MBV is going to walk this
I'd be letting down teenage me if I didnt vote Nevermind though
― . (Michael B), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 12:55 (four years ago) link
This would have been Badmotorfinger vs Out of Time for 12yo me in 1991.
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 12:57 (four years ago) link
An utter embarrassment of riches but Screamadelica narrowly beating The White Room for me
― the article don, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 13:17 (four years ago) link
Oops triple post
― the article don, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 13:19 (four years ago) link
but only one vote
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 13:27 (four years ago) link
Tempted to vote for Weld as it was a mindblowing intro to Neil Young & CH for me.
― Chris L, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 13:34 (four years ago) link
1991 was a better music year than I remember. Have to respect my 1991 self and vote Gish.
― enochroot, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 13:37 (four years ago) link
I'm being a rockist dork and voting for Girlfriend. The composition and playing on that album is amazingly tight, it features some of Lloyd and Quine's best-ever guitar work, and there's not a bad song on it.
― I don't get wet because I am tall and thin and I am afraid of people (Eliza D.), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 13:45 (four years ago) link
Loveless is my brave and controversial pick.
― jmm, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 13:51 (four years ago) link
Yerself Is Steam :)
― imago, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 13:57 (four years ago) link
I feel the same way about Weld, although I haven't owned a copy for ages. xxxxps
Not sure there will be much blue sky between Loveless and Laughing Stock.
― Invisible (Noel Emits), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 14:24 (four years ago) link
AMC's Everclear for me, which isn't on the list. Otherwise pretty easily Loveless.
― akm, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 14:26 (four years ago) link
oh it is on the list, dumb me
― akm, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 14:27 (four years ago) link
Unreservedly love Nevermind, KLF, Blue Lines, Loveless, Bandwagonesque, ATCQ, Wedding Present and REM. But this will come down to the impossible choice between Foxbase Alpha and Trompe Le Monde. The latter was my favourite album at the time and instantly transports me back to scenes of jumping around to it in my room and neighbours complaining; I didn't discover the former until a few years later, so I associate it more with the mid-90s if anything, though it mostly has a 'timeless' quality for me (also in the sense that I'm almost never not in the mood to play it).
― dorsalstop, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 15:39 (four years ago) link
hard choice between Ghost and Foxbase Alpha..
― brimstead, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 17:24 (four years ago) link
Achtung Baby, and I’m not even a big U2 guy.
― Herman Woke (cryptosicko), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 17:29 (four years ago) link
Ask The Ages, without a moment's hesitation. One of the great albums of the decade.
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 17:36 (four years ago) link
Honourable mentions:
Babes In Toyland - To Mother Consolidated - Friendly Fascism Entombed - Clandestine Prong - Prove You Wrong Solitude Aeturnus - Into the Depths of Sorrow Urge Overkil - Supersonic Storybook Throwing Muses – The Real RamonaThe Fall - Shift WorkSpacemen 3 - RecurringSon of Bazerk – Bazerk Bazerk BazerkSlowdive – Just for a dayPM Dawn – Of the heart, of the soul and of the cross: the utopian experienceMain Source – Breaking AtomsNWA – Efli4zagginGuns n’Roses – Use You Illusions I & IIDe La Soul - De La Soul Is DeadElectronic - s/tBilly Bragg – Don’t try This at home
― . (Michael B), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 18:22 (four years ago) link
and all the death metal, of course
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 20:13 (four years ago) link
Ultramarine is the one I go back to most often, though Foxbase Alpha is right behind it.
― henry s, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 20:26 (four years ago) link
Everclear
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 20:33 (four years ago) link
This year means so much to me and so many of these records are massive personal favourites. It's really all so rich. But for personal reasons (and because it's the best album) I have to punt on Trompe Le Monde. It's the Pixies best album and one that I play endlessly even now. It's my go to drunk dancing by myself record. It's gorgeous front to back and it rocks hard as hell. When it wants to.
Separately from that, I really have a fetish for -rock bands last albums when it's clear its over- this is a great example.
― kraudive, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 20:55 (four years ago) link
Didn't it get mixed reviews at the time? Its probably my fave Pixies album these days tbh
― . (Michael B), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 21:03 (four years ago) link
the one vote for bandwagonesque
― bookmarkflaglink (jim in vancouver), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 21:05 (four years ago) link
1991 me would be Nevermind so in the end I decided I'd vote for the 18yo me whose life was changed by it.
I do hope LFO gets a vote though as 19yo me loved it when he finally heard it.
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 21:09 (four years ago) link
btw mike and I had to leave out a lot of other personal favourites.
We thought about doing a poll each but instead we compromised.
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 21:10 (four years ago) link
1992 is going to be even harder by the looks of things
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 21:18 (four years ago) link
yep
― . (Michael B), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 21:21 (four years ago) link
A Tribe Called Quest is not getting the respect they deserve in this thread
― brigadier pudding (DJP), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 21:22 (four years ago) link
you dont know they aren't getting lurker votes though
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Wednesday, 3 July 2019 21:49 (four years ago) link
relistened to Ultraworld last week and I'm surprised by how well it's held up
― frogbs, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 21:59 (four years ago) link
I assumed Tribe will will tbh (and uh entered an essentially contrarian/joek vote myself)
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 3 July 2019 22:02 (four years ago) link
will WIN
I love The Low-End Theory
― Dan S, Thursday, 4 July 2019 00:27 (four years ago) link
there are at least a few great Sonny Sharrock albums I think but Ask the Ages may be his best
both of the first two Cypress Hill albums are great imo
― Dan S, Thursday, 4 July 2019 00:29 (four years ago) link
also, Blue Lines and Loveless are two of my favorite albums of all time
― Dan S, Thursday, 4 July 2019 00:31 (four years ago) link
ATCQ or St Etienne right now. Not really in the mood for all those electric guitars I would opted for at the time.
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Thursday, 4 July 2019 00:35 (four years ago) link
Low-End Theory for me. Just a huge revelation to me at the time and still play it regularly. Cypress Hill’s s/t is close behind it.
― beard papa, Thursday, 4 July 2019 01:55 (four years ago) link
Low-End Theory is the album I most associate with memories of high school parties
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Thursday, 4 July 2019 01:57 (four years ago) link
I'd like to see the pile of booze and drugs I did listening to these records.
― earlnash, Thursday, 4 July 2019 02:14 (four years ago) link
At the time it would’ve been Trompe Le Monde. A couple years later I discovered Thinking Fellers Union Local 282’s Lovelyville which would’ve been my pick for a while. Nowadays probably Autopsy’s Mental Funeral. Convulse’s World Without God would also be a contender. Great year.
― o. nate, Thursday, 4 July 2019 02:18 (four years ago) link
Blue Lines.
― that's not my post, Thursday, 4 July 2019 05:09 (four years ago) link
ATCQ
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 4 July 2019 05:19 (four years ago) link
I feel like I’m one of the few melomaniacs who isn’t madly in love with Loveless. I like it alright but there’s at least 5 albums in this list which I like much better.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 4 July 2019 05:23 (four years ago) link
It's an infuriatingly inconsistent album. I struggled for many years before admitting it to myself.
― pomenitul, Thursday, 4 July 2019 07:07 (four years ago) link
atcq was a late entry btw replacing de la soul
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Thursday, 4 July 2019 15:03 (four years ago) link
its tough cutting albums
Remember when Black Francis said Trompe Le Monde was going to be their heavy metal album? I wonder if that put critics off at the time?
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Friday, 5 July 2019 13:21 (four years ago) link
I remember thinking at the time that the only songs on Trompe Le Monde I actually cared about where "Planet of Sound" and "Alec Eiffel"; there is no way I'd ever say it was better than Doolittle or Surfer Rosa
― brigadier pudding (DJP), Friday, 5 July 2019 13:37 (four years ago) link
(Actually I think the problem is that I hate "The Sad Punk" so much that I never make it to the rest of the album)
― brigadier pudding (DJP), Friday, 5 July 2019 13:46 (four years ago) link
"When I get down, I give what go aroundAnd when I cough, I do my best to cut offDon't claim to be a teacher, not known to be a preacherBut I'm grownI try to be a man on my ownNever could follow a man with a bottleHe's a baby with a beard; not a feared role modelThey ask me where I get it, I got it from my popsPut a man in the house and all the bullshit stopsAnd I sing a song about what the hell is going wrongYou never know if you only trust the TV and the radioThese days, you never know who's in cahoots`Cuz now the KKK wears three piece suits"
The fact that I can type that from memory without actually having heard the record in well over a decade is proof enough for me who the clear winner is.
― Totally different head. Totally. (Austin), Friday, 5 July 2019 18:17 (four years ago) link
I went with Blue Lines over The Low End Theory. The remixes were a crucial part of the equation.Some other big albums I remember from this year: Luther Vandross’s Power Of Love, Jodeci’s Forever My Lady, and Sezen Aksu’s Gülümse.
― breastcrawl, Friday, 5 July 2019 19:40 (four years ago) link
I just cannot even comprehend how someone could hate The Sad Punk. It's fucking awesome. I might listen to it now.
― kraudive, Friday, 5 July 2019 22:10 (four years ago) link
xxxxp I really haven't experienced Loveless as inconsistent, I have listened to it straight through with more satisfaction than with almost any other album
― Dan S, Friday, 5 July 2019 23:23 (four years ago) link
"The Sad Punk" always sounded like meandering self-indulgent nonsense to me.
― brigadier pudding (DJP), Saturday, 6 July 2019 00:58 (four years ago) link
Can't not vote for Loveless.
― Uptown VONC (Le Bateau Ivre), Wednesday, July 3, 2019 8:42 AM (two days ago)
^^ yeah I mean, come on. this is a strong list but only one of the choices is the best album of the 90s
apologies to spiderland, the low end theory, death certificate, laughing stock, no pocky for kitty
I'm sure the nirvana and pearl jam albums are great but I guess this is the time where I admit I have never really even listened to grunge
― k3vin k., Saturday, 6 July 2019 01:43 (four years ago) link
The tinny, mangled sound of 'Loveless' has kep me at some distance for 20-odd years. Which always confused me as it's held as a paragon of incredible production. Ultimately I've ended up preferring MBV from before and after 'Loveless'.
― Soundslike, Saturday, 6 July 2019 03:16 (four years ago) link
doesn't sound tinny to me at all, mangled yes but that is one of its amazing features
― Dan S, Saturday, 6 July 2019 03:23 (four years ago) link
Talk Talk but no Rain Tree Crow makes me sad.
Gonna toss this one to Cope so he doesn't get shut out though.
― mr.raffles, Saturday, 6 July 2019 04:12 (four years ago) link
low end theory by a very small margin over ask the ages
everything else is just not even close
― budo jeru, Saturday, 6 July 2019 05:24 (four years ago) link
I love Loveless but I'm one of those weirdos who prefers Isn't Anything.Truth be told, I listen to mbv more than Loveless and might even prefer it.
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Sunday, 7 July 2019 02:50 (four years ago) link
The tinny, mangled sound of 'Loveless' has kep me at some distance for 20-odd years. Which always confused me as it's held as a paragon of incredible production.
What sometimes gets lost in critical discussion is that the production is incredible in that it makes an artistic statement out of exploring the possibilities of what is usually thought of as shitty sound:
"The sound that we were going for was more like the sound that we were hearing all the time, which was either hearing music through ghetto blasters or cheap record players or small gigs coming through Bose PA systems. All very boxy-sounding and meshed in.”
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Sunday, 7 July 2019 04:00 (four years ago) link
they made it sound way better than "music through ghetto blasters or cheap record players or small gigs coming through Bose PA systems" in my opinion
― Dan S, Sunday, 7 July 2019 04:27 (four years ago) link
Definitely. But you get a loss of spatial clarity, frequency, and dynamic range from those sources, with a lot of crowded midrange, which your average engineer would try to avoid: Shields went all-out in embracing this and exploring the psychedelic extremes to which you can take boxy, murky sound. The tinny, mangled sound is the whole point, in a way, which might throw someone off if they're coming to it expecting "incredible production".
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Sunday, 7 July 2019 05:00 (four years ago) link
"and frequency and dynamic range"
― All along there is the sound of feedback (Sund4r), Sunday, 7 July 2019 05:01 (four years ago) link
that's a great description
― Dan S, Sunday, 7 July 2019 05:09 (four years ago) link
My biggest gripe is with the songwriting rather than the production, which does exactly what it needs to do (well, except for the drums – that'll never quite cut it): I'm invariably tempted to skip 'When You Sleep', 'Come in Alone', 'Blown a Wish' and especially 'What You Want'. Everything else is fine, although I prefer m b v.
― pomenitul, Sunday, 7 July 2019 07:41 (four years ago) link
I'm invariably tempted to skip 'When You Sleep'
― je est un autre, l'enfer c'est les autres (alex in mainhattan), Sunday, 7 July 2019 08:35 (four years ago) link
They do write pop songs despite the textural guitar coating so I think it's fair to also judge them on that basis. As it so happens, some melodies click with me more than others (the less saccharine ones, usually, but my tolerance for twee is exceptionally low).
― pomenitul, Sunday, 7 July 2019 08:44 (four years ago) link
I can't believe I'm the first to rep for Goat.
― Elitist cheese photos (aldo), Monday, 8 July 2019 10:33 (four years ago) link
Goat is incredible but this is 1991.
― pomenitul, Monday, 8 July 2019 10:39 (four years ago) link
talk talk
― mott the hoopleheads (voodoo chili), Monday, 8 July 2019 12:50 (four years ago) link
― je est un autre, l'enfer c'est les autres (alex in mainhattan), Monday, 8 July 2019 13:04 (four years ago) link
Sorry, must have scrolled past without noticing.
― Elitist cheese photos (aldo), Monday, 8 July 2019 13:13 (four years ago) link
goat is my runner-up
― mott the hoopleheads (voodoo chili), Monday, 8 July 2019 14:36 (four years ago) link
Electronic's debut is all time.
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 8 July 2019 15:24 (four years ago) link
tons of great stuff, voted for The Orb, would have voted for Shift-Work as it's possibly my favorite Fall album
― sleeve, Monday, 8 July 2019 16:03 (four years ago) link
Left to my own devices, I would have definitely submitted Shift-Work. It was the first Fall album I ever heard. Its their poppiest, "edinburgh man" is such a lovely song and coming from The Fall that makes it even more sweeter.
― . (Michael B), Monday, 8 July 2019 18:24 (four years ago) link
I've still never heard Slint! Which given the amount of words I read about them in the 90s...
― Today he dances jazz, but tomorrow he will sell his homeland (seandalai), Monday, 8 July 2019 22:37 (four years ago) link
then it's time you did
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Tuesday, 9 July 2019 11:36 (four years ago) link
you should listen to "spiderland", its well creepy
― . (Michael B), Tuesday, 9 July 2019 12:05 (four years ago) link
deciding what to leave out for 92 poll is hard
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Tuesday, 9 July 2019 23:52 (four years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Wednesday, 10 July 2019 00:01 (four years ago) link
The Jesus Lizard - Goat, 1Pearl Jam - Ten 1Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger , 1KLF - The White Room 1Fudge Tunnel - Hate Songs In E-Minor 1
I thought they would get more than 1 vote each tbh
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Wednesday, 10 July 2019 00:10 (four years ago) link
Best Album on OUR Favourite Albums of......1992
― Thus Spoke Darraghustra (Oor Neechy), Wednesday, 10 July 2019 10:41 (four years ago) link