Sunday, May 17, 2009

Music Meme: 1991

Continuing my list of favorite albums from every year I've been alive.

1991

The Ocean Blue: Cerulean



I said before that New Wave had died without my knowing it. 1991 was the year I finally figured it out. I'd been watching it morph into Alternative for a couple of years, but then Grunge came along and nearly killed Alternative too. I resisted Grunge. Hard.

But there were a few retro-sounding bands that I liked that year. Electronic was just The Pet Shop Boys and The Smiths combined. Voice of the Beehive had a great '60s sound. And of course U2 came out with a new album.

I loved Achtung Baby, but I sort of felt betrayed when U2 dumped their image as sincere, serious artists and embraced rock star personas. They'd always been about a lot more than the music to me, so when that's all they left me with, it wasn't enough. I played the album a lot, but I quit following the band.

Alternative wasn't really dead of course. It seemed that way from all the massive airplay that Nirvana and Pearl Jam and their soundalikes were getting, but I managed to discover some new stuff that year like James, Toad the Wet Sprocket, and The Ocean Blue. "Ballerina Out of Control" is still one of my favorite songs ever and the whole album is excellent.



Runners up:
Natalie Cole: Unforgettable... With Love
Electronic: Electronic
Siouxsie and the Banshees: Superstition
U2: Achtung Baby
Voice of the Beehive: Honey Lingers

Singles:
Bryan Adams: "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You"
Big Audio Dynamite II: "The Globe"
Billy Bragg: "Sexuality"
Divinyls: "I Touch Myself"
The Farm: "All Together Now"
Guns N' Roses: "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"
James: "Sit Down"
Sarah McLachlan: "Into the Fire"
Metallica: "Enter Sandman"
R.E.M.: "Shiny Happy People"
Rhythm Corps: "Common Ground"
Right Said Fred: "I'm Too Sexy"
Seal: "Crazy"
Toad the Wet Sprocket: "Walk on the Ocean"
Violent Femmes: "American Music"

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