AllMusic Loves 1991
Oct. 13, 2011
It was, as they say, the Year Punk Broke -- meaning, it was the year of Nevermind, Nirvana's celebrated second album, the record that changed everything for everyone. This may be true, but Nevermind was on the ascendency in the last quarter of 1991; it did not dominate the year, nor was it the only breakthrough. It was also the year Metallica steamrollered over hair metal with their Black Album, the year R.E.M. hit number one with Out of Time, the year Primal Scream went acid house, the year hip-hop's golden age continued to ride out its peak, the year My Bloody Valentine found ethereal beauty in crushingly loud feedback, the year of new jack swing, the year U2 decided to ditch their Americana mania in favor of late nights at European discos. And it was the year a few of the decade's next big things started to surface, with trip-hoppers Massive Attack releasing their masterful debut and Brit-poppers Blur releasing their awkward one. And, of course, it was the year that Guns N' Roses went all in on their double-album comeback Use Your Illusion, an album that sucked all the oxygen out of the room that year but is now just one of the many reasons to love 1991.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine [Spotify playlist]
Nirvana - Nevermind
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
Dinosaur Jr. - Green Mind
Pixies - Trompe le Monde
Public Enemy - Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes Black
U2 - Achtung Baby
Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion I / Use Your Illusion II
R.E.M. - Out Of Time
Ween - The Pod
Mercury Rev - Yerself Is Steam
Crowded House - Woodface
Son of Bazerk - Bazerk Bazerk Bazerk
Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
Urge Overkill - The Supersonic Storybook
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
Prince & the New Power Generation - Diamonds and Pearls
Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Naughty by Nature – "OPP"
Geto Boys – "Mind Playing Tricks on Me"
R.E.M. – "Losing My Religion"
Primal Scream - "Higher Than the Sun"
Blur - "There's No Other Way"
Public Enemy – Can't Truss It
Lenny Kravitz – "It Ain't Over Till It's Over"
LL Cool J – "Mama Said Knock You Out"
Roxette – "Joyride"
Saint Etienne – "Nothing Can Stop Us"
Ice-T – "New Jack Hustler"
Divinyls – "I Touch Myself"
Londonbeat - "I've Been Thinking About You"
Pavement - "Summer Babe"
Pixies - "Planet of Sound"
Seal - "Crazy"
EMF - "Unbelievable"
Mercury Rev - "Car Wash Hair"
Metallica - "Enter Sandman"
Cypress Hill - "How I Could Just Kill a Man"
Siouxsie and the Banshees – "Kiss Them for Me"
3rd Bass - "Pop Goes the Weasel"
Digital Underground – "Kiss You Back"
Elvis Costello - "The Other Side of Summer"
John Bush
Random thoughts:
* 1991 was a year of catharsis. Nirvana's Nevermind comes first, for sure, but you can't talk about releasing the pressure in 1991 without mentioning Public Enemy or U2 or My Bloody Valentine or Fugazi or Primal Scream or Mercury Rev or even the Wedding Present. (Nirvana didn't just get loud-quiet-loud from the Pixies.) The more I think about it, the more I realize there were only a handful of artists reveling in the art of laid-back during 1991 (A Tribe Called Quest, the Orb, Talk Talk, and the Spin Doctors, to name four of the most wildly divergent).
* The pop chart was undergoing turbulence from which it's never recovered: inspirational standard-bearers like Bryan Adams' "Everything I Do (I Do It for You)" and Michael Jackson's "Black or White" were giving way to the likes of R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." (Not to mention the torch being grabbed away from Michael Jackson's #1 album Dangerous after it famously gave way to Nirvana's Nevermind.)
* A documentary that was produced in 1992 retroactively dubbed 1991 the year punk broke, but it was also the year of indie -- with excellent early work by Slint and Mercury Rev and Fugazi and Urge Overkill and the Jesus Lizard all mapping out the farthest fringes of what could or should be called alternative (or indie, or progressive, or college wave) during the coming decade.
* Rap artists were learning how to be tough and intelligent and hooky all at the same time, paving the way for a quick commercial (and artistic) crest in the mid-'90s, and the electronic scene began to fragment from its house/techno/balearic origins into various hyphenated scenes, from ambient-house to trance-techno. Country music had its biggest year in decades (and also paved the way for future success), as Garth Brooks' Ropin' the Wind became the first album from a country artist to debut at #1 on the American charts. (It eventually earned 14x platinum honors.)
* To be entering college during 1991 meant having to choose (or being forced into) one of three camps, each of which focused on the epochal Fall '91 album you were going to make a template for your future academic life: Nirvana's punk-metal hybrid Nevermind, Red Hot Chili Peppers' alterna-funk hybrid Blood Sugar Sex Magik, or Metallica's unrepentantly metal (no hybrid) self-titled black album.
* No survey of what it meant to be 1991 could be written without mentioning Lollapalooza, which debuted its cross-country jaunt in July and pulled in the largest crowds that had ever witnessed the Butthole Surfers' concert experience (perhaps cumulatively), along with more stadium-ready acts like Jane's Addiction and Nine Inch Nails. The likes of Stone Temple Pilots and Bush and Nickelback were just around the corner.
Urge Overkill - The Supersonic Storybook
Mercury Rev - Yerself Is Steam
Beat Happening - Dreamy
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
Fugazi - Steady Diet of Nothing
The Orb - The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
The Wedding Present - Seamonsters
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
LFO - Frequencies
Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
The Nation of Ulysses - 13-Point Program to Destroy America
Nirvana - Nevermind
Paleface - Paleface
The Jesus Lizard - Goat
Black Sheep - A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Public Enemy - Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes Black
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
Pixies - Trompe le Monde
Electronic - Electronic
Urge Overkill - "The Kids Are Insane"
Big Audio Dynamite - "Rush"
Throwing Muses - "Not Too Soon"
Moose - "Last Night I Fell Again"
Mercury Rev - "Chasing a Bee"
The Nation of Ulysses - "Spectra Sonic Sound"
Ned's Atomic Dustbin - "Kill Your Television"
The Jesus Lizard - "Mouth Breather"
Paleface - "She Was Talking to Me (Down on Ave B)"
Primal Scream - "Higher Than the Sun"
Massive Attack - "Unfinished Sympathy"
The Orb - "Perpetual Dawn"
LFO - "Freeze"
Paperclip People - "Oscillator"
F.U.S.E. - "Substance Abuse"
Front 242 - "Tragedy (For You)"
Public Enemy f/ Anthrax - "Bring the Noise"
Nitzer Ebb - "Come Alive"
The Wedding Present - "Corduroy"
The Ocean Blue - "Marigold"
Slint - "Good Morning, Captain"
Heather Phares
808 State - Ex:El
Crowded House - Woodface
De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead
Dinosaur Jr. - Green Mind
Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion I
His Name Is Alive - Home Is in Your Head
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
Mercury Rev - Yerself Is Steam
Metallica - Metallica
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Nirvana - Nevermind
The Orb - The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
Pixies - Trompe le Monde
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
Slint - Spiderland
Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
Throwing Muses - The Real Ramona
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
Tim Sendra
As far as I'm concerned, only one album came out in 1991:
The Pooh Sticks - The Great White Wonder
To be honest, I suppose there were a few others worth mentioning in passing....
Beat Happening - Dreamy
Dream Warriors - And Now, the Legacy Begins
Massive Attack - Blue Lines (mostly for "Unfinished Sympathy")
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
The Orb - The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
The Orchids - Unholy Soul
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
Spacemen 3 - Recurring
Swervedriver - Raise
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
The Wedding Present - Seamonsters
World of Twist - Quality Street
Really though, 1991 was about as dire as it gets album-wise. Check out this murderers' row of artists who saddened the world by releasing full length recordings: Bleach, Candy Flip, Cud, the Farm, 5:30, Mary's Danish, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Northside, Slint (yeah, I said it!), Smashing Pumpkins, Thee Hypnotics, the 360's, the Wendys.
Extra points for being ahead of their time:
McCarthy - Banking, Violence and the Inner Life Today
Chrysta Cherrie [Spotify playlist]
Beat Happening - Dreamy
Anouar Brahem - Barzakh
The Ex & Tom Cora - Scrabbling at the Lock
Fugazi - Steady Diet of Nothing
His Name Is Alive - Home Is in Your Head
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Naked City - Grand Guignol
Nirvana - Nevermind
Nation of Ulysses - 13-Point Program to Destroy America
Bobby Previte - Weather Clear, Track Fast
Jonathan Richman - Having a Party with Jonathan Richman
Sonny Sharrock - Ask the Ages
Slint - Spiderland
Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
Supercharger - Supercharger
Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
Thee Headcoats - Headcoatitude
Thinking Fellers Union Local #282 - Lovelyville
Caetano Veloso - Circuladô
Randy Weston - The Spirits of Our Ancestors
Gregory Heaney
Jonathan Richman - Having a Party with Jonathan Richman
The Nation of Ulysses - 13-Point Program to Destroy America
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
The Jesus Lizard - Goat
De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead
Slint - Spiderland
Leaders of the New School - Future Without a Past
Ween - The Pod
3rd Bass - Derelicts of Dialect
Swans - White Light from the Mouth of Infinity
Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky
Fugazi - Steady Diet of Nothing
Pixies - Trompe le Monde
Primus - Sailing the Seas of Cheese
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Black Sheep - A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Nirvana - Nevermind
Dinosaur Jr. - Green Mind
Ice Cube - Death Certificate
David Jeffries
Big Audio Dynamite II - The Globe
Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill
De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead
Del tha Funkee Homosapien - I Wish My Brother George Was Here
DJ Quik - Quik Is the Name
Ice Cube - Death Certificate
The Jolly Boys - Beer Joint & Tailoring
Main Source - Breaking Atoms
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Naughty by Nature - Naughty by Nature
Nirvana - Nevermind
The Orb - The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
Lee "Scratch" Perry - Lord God Muzick
Shabba Ranks - As Raw as Ever
Scarface - Mr. Scarface Is Back
Single Gun Theory - Millions Like Stars in My Hands, Daggers in My Heart, Wage War
Son of Bazerk - Bazerk Bazerk Bazerk
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
Various Artists - This Is Strictly Rhythm, Vol. 1
Andy Kellman [Spotify playlist]
Main Source - Breaking Atoms
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Slint - Spiderland
Swervedriver - Raise
De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Public Enemy - Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes Black
Gang Starr - Step in the Arena
LFO - Frequencies
Nirvana - Nevermind
Black Sheep - A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
Kitchens of Distinction - Strange Free World
Jodeci - Forever My Lady
DJ Quik - Quik Is the Name
Mercury Rev - Yerself Is Steam
Young Disciples - Road to Freedom
Massive Attack - "Unfinished Sympathy"
Geto Boys - "Mind Playing Tricks on Me"
Mint Condition - "Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)"
A Tribe Called Quest - "Check the Rhime"
Jeff Redd - "You Called and Told Me"
Tony! Toni! Toné! - "Whatever You Want"
Underground Resistance - "Final Frontier"
Sounds of Blackness - "Optimistic"
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo - "Bad to the Bone"
Public Enemy - "Shut 'Em Down [Pe-te Rock Mixx]"
Son of Bazerk - "Change the Style"
Digital Underground - "Kiss You Back"
MC Breed & DFC - "Ain't No Future in Yo Frontin'"
Ed O.G & da Bulldogs - "I Got to Have It"
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince - "Summertime"
Cypress Hill - "How I Could Just Kill a Man"
Showbiz & AG - "Soul Clap"
69 - "My Machines"
Reese - "Bassline"
Gerald Levert - "Private Line"
James Christopher Monger
Julian Cope - Peggy Suicide
Mr. Bungle - Mr. Bungle
Trip Shakespeare - Lulu
U2 - Achtung Baby
Pixies - Trompe le Monde
R.E.M. - Out of Time
Nirvana - Nevermind
Ween - The Pod
Metallica - Metallica
Enya - Shepherd Moons
Material Issue - International Pop Overthrow
Toad the Wet Sprocket - Fear
Violent Femmes - Why Do Birds Sing?
P.M. Dawn - Of the Heart, Of the Soul and Of the Cross: The Utopian Experience
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians - Perspex Island
Dire Straits - On Every Street
Tribe - Abort
Wonder Stuff - Never Loved Elvis
Chickasaw Mudd Puppies - Eight Track Stomp
Richard Thompson - Rumor and Sigh
Del tha Funkee Homosapien - "Mistadobolina"
My Bloody Valentine - "Only Shallow"
Primal Scream - "Higher Than the Sun"
Throwing Muses - "Not Too Soon"
Ozzy Osbourne - "No More Tears"
Innocence Mission - "Revolving Man"
Thin White Rope - "Up to Midnight"
Flop - "Hello"
Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart - "Visions of You"
Big Audio Dynamite - "Rush"
Blur - "Repetition"
Crash Test Dummies - "Superman Song"
Godfathers - "Unreal World"
Morrissey - "Sing Your Life"
Horse Flies - "Sally Ann"
Too Much Joy - "Gramatan"
Elvis Costello - "Other Side of Summer"
David Byrne - "Dura Europus"
The Orb - "Little Fluffy Clouds"
Tin Machine - "Baby Universal"
Jonathan Ball [Spotify playlist]
The Golden Palominos - Drunk with Passion
Exquisitely ethereal to Bob Mould turning himself inside-out. A masterpiece.
Original Soundtrack - Until the End of the World
A late-night soundtrack that captures space and time.
Jimmie Dale Gilmore - After Awhile
The Cosmic Cowboy's best album; Love & Rock meet Lubbock C&W. "The journey is worth the price of going."
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
Dance + rock in a druggy stew that melds the '60s and the '80s.
Lloyd Cole - Don't Get Weird on Me Babe
Wry and affecting, with timeless arrangements.
The KLF - The White Room
Take me to the Church of the KLF.
Nova Mob - The Last Days of Pompeii
Grant Hart's time/space opera.
U2 - Achtung Baby
Brian Eno takes U2 to David Bowie's Berlin and turns their world upside-down.
King Crimson - Frame by Frame: The Essential King Crimson
From the psychedelic masterpiece first album through the majestic melodies of the mid '70s and the atmospheres and angularity of the '80s.
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Heavy-osity.
The Orb - The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
A daydream on another planet.
Hilt - Journey to the Center of the Bowl
Acid-spike to the brain.
Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
Molten sounds flowing from your speakers
My Bloody Valentine - Tremolo
Rhythm Devils - The Apocalypse Now Sessions
"Like a main circuit cable -- plugged straight into Kurtz."
Queen - Innuendo
A grandiose last hurrah.
Keith Richards & the X-pensive Winos - Live at the Hollywood Palladium
Long live the King.
Screaming Trees - Uncle Anesthesia
Flawed production, great songs.
Texas - Mothers Heaven
Unjustly overlooked.
Ween - The Pod
A cocoon of weirdness.
Royal Trux - Untitled
Royal Trux discover melody and start to rock.
David Bowie - Low, Heroes, Lodger
Berlin-era reissues.
Matthew Sweet - "Girlfriend"
Electronic - "Get the Message"
Primal Scream - "Movin' on Up"
The Farm - "Groovy Train"
The Who - "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" (For Chris)
U2 - "The Fly"
The KLF - "What Time Is Love"
Ozzy Osbourne - "No More Tears"
Siouxsie and the Banshees - "Kiss Them for Me"
INXS - "Disappear"
Seal - "Crazy"
Pet Shop Boys - "Where The Streets Have No Name"
Sean Westergaard
Samm Bennett & Chunk - Life of Crime
The Bevis Frond - New River Head
Bongwater - Power of Pussy
Bill Bruford's Earthworks - All Heaven Broke Loose
Tom Cora - Gumption in Limbo
The Ex & Tom Cora - Scrabbling at the Lock
Ghost - Ghost
Wayne Horvitz/The President - Miracle Mile
Henry Kaiser - Hope You Like Our New Direction
Negativland - U2
Nirvana - Nevermind
Bobby Previte - Weather Clear, Track Fast
Ned Rothenberg - Overlays
Elliott Sharp/Carbon - Tocsin
Sonny Sharrock - Ask the Ages
Velvet Crush - In the Presence of Greatness
Randy Weston - Spirits of Our Ancestors
Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart - Rising Above Bedlam
Frank Zappa - Make a Jazz Noise Here
Frank Zappa - Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life
James Wilkinson
Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
R.E.M. - Out Of Time
Saint Etienne - Foxbase Alpha
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Weld
Inspiral Carpets - The Beast Inside
Blur - Leisure
Nirvana - Nevermind
Julian Cope - Peggy Suicide
Bevis Frond - New River Head
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
U2 - Achtung Baby
Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
Mercury Rev - Yerself Is Steam
Billy Bragg - Don't Try This at Home
Paul McCartney - Unplugged (The Official Bootleg)
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
Morrissey - Kill Uncle
808 State - Ex:El
Green Day - 1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours
Electronic - Electronic
The Charlatans - "Over Rising"
James - "Sound"
Happy Mondays - "Loose Fit"
Spiritualized - "Feel So Sad"
Stereolab - "Super-Electric"
The Stone Roses - "I Wanna Be Adored"
The Charlatans - "Me in Time"
The Real People - "Open Up Your Mind (Let Me In)"
Thousand Yard Stare - "No Score After Extra Time"
Milltown Brothers - "Which Way Should I Jump?"
Ride - Today Forever
The Paul Weller Movement - "Into Tomorrow"
Milltown Brothers - "Here I Stand"
Sun Dial - "Plains of Nazca"
The Mock Turtles - "Can You Dig It?"
Senseless Things - "Easy to Smile"
The Aardvarks - "Your My Lovin' Way"
Morrissey - "Pregnant for the Last Time"
The Jigsaw Seen - "My Name Is Tom"
Jesus Jones - "International Bright Young Thing"
John Buchanan
Bryan Adams - Waking Up the Neighbours
Carcass - Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious
Brad Fiedel - Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion I
Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion II
Helmet - Strap It On
James Horner - The Rocketeer
Michael Jackson - Dangerous
Jesus Jones - Doubt
The Jesus Lizard - Goat
Michael Kamen - Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Alan Menken & Howard Ashman - Beauty and the Beast
Metallica - Metallica
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Nirvana - Nevermind
Pearl Jam - Ten
Prince & the New Power Generation - Diamonds and Pearls
Roxette - Joyride
Simply Red - Stars
U2 - Achtung Baby
Daniel Clancy
For my list of albums, I've taken those that influenced my tastes and stuck with me over the years, despite not necessarily being something I would have been listening to when I was eight years old. Having said that, my older brother and sister were listening to a fair few of these records at the time and it's fair to say my air-drumming to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was pretty much nailed in 1991.
My singles, however, are purely based on what I was hearing at the time; the songs that defined my 1991, when I was amazed at Bryan Adams' greatness and wanted to be like Chesney Hawkes. Perhaps not the "best" singles of the year, but the ones that certainly bring back memories.
Blur - Leisure
Nirvana - Nevermind
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Metallica - Metallica
Superchunk - No Pocky for Kitty
Richard Thompson - Rumor and Sigh
Pearl Jam - Ten
Pixies - Trompe le Monde
Dinosaur Jr. - Green Mind
Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
Bryan Adams - "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You"
EMF - "Unbelievable"
Vic Reeves and the Wonder Stuff - "Dizzy"
The Simpsons - "Do the Bartman"
U2 - "The Fly"
R.E.M. - "Losing My Religion"
The Clash - "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
Chesney Hawkes - "The One and Only"
James - "Sit Down"
Salt-N-Pepa - "Let's Talk About Sex"
Aneet Nijjar
Saint Etienne - Foxbase Alpha
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
Ice Cube - Death Certificate
Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill
Ice-T - OG Original Gangster
Main Source - Breaking Atoms
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
Crowded House - Woodface
Electronic - Electronic
Spacemen 3 - Recurring
The KLF - The White Room
LFO - Frequencies
Coil - Love's Secret Domain
Throwing Muses - The Real Ramona
Hole - Pretty on the Inside
Nirvana - Nevermind
Babes in Toyland - To Mother
Bongwater - The Power of Pussy
P.M. Dawn - "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss"
Alison Limerick - "Where Love Lives"
Young Disciples - "Apparently Nothin'"
Ce Ce Peniston - "Finally"
The Source f/ Candi Staton - "You Got The Love"
Crystal Waters - "Gypsy Woman"
Incognito - "Always There"
Moby - "Go"
DSK - "What Would We Do"
Bassheads - "Is Anybody Out There?"
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince - "Summertime"
Madonna - "Justify My Love"
Pet Shop Boys - "Where the Streets Have No Name"
A Tribe Called Quest - "Can I Kick It?"
Naughty by Nature - "OPP"
Dream Warriors - "My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style"
R.E.M. - "Losing My Religion"
Divinyls - "I Touch Myself"
EMF - "Unbelievable"
Richard Wilson
Babes in Toyland - To Mother
Blur - Leisure
Carter USM - 30 Something
Dinosaur Jr. - Green Mind
Hole - Pretty on the Inside
Jacob's Mouse - No Fish Shop Parking
Leatherface - Mush
Mercury Rev - Yourself Is Steam
Mudhoney - Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Ned's Atomic Dustbin - God Fodder
Nirvana - Nevermind
Pegboy - Strong Reaction
Inspiral Carpets - The Beast Inside
Sebadoh - III
Senseless Things - The First of Too Many
Slint - Spiderland
Slowdive - Just for a Day
Swervedriver - Raise
Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
A House - Bingo
Catherine Wheel - "Black Metallic"
Curve - Blindfold EP
Hole - "Teenage Whore"
Inspiral Carpets - "Caravan"
Manic Street Preachers - "You Love Us"
Mercury Rev - Car Wash Hair
Midway Still - "Wish"
Mudhoney - "Let It Slide"
Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Pavement - "Summer Babe"
Revolver - 45
Ride - Today Forever
Slowdive - Holding Our Breath
Smashing Pumpkins - "Siva"
Sonic Youth - "Dirty Boots"
Sultans of Ping F.C. - "Where's Me Jumper"
Teenage Fanclub - "Starsign"
The Wedding Present - "Dalliance"
Thousand Yard Stare - Seasonstream EP
Stephen Thomas Erlewine [Spotify playlist]
Nirvana - Nevermind
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
Dinosaur Jr. - Green Mind
Pixies - Trompe le Monde
Public Enemy - Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes Black
U2 - Achtung Baby
Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion I / Use Your Illusion II
R.E.M. - Out Of Time
Ween - The Pod
Mercury Rev - Yerself Is Steam
Crowded House - Woodface
Son of Bazerk - Bazerk Bazerk Bazerk
Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
Urge Overkill - The Supersonic Storybook
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
Prince & the New Power Generation - Diamonds and Pearls
Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Naughty by Nature – "OPP"
Geto Boys – "Mind Playing Tricks on Me"
R.E.M. – "Losing My Religion"
Primal Scream - "Higher Than the Sun"
Blur - "There's No Other Way"
Public Enemy – Can't Truss It
Lenny Kravitz – "It Ain't Over Till It's Over"
LL Cool J – "Mama Said Knock You Out"
Roxette – "Joyride"
Saint Etienne – "Nothing Can Stop Us"
Ice-T – "New Jack Hustler"
Divinyls – "I Touch Myself"
Londonbeat - "I've Been Thinking About You"
Pavement - "Summer Babe"
Pixies - "Planet of Sound"
Seal - "Crazy"
EMF - "Unbelievable"
Mercury Rev - "Car Wash Hair"
Metallica - "Enter Sandman"
Cypress Hill - "How I Could Just Kill a Man"
Siouxsie and the Banshees – "Kiss Them for Me"
3rd Bass - "Pop Goes the Weasel"
Digital Underground – "Kiss You Back"
Elvis Costello - "The Other Side of Summer"
John Bush
Random thoughts:
* 1991 was a year of catharsis. Nirvana's Nevermind comes first, for sure, but you can't talk about releasing the pressure in 1991 without mentioning Public Enemy or U2 or My Bloody Valentine or Fugazi or Primal Scream or Mercury Rev or even the Wedding Present. (Nirvana didn't just get loud-quiet-loud from the Pixies.) The more I think about it, the more I realize there were only a handful of artists reveling in the art of laid-back during 1991 (A Tribe Called Quest, the Orb, Talk Talk, and the Spin Doctors, to name four of the most wildly divergent).
* The pop chart was undergoing turbulence from which it's never recovered: inspirational standard-bearers like Bryan Adams' "Everything I Do (I Do It for You)" and Michael Jackson's "Black or White" were giving way to the likes of R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." (Not to mention the torch being grabbed away from Michael Jackson's #1 album Dangerous after it famously gave way to Nirvana's Nevermind.)
* A documentary that was produced in 1992 retroactively dubbed 1991 the year punk broke, but it was also the year of indie -- with excellent early work by Slint and Mercury Rev and Fugazi and Urge Overkill and the Jesus Lizard all mapping out the farthest fringes of what could or should be called alternative (or indie, or progressive, or college wave) during the coming decade.
* Rap artists were learning how to be tough and intelligent and hooky all at the same time, paving the way for a quick commercial (and artistic) crest in the mid-'90s, and the electronic scene began to fragment from its house/techno/balearic origins into various hyphenated scenes, from ambient-house to trance-techno. Country music had its biggest year in decades (and also paved the way for future success), as Garth Brooks' Ropin' the Wind became the first album from a country artist to debut at #1 on the American charts. (It eventually earned 14x platinum honors.)
* To be entering college during 1991 meant having to choose (or being forced into) one of three camps, each of which focused on the epochal Fall '91 album you were going to make a template for your future academic life: Nirvana's punk-metal hybrid Nevermind, Red Hot Chili Peppers' alterna-funk hybrid Blood Sugar Sex Magik, or Metallica's unrepentantly metal (no hybrid) self-titled black album.
* No survey of what it meant to be 1991 could be written without mentioning Lollapalooza, which debuted its cross-country jaunt in July and pulled in the largest crowds that had ever witnessed the Butthole Surfers' concert experience (perhaps cumulatively), along with more stadium-ready acts like Jane's Addiction and Nine Inch Nails. The likes of Stone Temple Pilots and Bush and Nickelback were just around the corner.
Urge Overkill - The Supersonic Storybook
Mercury Rev - Yerself Is Steam
Beat Happening - Dreamy
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
Fugazi - Steady Diet of Nothing
The Orb - The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
The Wedding Present - Seamonsters
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
LFO - Frequencies
Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
The Nation of Ulysses - 13-Point Program to Destroy America
Nirvana - Nevermind
Paleface - Paleface
The Jesus Lizard - Goat
Black Sheep - A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Public Enemy - Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes Black
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
Pixies - Trompe le Monde
Electronic - Electronic
Urge Overkill - "The Kids Are Insane"
Big Audio Dynamite - "Rush"
Throwing Muses - "Not Too Soon"
Moose - "Last Night I Fell Again"
Mercury Rev - "Chasing a Bee"
The Nation of Ulysses - "Spectra Sonic Sound"
Ned's Atomic Dustbin - "Kill Your Television"
The Jesus Lizard - "Mouth Breather"
Paleface - "She Was Talking to Me (Down on Ave B)"
Primal Scream - "Higher Than the Sun"
Massive Attack - "Unfinished Sympathy"
The Orb - "Perpetual Dawn"
LFO - "Freeze"
Paperclip People - "Oscillator"
F.U.S.E. - "Substance Abuse"
Front 242 - "Tragedy (For You)"
Public Enemy f/ Anthrax - "Bring the Noise"
Nitzer Ebb - "Come Alive"
The Wedding Present - "Corduroy"
The Ocean Blue - "Marigold"
Slint - "Good Morning, Captain"
Heather Phares
808 State - Ex:El
Crowded House - Woodface
De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead
Dinosaur Jr. - Green Mind
Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion I
His Name Is Alive - Home Is in Your Head
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
Mercury Rev - Yerself Is Steam
Metallica - Metallica
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Nirvana - Nevermind
The Orb - The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
Pixies - Trompe le Monde
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
Slint - Spiderland
Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
Throwing Muses - The Real Ramona
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
Tim Sendra
As far as I'm concerned, only one album came out in 1991:
The Pooh Sticks - The Great White Wonder
To be honest, I suppose there were a few others worth mentioning in passing....
Beat Happening - Dreamy
Dream Warriors - And Now, the Legacy Begins
Massive Attack - Blue Lines (mostly for "Unfinished Sympathy")
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
The Orb - The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
The Orchids - Unholy Soul
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
Spacemen 3 - Recurring
Swervedriver - Raise
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
The Wedding Present - Seamonsters
World of Twist - Quality Street
Really though, 1991 was about as dire as it gets album-wise. Check out this murderers' row of artists who saddened the world by releasing full length recordings: Bleach, Candy Flip, Cud, the Farm, 5:30, Mary's Danish, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Northside, Slint (yeah, I said it!), Smashing Pumpkins, Thee Hypnotics, the 360's, the Wendys.
Extra points for being ahead of their time:
McCarthy - Banking, Violence and the Inner Life Today
Chrysta Cherrie [Spotify playlist]
Beat Happening - Dreamy
Anouar Brahem - Barzakh
The Ex & Tom Cora - Scrabbling at the Lock
Fugazi - Steady Diet of Nothing
His Name Is Alive - Home Is in Your Head
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Naked City - Grand Guignol
Nirvana - Nevermind
Nation of Ulysses - 13-Point Program to Destroy America
Bobby Previte - Weather Clear, Track Fast
Jonathan Richman - Having a Party with Jonathan Richman
Sonny Sharrock - Ask the Ages
Slint - Spiderland
Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
Supercharger - Supercharger
Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
Thee Headcoats - Headcoatitude
Thinking Fellers Union Local #282 - Lovelyville
Caetano Veloso - Circuladô
Randy Weston - The Spirits of Our Ancestors
Gregory Heaney
Jonathan Richman - Having a Party with Jonathan Richman
The Nation of Ulysses - 13-Point Program to Destroy America
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
The Jesus Lizard - Goat
De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead
Slint - Spiderland
Leaders of the New School - Future Without a Past
Ween - The Pod
3rd Bass - Derelicts of Dialect
Swans - White Light from the Mouth of Infinity
Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky
Fugazi - Steady Diet of Nothing
Pixies - Trompe le Monde
Primus - Sailing the Seas of Cheese
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Black Sheep - A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Nirvana - Nevermind
Dinosaur Jr. - Green Mind
Ice Cube - Death Certificate
David Jeffries
Big Audio Dynamite II - The Globe
Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill
De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead
Del tha Funkee Homosapien - I Wish My Brother George Was Here
DJ Quik - Quik Is the Name
Ice Cube - Death Certificate
The Jolly Boys - Beer Joint & Tailoring
Main Source - Breaking Atoms
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Naughty by Nature - Naughty by Nature
Nirvana - Nevermind
The Orb - The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
Lee "Scratch" Perry - Lord God Muzick
Shabba Ranks - As Raw as Ever
Scarface - Mr. Scarface Is Back
Single Gun Theory - Millions Like Stars in My Hands, Daggers in My Heart, Wage War
Son of Bazerk - Bazerk Bazerk Bazerk
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
Various Artists - This Is Strictly Rhythm, Vol. 1
Andy Kellman [Spotify playlist]
Main Source - Breaking Atoms
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Slint - Spiderland
Swervedriver - Raise
De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Public Enemy - Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes Black
Gang Starr - Step in the Arena
LFO - Frequencies
Nirvana - Nevermind
Black Sheep - A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
Kitchens of Distinction - Strange Free World
Jodeci - Forever My Lady
DJ Quik - Quik Is the Name
Mercury Rev - Yerself Is Steam
Young Disciples - Road to Freedom
Massive Attack - "Unfinished Sympathy"
Geto Boys - "Mind Playing Tricks on Me"
Mint Condition - "Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)"
A Tribe Called Quest - "Check the Rhime"
Jeff Redd - "You Called and Told Me"
Tony! Toni! Toné! - "Whatever You Want"
Underground Resistance - "Final Frontier"
Sounds of Blackness - "Optimistic"
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo - "Bad to the Bone"
Public Enemy - "Shut 'Em Down [Pe-te Rock Mixx]"
Son of Bazerk - "Change the Style"
Digital Underground - "Kiss You Back"
MC Breed & DFC - "Ain't No Future in Yo Frontin'"
Ed O.G & da Bulldogs - "I Got to Have It"
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince - "Summertime"
Cypress Hill - "How I Could Just Kill a Man"
Showbiz & AG - "Soul Clap"
69 - "My Machines"
Reese - "Bassline"
Gerald Levert - "Private Line"
James Christopher Monger
Julian Cope - Peggy Suicide
Mr. Bungle - Mr. Bungle
Trip Shakespeare - Lulu
U2 - Achtung Baby
Pixies - Trompe le Monde
R.E.M. - Out of Time
Nirvana - Nevermind
Ween - The Pod
Metallica - Metallica
Enya - Shepherd Moons
Material Issue - International Pop Overthrow
Toad the Wet Sprocket - Fear
Violent Femmes - Why Do Birds Sing?
P.M. Dawn - Of the Heart, Of the Soul and Of the Cross: The Utopian Experience
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians - Perspex Island
Dire Straits - On Every Street
Tribe - Abort
Wonder Stuff - Never Loved Elvis
Chickasaw Mudd Puppies - Eight Track Stomp
Richard Thompson - Rumor and Sigh
Del tha Funkee Homosapien - "Mistadobolina"
My Bloody Valentine - "Only Shallow"
Primal Scream - "Higher Than the Sun"
Throwing Muses - "Not Too Soon"
Ozzy Osbourne - "No More Tears"
Innocence Mission - "Revolving Man"
Thin White Rope - "Up to Midnight"
Flop - "Hello"
Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart - "Visions of You"
Big Audio Dynamite - "Rush"
Blur - "Repetition"
Crash Test Dummies - "Superman Song"
Godfathers - "Unreal World"
Morrissey - "Sing Your Life"
Horse Flies - "Sally Ann"
Too Much Joy - "Gramatan"
Elvis Costello - "Other Side of Summer"
David Byrne - "Dura Europus"
The Orb - "Little Fluffy Clouds"
Tin Machine - "Baby Universal"
Jonathan Ball [Spotify playlist]
The Golden Palominos - Drunk with Passion
Exquisitely ethereal to Bob Mould turning himself inside-out. A masterpiece.
Original Soundtrack - Until the End of the World
A late-night soundtrack that captures space and time.
Jimmie Dale Gilmore - After Awhile
The Cosmic Cowboy's best album; Love & Rock meet Lubbock C&W. "The journey is worth the price of going."
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
Dance + rock in a druggy stew that melds the '60s and the '80s.
Lloyd Cole - Don't Get Weird on Me Babe
Wry and affecting, with timeless arrangements.
The KLF - The White Room
Take me to the Church of the KLF.
Nova Mob - The Last Days of Pompeii
Grant Hart's time/space opera.
U2 - Achtung Baby
Brian Eno takes U2 to David Bowie's Berlin and turns their world upside-down.
King Crimson - Frame by Frame: The Essential King Crimson
From the psychedelic masterpiece first album through the majestic melodies of the mid '70s and the atmospheres and angularity of the '80s.
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
Heavy-osity.
The Orb - The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
A daydream on another planet.
Hilt - Journey to the Center of the Bowl
Acid-spike to the brain.
Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
Molten sounds flowing from your speakers
My Bloody Valentine - Tremolo
Rhythm Devils - The Apocalypse Now Sessions
"Like a main circuit cable -- plugged straight into Kurtz."
Queen - Innuendo
A grandiose last hurrah.
Keith Richards & the X-pensive Winos - Live at the Hollywood Palladium
Long live the King.
Screaming Trees - Uncle Anesthesia
Flawed production, great songs.
Texas - Mothers Heaven
Unjustly overlooked.
Ween - The Pod
A cocoon of weirdness.
Royal Trux - Untitled
Royal Trux discover melody and start to rock.
David Bowie - Low, Heroes, Lodger
Berlin-era reissues.
Matthew Sweet - "Girlfriend"
Electronic - "Get the Message"
Primal Scream - "Movin' on Up"
The Farm - "Groovy Train"
The Who - "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" (For Chris)
U2 - "The Fly"
The KLF - "What Time Is Love"
Ozzy Osbourne - "No More Tears"
Siouxsie and the Banshees - "Kiss Them for Me"
INXS - "Disappear"
Seal - "Crazy"
Pet Shop Boys - "Where The Streets Have No Name"
Sean Westergaard
Samm Bennett & Chunk - Life of Crime
The Bevis Frond - New River Head
Bongwater - Power of Pussy
Bill Bruford's Earthworks - All Heaven Broke Loose
Tom Cora - Gumption in Limbo
The Ex & Tom Cora - Scrabbling at the Lock
Ghost - Ghost
Wayne Horvitz/The President - Miracle Mile
Henry Kaiser - Hope You Like Our New Direction
Negativland - U2
Nirvana - Nevermind
Bobby Previte - Weather Clear, Track Fast
Ned Rothenberg - Overlays
Elliott Sharp/Carbon - Tocsin
Sonny Sharrock - Ask the Ages
Velvet Crush - In the Presence of Greatness
Randy Weston - Spirits of Our Ancestors
Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart - Rising Above Bedlam
Frank Zappa - Make a Jazz Noise Here
Frank Zappa - Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life
James Wilkinson
Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
R.E.M. - Out Of Time
Saint Etienne - Foxbase Alpha
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Weld
Inspiral Carpets - The Beast Inside
Blur - Leisure
Nirvana - Nevermind
Julian Cope - Peggy Suicide
Bevis Frond - New River Head
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
U2 - Achtung Baby
Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
Mercury Rev - Yerself Is Steam
Billy Bragg - Don't Try This at Home
Paul McCartney - Unplugged (The Official Bootleg)
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
Morrissey - Kill Uncle
808 State - Ex:El
Green Day - 1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours
Electronic - Electronic
The Charlatans - "Over Rising"
James - "Sound"
Happy Mondays - "Loose Fit"
Spiritualized - "Feel So Sad"
Stereolab - "Super-Electric"
The Stone Roses - "I Wanna Be Adored"
The Charlatans - "Me in Time"
The Real People - "Open Up Your Mind (Let Me In)"
Thousand Yard Stare - "No Score After Extra Time"
Milltown Brothers - "Which Way Should I Jump?"
Ride - Today Forever
The Paul Weller Movement - "Into Tomorrow"
Milltown Brothers - "Here I Stand"
Sun Dial - "Plains of Nazca"
The Mock Turtles - "Can You Dig It?"
Senseless Things - "Easy to Smile"
The Aardvarks - "Your My Lovin' Way"
Morrissey - "Pregnant for the Last Time"
The Jigsaw Seen - "My Name Is Tom"
Jesus Jones - "International Bright Young Thing"
John Buchanan
Bryan Adams - Waking Up the Neighbours
Carcass - Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious
Brad Fiedel - Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion I
Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion II
Helmet - Strap It On
James Horner - The Rocketeer
Michael Jackson - Dangerous
Jesus Jones - Doubt
The Jesus Lizard - Goat
Michael Kamen - Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Alan Menken & Howard Ashman - Beauty and the Beast
Metallica - Metallica
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Nirvana - Nevermind
Pearl Jam - Ten
Prince & the New Power Generation - Diamonds and Pearls
Roxette - Joyride
Simply Red - Stars
U2 - Achtung Baby
Daniel Clancy
For my list of albums, I've taken those that influenced my tastes and stuck with me over the years, despite not necessarily being something I would have been listening to when I was eight years old. Having said that, my older brother and sister were listening to a fair few of these records at the time and it's fair to say my air-drumming to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was pretty much nailed in 1991.
My singles, however, are purely based on what I was hearing at the time; the songs that defined my 1991, when I was amazed at Bryan Adams' greatness and wanted to be like Chesney Hawkes. Perhaps not the "best" singles of the year, but the ones that certainly bring back memories.
Blur - Leisure
Nirvana - Nevermind
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Metallica - Metallica
Superchunk - No Pocky for Kitty
Richard Thompson - Rumor and Sigh
Pearl Jam - Ten
Pixies - Trompe le Monde
Dinosaur Jr. - Green Mind
Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
Bryan Adams - "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You"
EMF - "Unbelievable"
Vic Reeves and the Wonder Stuff - "Dizzy"
The Simpsons - "Do the Bartman"
U2 - "The Fly"
R.E.M. - "Losing My Religion"
The Clash - "Should I Stay or Should I Go"
Chesney Hawkes - "The One and Only"
James - "Sit Down"
Salt-N-Pepa - "Let's Talk About Sex"
Aneet Nijjar
Saint Etienne - Foxbase Alpha
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
Ice Cube - Death Certificate
Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill
Ice-T - OG Original Gangster
Main Source - Breaking Atoms
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
Crowded House - Woodface
Electronic - Electronic
Spacemen 3 - Recurring
The KLF - The White Room
LFO - Frequencies
Coil - Love's Secret Domain
Throwing Muses - The Real Ramona
Hole - Pretty on the Inside
Nirvana - Nevermind
Babes in Toyland - To Mother
Bongwater - The Power of Pussy
P.M. Dawn - "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss"
Alison Limerick - "Where Love Lives"
Young Disciples - "Apparently Nothin'"
Ce Ce Peniston - "Finally"
The Source f/ Candi Staton - "You Got The Love"
Crystal Waters - "Gypsy Woman"
Incognito - "Always There"
Moby - "Go"
DSK - "What Would We Do"
Bassheads - "Is Anybody Out There?"
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince - "Summertime"
Madonna - "Justify My Love"
Pet Shop Boys - "Where the Streets Have No Name"
A Tribe Called Quest - "Can I Kick It?"
Naughty by Nature - "OPP"
Dream Warriors - "My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style"
R.E.M. - "Losing My Religion"
Divinyls - "I Touch Myself"
EMF - "Unbelievable"
Richard Wilson
Babes in Toyland - To Mother
Blur - Leisure
Carter USM - 30 Something
Dinosaur Jr. - Green Mind
Hole - Pretty on the Inside
Jacob's Mouse - No Fish Shop Parking
Leatherface - Mush
Mercury Rev - Yourself Is Steam
Mudhoney - Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Ned's Atomic Dustbin - God Fodder
Nirvana - Nevermind
Pegboy - Strong Reaction
Inspiral Carpets - The Beast Inside
Sebadoh - III
Senseless Things - The First of Too Many
Slint - Spiderland
Slowdive - Just for a Day
Swervedriver - Raise
Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
A House - Bingo
Catherine Wheel - "Black Metallic"
Curve - Blindfold EP
Hole - "Teenage Whore"
Inspiral Carpets - "Caravan"
Manic Street Preachers - "You Love Us"
Mercury Rev - Car Wash Hair
Midway Still - "Wish"
Mudhoney - "Let It Slide"
Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
Pavement - "Summer Babe"
Revolver - 45
Ride - Today Forever
Slowdive - Holding Our Breath
Smashing Pumpkins - "Siva"
Sonic Youth - "Dirty Boots"
Sultans of Ping F.C. - "Where's Me Jumper"
Teenage Fanclub - "Starsign"
The Wedding Present - "Dalliance"
Thousand Yard Stare - Seasonstream EP