For me there was one big surprise in this video. Last week I went through my collection, checking the 1991 albums and taking note of the ones not included in your past videos. Some of them I was either like "that one will come up for sure towards the end", "that one must be too poppy/soft to be included (Sting) or "probably he doesn't know them". Inspiral Carpets was that latter one. I'm glad you included it. Funny that you mentioned MTV didn't pick them up (in the States), because it was MTV that brought them to my attention with the single from their previous album: This Is How It Feels. (we didn't have MTV, just a few videotapes of randomly recorded segments from friends). That song got stuck in my mind and tracked it down many years later. Blur I wasn't sure about. I was thinking, if it were to be covered, that should have been much earlier. For me they are in the OK category. Achtung Baby is a great album, no need to feel weird for ranking it so high. IMO it should have been in the top 10, but that's just an opinion. It was a very important and influential album of the '90s. Diamonds and Pearls is probably OK, but I hardly ever listen to it. For me Black album, Lovesexy, Batman are the last I truly enjoy listening. The ones after are OK at best (needles to say: for me.) Great series, looking forward to the last bit. I would have bet that Metallica and U2 will make it, but that didn't turn out. :)
Achtung Baby is my #1 favorite U2 album. Certainly been enjoying this series of videos you've been doing. Appreciate the work and time and effort you've been putting into them. I guess you're a music fanatic after all. ;)
Played that over and over when I got it the week of release when I was working third shift by myself at a Videotape recording production facility in downtown Milwaukee that year.
BTW, I always liked your appreciation of the CD format, so your last thoughts didn't surprise me. I am definitely hoping you'll have more of that sort of content. CDs today need all the love and hype. :)
Wow, not since the Retrun of the Jedi have i been so sad to see the conclusion coming up of such a great franchise. Job well done. I enjoyed this series a ton, even if my wife kept begging me to turn over the remote so she could watch CSI . Looking forward to the final episode.
Achtung Baby is a definite "Top 10 of 1991" entry for me. I'll also defend 'Zooropa' - u2 always were more interesting when they would take a risky artistic swing over what they've been doing over the past 25 years.
Another great one. Yep, that Blur album is indeed great, and I am definitely one of those who prefer them to Oasis. Same with 'Bandwagonesque', although I prefer 'Thirteen'. Never heard that demo album by the Tea Party, but their first proper album is gold. I have trying my ass off to get that Chapterhouse cd for a decent price, but no luck. 'Achtung Baby' and 'Zooropa' are imho the last Great albums by U2. Great anticipation for part 10. Cheers Robert
Beast Inside by Inspiral is very underrated. Love that album. Further Way, The Beast Inside, Please Be Cruel, Sleep Well Tonight; highlights. Great album!
Oh yeah that is an awesome album the song December and Guiding Star are underrated gems on that album. It was ranked number one that year by Spin Magazine I beleive.
Blur debut not their best but still its good not great. Starts off strong then kind of weak toward the end. Parklife, Modern Life is Rubbish and The Great Escape which came after were the best of that band. I do need to liaten to the last couple releases by them.
Greatness again! Agreed on many of these. And this edition of the Billy Corgan impression one of my napping cats just twitched his ears. He liked the rat part. Thanks for doing this countdown! You've reminded me of old friends and some new ones to listen
Thanks for including Death’s Human on your list. My buddy Paul Masvidal is the other guitar player here. Also, the amazing drummer on this album, Sean Reinert, has since passed away, sadly.🤘🏼🙏🏼
This has been a fun experiment. There’s some on this list that I’ll have to check out that I haven’t heard before. Thanks for that! Though I still have a bone to pick with that Tin Machine placement! Good job!
Right there with you on Prince - Dirty Mind through Sign O The Times is his best stuff by far. This has been a great series. 1991 was never my favorite year of music, but there were some good things that came out of it for sure. Thanks! ETA: I met the guy who wrote Fields of Joy, the Lenny Kravitz tune - it was Michael Kamen, who went on to work with Pink Floyd's string arrangements on The Wall, and Metallica, plus a zillion movie soundtracks. I wasn't much of a Lenny fan until I heard that song and realized it was the same one I used to listen to on the New York Rock Ensemble's "Roll Over" album - a cool obscurity definitely of its time.
Have to say I thought 'Loveless' by My Bloody Valentine would have made the top 10......In particular the songs Blown A Wish, When You Sleep, Come In Alone, What You Want, but really the whole album is a masterpiece. One of those albums I wasn't convinced by at first, not really knowing what to expect, but grew and grew on me the more I listened: I can still pinpoint the exact breakthrough moment for me, it was about halfway through the track Blown A Wish towards the end of the album, and I just thought "jeez, this is just music from another planet. This is just _so, so_ good"
Loveless is an awesome experience. Hazy fields of noise but still kinda melodic. My Bloody Valentine was around in the 80s, but there sound is different. A little more on the garage rock side. I haven't listened to that stuff much, but that loveless cassette I got back in a thrift store a while ago got played a lot.
I’ve been a big Coil fan since the late 80s…great to see them here. Stolen & Contaminated Songs is an alternative version of Love’s Secret Domain and I like it even more.
Tea Party are pretty great, here in Canada they were pushed big all over TV and Radio. I think their best stuff is their middle three albums "Transmission", "Tripytch" and "The Interzone Mantras". Stepping away from the Zeppelin/Doors influences, and entering more industrial/alternative territory, this is where they were truly something special.
I never thought I’d hear Inspiral Carpets being spoken about on an American RUclips channel. Australian here….Also Coil’s album is called Love’s Secret Domain.
Noel Gallagher was a roadie/guitar tech for Inspiral Carpets before he decided to throw his lot in with Liam. Well he sort of decided - he was let go because he partied harder than the band.
Glad to see Chapterhouse and Blur this high! Yeah, never really got into Lenny beyond enjoying the singles... probably got a little turned off by his interviews where it was a lot about how "authentic" he was by using all analog equipment and all that... didn't he also later buy the mixing desk of Abbey Road or something? :D Good for him! Personally I think I'd rather listen to Jet Black Joe for this kind of pleasantly retro sound because they're more "fun"... some completely gratuitous name dropping for you there; hopefully they will appear on your 1992 list, fingers crossed! ;) Fun trying to predict the "winners" of 1991 I have to say. My guesses, from albums of 1991 I own (I only list the album titles, so if you know you know, otherwise these will mean nothing to you): Nevermind: definitely top 3 Badmotorfinger: definitely top 5 Blue Lines: in there? Girlfriend: not in there? (alas) Seamonsters: probably Little Earthquakes: surely? Everclear: don't think so Microgravity: definitely not The Power of Pussy: hmmm... Peggy Suicide: guess not Don't Get Weird On Me Babe: would be surprised! Mighty Like a Rose: nah... Shepherd Moons: No Doughboy Hollow: would be gobsmacked Moon in Scorpio: would be delighted Slinky: still better than Oasis Bellybutton: hopefully Yerself is Steam: top 13 The Last Days of Pompeii: if Husker Du's your favorite band (so basically no) Screamadelica: oh hello! Saigon Kick: yeah right... 712: no, because you're not Kurdt (sic) Cobain Fireblade Skies: too obscure even if it is on 4AD Road Apples: no, you already have a Canadian album for 1991 the Soul Cages: no, you can't stand Sting Spine of God: Yes! But only when "it was released in Europe in 1991" counts Army of Lovers: what?!?!? That's enough of that. We'll see. I'm sure it'll be a FINE top 13.
@@RobertFithen Poor Elvis... you're right about Tori Amos, even though on the CD it says copyright 1991 it was an early 1992 release! Sometimes it also depends on the region. And sometimes I'm just wrong.
Tea Party is awesome. Songs from this are on album Splendour Solis which is fantastic but their next album The Edges Of Twilight is my favorite. Well worth checking out.👍🎶U2 is kinda sh!t now but Actung Baby is a fantastic album. Top 3 album for me from them. Thanks for the Chapterhouse name drop. Interesting stuff. Team Blur for sure along with Suede, The Verve and Pulp over Oasis easily. My favorite Kravitz album as well. Great list and content. Hopefully you do more years in the future.
I need to revisit Tea Party, I recall hearing 'The River' and buying that CD immediately but being let down by the rest, gonna give it another shot. (funny you mention Riding Easy records, I'm kinda friends with Daniel who runs it) btw I still LOVE the sound of that Metallica album, I always use it when testing out any audio equipment -perfect sound IMO!
Kudos to you for the inclusion of Teenage Fanclub. As a Scot myself, it's always heartening to see my people, the Scots, gain a following outside of our (otherwise tiny) nation. So many great songs on Bandwagonesque.
Alot of work you put into this, fun to watch. Many albums I had never heard of. Will be checking out Chapterhouse and Tea Party. Cool thing is since it is ‘91, these will sound just fine on cd. Totally agree early late 80’s and earlt 90s were the sweet spot for good sound on cd. Glad you put U2’s album in there. Achtung Baby was when U2 finally wrote an album that was not only solid all the way through but had an edge (no pun intended) to it that wasn’t pretentious. U2 were still ahead of the times on this album. And it had, what, half an album of very good to outright great hits? To me, their best album. Everyone sites Joshua Tree, but to me that could be an EP and would be a better presentation. Achtung Baby got played alot in the car back then and is the only U2 album that I would consider a keeper all the way through. War is also right up there. I would place it second. But it is such a different album than Achtung. Too long a post, now I am sounding pretentious. Cool to see Lenny on there also. First three albums are winners. Down to luck 13, Will we see Primus - Sailing The Seas Of Cheese??…or maybe we did, I can’t remember. Thanks for the video Robert!
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless. Too low. Its a top #5 album despite the massive competition for 1991. Groundbreaking production and the evolution of Kevin Shields' grand vision is one of the great stories of music
The internet certainly is a strange place sometimes - before today, I had never heard of Inspiral Carpets, and now I've heard them mentioned from 2 separate sources on the same day. Weird!
@RobertFithen I was on Ebay trying to find a copy of 'Bitches Brew Live' by Miles Davis and they showed up. Evidently they have a song called 'Bitches Brew.'
@ArenHill You have got to check out songs like 'Dragging Me Down', 'Saturn 5' & 'This Is How It Feels'. They are some of the best that Britain has produced and IMO as good as the 60's and 70's stuff that everyone knows and loves so well.
Being in highschool from '91-'95 I'd say the Black album was the most played album everywhere over that stretch. Probably because they were already a known entity. So much great music in the early 90s, especially if you liked guitars. Needless to say I expected something new and exciting when I entered college, but I'd say the answer was definitely closer to "Nope", especially on the radio.
For The Tea Party, the first album vinyl repress was pretty much on sale a lot of times last year on Amazon. For me, I discover them with their second album, which is really good. but no vinyl repress that I know of Oh man, Inspiral Carpets... that brings back memories. Though always preferred The Charlatans (but they didn't released an album in 91) Ah, Chapterhouse -Whirlpool... one of the 3 on my list... really great one. Nice to see it here. A personal favorite of mine.. My LP is still sounding pretty good after all these years.. Their second album (Blood Music) is actually quite good even though it was blending electronica and dance music. It has become infamous with the remix album by Global Communication (Pentamerous Metamorphosis) rvrn though it was just a bonus disc given with the release of the album. Both are really good but it's a story for the year 1993 ;-) My Bloody Valentine - Loveless another one from my list... wow... What was innovative also in this album was the transitions between songs, the song would evolve towards the end and change and after a while change again to go into the next song. That was a real "USO" as we used to call it, unidentified sounding object at the time. I've always love that despite the wall of sound/noise you could whistle the main melody. I still regret missing them playing live in a town in France not too far from home but back then, high school and show was on a Tuesday so not really manageable for young me (no car) Makes me wonder about my third album... I would rank it high but I would be impressed you even know about it, not many spots left but now I can 't wait.... I could go on and on about the other picks but let's keep the comment short(-ish) Thanks again.... PS: man, 1993 is also the year of Modern Life is Rubbish by Blur... can't wait to see that ranking series ;-)
So Tony M, the rapper on Diamonds and Pearls, was a member of the NPG, not a guest artist. Arguably, he should NOT have been a member of the NPG, but there you go. He's the Jar Jar Binks of the Prince universe.
Lol one of those purple rain fake fans! Robert I'm not mad just disappointed. I discovered Prince with symbol album so that remains my favourite like any artist where you came in is usually, not always, what you like most or at least have soft spot for.
Hey Robert, been watching for a few months, eventually remembered to subscribe a couple of weeks back 😅 i've noticed you've said you love albums with a variety of sounds a few times and i've wanted to ask you if you've every checked out Lordis Killection album, with you liking rock/metal it's something if you haven't already listened to, you might enjoy :) --- been loving this journey from 1991 and honestly, if you have the time to do this, i'd love to see you do one for more years, especially the 80s :D i'm sure you'd have so many good stories to tell about some of those bands/albums! keep up the great work!
Acthung baby modernized u2 for the 90s and got me full into them. I have done 5 songs from it at karaoke the deeper cuts the better. I still have the recordings of me singing these tracks
So Teenage Fanclub was my number one! It’s the album I love the most from the year and still play I regularly. Thirteen is good and maybe Gramd Prix is even better. I had U2 at number two. Fascinated to see what the next lot are - could be stuff I forgot? Oh and that Warrior Soul track is fantastic! Never heard of them before here in England
I love Grand Prix but, as an album, I do feel that it is poorly sequenced; with too many of the "big" songs (the stuff that rightly got released as singles) up front and a lot of the more forgettable/mid-tempo tracks filling out the back end.
Ahhh, Metallica's "Black Album". Just listened to this again for the first time in many many years, and I think it's great. Almost like AC/DC "Back in Black" album, in the sense that, every track is solid. Almost no filler.
The Tea Party are great! Have not heard that first album though but I have heard the rest of their stuff. Check out Splendor Solis or Tryptych for more of that vintage sound. Transmission mixes it up, adding some industrial elements to their sound.
I worked a second job at Blockbuster Music in the 90's and we had no albums but we had a listening bar. 5 stools and we opened brand new CDs and we only handled the music. We then resealed them if they were not bought.
Oof, Metallica's Black Album ahead of Loveless is certainly a choice. :D But nah, glad to see Loveless, Bandwagonesque, Whirlpool and especially Love's Secret Domain up here. Although as a very straight edge person with five Coil albums on the shelf, I would heavily disagree with the first sentence in their segment. Looking forward to the top 13!
OH yes , Inspiral Carpets i loved ,still got the cds and Teenage fanclub that cd i got in 93 i think when i was dating an older woman ...... so good lol
Bandwagonesque is a great album. Reminds me a lot of Big Star. Figures that Rolling Stone was trying too hard to be clever with their harsh review of Nirvana, only to do a 180 almost instantly. I thought My Bloody Valentine was like a screamo band when I was younger, haha. I think I confused them with Bullet For My Valentine. Come to think of it, Enter Sandman does remind me a bit of Disco Inferno...
Okay-- more albums I have. Prince, U2 (and like REM I think I played Acthung Baby more often than Nevermind that year. Definitely one of my favorite U2 albums), Blur (I'm a big fan of their famous album, Parklife. I call it the Magical Mystery Tour album of the 90s :) But this one is good too). Do have some mp3 tracks of Teenage Fanclub and Lenny Kravitz (and yes, I agree his cover of "American Woman" was not good).
With Achtung Baby U2 returns back to Europe after the Americana of Joshua Tree and Rattle & Hum. And there was a lot going on in Europe that time, the Berlin wall, the collapsing of the communist part of Europe and so on. And I think U2 really capture very well the atmosphere of what was going in Europe at that time. So for me its maybe their most essential album they made and even the most essential album of 1991.
Sounds that drums don't make. One is "Here's that 20 quid I borrowed last week". That might just be my drummer. He's chased more dragons than Saint George lol. Thanks for doing these rankings I've been enjoying them.
I remember that original review for "Nevermind" in Rolling Stone (as well as the Teenage Fanclub review). I remember thinking they got it wrong; a little too critical and dismissive. I was familiar with Nirvana's earlier stuff, and it was exciting that they were putting out an album on a major label, making a video, etc. It seemed they were on the same path as Soundgarden (indie-major-more exposure etc.). The review was not totally shocking; Rolling Stone had done the same thing with "Paul's Boutique" a couple of years earlier. They lambasted it as a piece of trash in the original review, then about a year later they had a "revisionist" review and called it a masterpiece. R.S. just seemed more and more like a '60s relic at this point in time.
Mama said tour i saw lenny live and he staged dived backwards and we carried him to the back and the front of the house all sweaty 100 lbs of him. He did a lot of Let love rule on that tour
@ Mama Said and Circus were the peak, in my opinion. After that he kind of moved on to funk and movies and soundtracks and being a Hunger Games starring character!
Only heard 5 of these. Of course I'm still kinda sick of the Metallica, but probably wouldn't turn it off either. Kinda like that U2 album. Not sure why I don't have that yet, as I have been buying up all the early ones. Zooropa is my cut off. That one by Coil I havent heard since the 90s. Got a feeling my girlfriend at the time wrote it down wrong on the tape. Because I still call it L.S.D. Love's Secret Domain. That Lenny has been on my to play list for awhile now. Got that with a small binder of loose discs. And I definitely don't need that My Bloody Valentine ever again. See what sucks is when friends recommend certain albums. And then I just aint impressed with them. Well that's definitely one of them. Didn't really like it back in the 90s either. So with me thinking, oh let's give it another chance. Nope. Went straight into my pile to get rid of. And yes, that Tea Party CD did get reissued on vinyl not that long ago. I have never seen that CD up here in Canada. But you can pretty much get all the others out of the dollar bin any day of the week. Just not that indie one. I would hate to see what that would go for up here now. Especially if it happens to be an autographed copy. But I would say they are pretty big up here. Then again, they are just 2 hours away. So speaking along those lines. I have avoided looking up the wiki list of 1991 albums. And i don't even remember if I am right, but I bet that Road Apples by The Tragically Hip might not be on your list. Pretty sure its from 91. Because their next albums tour was when Nirvana opened for them for maybe 1 show. And that's just unheard of. Even back then. Looking forward to the next video. I guess I should take a peek at my other comments to see if I was right in how many I would have listened to.
This is from a channel called AP Mastering. I post this in response to your comments about cds. I'm not sure I totally buy it, but it is interesting. Oh yeah, the countdown is getting intense! ruclips.net/video/30EznMSZMBU/видео.html
Thanks! I finally got around to watching this. I knew most of this, but the way it's explained in this video is excellent. I really like the way the information was presented.
Not sure what "Together As One" is about, but both the bassist and drummer on this record are/were gay men, so that would seem like a definite possibility (one of them died recently, hence the partial past tense). As for the name, I'm guessing it was just teenage kids in the mid-'80's trying to be shocking and extreme, and just cutting right to the chase. Otherwise, I loved Metallica's Black Album at the time, after being thoroughly confused by my first taste And Justice For All. The Black Album was a huge part of my listening diet in sixth grade, along with another album I certainly hope is on this list still to come. But I couldn't tell you the last time I listened to it in its entirety.
Yeah, I hadn't heard the full Metallica album in awhile. I usually go for the earlier ones if I'm going to listen to one in it's entirety. For whatever reason, I was never a big fan of "And Justice For All".
I love that "Birthday" song on Blur's Leisure too. I didn't hear about blur until Parklife and the whole Oasis thing, but Birthday was always the standout to me on that first album. The UK version had "Sing" on it - I only knew "Sing" from the Trainspotting soundtrack. I'm with you on U2 too - I was still mostly with them until "how to Build an Atomic Bomb" - Pop was sort of embarrassing but still had some good stuff, and the Miss Sarajevo/Passengers album was about 50/50, but Zooropa was interesting. I never understood why people hated Rattle and Hum so much. I liked the movie and love the album, but maybe I'd see it differently if I watched it again...
Wow, so many great artist in this video, it truly was one of the last golden ages for music. I was wondering how you listened to the albums on the ranking that you didn't have in your collection, I suppose you used Spotify or maybe RUclips itself? Thanks, awesome man!
For me there was one big surprise in this video. Last week I went through my collection, checking the 1991 albums and taking note of the ones not included in your past videos. Some of them I was either like "that one will come up for sure towards the end", "that one must be too poppy/soft to be included (Sting) or "probably he doesn't know them". Inspiral Carpets was that latter one. I'm glad you included it. Funny that you mentioned MTV didn't pick them up (in the States), because it was MTV that brought them to my attention with the single from their previous album: This Is How It Feels. (we didn't have MTV, just a few videotapes of randomly recorded segments from friends). That song got stuck in my mind and tracked it down many years later.
Blur I wasn't sure about. I was thinking, if it were to be covered, that should have been much earlier. For me they are in the OK category.
Achtung Baby is a great album, no need to feel weird for ranking it so high. IMO it should have been in the top 10, but that's just an opinion. It was a very important and influential album of the '90s.
Diamonds and Pearls is probably OK, but I hardly ever listen to it. For me Black album, Lovesexy, Batman are the last I truly enjoy listening. The ones after are OK at best (needles to say: for me.)
Great series, looking forward to the last bit. I would have bet that Metallica and U2 will make it, but that didn't turn out. :)
Thanks for playing along. This was really fun to do.
Achtung Baby is my #1 favorite U2 album. Certainly been enjoying this series of videos you've been doing. Appreciate the work and time and effort you've been putting into them. I guess you're a music fanatic after all. ;)
A lot of work, but it's been a lot of fun.
Played that over and over when I got it the week of release when I was working third shift by myself at a Videotape recording production facility in downtown Milwaukee that year.
BTW, I always liked your appreciation of the CD format, so your last thoughts didn't surprise me. I am definitely hoping you'll have more of that sort of content. CDs today need all the love and hype. :)
Thanks!! It might be best, though, to keep CDs a secret so the used prices stay low.
Wow, not since the Retrun of the Jedi have i been so sad to see the conclusion coming up of such a great franchise. Job well done. I enjoyed this series a ton, even if my wife kept begging me to turn over the remote so she could watch CSI . Looking forward to the final episode.
Thanks!! 1992 is next. Lol
@RobertFithen another great year for indie rock. I'll be waiting to see who cracked your list.
@RobertFithen from W.A.S.P the crimson idol, to The Lemonheads classic it's a shame about ray... what a year.
You’re hilarious man. Definitely the most entertaining vinyl channel.
Thanks!! I appreciate that.
"Soon" is one of my favorite closing tracks of all time.
I'll miss this series. It's been perfect for dull and dark January evenings. Thank you Robert.
It sounded like he was planning to do another year. We can only hope! 🤞🙏
You're welcome. It's been fun to do.
I was ready with the volume for your Billy Corgan this time.
Thanks Robert. A cople bands I was unaware of : Tea Party and Inspiral Carpets that I need to delve into.
For the Tea Party, check also their second album "The Edges of Twilight" it's really good
Achtung Baby is a definite "Top 10 of 1991" entry for me. I'll also defend 'Zooropa' - u2 always were more interesting when they would take a risky artistic swing over what they've been doing over the past 25 years.
@@seanmccarthy8755 Zooropa is their best album.
Another great one. Yep, that Blur album is indeed great, and I am definitely one of those who prefer them to Oasis. Same with 'Bandwagonesque', although I prefer 'Thirteen'. Never heard that demo album by the Tea Party, but their first proper album is gold. I have trying my ass off to get that Chapterhouse cd for a decent price, but no luck. 'Achtung Baby' and 'Zooropa' are imho the last Great albums by U2. Great anticipation for part 10. Cheers Robert
Yeah, that Chapterhouse CD never shows up.
Beast Inside by Inspiral is very underrated. Love that album. Further Way, The Beast Inside, Please Be Cruel, Sleep Well Tonight; highlights. Great album!
Seeing Teenage Fanclub’s Bandwagonesque this high up as a fantastic album made me tear up with joy, thank you Robert!🥹Some great choices here! 🤗
Glad you're enjoying it.
Oh yeah that is an awesome album the song December and Guiding Star are underrated gems on that album. It was ranked number one that year by Spin Magazine I beleive.
Blur debut not their best but still its good not great. Starts off strong then kind of weak toward the end. Parklife, Modern Life is Rubbish and The Great Escape which came after were the best of that band. I do need to liaten to the last couple releases by them.
It’s interesting because for me, I always said Shoegaze ever since the 90s. I never herd the term Dream Pop until the early 2010s.
You’re doing a good job at reviewing these disc really enjoy it
Thanks!!
I knew it…I knew it…You’re saving Amy Grant’s “Heart in Motion” for the top 10!
Spoiler. Lol
Fantastic videos bro definitely a difficult undertaking. I may not have agreed with all of your ranking i definitely respect it
Thanks!!
Still hanging in there Robert! Be sad when it’s over❤️
Thanks!! 1992 is next.
@ Alright!
Greatness again! Agreed on many of these. And this edition of the Billy Corgan impression one of my napping cats just twitched his ears. He liked the rat part. Thanks for doing this countdown! You've reminded me of old friends and some new ones to listen
I definitely enjoyed getting reaquainted with some of these.
Banger after banger of “CD era CDs” that would make my whole day to find on CD in the wild
I agree with you on U2’s “Achtung Baby”. I really like U2’s songs “One” and “Mysterious Ways”.
Thanks for including Death’s Human on your list. My buddy Paul Masvidal is the other guitar player here. Also, the amazing drummer on this album, Sean Reinert, has since passed away, sadly.🤘🏼🙏🏼
Damn I didn't know that.
This has been a fun experiment. There’s some on this list that I’ll have to check out that I haven’t heard before. Thanks for that! Though I still have a bone to pick with that Tin Machine placement!
Good job!
Thanks!!
Shoegaze was definitely used in the 90’s, it was coined in the early 90’s actually and it was used all the time in my circles.
Absolutely.
What a fantastic video as always have a great weekend Robert and also my dad was 32 in 19911 1991 also mmy mom was 22 in 1991 i was born in 1998
100% agree on the Lenny Kravitz. This was the album that got me into his music. Been here since the first 1991 video.
Right there with you on Prince - Dirty Mind through Sign O The Times is his best stuff by far. This has been a great series. 1991 was never my favorite year of music, but there were some good things that came out of it for sure. Thanks!
ETA: I met the guy who wrote Fields of Joy, the Lenny Kravitz tune - it was Michael Kamen, who went on to work with Pink Floyd's string arrangements on The Wall, and Metallica, plus a zillion movie soundtracks. I wasn't much of a Lenny fan until I heard that song and realized it was the same one I used to listen to on the New York Rock Ensemble's "Roll Over" album - a cool obscurity definitely of its time.
Michael Kamen is legendary
Have to say I thought 'Loveless' by My Bloody Valentine would have made the top 10......In particular the songs Blown A Wish, When You Sleep, Come In Alone, What You Want, but really the whole album is a masterpiece.
One of those albums I wasn't convinced by at first, not really knowing what to expect, but grew and grew on me the more I listened: I can still pinpoint the exact breakthrough moment for me, it was about halfway through the track Blown A Wish towards the end of the album, and I just thought "jeez, this is just music from another planet. This is just _so, so_ good"
It’s a top 5 for me for 1991 and top 20 of all time
Loveless is an awesome experience. Hazy fields of noise but still kinda melodic. My Bloody Valentine was around in the 80s, but there sound is different. A little more on the garage rock side. I haven't listened to that stuff much, but that loveless cassette I got back in a thrift store a while ago got played a lot.
I’ve been a big Coil fan since the late 80s…great to see them here. Stolen & Contaminated Songs is an alternative version of Love’s Secret Domain and I like it even more.
He has to go much further back and faster to re-edit the video and call the album by the correct name.
Going up a masterpiece
Man, Coil & Inspiral Carpets etc.? I've got some serious listening to do! Great to see Lenny K getting some love. One more to go, it's been a blast! 🙏
Thanks!! It's been fun to do.
Tea Party are pretty great, here in Canada they were pushed big all over TV and Radio. I think their best stuff is their middle three albums "Transmission", "Tripytch" and "The Interzone Mantras". Stepping away from the Zeppelin/Doors influences, and entering more industrial/alternative territory, this is where they were truly something special.
The Tea Party were great, one of the most underrated bands from the 90’s.
They're huge in Australia too. Not sure why America hasn't heard of them.
I'll have to explore those albums... I found them with The Edges of Twilight, which I found wonderful.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention
Death pushed boundaries, both musically and socially. RIP Chuck and Sean.
Making Loveless nearly bankrupted Creation Records.
Warrior Soul was the opening act for Queensryche in 1991or 92.
Good stuff.
I never thought I’d hear Inspiral Carpets being spoken about on an American RUclips channel. Australian here….Also Coil’s album is called Love’s Secret Domain.
Noel Gallagher was a roadie/guitar tech for Inspiral Carpets before he decided to throw his lot in with Liam. Well he sort of decided - he was let go because he partied harder than the band.
Glad to see Chapterhouse and Blur this high! Yeah, never really got into Lenny beyond enjoying the singles... probably got a little turned off by his interviews where it was a lot about how "authentic" he was by using all analog equipment and all that... didn't he also later buy the mixing desk of Abbey Road or something? :D Good for him! Personally I think I'd rather listen to Jet Black Joe for this kind of pleasantly retro sound because they're more "fun"... some completely gratuitous name dropping for you there; hopefully they will appear on your 1992 list, fingers crossed! ;)
Fun trying to predict the "winners" of 1991 I have to say.
My guesses, from albums of 1991 I own (I only list the album titles, so if you know you know, otherwise these will mean nothing to you):
Nevermind: definitely top 3
Badmotorfinger: definitely top 5
Blue Lines: in there?
Girlfriend: not in there? (alas)
Seamonsters: probably
Little Earthquakes: surely?
Everclear: don't think so
Microgravity: definitely not
The Power of Pussy: hmmm...
Peggy Suicide: guess not
Don't Get Weird On Me Babe: would be surprised!
Mighty Like a Rose: nah...
Shepherd Moons: No
Doughboy Hollow: would be gobsmacked
Moon in Scorpio: would be delighted
Slinky: still better than Oasis
Bellybutton: hopefully
Yerself is Steam: top 13
The Last Days of Pompeii: if Husker Du's your favorite band (so basically no)
Screamadelica: oh hello!
Saigon Kick: yeah right...
712: no, because you're not Kurdt (sic) Cobain
Fireblade Skies: too obscure even if it is on 4AD
Road Apples: no, you already have a Canadian album for 1991
the Soul Cages: no, you can't stand Sting
Spine of God: Yes! But only when "it was released in Europe in 1991" counts
Army of Lovers: what?!?!?
That's enough of that. We'll see. I'm sure it'll be a FINE top 13.
A couple of those like Little Earthquakes are from 1992. I can't believe I forgot Mighty alike a Rose.
@@RobertFithen Poor Elvis... you're right about Tori Amos, even though on the CD it says copyright 1991 it was an early 1992 release! Sometimes it also depends on the region. And sometimes I'm just wrong.
I freaking love Warrior Soul!!!!!
My Bloody Valentine, Teenage Fan Club, Inspiral Carpets and Blur are my favs from this batch
Tea Party is awesome. Songs from this are on album Splendour Solis which is fantastic but their next album The Edges Of Twilight is my favorite. Well worth checking out.👍🎶U2 is kinda sh!t now but Actung Baby is a fantastic album. Top 3 album for me from them. Thanks for the Chapterhouse name drop. Interesting stuff. Team Blur for sure along with Suede, The Verve and Pulp over Oasis easily. My favorite Kravitz album as well. Great list and content. Hopefully you do more years in the future.
Thanks!! 1992 is next.
I need to revisit Tea Party, I recall hearing 'The River' and buying that CD immediately but being let down by the rest, gonna give it another shot. (funny you mention Riding Easy records, I'm kinda friends with Daniel who runs it) btw I still LOVE the sound of that Metallica album, I always use it when testing out any audio equipment -perfect sound IMO!
Kudos to you for the inclusion of Teenage Fanclub. As a Scot myself, it's always heartening to see my people, the Scots, gain a following outside of our (otherwise tiny) nation. So many great songs on Bandwagonesque.
Alot of work you put into this, fun to watch. Many albums I had never heard of. Will be checking out Chapterhouse and Tea Party. Cool thing is since it is ‘91, these will sound just fine on cd. Totally agree early late 80’s and earlt 90s were the sweet spot for good sound on cd.
Glad you put U2’s album in there. Achtung Baby was when U2 finally wrote an album that was not only solid all the way through but had an edge (no pun intended) to it that wasn’t pretentious. U2 were still ahead of the times on this album. And it had, what, half an album of very good to outright great hits? To me, their best album. Everyone sites Joshua Tree, but to me that could be an EP and would be a better presentation. Achtung Baby got played alot in the car back then and is the only U2 album that I would consider a keeper all the way through. War is also right up there. I would place it second. But it is such a different album than Achtung. Too long a post, now I am sounding pretentious. Cool to see Lenny on there also. First three albums are winners.
Down to luck 13, Will we see Primus - Sailing The Seas Of Cheese??…or maybe we did, I can’t remember.
Thanks for the video Robert!
Thanks!! I didn't do Primus.
Warrior Soul - Wasteland 🤘🤘🔥🥁🎸
So glad to get reaquainted with it.
Death - Human - what a true masterpiece!
Hell yeah! Beyond killer.
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless. Too low. Its a top #5 album despite the massive competition for 1991. Groundbreaking production and the evolution of Kevin Shields' grand vision is one of the great stories of music
Youre a modern day Casey Kasem, thanks.
The internet certainly is a strange place sometimes - before today, I had never heard of Inspiral Carpets, and now I've heard them mentioned from 2 separate sources on the same day. Weird!
What was the other one?
@RobertFithen I was on Ebay trying to find a copy of 'Bitches Brew Live' by Miles Davis and they showed up. Evidently they have a song called 'Bitches Brew.'
@ArenHill You have got to check out songs like 'Dragging Me Down', 'Saturn 5' & 'This Is How It Feels'. They are some of the best that Britain has produced and IMO as good as the 60's and 70's stuff that everyone knows and loves so well.
Love this series!! ❤
Thanks!!
Being in highschool from '91-'95 I'd say the Black album was the most played album everywhere over that stretch. Probably because they were already a known entity. So much great music in the early 90s, especially if you liked guitars. Needless to say I expected something new and exciting when I entered college, but I'd say the answer was definitely closer to "Nope", especially on the radio.
For The Tea Party, the first album vinyl repress was pretty much on sale a lot of times last year on Amazon.
For me, I discover them with their second album, which is really good. but no vinyl repress that I know of
Oh man, Inspiral Carpets... that brings back memories. Though always preferred The Charlatans (but they didn't released an album in 91)
Ah, Chapterhouse -Whirlpool... one of the 3 on my list... really great one.
Nice to see it here. A personal favorite of mine.. My LP is still sounding pretty good after all these years..
Their second album (Blood Music) is actually quite good even though it was blending electronica and dance music.
It has become infamous with the remix album by Global Communication (Pentamerous Metamorphosis) rvrn though it was just a bonus disc given with the release of the album. Both are really good but it's a story for the year 1993 ;-)
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless another one from my list... wow...
What was innovative also in this album was the transitions between songs, the song would evolve towards the end and change and after a while change again to go into the next song. That was a real "USO" as we used to call it, unidentified sounding object at the time. I've always love that despite the wall of sound/noise you could whistle the main melody.
I still regret missing them playing live in a town in France not too far from home but back then, high school and show was on a Tuesday so not really manageable for young me (no car)
Makes me wonder about my third album... I would rank it high but I would be impressed you even know about it, not many spots left but now I can 't wait....
I could go on and on about the other picks but let's keep the comment short(-ish)
Thanks again....
PS: man, 1993 is also the year of Modern Life is Rubbish by Blur... can't wait to see that ranking series ;-)
Blur's 1993 album would be pretty high on the list. I hadn't heard Chapterhouse is so long, it was nice to get reaquainted.
So Tony M, the rapper on Diamonds and Pearls, was a member of the NPG, not a guest artist. Arguably, he should NOT have been a member of the NPG, but there you go. He's the Jar Jar Binks of the Prince universe.
I Agree, U2 Achtung Baby is great album.
I had Let Love Rule on cassette back then. Found the cd in a dollar bin last year; still love it.
Lol one of those purple rain fake fans! Robert I'm not mad just disappointed.
I discovered Prince with symbol album so that remains my favourite like any artist where you came in is usually, not always, what you like most or at least have soft spot for.
Fun fact, the only Job Noel Gallagher had outside of Oasis was being a roadie for Inspiral Carpets.
That's great!
Hey Robert, been watching for a few months, eventually remembered to subscribe a couple of weeks back 😅 i've noticed you've said you love albums with a variety of sounds a few times and i've wanted to ask you if you've every checked out Lordis Killection album, with you liking rock/metal it's something if you haven't already listened to, you might enjoy :) --- been loving this journey from 1991 and honestly, if you have the time to do this, i'd love to see you do one for more years, especially the 80s :D i'm sure you'd have so many good stories to tell about some of those bands/albums! keep up the great work!
Thanks!! I hadn't heard of that album. 1992 is next, then probably 80s after that.
@@RobertFithen I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Can't wait for those!
Acthung baby modernized u2 for the 90s and got me full into them. I have done 5 songs from it at karaoke the deeper cuts the better. I still have the recordings of me singing these tracks
So Teenage Fanclub was my number one! It’s the album I love the most from the year and still play I regularly. Thirteen is good and maybe Gramd Prix is even better.
I had U2 at number two.
Fascinated to see what the next lot are - could be stuff I forgot?
Oh and that Warrior Soul track is fantastic! Never heard of them before here in England
Thanks!! 1992 is coming soon.
I love Grand Prix but, as an album, I do feel that it is poorly sequenced; with too many of the "big" songs (the stuff that rightly got released as singles) up front and a lot of the more forgettable/mid-tempo tracks filling out the back end.
Ahhh, Metallica's "Black Album". Just listened to this again for the first time in many many years, and I think it's great. Almost like AC/DC "Back in Black" album, in the sense that, every track is solid. Almost no filler.
Hi Robert, I like U2 music and the Album Auchtung Baby.
The Tea Party are great! Have not heard that first album though but I have heard the rest of their stuff. Check out Splendor Solis or Tryptych for more of that vintage sound. Transmission mixes it up, adding some industrial elements to their sound.
I worked a second job at Blockbuster Music in the 90's and we had no albums but we had a listening bar. 5 stools and we opened brand new CDs and we only handled the music. We then resealed them if they were not bought.
Ah the secrets of Blockbuster. I worked at the video store
Best U2 album even though we tried to hate it. Last great Metallickah album and Lenny rode the coattailes.
I don't know that Tea Party album but I have a few others and they're a band worth exploring. Some good stuff.
Love me some “Disco Hospital.” 🪩 🏥
I am even more curious now since two of my top 5 have already showed up
Coil are fucking great.
LSD is one of my favourites.
I need to hear more from them.
@@RobertFithen Listen to The New Backwards or Black Antlers
I'd just like to point out that Spin magazine, in their 1991 year end top 20, ranked Teenage Fanclub #1, over Nirvana, My Bloody Valentine, etc.
I love that Inspiral Carpets album.
Love the debut Chapterhouse & the many My Bloody Valentine 💝 fans would have to wait 24 years for the follow-up. Kevin Shields indeed very deliberate.
Oof, Metallica's Black Album ahead of Loveless is certainly a choice. :D
But nah, glad to see Loveless, Bandwagonesque, Whirlpool and especially Love's Secret Domain up here. Although as a very straight edge person with five Coil albums on the shelf, I would heavily disagree with the first sentence in their segment.
Looking forward to the top 13!
Another Canadian classic that I'm guessing isn't in the final video is Road Apples by the Tragically Hip. Check that one out
Spot on 👍🎶
For some reason, I thought it was a live album.
OH yes , Inspiral Carpets i loved ,still got the cds and Teenage fanclub that cd i got in 93 i think when i was dating an older woman ...... so good lol
Boogie Woogie had listening stations...I bought so much music because of Boogie Woogie
Bandwagonesque is a great album. Reminds me a lot of Big Star. Figures that Rolling Stone was trying too hard to be clever with their harsh review of Nirvana, only to do a 180 almost instantly.
I thought My Bloody Valentine was like a screamo band when I was younger, haha. I think I confused them with Bullet For My Valentine.
Come to think of it, Enter Sandman does remind me a bit of Disco Inferno...
Disco metal. I'm surprised that term nevr caught on.
Okay-- more albums I have. Prince, U2 (and like REM I think I played Acthung Baby more often than Nevermind that year. Definitely one of my favorite U2 albums), Blur (I'm a big fan of their famous album, Parklife. I call it the Magical Mystery Tour album of the 90s :) But this one is good too). Do have some mp3 tracks of Teenage Fanclub and Lenny Kravitz (and yes, I agree his cover of "American Woman" was not good).
So you think CD's do more than be coasters? :)
Absolutely
Trying My Bloody Valentine again.
With Achtung Baby U2 returns back to Europe after the Americana of Joshua Tree and Rattle & Hum. And there was a lot going on in Europe that time, the Berlin wall, the collapsing of the communist part of Europe and so on. And I think U2 really capture very well the atmosphere of what was going in Europe at that time. So for me its maybe their most essential album they made and even the most essential album of 1991.
They definitely tried to go roots America with Rattle & Hum.
Sounds that drums don't make. One is "Here's that 20 quid I borrowed last week". That might just be my drummer. He's chased more dragons than Saint George lol. Thanks for doing these rankings I've been enjoying them.
I remember that original review for "Nevermind" in Rolling Stone (as well as the Teenage Fanclub review). I remember thinking they got it wrong; a little too critical and dismissive. I was familiar with Nirvana's earlier stuff, and it was exciting that they were putting out an album on a major label, making a video, etc. It seemed they were on the same path as Soundgarden (indie-major-more exposure etc.). The review was not totally shocking; Rolling Stone had done the same thing with "Paul's Boutique" a couple of years earlier. They lambasted it as a piece of trash in the original review, then about a year later they had a "revisionist" review and called it a masterpiece. R.S. just seemed more and more like a '60s relic at this point in time.
Spin was overtaking them as the go to at this point because of clueless reviews like the Nirvana one.
@@RobertFithen For sure! Definitely started reading Spin more around this time, and reading more independent 'zines and whatnot.
Mama said tour i saw lenny live and he staged dived backwards and we carried him to the back and the front of the house all sweaty 100 lbs of him. He did a lot of Let love rule on that tour
Sounds like the tour to see. Unfortunately, I saw him much later and it wasn't great.
@ Mama Said and Circus were the peak, in my opinion. After that he kind of moved on to funk and movies and soundtracks and being a Hunger Games starring character!
Still hoping to see God Fodder. If not you need to redo the list 😂
There's still one video left.
Only heard 5 of these. Of course I'm still kinda sick of the Metallica, but probably wouldn't turn it off either. Kinda like that U2 album. Not sure why I don't have that yet, as I have been buying up all the early ones. Zooropa is my cut off. That one by Coil I havent heard since the 90s. Got a feeling my girlfriend at the time wrote it down wrong on the tape. Because I still call it L.S.D. Love's Secret Domain. That Lenny has been on my to play list for awhile now. Got that with a small binder of loose discs. And I definitely don't need that My Bloody Valentine ever again. See what sucks is when friends recommend certain albums. And then I just aint impressed with them. Well that's definitely one of them. Didn't really like it back in the 90s either. So with me thinking, oh let's give it another chance. Nope. Went straight into my pile to get rid of. And yes, that Tea Party CD did get reissued on vinyl not that long ago. I have never seen that CD up here in Canada. But you can pretty much get all the others out of the dollar bin any day of the week. Just not that indie one. I would hate to see what that would go for up here now. Especially if it happens to be an autographed copy. But I would say they are pretty big up here. Then again, they are just 2 hours away. So speaking along those lines. I have avoided looking up the wiki list of 1991 albums. And i don't even remember if I am right, but I bet that Road Apples by The Tragically Hip might not be on your list. Pretty sure its from 91. Because their next albums tour was when Nirvana opened for them for maybe 1 show. And that's just unheard of. Even back then.
Looking forward to the next video. I guess I should take a peek at my other comments to see if I was right in how many I would have listened to.
It's "Love's Secret Domain" i said it wrong in the video. I didn't do "Road Apples", for some reason I thought it was a live album.
I fear the Soul Cages although they sling instant Grammys to Gordon will be omitted from the year, much like the ships at sea he sang about
Yeah I didn't do The Soul Cages.
Chapterhouse !!!!
Metallica should have hung it up in 91
I liked some of their stuff after 1991, when did that "Fuel" song come out? I thought that rocked. I lost track of them after the 90s.
together as one is about conjoined twins
Makes sense.
Coil!💜
Robert, do you like Chilie’s, in Ohio!? 🌶️
I was only in Ohio for a couple of days.
loveless is the greatest album ever recorded by humans in my opinion. nothing sounded like it before or indeed since.
This is from a channel called AP Mastering. I post this in response to your comments about cds. I'm not sure I totally buy it, but it is interesting. Oh yeah, the countdown is getting intense!
ruclips.net/video/30EznMSZMBU/видео.html
Thanks! I finally got around to watching this. I knew most of this, but the way it's explained in this video is excellent. I really like the way the information was presented.
Not sure what "Together As One" is about, but both the bassist and drummer on this record are/were gay men, so that would seem like a definite possibility (one of them died recently, hence the partial past tense). As for the name, I'm guessing it was just teenage kids in the mid-'80's trying to be shocking and extreme, and just cutting right to the chase. Otherwise, I loved Metallica's Black Album at the time, after being thoroughly confused by my first taste And Justice For All. The Black Album was a huge part of my listening diet in sixth grade, along with another album I certainly hope is on this list still to come. But I couldn't tell you the last time I listened to it in its entirety.
Yeah, I hadn't heard the full Metallica album in awhile. I usually go for the earlier ones if I'm going to listen to one in it's entirety. For whatever reason, I was never a big fan of "And Justice For All".
Loveless is the greatest album of all time.
I love that "Birthday" song on Blur's Leisure too. I didn't hear about blur until Parklife and the whole Oasis thing, but Birthday was always the standout to me on that first album. The UK version had "Sing" on it - I only knew "Sing" from the Trainspotting soundtrack. I'm with you on U2 too - I was still mostly with them until "how to Build an Atomic Bomb" - Pop was sort of embarrassing but still had some good stuff, and the Miss Sarajevo/Passengers album was about 50/50, but Zooropa was interesting. I never understood why people hated Rattle and Hum so much. I liked the movie and love the album, but maybe I'd see it differently if I watched it again...
I agree. I think most people think "Rattle and Hum" made them look pompous.
Wow, so many great artist in this video, it truly was one of the last golden ages for music. I was wondering how you listened to the albums on the ranking that you didn't have in your collection, I suppose you used Spotify or maybe RUclips itself? Thanks, awesome man!
Thanks! I had many of them on CD, but some I streamed official versions on the RUclips Music app.
Thanks Robert!