NOTE - The Chronic was mistakenly put in 1993, so look for it there
The year I graduated high school, so lots of faves here and lots of records I really hated to leave off the poll (notably: Unrest, Polvo, Sonic Youth)
Other omissions:
# Tom Waits * Bone Machine (Island)
# PJ Harvey * Dry (Island)
# Walt Mink * Miss Happiness (Caroline)
# God * Possession (Virgin)
# Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan * Devotional & Love Songs (Real World)
# Bark Psychosis * Independency (3rd Stone)
# Seam * Headsparks (Homestead)
# Spiritualized * Lazer Guided Melodies (Dedicated)
# Mano Negra * In The Hell Of Patchinko (Virgin)
# Cul De Sac * Ecim (Aurora)
# Kyuss * Blues For The Red Sun (Dali)
# Gang Starr * Daily Operation (Chrysalis)
# Afghan Whigs * Uptown Avondale EP (Sub Pop)
# Stereolab * Peng! (Too Pure)
# Stereolab * Switched On (Too Pure)
# Flaming Lips * Hit To Death In The Future Head (WB)
# Main * Dry Stone Feed (Beggars Banquet)
# Sonic Youth * Dirty (WB)
# Souled American * Sonny (Rough Trade)
# Disco Inferno * Summer's Last Sound EP (Cheree)
# Babes In Toyland * Fontanelle (Reprise)
# Afghan Whigs * Congregation (Sub Pop)
# Buffalo Tom * Let Me Come Over (Beggars Banquet)
# Screaming Trees * Sweet Oblivion (Epic)
# Dog Faced Hermans * Mental Blocks For All Ages (Project A- Bomb)
# Basehead * Play With Toys (Imago)
# The Orb * U.F. Orb (Island)
# Uncle Tupelo * March 16-20, 1992 (Rockville)
# Therapy? * Caucasion Psychosis (Touch & Go)
# Helmet * Meantime (Interscope)
# Los Fabulosos Cadillacs * El Leon (Sony Discos)
# The Master Musicians of Jajouka * Apocalypse Across The Sky (Axiom)
# Bahia Black * Ritual Beating System (Axiom)
# The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion * Crypt Style (Caroline/1+2)
# Th Faith Healers * Lido (Too Pure/Elektra)
# Paul Schutze * New Maps Of Hell (Extreme)
# Polvo * Cor-Crane Secret (Merge)
# Luna * Lunapark (Elektra)
# Barry Adamson * Soul Murder (Mute)
# Sheila Chandra * Weaving My Ancestors' Voices (Real World)
# Jawbox * Novelty (Dischord)
# Lucinda Williams * Sweet Old World (Elektra)
# The Goats * Tricks of the Shade (Ruffhouse)
# Young Gods * TV Sky (Caroline)
# Das EFX * Dead Serious (East West)
# House of Pain (Tommy Boy)
# Redman * Whut? The Album (RAL)
# Neneh Cherry * Homebrew (Virgin)
# Ministry * Psalm 69 (Sire/WB)
# Gallon Drunk * You, The Night...The Music (Rykodisc)
# Gallon Drunk * Tonigh, The Singles Bar (Rykodisc)
# Hassan Hakmoun * The Fire Within (Music of World)
# Medicine * Shot Forth Self Living (American)
# Praxis * Transmutation (Axiom/Island)
# Los Lobos * Kiko (Slash/WB)
# Catherine Wheel * Ferment (Mercury/Polygram)
# Tom Waits * Night On Earth (Island)
# Girls Against Boys * Tropic of Scorpio (Adult Swim)
# Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds * Henry's Dream (Elektra)
# Cop Shoot Cop * White Noise (Circuit)
# Megadeth * Countdown To Extinction (Capitol)
# Godflesh * Pure (Earache)
# Yo La Tengo * May I Sing With Me (Alias)
# Social Distortion * Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell (Epic)
# Cafe Tacuba (WB)
# Victims Family * The Germ (Alternative Tentacles)
# Unrest * Imperial f.f.r.r. (No. 6 Records)
# Jayhawks * Hollywood Town Hall (Def American)
# Ride * Going Blank Again (Sire/Reprise)
# Pantera * Vulgar Display Of Power (Atco)
# Jonestown * All Day Sucker (Project A-Bomb)
# Cows * Cunning Stunts (Amphetemine Reptile)
# Pale Saints * In Ribbons (4AD)
# Peter Murphy * Holy Smoke (Beggars Banquet)
# The Church * Priest = Aura (Arista)
# Slowdive * Just For A Day (Creation)
# Superchunk * On The Mouth (Matador)
# Dead C * Harsh '70s Reality (Siltbreeze)
# God Is My Co-Pilot * I Am Not This Body (Making)
# Stina Nordenstam * Memories Of A Color (Telegram)
# Trumans Water * Of Thick Tum (Homestead)
# Vaselines * The Way of the Vaselines (Sub Pop)
# Reverend Horton Heat * Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em (Sub Pop)
# L7 * Bricks Are Heavy (Slash)
# Meat Beat Manifesto * Satyricon (Elektra)
# Ultramagnetic MCs * Funk Your Head Up (Mercury)
# Nine Inch Nails * Broken EP (Interscope)
# Television (Capitol)
# Bad Religion * Generator (Epitaph)
# The Flaming Lips * Wastin' Pigs EP (WB)
# Big Chief * Face (Sub Pop)
# Sloan * Smeared (DGC)
# Monster Zero * Wreck (Sonic Bubblegum)
# Deee-Lite * Infinity Within (Elektra)
# The X-Clan * X-Odus (Polydor)
# Boogie Down Productions * Sex and Violence (Jive)
# Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo * Live and let Die (WB)
# Too Short * Shorty the Pimp (Jive)
# Motorhead * March Or Die (Sony)
# Ice Cube * The Predator (Priority)
# The Brand New Heavies * Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1 (Delicious Vinyl)
# Grand Puba * Reel to Reel (Elektra)
# Da Lench Mob * Guerillas in Tha Mist (Atco)
# EPMD * Business Never Personal (Def Jam)
# K-Solo * Time's Up (Atlantic)
# Kid Frost * East Side Story (Virgin)
# Showbiz & A.G. * Runaway Slaves (Payday/London)
# Lord Finesse * Return of the Funky Man (Giant)
# Geto Boys * Geto Boys the Best Uncut Dope (Rap-A-Lot)
# Diamond and the Psychotic Neurotics * Stunts, Blunts & Hip-Hop (Polygram)
# Compton's Most Wanted * Music to Driveby (Orpheus)
# Strictly Roots * Begs No Friends (Friends)
# Soul II Soul * Vol. III: Just Right (Virgin)
Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted
Quote:
Slanted & Enchanted is a left-field classic, a record that came out of nowhere to help establish a new subgenre of rock & roll. Pavement had already sketched out their sound, as well as their amateurish lo-fi aesthetic, on a series of indie singles before recording their debut, but Slanted & Enchanted is where they pulled all of their disparate sounds together into a distinctive style. At first, the primitive sound of the record is the most gripping thing about Slanted, but soon the true innovations of the record appear through the songs themselves. Stephen Malkmus and Spiral Stairs subvert conventional pop structures, turning melodies inside out, reinterpreting and reworking older songs, and bending genres together. It's a complex, enthralling record, filled with fractured riffs, strong melodies, and cryptic melodies, and with all the hiss and static, Slanted & Enchanted sounds like listening to a distant college radio station -- melodies and hooks keep floating in and out of the mix, with individual lines instead of full lyrics surfacing through the murk. This unique song structure as much as the sound of the album itself makes Slanted & Enchanted an individual, signature work and one of the most influential records of the '90s.
Beastie Boys - Check Your HeadQuote:
Check Your Head brought the Beastie Boys crashing back into the charts and into public consciousness, but that was only partially due to the album itself -- much of its initial success was due to the cult audience that Paul's Boutique cultivated in the years since its initial flop release, a group of fans whose minds were so thoroughly blown by that record, they couldn't wait to see what came next, and this helped the record debut in the Top Ten upon its April 1992 release. This audience, perhaps somewhat unsurprisingly, was a collegiate Gen-X audience raised on Licensed to Ill and ready for the Beastie Boys to guide them through college. As it happened, the Beasties had repositioned themselves as a lo-fi, alt-rock groove band. They had not abandoned rap, but it was no longer the foundation of their music, it was simply the most prominent in a thick pop-culture gumbo where old school rap sat comfortably with soul-jazz, hardcore punk, white-trash metal, arena rock, Bob Dylan, bossa nova, spacy pop, and hard, dirty funk. What they did abandon was the psychedelic samples of Paul's Boutique, turning toward primitive grooves they played themselves, augmented by keyboardist Money Mark and co-producer Mario Caldato, Jr.. This all means that music was the message and the rhymes, which had been pushed toward the forefront on both Licensed to Ill and Paul's Boutique, have been considerably de-emphasized (only four songs -- "Jimmy James," "Pass the Mic," "Finger Lickin' Good," and "So What'cha Want" -- could hold their own lyrically among their previous work). This is not a detriment, because the focus is not on the words, it's on the music, mood, and even the newfound neo-hippie political consciousness. And Check Your Head is certainly a record that's greater than the sum of its parts -- individually, nearly all the tracks are good (the instrumentals sound good on their subsequent soul-jazz collection, The in Sound From Way Out), but it's the context and variety of styles that give Check Your Head its identity. It's how the old school raps give way to fuzz-toned rockers, furious punk, and cheerfully gritty, jazzy jams. As much as Paul's Boutique, this is a whirlwind tour through the Beasties' pop-culture obsessions, but instead of spinning into Technicolor fantasies, it's earth-bound D.I.Y. that makes it all seem equally accessible -- which is a big reason why it turned out to be an alt-rock touchstone of the '90s, something that both set trends and predicted them.
Sugar - Copper BlueQuote:
How ironic that after years fronting the hugely influential but desperately overlooked Hüsker Dü, Bob Mould's first project with new band Sugar, 1992's Copper Blue, would become the most commercially successful project of his career. Of course, it was released just as the seeds sown by his former band were bearing bountiful fruits in the post-Nirvana alternative nation, which provided ample explanation for its phenomenal success. But Sugar were well deserving of their success, regardless of time and place. A more aggressive, contemporary guitar attack aside, stunning power punk masterpieces like "The Act We Act," "The Slim," and "Fortune Teller" bear all of the vintage Mould musical traits: tell-tale lyrics, great hooks, and snappy melodies. It's all underpinned by that unexplainable, chilling tension between innocent beauty and dark melancholy that fans came to expect from Mould, and topped by his somewhat nasal, almost timid vocal harmonies. Other highlights include the '60s-style "If I Can't Change Your Mind," the loud, beautiful guitars of "Man on the Moon" and "Helpless," and the tongue-in-cheek Pixies tribute "A Good Idea."
The Jesus Lizard - LiarQuote:
From the first few seconds, in which "Boilermaker" leaps out of the speakers like a crank-addled mugger armed with a tire iron, Liar captures the Jesus Lizard in gloriously manic and muscular form, and if it sounds a bit less grimy and psychotic than Goat, the album that preceded it, this is still the musical equivalent of a ranting lunatic you would never dream of sitting next to on the subway. While said lunatic would probably be best personified by vocalist David Yow, whose litany of gasps, bellows, and shrieks is freakishly eloquent even when you can't figure out what he's saying, the drill-press guitar of Duane Denison and the constant rhythmic pummel of David Sims and Mac McNeilly conjure up a remarkably convincing re-creation of the noises in his head, and the band's taut, rapid-fire precision and striking command of dynamics (no matter that the silences appeared in split-second bursts) generate a groove that manages to be sensuous and uncomfortable at the same time. And while the crashing force of cuts like "Gladiator" and "The Art of Self-Defense" is what folks commonly associate with the Jesus Lizard, the spaghetti Western nightmare of "Zachariah" shows they can slow down without losing any of their impact in the process. Liar isn't quite the wildest or weirdest album the Jesus Lizard ever made, but it may well be the strongest, and perhaps the best.
Faith No More - Angel DustQuote:
Warner Bros. figured that lightning could strike twice at a time when oodles of (most horribly bad) funk-metal acts were following in Faith No More and Red Hot Chili Peppers's footsteps. In response, the former recorded and released the bizarro masterpiece Angel Dust. Patton's work in Mr. Bungle proved just how strange and inspired he could get given the opportunity; now, in his more famous act, nothing was ignored. "Land of Sunshine" starts things off in a vein similar to The Real Thing, but Patton's vocal role-playing is smarter and more accomplished, with the lyrics trashing a smug bastard with pure inspired mockery. From there, Angel Dust mixes the meta-metal of earlier days with the expected puree of other influences, including a cinematic sense of atmosphere. The album ends with a cover of John Barry's "Midnight Cowboy," which suits the mood perfectly, but the stretched-out, tense moments on "Caffeine" and the soaring charge of "Everything's Ruined" make for other good examples. Even a Kronos Quartet sample crops up on the frazzled sprawl of "Malpractice." Other sampling and studio treatments come to the fore throughout, adding quirks like the distorted voices on "Smaller and Smaller." The band's sense of humor crops up frequently -- there's the hilarious portrayal of prepubescent angst on "Kindergarten," made all the more entertaining by the music's straightforward approach, or the beyond-stereotypical white trash cornpone narration of "RV," all while the music breezily swings along. Patton's voice is stronger and downright smooth at many points throughout, the musicians collectively still know their stuff, and the result is twisted entertainment at its finest.
R.E.M. - Automatic for the PeopleQuote:
Turning away from the sweet pop of Out of Time, R.E.M. created a haunting, melancholy masterpiece with Automatic for the People. At its core, the album is a collection of folk songs about aging, death, and loss, but the music has a grand, epic sweep provided by layers of lush strings, interweaving acoustic instruments, and shimmering keyboards. Automatic for the People captures the group at a crossroads, as they moved from cult heroes to elder statesmen, and the album is a graceful transition into their new status. It is a reflective album, with frank discussions on mortality, but it is not a despairing record -- "Nightswimming," "Everybody Hurts," and "Sweetness Follows" have a comforting melancholy, while "Find the River" provides a positive sense of closure. R.E.M. have never been as emotionally direct as they are on Automatic for the People, nor have they ever created music quite as rich and timeless, and while the record is not an easy listen, it is the most rewarding record in their oeuvre.
Arrested Development - 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of...Quote:
Widely adored when it appeared in 1992, Arrested Development's debut album, 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of... seemed to herald a shining new era in alternative rap, when audiences and critics of all colors could agree on the music's importance. Of course, that didn't happen, as Dr. Dre instead took gangsta rap to the top of the charts with The Chronic. In retrospect, 3 Years... isn't quite as revolutionary as it first seemed, though it's still a fine record that often crosses the line into excellence. Its positive messages were the chief selling point for many rock critics, and it's filled with pleas for black unity and brotherly compassion, as well as a devotion to the struggle for equality. All of that is grounded in a simple, upbeat spirituality that also results in tributes to the homeless (the hit "Mr. Wendal"), black women of all shapes and sizes, and the natural world. It's determinedly down to earth, and that aesthetic informs the group's music as well. Their sound is a laid-back, southern-fried groove informed by rural blues, African percussion, funk, and melodic R&B. All of it comes together on the classic single "Tennessee," which takes lead rapper Speech on a spiritual quest to reclaim his heritage in a south still haunted by its history. It helped Arrested Development become the first rap group to win a Grammy for Best New Artist, and to top numerous year-end critical polls. In hindsight, there's a distinct political correctness -- even naïveté -- in the lyrics, which places the record firmly in the early '90s; it's also a bit self-consciously profound at times, lacking the playfulness of peers like the Native Tongues. Nonetheless, 3 Years... was a major influence on a new breed of alternative southern hip-hop, including Goodie Mob, OutKast, and Nappy Roots, and it still stands as one of the better albums of its kind.
The Lemonheads - It's a Shame About RayQuote:
If Lovey captured Evan Dando as he found his signature blend of punk-pop, jangle pop, and folk-rock, It's a Shame About Ray is where he perfected that style. Breezing by in under half an hour, the album is a simple collection of sunny melodies and hooks, delivered with typical nonchalance by Dando. None of the songs are about anything major, nor do they have astonishingly original melodies, but that's part of their charm -- they're immediately accessible and thoroughly catchy. Dando's laid-back observations of middle-class outcasts are minor gems. The heartbroken title track or "Confetti," the crushes of "Bit Part in Your Life," the love letter to substances "My Drug Buddy," or the wonderful "Alison's Starting to Happen," where a girl finds herself as she discovers punk rock, capture the laconic rhythms of suburbia, and his warm, friendly voice, which is offset by Juliana Hatfield's girlish harmonies, gives the songs an emotional resonance. [It's a Shame About Ray was later re-released with a competent punk-pop remake of Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson" added as a bonus track. As Dando approached stardom, the album was repressed again with the title of "My Drug Buddy" truncated to "Buddy." It was later restored to its original title.]
