wanted and put it in, and I ended up getting a really really dark black, which I didn't really understand so I was wondering if I am supposed to bleach it first then put in the color I want, or buy something like Garnier Nutrisse Nourishing Nutri-Browns Lightening Color Creme, which says it lightens it.. would this product work or am I still supposed to bleach it? thanks.