What Was Your Favorite Album of 1991?

[Momma There Goes That Man]

Nevermind for me. Of course, I was 5 so I missed it's moment but loved it when I got older and ever since. It is still strong today. 

 

 

[Springfield]

3 hours ago, Keith Huddleston said:

 

What did 4 DO? Ever hear of a little number called 'Stairway to Heaven"? Every other track on that album is legendary as well.

Don't even try to start a Nirvana vs Zeppelin argument. Nirvana had one impressive album, Zeppelin had 7, at least (1 through Presence),

Plus Zeppelin blew Nirvana off stage as a live band. Just because they were a 70s band, an era you appear to be unfamiliar with, doesnt mean

they weren't any good.  

 

Ha, this post is foolish.

 

I'm plenty familiar with Led Zeppelin, also the rest of the 60's-70's rock scene.  I'm familiar enough to believe that 4 might be their most overrated album (or Physical Graffiti) and think that both 1 and 2 are far superior to the rest of their work.  I'm familiar enough to really appreciate their blues roots.  I'm familiar enough to start to call them a more favorite band over the Beatles as my life has gone on.

 

I think that Led Zeppelin was an influential BAND.  I think Nevermind was an influential ALBUM.

 

You see, as you well know, the mainstream rock scene (which was basically the most popular music of the time) was dominated by hair bands and copycat metal bands in the late 80's.  Not that those bands were band were bad, but they weren't Nirvana.  They weren't Pearl Jam, they weren't Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots, all that.

 

Then came a little song called "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and the history of rock music was forever changed.  That song and the album that contained it was a catalyst.  An opening of the flood gates.  Nevermind changed everything that radio played, everything that MTV showed. Hair metal was largely dead after that and the birth of grunge rock into the mainstream began. The birth of mainstream alternative rock.

 

Nirvana wasn't the first to do it, but with Nevermind, they put it in front of everyone's faces and in their ears.  Nearly single handedly, they shaped the 90's rock music scene.

[Ron78]

7 hours ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

An amazing year for music.  Metallica, Ten, Nevermind, UYI and II, Achtung Baby, Blood Sugar Sex Magick all released within 3 months of each other.  

 

Ozzy Osbourne - No More Tears is my easy favorite with Metallica, Nevermind, and Ten following behind.

 

The early 90's were a great time for music.  Unfortunately, the 90's went downhill in a bad way.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I think Metallica's Black album gets a bad rap.  I understand if you were a teenager and around for their first four albums and were probably like WTF is this when it came out...but if you were 10 like I was at the end of 1991, you'd never seen (the video) or heard anything like Enter Sandman.  And I think I was 13 when I finally got the album and still didn't know anything about Master of Puppets or Ride the Lightning.  At 13 I was obsessed with Nirvana and Pearl Jam but REALLY wanted the Black album because...well, Enter Sandman.  And I loved it.  Still do.  Brings me back to a time where I'd listen to it on a Discman before I went out and played baseball to amp myself up.  Now I definitely prefer some of their other albums to it but it's still an album I'll put on and listen to all the way through.  

 

So I'm willing to bet if you were at a certain age in 1991, the Black album was awesome for you.  I'm willing to bet if you were seeing Metallica live during the Master of Puppets tour, your outlook on it is certainly different.  

[zoony]

I still love Steady Diet of Nothing.  

[Ron78]

3 minutes ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

I think Metallica's Black album gets a bad rap.  I understand if you were a teenager and around for their first four albums and were probably like WTF is this when it came out...but if you were 10 like I was at the end of 1991, you'd never seen (the video) or heard anything like Enter Sandman.  And I think I was 13 when I finally got the album and still didn't know anything about Master of Puppets or Ride the Lightning.  At 13 I was obsessed with Nirvana and Pearl Jam but REALLY wanted the Black album because...well, Enter Sandman.  And I loved it.  Still do.  Brings me back to a time where I'd listen to it on a Discman before I went out and played baseball to amp myself up.  Now I definitely prefer some of their other albums to it but it's still an album I'll put on and listen to all the way through.  

 

So I'm willing to bet if you were at a certain age in 1991, the Black album was awesome for you.  I'm willing to bet if you were seeing Metallica live during the Master of Puppets tour, your outlook on it is certainly different.  

 

I don't know.  I was exposed to all of the other Metallica albums prior to the Black album being released, and liked them all, but the Black album really drove it home for me.  At the time, I thought it was the best music they had ever produced.  I never liked Metallica more than after the black Album was released.

 

I remember Metallica and Guns 'n' Roses toured together back then.  Really wish I had seen that show live.

[TradeTheBeal!]

The Black Album is great, but it's overplayed.  The deep tracks on it - Of Wolf and Man, Struggle Within, Through the Never - are flat-out killer.  Saw them do the whole album "back to front" at OrionFest in Atlantic City a few years back...then went and cleaned house on the Caesars blackjack tables.

 

'Tallica Forever!

[Mournblade]

2 hours ago, Springfield said:

 

 

 

Then came a little song called "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and the history of rock music was forever changed.  That song and the album that contained it was a catalyst.  An opening of the flood gates.  Nevermind changed everything that radio played, everything that MTV showed. Hair metal was largely dead after that and the birth of grunge rock into the mainstream began. The birth of mainstream alternative rock.

 

Nirvana wasn't the first to do it, but with Nevermind, they put it in front of everyone's faces and in their ears.  Nearly single handedly, they shaped the 90's rock music scene.

 

I disagree with you. Nirvana and the whole Grunge scene "borrowed" (some might even say, stole) from the punk movement of the 70s. Now, music that bands like the Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Stooges put out in the 70s, that was extremely revolutionary. No one had heard that kind of music before (although there were traces of it in performers like Hendrix, the Yardbirds, and, lo and behold, Zeppelin). Guitar strumming at 100MPH, screeching vocals that were for the most part incoherent, and yet there was an energy behind it that was undeniable and vaguely charismatic in a weird sort of way. Punk definetly turned the rock scene on its head.

 

Alt Rock groups like Nirvana, OTOH, weren't really doing anything new. They were just an amalgam of classic rock bands of the past fused with punk. And unlike the rock/blues scene of the late 60s and the punk scene of the late 70s, there was NOTHING organic about the whole alt rock scene. It was totally contrived, the brainchild of music coroprations who realized that kids were losing interest in new wave and glam rock and wanted something new, yet not so new that it might be risky and therefore possibly unprofitable. And hence "grunge" was born. There is a reason Eddie Vedder was successful. Because he looked so damn good and would have the girls swooning when his videos were played on MTV. Same thing with Chris Cornell. David Grohl. Anthony Kiedis. And others. The scene was built for MTV, built for AOR radio, built to make MONEY. 

 

Not saying that Nirvana weren't talented and charismatic musicians, they were, in spades, even. But they weren't nearly as revolutionary as you seem to think. 

[Bacon]

My birth year kicked ass.

 

1. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless

2. U2 - Achtung Baby

3. Talk Talk - Laughing Stock

4. Swans - White Light from the Mouth of Infinity

5. Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque

6. Pearl Jam - Ten

7. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory

8. Ice Cube - Death Certificate

9. Pixies - Trompe Le Monde

10. Primal Scream - Screamadelica

 

Nevermind is wildly overrated despite a strong first half. Give me In Utero or Unplugged any day of the week. 

[codeorama]

I voted Van Halen's F.U.C.K. because for me, as a guitarist, van halen is a big deal.  I hated Nirvana, Loved Soundgarden though.  In hindsight I actually enjoy Nirvana now, but still don't quite get their popularity at that time. For me, AIC was THE grunge band. Nirvana had catchy tunes but seemed sloppy and garagebandish.  Where I came to appreciate them more is because I'd rather listen to their "sloppiness" compared to many bands since that over use ProTools and just copy and paste parts. Everything sounds too perfect.  Just my 2cents

[zoony]

I disagree, Nirvana was incredibly tight

 

 

[TradeTheBeal!]

Just a couple of side notes on the whole Nirvana changed everything deal.

 

Faith No More "The Real Thing" came out 2 years before Nevermind and went platinum.

Alice in Chains "Facelift" came out a full year before Nevermind and went platinum.

 

The Alt movement was already well underway and would've happened with or without them.  Nirvana just happened to tee it up perfectly with really catchy tunes, a stud near-Bonham level drummer and a frontman who had one of the all-time greatest rock voices.

[skinsmarydu]

Yeah, Jane's Addiction's "Ritual" had come out in '90 and was a big mover for me.  ("Been Caught Stealing" is one of the funniest videos ever.)

A lot of really awesome stuff was going on in the early part of the decade, for sure. 

[TradeTheBeal!]

8 minutes ago, skinsmarydu said:

Yeah, Jane's Addiction's "Ritual" had come out in '90 and was a big mover for me.  ("Been Caught Stealing" is one of the funniest videos ever.)

A lot of really awesome stuff was going on in the early part of the decade, for sure. 

 

Exactly!  Thanks, Mary...knew I was forgetting someone.  Janes was huge 2 years before anybody knew who Nirvana was.

 

In fact...you know what Album REALLY killed the hair-metal scene?

 

 

Appetite for Destruction.

[Going Commando]

31 minutes ago, TryTheBeal! said:

The Alt movement was already well underway and would've happened with or without them.  Nirvana just happened to tee it up perfectly with really catchy tunes, a stud near-Bonham level drummer and a frontman who had one of the all-time greatest rock voices.

 

To dovetail off this, Nirvana made the movement mainstream.  They were cooler, more creative, and more listenable than any of the other alternative/grunge bands.  Kurt Cobain was the second coming of Jim Morrison and brought a ton of people into the music.  Any female with a shred of art in her soul has been desperately attracted to him at some point in her life.  And Nevermind is just as powerful and relevant today as it was in 1991.  Every year there is a new class of 14 year old boys working out Come As You Are on their guitars in order to try and impress the 14 year old girls that are in love with Kurt Cobain.  That ain't the case with Ten and Ritual and Doolittle and The Real Thing and Facelift.

[skinsmarydu]

Yuck.  Now, Eddie Vedder?  Definitely.

[Going Commando]

3 minutes ago, skinsmarydu said:

Yuck.  Now, Eddie Vedder?  Definitely.

 

, true, Eddie Vedder too.  But you are definitely in the minority on Cobain.  I remember being that 14 year old boy who was annoyed that all of the girls in his class went through long Nirvana phases.  ****ing handsome rock star with world class charisma, creativity, and talent.

 

There were a lot of others fronting grunge bands at the time who were popular with women.  But you're not going to into a middle school today and see girls wearing Soul Asylum and Collective Soul band shirts any more.

[drowland]

51 minutes ago, TryTheBeal! said:

Just a couple of side notes on the whole Nirvana changed everything deal.

 

Faith No More "The Real Thing" came out 2 years before Nevermind and went platinum.

Alice in Chains "Facelift" came out a full year before Nevermind and went platinum.

 

The Alt movement was already well underway and would've happened with or without them.  Nirvana just happened to tee it up perfectly with really catchy tunes, a stud near-Bonham level drummer and a frontman who had one of the all-time greatest rock voices.

 

You can add Living Colour to the list as well.  "Vivid" came out in 1988 and MTV was playing "Cult of Personality" non-stop.  Then they followed up with "Time's Up" in 1990.   Bands like King's X were starting to get play as well.  I actually saw Living Colour and King's X together in 1991.  Great show!   

[TradeTheBeal!]

9 minutes ago, drowland said:

 

You can add Living Colour to the list as well.  "Vivid" came out in 1988 and MTV was playing "Cult of Personality" non-stop.  Then they followed up with "Time's Up" in 1990.   Bands like King's X were starting to get play as well.  I actually saw Living Colour and King's X together in 1991.  Great show!   

 

To this day, Living Colour remains one of the most talented rock acts you could ever hope to see.  They came out and did a medley at the big NYC Bowie Tribute back in January and they were unbelievably strong.

 

In fact, I'm gonna cue up Times Up at the gym today!

[Busch1724]

Well there were always "alternative" type bands around. Hell even the Cult could have been considered one. I guess the point is, that Nevermind blew it wide open where because of them, the copycats came along. Van Halen has this kind of impact, as did Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, Metallica, and many others. Once the copycats passed, then came alternative pop with garbage like Matchbox 20 and Semisonic, Marcy Playground, and so on; much like the hairbands after Van Halen. 

[TradeTheBeal!]

Actually, some of the Nirvana clones were pretty fun...Silverchair in particular.  It was the Pearl Jam clones that killed the party.

 

Seven Mary Three, The Nixons, CREED?!?  My god it was awful by about 1996.

[skinsmarydu]

Candlebox?  Yikes.

[Mournblade]

2 hours ago, TryTheBeal! said:

 

The Alt movement was already well underway and would've happened with or without them.  Nirvana just happened to tee it up perfectly with really catchy tunes, a stud near-Bonham level drummer and a frontman who had one of the all-time greatest rock voices.

 

You think Cobain had a great voice? I think people were just fascinated with him because he was a known heroin addict and they wanted to see his inevitable fall from grace.  

[TradeTheBeal!]

2 minutes ago, Keith Huddleston said:

 

You think Cobain had a great voice? I think people were just fascinated with him because he was a known heroin addict and they wanted to see his inevitable fall from grace.  

 

Cobains voice was basically John Fogerty + Ozzy.  It was spectacular live and in the studio.

[codeorama]

2 hours ago, TryTheBeal! said:

Just a couple of side notes on the whole Nirvana changed everything deal.

 

Faith No More "The Real Thing" came out 2 years before Nevermind and went platinum.

Alice in Chains "Facelift" came out a full year before Nevermind and went platinum.

 

The Alt movement was already well underway and would've happened with or without them.  Nirvana just happened to tee it up perfectly with really catchy tunes, a stud near-Bonham level drummer and a frontman who had one of the all-time greatest rock voices.

 

 

Great post.  AIC was a huge hit before Nirvana was much of anything.  Man in the Box was on heavy rotation on classic rock radio.  Soundgarden also was ahead of Nirvana.  In hindsight, I think Cobain's suicide made them even bigger but from my memory, (again, not trying to say my memory is fact) Nirvana became way more popular after his death.  I remember Nirvana playing "the Boathouse", a very small venue, tiny to be truthful, in my area for Nevermind, where as AIC was opening for Monsters of Rock, Van Halen etc...  Different genres IMO, but get lumped together under grunge.

2 minutes ago, TryTheBeal! said:

 

Cobains voice was basically John Fogerty + Ozzy.  It was spectacular live and in the studio.

 

My brother was a huge Cobain fan. I played in a band with my brother for years, he was the singer, I was the guitar player. He liked Cobain so much. I hated Cobain's voice.  Again, in hindsight, I appreciate it for what it is now, but at the time, I was not a fan.  I can tolerate Nirvana now, but still absolutely live AIC and Soundgarden.  Cantrell is one of my guitar heroes.  So underrated.