1990s Gems

Warning: The following alphabetized consumer guide is plainly subjective and far from exhaustive. There are no listed soundtracks, nor any blues, country, jazz, new age/classical, rap, reggae, or world. However, one usually finds these elements at work: for example, none of the albums fall under "dance," but one could still dance to them!

The criterion is pretty basic: Does each album "pop"/"rock"; do they meet, if not surpass previous standards and still define their separate moments in time; do they express the agony or ecstasy of pop/rock; are they wholly and compulsively listenable; and lastly, are the acts any good to begin with.

	To Bring You My Love - PJ Harvey: A On 1995's To Bring You My Love (Island), PJ Harvey booms chilling blues-rock from the title cut on -- a lonely, Godforsaken vamp, babe at her breast, hitching electric will to the gothic ruins of dire pleasure (bad love). Seeking release through shape-shifting, her shoulders sway suggestively, an angel and a demon on each. A taut, spare album that shows less is more.
	Nevermind - Nirvana: A Also incredible is Nirvana's Nevermind (DGC '91). Remember rock & roll radio? Anarchy cheerleaders and the heavenly gym din? The wry, geeky tunesmith? Kurt Cobain's got a garage band so cranked, and songs so good (e.g., "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "Come As You Are," and "Drain You"), that I almost forgot he blew off his head. But like me, does it still hop?
	Definitely Maybe - Oasis: A- Oasis used to. For every glam hook and mod look, the U.K.'s cocky Gallagher brothers (who swill lager) pummel adoringly the Brit-pop past in Definitely Maybe (Epic '94), their direct, bacchanalian debut. "Rock 'n' Roll Star", "Live Forever", "Cigarettes & Alcohol": on these anthems, Liam's snide vocalizing grounds songwriter-guitarist Noel's melodic whir to exhilarating effect.
	OK Computer - Radiohead: A- Radiohead's OK Computer (Capitol '97) is about you and me and the sad, sleepless hereafter of sitting before a knotty circuit board; a downer, of cranium hiccups ("Paranoid Android"), twitchy handshakes ("No Surprises"), and singer-lyricist Thom Yorke's one droopy eyelid. No wonder he wants on the first alien hovercraft out of town. Boasting "complex" guitars, a twinkling mellotron, and other baroque sound effects, these icily beautiful songs total a timeless listening experience. (See also: Radiohead: The Bends [Capitol '95].)
	Achtung Baby - U2: A- Achtung Baby (Island '91). Recorded mostly in Berlin, U2's "concrete jungle" evokes dark, sexual urban unrest beneath dubbed techno/funk/grunge via mood-specialist producers, Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. Media-spun, an earthy Bono toys with his pretentious ego as guitarist The Edge flickers incandescently as usual -- especially on "The Fly" and "Tryin' To Throw Your Arms Around The World." Their best yet.

Close Behind:

The Best Of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (Reprise '98); The London Suede: Suede (Nude/Columbia '93); My Bloody Valentine: Loveless (Sire '91); Liz Phair: Exile In Guyville (Capitol '93); and, Pixies: Bossanova (4AD/Elektra '90).

Of course, it's all very personal (and perhaps fickle): these are records that move me and tell me about my life. But they've become close friends, and they could be yours as well.

Happy listening.

2002-01-18 - Jack Cormack