What is your favorite alternative rock album from 1991?
 

The "An album a year for each year you are alive" thread sparked some entertaining banter about the year 1991. I thought it might be better to give this topic its own thread since it is a very deserving and interesting discussion.

1991 is famously known as "The Year Punk Broke". The rock landscape was dramatically turned on its side, bringing grunge to the forefront, replacing glam metal and the like. Many marquee alternative rock bands made their debut or released their breakthrough album that year. Others were just getting their beginning. In addition, while many of the indie/college rock bands of the previous decade were making their mainstream splash, a new wave of underground bands had strong efforts released.

So what say you? What is your favorite alternative rock album from 1991?



Mods: if popular opinion determines that certain albums should be added/removed please do so for me. Thanks.

Loveless for sure.

I'm trying to add a poll with 25 albums I came up with, but I didn't finish it within 5 minutes of my post so things are on hold for now. I PMed a mod so hopefully I'll get this straightened out...

Nevermind.

A quick look through my rateourmusic collection has revealed to me that the only album i've rated five stars from 1991 was the underrated and absolutely AMAZING Gish, by the Smashing Pumpkins.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...pkins-Gish.jpg

What a great record! One of my favorites for sure.

I especially like the first four tracks of Gish, and then a few others sprinkled about, but as a whole it's not one of the best IMO...

Badmotorfinger by Soundgarden blew me away when I first heard it, and it still does. Matt Cameron is one of the most underrated drummers pounding.

A quick perusal of my rateyourmusic ratings for 1991 has proved this to be a difficult task, even if restricted to alternative rock. I'll get back to this tomorrow.

And I don't think a poll is really necessary, as someone's favorite is bound to be left out, no?

Badmotorfinger. Man, I miss alternative rock.

I had a pretty good list of 25 different albums that I compiled from several "best-of" lists (and a few biased choices ;)) that covered every album mentioned so far. While I agree with you that someone's favorite is bound to get left off, I assumed there would be folks who don't realize the extent of the awesomeness too... :)

man you might as well just ask me to chose my righticle over my lefticle.

Maybe it should be a top 3 plus include an album you feel is underrated?

i'm actually just kidding around haha i'll pick one over the weekend. way overtired at the moment, plus i'm sure there will be people who'll be "incapable" of simply sticking to a single album.

Wow, it's a random but thoughtful topic. Blood Sugar Sex Magik gets my vote.
and totally get you on the "incapableness" of picking one good album... esp. if you're an alternative junkie. haha cause i'm one too.

If I did a top three:

1. Blood Sugar Sex Magik by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Released: September 24, 1991

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7_91IQIF4-...gik_front.jpeg

2. Sailing the Seas of Cheese by Primus
Released: May 28, 1991

http://i37.tinypic.com/2z906zk.jpg

3. Nevermind by Nirvana
Released: September 24, 1991

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Gwt2llCjqT...+NEVERMIND.jpg



edit: Slanted & Enchanted was 1992 :(

Nevermind.

And my underrated picks include:

1. Goat by The Jesus Lizard
Released: February 21, 1991

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VzUSulyxBZ...izard+Goat.jpg

2. No Pocky for Kitty by Superchunk
Released: 1991

http://www.corianton.com/tullyblog/u..._92-730290.jpg

3. My Brain Hurts by Screeching Weasel
Released: 1991

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...ML._SS500_.jpg

My favourite is Loveless but these are also excellent.

http://en.academic.ru/pictures/enwik...Jehu_cover.jpg

http://www.soundstagedirect.com/medi..._mr_bungle.jpg

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/albu...69a/144561.jpg

I came up with this lot for my favourite albums of 1991.

You may argue amongst yourselves as to if any of them quality as 'alternative'...

Current 93 - As the World Disappears
The Fatima Mansions - Berties Brochures
Birdland - Birdland
The Telescopes - Celeste
The Cult - Ceremony
Poison Idea - Dutch Courage
The Field Mice - For Keeps
Thee Headcoatees - Girlsville
PainKiller - Guts of a Virgin
Fudge Tunnel - Hate Songs in E Minor
Heavenly - Heavenly vs. Satan
Lydia Lunch & Rowland S. Howard - Shotgun Wedding
Thee Hypnotics - Soul Glitter & Sin
The Throbs - The Language of Thieves and Vagabonds
Nova Mob - The Last Days of Pompeii
Tumor Circus - Tumor Circus
Motörhead - 1916
REM - Out Of Time
Chapterhouse - Whirlpool
Massive Attack - Blue Lines
Nation of Ulysses - 13-Point Program to Destroy America
Blur - Leisure
Public Enemy - Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes Black
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
Carcass - Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious

Definitely an amazing album, and I spent a good portion of 1991 wearing it the **** out.
It reminds me in a way of MJ's Off the Wall in that it's the under-appreciated masterpiece that really served as the foundation of one egomaniac's delusions of grandeur and was subsequently followed by a long string of popular and lauded albums that really could not compare.

One of the great albums of 1991 for me, was certainly the debut album by the Galactic Cowboys. I know its not recognized as alternative rock as such and often gets listed under heavy metal (probably due to its Anthrax influences) but again also has enough similiarities to the grunge explosion of the time.

If memory serves me correctly, it came out around the same time as "Nevermind" and whereas Nevermind went off like a nuclear bomb the Galactic Cowboys debut passed quite unnoticed. It many ways it has the manic energy of "Nevermind" and a great listen to anybody that likes that type of sound.

Another great album was also Kings X "Faith Hope Love" an album not often liked by King`s X fans but for me one of their best. Again, we are talking hard rock here but given that the boundaries of alt.rock traverse so many styles at times it can be included.

Blood Sugar Sex Magik & Bad Motorfinger..can't decide.

Ok I think the choice is clear for me. The album that had the most impact on me in 1991 (as opposed to some others I may not have heard till a year or two later) was:

1. Blood Sugar Sex Magik by Red Hot Chili Peppers

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA280_.jpg

I used to draw Anthony's asterisk tattoo on my wrist with a black pen day after day whenever it started to wear out, for Christ's sake. I remember spending a lot of time admiring the booklet photos, reading lyrics, etc. Now sure the album hasn't aged all that well, some songs have unfortunately been overplayed to death ('Under the Bridge' used to sound completely different to me before it was released as a single, and within a week or two it had turned into a different song somehow). But for me this isn't about which album I would pick up first today, which I could play nonstop, it's about which meant the most to me then and still holds up as a great album.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...UL._AA240_.jpg

Honorable mentions:

Smashing Pumpkins - Gish (didn't hear till 92)
Nirvana - Nevermind
Primus - Sailing the Seas of Cheese
Mr. Bungle - Mr. Bungle (didn't hear till 92/93)
Fugazi - Steady Diet of Nothing (didn't hear till 93)

I was never a huge fan of the Chili Peppers but I agree, this is a great album that belongs in any collection.

^ this one

1.Bandwagonesque-Teenage Fanclub
2.Ten-Pearl Jam
3.Dreamy-Beat Happening
4.Loveless-My Bloody Valentine
5.Trompe Le Monde- Pixies

For all that my Top 2 from the year are U2-Achtung Baby and A Tribe Called Quest-The Low End Theory.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._The_Globe.jpg


hahaha

Come now, as good as Gish is you certainly can't say it is THE album by the Smashing Pumpkins. Even as an underrated classic, it still can't compare to some of the later work they did.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA240_.jpg
Treepeople - Guilt Regret Embarrassment

A really great album from Doug Martsch's pre-Built to Spill band. They have solos J Mascis would be proud of.

Even though Gish was my favorite by and large, I think that the single most underrated album of that year was this little gem:

http://www.biocrawler.com/w/images/9...Birds_Sing.jpg

Indeed, Why Do Birds Sing? by the Violent Femmes is one of the most underrated albums of all time. With brilliant production and stellar songwriting competed by Gordon Gano's weird humor and annoying, er, distinctive voice, I rate it as high as anything else they've done. Shame this one always gets overlooked, because songs like American Music, Out the Window, and Used to Be are up there with the best of the Femmes.

Meh. American Music is a pretty good song but I always considered this an incredibly bland album overall. I bought as soon as it came out and it became one of those albums that I didn't like but every few months or so I would put it on assuming I must have missed something. Nope - my reaction never changed.

Well meh to you then. The teenage angst and masturbatory themes of their debut are gone, as is the admittedly weird pseudo-Christian biblical themes of Hallowed Ground. It peters out towards the end, but the first 8 or so songs are awesome, one after another.

You sir, are a man of outstanding musical knowledge.Had no idea non-Irish people knew the first thing of this lot.

I played the sh*t outta Nevermind growing up and Blood, Sugar, Sex, Majik wasn't very far behind. Other than that...I've listened to Sailing the Seas of Cheese on occasion, but the rest of what I see people linking I never really got into much, and haven't had any desire to since. :(

Damn, what is with avant-garde metal bands and clown imagery?

I still don't get why this really needed it's own thread :confused:

Sure it was a good year for music, but you can just talk about 91 in the album for each year you've been alive thread..

A more interesting thread would be what everyone's favourite year in music was and why, 91 was good, but some might prefer other years.

It's because I was a Microdisney fan first. ;)

Because in one you list a bunch of albums spanning your whole life and in this one you talk about the music from 1991.
I don't see how having one negates the other, that's why it has it's own thread

Well they're free to start threads on that.

Very good album but it's far from being a favorite of 91 for me. It's lacking something.

Like I said, I thought a more interesting thread would be what year people believe is the best for music, and what's their favourite album from that year as well.

If I started a thread about the favourite album from 94 and then someone decided to do another one about a different year, it'd get a bit silly.

Not that I'm too bothered, it's not a bad thread, just found it strange it was focused on 91, even though that's a great year (I was born! :D)