Probably the second most formative year in terms of my music taste (first is 1991). Looking at the fastnbulbous list, I could've selected probably any one of 20 records for best of that year and felt good about my pick. My selection for best record of the year doesn't even appear on this list because I was pretty sure I was the only one who would vote for it (Arcwelder - Pull). These nine are some of the most influential records of the decade, and all are worthy candidates for this year.
Nirvana - In Utero
Quote:
Nirvana probably hired Steve Albini to produce In Utero with the hopes of creating their own Surfer Rosa, or at least shoring up their indie cred after becoming a pop phenomenon with a glossy punk record. In Utero, of course, turned out to be their last record, and it's hard not to hear it as Kurt Cobain's suicide note, since Albini's stark, uncompromising sound provides the perfect setting for Cobain's bleak, even nihilistic, lyrics. Even if the album wasn't a literal suicide note, it was certainly a conscious attempt to shed their audience -- an attempt that worked, by the way, since the record had lost its momentum when Cobain died in the spring of 1994. Even though the band tempered some of Albini's extreme tactics in a remix, the record remains a deliberately alienating experience, front-loaded with many of its strongest songs, then descending into a series of brief, dissonant squalls before concluding with "All Apologies," which only gets sadder with each passing year.
Seam - The Problem With MeQuote:
After the transitional Kernel EP and further lineup shifting, Seam settled into a quartet format, ended up in Chicago to record with Brad Wood, and created one of the best albums of the early '90s. Heady praise perhaps, but The Problem With Me found Sooyoung Park and company -- Lexi Mitchell was once again his fine foil on bass, but for the last time -- taking the dreamier wistfulness of the group's early days and turning in even sharper performances while ratcheting up the emotional impact. It's a farewell to the Mitchell/Park partnership, one that, at least musically, went out on top.
PJ Harvey - Rid of MeQuote:
PJ Harvey's second album, Rid of Me, finds the trio, and Harvey in particular, pushing themselves to extremes. This is partially due to producer Steve Albini, who gives the album a bloodless, abrasive edge with his exacting production; each dynamic is pushed to the limit, leaving absolutely no subtleties in the music. Harvey's songs, in decided contrast to Albini's approach, are filled with gray areas and uncertainties, and are considerably more personal than those on Dry. Furthermore, they are lyrically and melodically superior to the songs on the debut, but their merits are obscured by Albini's black-and-white production, which is polarizing. It may be the aural embodiment of the tortured lyrics, and therefore a supremely effective piece of performance art, but it also makes Rid of Me a difficult record to meet halfway. But anyone willing to accept its sonic extremities will find Rid of Me to be a record of unusual power and purpose, one with few peers in its unsettling emotional honesty.
Afghan Whigs - GentlemenQuote:
The Afghan Whigs' sound was growing larger by the release during the days on Sub Pop, so the fact that Gentlemen turned out the way it did wasn't all that surprising as a result ("cinematic" was certainly the word the band was aiming for, what with credits describing the recording process as being "shot on location" at Ardent Studios)...Dulli's blend of utter abnegation and masculine swagger may be a crutch, but when everything connects, as it does more often than not on Gentlemen, both he and his band are unstoppable.
Archers of Loaf - Icky MettleQuote:
Ah, North Carolina. Can anyone explain why it's been such a hotbed of original-sounding music? Why every year there's a new crop from the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill triangle? Sure, it has lots of colleges, but there's gotta be more to it. Never mind the silly band name and LP title, here's a two-guitar quartet that takes a normal starting point -- whirling, loud, harsh guitar pop with an unpredictable edge -- and adds a bawling, full-throated vocalist named Eric Bachmann, who himself sounds like he's been singing all night and his voice is a little sore (just enough to make him sound like he really means it). Or like Ric Ocasek singing his lungs out for a change, on top of a roaring, screaming loud band. Which means if they're on the same bill with Dillon Fence, DF is the polite, ringing hook band, while these guys are gonna jump-start the keg party. Music to sing to and bounce off the walls to at the same time, with all that Southern quirky dedication and sincerity and congeniality that make us love the place so much.
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese DreamQuote:
After the difficult recording sessions, Corgan stated publicly that if Siamese Dream didn't achieve breakthrough success, he would end the band. He didn't have to worry for long -- the album debuted in the Billboard Top Ten and sold more than four million copies in three years. Siamese Dream stands alongside Nevermind and Superunknown as one of the decade's finest (and most influential) rock albums.
Dr. Dre - The ChronicQuote:
With its stylish, sonically detailed production, Dr. Dre's 1992 solo debut The Chronic transformed the entire sound of West Coast rap. Here Dre established his patented G-funk sound: fat, blunted Parliament-Funkadelic beats, soulful backing vocals, and live instruments in the rolling basslines and whiny synths. What's impressive is that Dre crafts tighter singles than his inspiration George Clinton -- he's just as effortlessly funky, and he has a better feel for a hook, a knack that improbably landed gangsta rap on the pop charts. But none of The Chronic's legions of imitators were as rich in personality, and that's due in large part to Dre's monumental discovery, Snoop Doggy Dogg. Snoop livens up every track he touches, sometimes just by joining in the chorus -- and if The Chronic has a flaw, it's that his relative absence from the second half slows the momentum. There was nothing in rap quite like Snoop's singsong, lazy drawl (as it's invariably described), and since Dre's true forte is the producer's chair, Snoop is the signature voice. He sounds utterly unaffected by anything, no matter how extreme, which sets the tone for the album's misogyny, homophobia, and violence.
The Breeders - Last SplashQuote:
Thanks to good timing and some great singles, the Breeders' second album, Last Splash, turned them into the alternative rock stars that Kim Deal's former band, the Pixies, always seemed on the verge of becoming...One of the definitive alternative rock albums of the '90s
Mercury Rev - BocesQuote:
With Boces, Mercury Rev took everything that made Yerself Is Steam such an impressive debut and made their second album even more so. Over the course of ten minutes, opening epic "Meth of a Rockette's Kick" moves from dreamy musing to guitar-fueled crests -- and throws in flutes, harps, a brass section, and a choir for good measure -- announcing that the group is at the height of its powers. Thrashy freakouts like "Trickle Down" sound even more explosive and stand in sharper contrast to the Technicolor pop of "Something for Joey" and "Hi Speed Boats," while the sweetly lovelorn "Bronx Cheer" and "Downs Are Feminine Balloons" (key lyric: "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's up") reveal the vulnerability beneath the group's jet-powered guitars. But Boces doesn't just perfect the sound Mercury Rev pioneered on Yerself Is Steam, it expands it in predictably unpredictable ways. The Cheshire cat jazz-pop of "Boys Peel Out," the sleepwalking speed metal of "Snorry Mouth," and the spooky, smoky finale "Girlfren," though very different from each other, are equally captivating examples of the band's witty, innovative modus operandi. Mercury Rev never released another album as joyfully, unselfconsciously creative as Boces; after chief weirdo David Baker departed, the band pursued other fascinating directions, but this album remains one of the highest points of its career.
