The first few months of any given year often feel a little slow for new
music to me, especially during a pandemic when album release cycles are out
of whack, live venues are shuttered, and most normal social activity remains
in stasis. I haven't been to a live show in over a year. Maybe
that's why I've been feeling a little introspective and nostalgic lately,
like
Clark Griswold in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
locked in the attic passing time by digging through old heirlooms and
home movies. For me it's thousands of albums accumulated over three
decades and reacquainting myself with old favorites.
I heard somewhere that most people don't explore new music too long past
their teens. Apparently their tastes calcify and the stuff they liked
in high school or college is pretty much it, forever. That hasn't been
the case with me but it's probably true that the bulk of albums I cherish
most are from the decade in which I spent the entirety of my teens - the
1990's. These are the albums that sparked my love of music, shaped my
tastes, and broadened my horizons. They formed the connective tissue
of my adolescence and fed directly into an obsessive hobby that eventually
became a career in the music industry.
The first album I had, stolen from my mom's collection in 1986, was Lionel
Ritchie's Dancing on the Ceiling. It didn't leave my
mono-speaker tape deck for years until 1989 when I spent my allowance on a
copy of the Ghostbusters II soundtrack, featuring Bobby Brown, Doug E
Fresh, and Run DMC. I played that tape so incessantly on the family
hi-fi that summer that my older cousin confiscated it when I wasn't looking.
I feared he'd thrown it out but he'd just hid it in the back of the
refrigerator behind a six-pack of Old Style. MC Hammer's
Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em followed in 1990, then Too Legit to Quit in 1991. I adored this stuff at the time - I could even do a
pretty good "Hammer dance" - but something entirely different was around the
corner.
I got my first stereo CD boombox for Christmas, 1991. A Sony CFD-470.
I was thirteen and it felt like I'd graduated to the big kids club.
I was going to need some new CDs to celebrate. My older brother,
in college at the time, had a pretty sophisticated music collection already.
Given the chance, I'd peruse his stack of albums and take mental
notes. So, one day in the spring of 1992, I ventured to the local mall
and bought my first batch of CDs - Kris Kross' Totally Krossed Out,
Nirvana's Nevermind, and Red Hot Chili Peppers'
Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The first album was quickly forgotten
but the latter two changed my outlook on music forever.
This blog was originally intended to be a personal musical journal or diary
of sorts. A place where I could memorialize my thoughts on music, post
album reviews and show reviews, then share with friends and family when they
asked me "hey, what are you listening to these days?" For a few years
now though, it's been more of a "favorite albums" kind of thing - covering
albums I'd enjoyed that same year. It's not the most organic or
spontaneous way to reflect on the music I enjoy, since I frequently
"discover" or re-discover music from years or decades past, but that's the
way it's been for efficiency's sake. I'd always considered doing some
retrospective albums lists for fun but haven't done so until now.
Behold, my "100 Favorite Albums of the 1990s"!
Unlike my usual favorite albums lists, which are strictly comprised of
albums released in a single year ordered alphabetically, this list of a
hundred albums will be broken into ten parts comprised of ten albums apiece
ordered by release date. Some parts might represent one year's worth
of music, others might represent several years. For example,
Part 1 incorporates ten albums released in a three year span, from
1990 to 1992. I'll post new parts in the series over the coming weeks
and months.
The two main rules I have for this retrospective are the following:
First, I must have acquired the album in the year of its original release,
inclusive of a retroactive four months into the previous year (corresponding
with a fall school semester). For example, I purchased Nirvana's
Nevermind in 1992, the year after its initial release, but the
album was released in September of 1991 (ie. within four months of '92) - so
it goes on the list. On the other hand, Smashing Pumpkins'
Gish was also released in 1991 but I didn't pick it up
until several years later - so it doesn't go on the list. I
have to bend this rule a bit in "Part 1" though since I acquired
all these albums in 1992. I only owned two 90's albums, on
tape, prior to 1992. Sorry MC Hammer, you're not going on this list.
Second, each album listed must have made a real impact on me in the
timeframe of its initial release. As with all my other favorite albums
lists, this isn't an academic or critical retrospective of "important" or
"must have" albums. This is a personal favorites list. There
might be some stinkers included, some albums not considered "best" within an
artist's repertoire, and some egregious omissions based on my first rule.
For example, though classic albums from artists like My Bloody
Valentine, Nine Inch Nails, A Tribe Called Quest, and Wu-Tang Clan are
indispensable to me now, they just weren't on may radar in the timeframe
corresponding to the parameters I've made for myself here. Them's the
rules.
Without further ado, before the bottom falls out from under me like Clark
Griswold in the attic, here's Part 1.
Enjoy!
- Will G
The Black Crowes: Shake Your Money Maker (2/13/90)
The Black Crowes' debut album Shake Your Money Maker wasn't their first
I picked up, that'd be their sophomore LP from a couple years later, but
I still enjoy both almost equally and certainly as much now as I did back
then. In those days I didn't have much context for, or cynicism about,
the evolution of rock music so I didn't compare this band to their obvious
retro influences like the Faces and the Rolling Stones. The Black Crowes
just sounded fun and unique considering the trends of the day.
Sonic Youth: Goo (6/26/90)
This was my first "difficult" album - one that immediately challenged my
sensibilities. Frequently abrasive, often tedious, mostly thrilling.
Three distinct vocalists raging in a squall of avant-garde noise.
My world revolved around two bands at the time - Red Hot Chili Peppers
and Nirvana. I'd heard somewhere that Sonic Youth helped guide Nirvana
into the mainstream so I had to check them out. I followed them with
mixed enthusiasm until their demise in 2011, but Goo remains a classic
to me.
Pearl Jam: Ten (8/27/91)
Pearl Jam's Ten came into my life not too long after Nirvana's
Nevermind and, in my mind, it was the flip-side to the same coin.
I'd even heard there was rivalry between the two Seattle bands.
Though Nirvana arguably put the genre on the map, Pearl Jam were the
embodiment of "grunge" - maybe to the point of parody. The flannels, the
Doc Martens, the tortured howling. I didn't follow Pearl Jam too long
after Ten but it was a main dish in my early 90's alternative
rock diet and I still enjoy it today.
Nirvana: Nevermind (9/24/91)
I consider Nevermind to be my "big bang" album and possibly my
favorite album of all time. When I say "big bang" I mean that upon
first listening to it my musical world blew up forever. Immediately
before Nevermind my go-to album was MC Hammer's
Too Legit 2 Quit and not too long after it I was listening
to stuff like Sonic Youth's Goo. That's a pretty big leap in a
short period of time. This album held a pretty tight grip on my
listening habits for many years and, to my ears, still hasn't lost its
impact.
Prong: Prove You Wrong (9/24/91)
I picked this one up on recommendation from a friend at school after
spitballing about what bands sounded like Helmet, another band I enjoyed at
the time. I didn't know much about metal or hard rock, in fact I was
pretty intimidated by that stuff, but there was a growing "alternative"
metal movement in the early 90's mixing elements of hardcore punk,
alternative, and thrash that sounded pretty good to me. Albums like
Prove You Wrong helped pave the way for more recent crossover
favorites like Power Trip.
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Blood Sugar Sex Magik (9/24/91)
Next to Nevermind there was no other album in the early
90's as beloved to me as Red Hot Chili Peppers' breakout Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Having come into alternative rock directly from the "new jack
swing" of Top 40 pop radio, the Chili Peppers' brand of syncopated funk punk
was the perfect bridge for me. Realizing this was their fifth album,
as they'd been active since the 80's, I took the opportunity to marinate in
their back catalogue too. RHCP were the first band I truly geeked out
over.
U2: Achtung Baby (11/18/91)
I was aware of U2 since I was a kid but there was nothing particularly
appealing or offensive about them to me one way or the other. They just,
existed. That's pretty much how I still feel about them today but for
a time in the early 90's they tapped into the alternative rock zeitgeist and
shared consistent play on MTV alongside Nirvana and Pearl Jam. I
started to see them in a different light and gave them a chance. I'm glad I
did. My first and only U2 album turned out to be pretty damn good.
Live: Mental Jewelry (12/31/91)
I got this one on recommendation from an older cousin who was keen on
introducing me to some sensible college-rock. With its jangly guitars,
funky bass, and catchy hooks, Live's Mental Jewelry quickly became a
favorite. However, soon enough, I sold my copy to a friend. Live
blew up a few years later but I'd already lost interest. I recently
went back to this one for the first time in decades and, despite its
hokeyness and dated tropes, I'm surprised by how memorable and enjoyable it
still is.
Arrested Development: 3 Years, 5 Months And 2 Days In The Life Of... (3/24/92)
Despite my exposure to, and affinity for, black American music at an early
age this was my first proper hip-hop album. Arrested Development are
now widely considered a one-hit-wonder, based on their single "Tennessee",
which is unfortunate considering how solid this LP really is.
Inventive production, socially conscious lyrics, tons of hooks.
They were a southern hip-hop outfit ahead of their time and though
they succumbed to their own novelty, this album will always occupy a special
place in my heart.
Beastie Boys: Check Your Head (4/21/92)
The Beastie Boys were one of the first artists I felt some odd nostalgia and
personal affinity for. I remembered them from childhood and here they
were again ushering the way forward. With its kaleidoscopic mix of
hip-hop, rock, jazz, funk, psychedelia, and sampladelia, Check Your Head became hugely influential to me and one of my favorite albums of all
time. If alternative rock dominated my life in the early 90's, the
Beastie Boys' genre-defying aesthetic was a harbinger of things to come.
Check out Part 2 of 10 (1992 - 1993) here!
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