Paul’s Gigography

A review of what I enjoyed that decade

Tomorrow (14 October) is National Album Day and this year’s theme is on the 1990s.

Hard to believe but 33 years ago it really was the time to be alive for music.  For me this is my decade and one I constantly go back to.  It was also the time that I made the transition from vinyl to CD as my choice of listening to music.

Over that 10-year period I have experience a lot of change in music styles as I came out of my teenage years, into the world of work and buying music.

1990 – the metal year

I had recently got into metal towards the end of the 1980s starting to listen to the likes of Iron Maiden, Metallica, Guns N’Roses, Megadeth etc.

1990 saw the release of some classic metal albums Rust in Peace by Megadeth, Seasons in the Abyss by Slayer, Persistence of Time by Anthrax and Empire by Queensrÿche were just some of the amazing albums that came out that year.

Those were my favourites but there were other bands that excited me like King’s X, Warrior Soul and Living Colour.   A very American-centric line up with Iron Maiden being the only UK band I listened to at the time but as Bob Dylan once sang The Time’s Are A Changing.  And he wasn’t wrong.

1991 – the year punk broke

So Sonic Youth said in their video of the same name but suddenly the dial has shifted.  While still very American-centric by nature there was a new scene emerging – grunge and everything associated with the American Pacific North-West in Seattle.

1991 saw the release of some amazing albums one after the other in such a short space of time.

Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Metallica, U2, Guns N’Roses, Red Hot Chilli Peppers all put out groundbreaking albums within weeks of each other.

I bought Nevermind as a sheer impulse buy, fascinated by the media fuss of Nirvana.  If a band knocks Michael Jackson off the top of the Billboard chart they are worth investigating.

At this point I had never heard any of the songs, but Nevermind was a game changer for me as it opened up new doors and I started to listen to more bands.

I remember going into work raving about it and one of my colleagues said to me well if you like that you might like Pixies.  So he leant me Bossnova (1990) and Doolittle (1988) and I wondered how did I ever manage to not hear of them before.  Both albums blew me away.

Childhood heroes U2 still deserve a shout out here.  A band I have loved since 1983 when I was at secondary school, they released the really amazing Achtung Baby to my surprise a complete departure from The Joshua Tree.

When I was listening to U2’s New Years Eve gig from the new Point Depot in Dublin as the band brought 1989 to a close and were ringing in the new year I didn’t release at the time that the band had closed one period (The Joshua Tree) and emerged in 1991 with the new (Acthung Baby).

1992 – the classic year part 1                      

1992 and 1993 are the classic years of this period.    So many great albums, so many new bands to get into and what a year it was.

For me grunge wasn’t the be all and end all of music, more like a fashion label the scene was becoming more alternative rock.

Favourite albums from 1992 included Copper Blue by Sugar, Rage Against The Machine, Dirt by Alice in Chains, Dirty by Sonic Youth, Angel Dust by Faith No More, Meantime by Helmet and It’s A Shame About Ray by The Lemonheads. 

Again, getting very American-centric in my listening styles and even the Singles soundtrack for the film by Cameron Crow was introducing more new bands for me like Screaming Smashing Pumpkins, Mother Love Bone (pre Pearl Jam) and Mudhoney to name a few.

Locally Therapy? were starting to become my favourite new Irish band with the release of their major label debut, Nurse. 

Overall, 1992 was a great year but that’s only half the story as it’s about to get better.

1993 – the classic year part 2

If you thought 1992 was great, how do you follow it up in 1993?  You just bring out more great albums.

Having led the grunge revolution, both Nirvana and Pearl Jam were back with new albums.  In Utero being what would become Nirvana’s final studio album and the more aggressive Vs. by Pearl Jam which was completely different from Ten.

Following up to Copper Blue, Bob Mould’s Sugar unleased Beaster, a mini album that was an absolute assault to the senses.  Brutal and direct, it was certainly not easy listening but was one of my favourites of the year.

BBC hosted a late evening programme that year called No Nirvana which opened more doors for me with new recommendations.

Other favourite albums from 1993 included Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins, Fuzzy by Grant Lee Buffalo, Star by Belly, Where You Been by Dinosaur Jr., Undertow by Tool, Big Red Letter Day by Buffalo Tom and Last Splash by The Breeders.

Again, the Americans are leading the way, but a few UK bands were now starting to get onto my radar like James, Suede, Manic Street Preachers, Radiohead, Swervedriver and Teenage Fanclub.   Possible all change in 1994?

1994 – Has the grunge bubble burst?

The bubble may have burst, Britpop was dawning, and it was still very much alternative rock as previous years.

I finally got into REM with the release of Monster.  Other favourites that year included Vitalogy by Pearl Jam, Superunknown by Soundgarden. Troublegum by Therapy?, Weezer’s debut album, Crooked Rain Crooked Rain by Pavement, Panic On by Madder Rose and The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails.

Post-grunge if you can even call it that had bands like Weezer, Green Day and The Offspring coming through.  Bush came from the UK and got big in America before their home country.  They were very influenced by Nirvana.  A band you would either love or hate.

But the last word on the American scene had to go to Nirvana with their post-humourous release of MTV Unplugged following the untimely death of Kurt Cobain.

Things are looking up with the UK though with the Oasis releasing Definitely Maybe, while rivals Blur were putting out Parklife.  We had the Second Coming of the Stone Roses (should they have bothered?), Pulp with His ‘n’ Hers and Manic Street Preachers bringing in the apocalypse with The Holy Bible. 

1995 – the Britpop wars

Only in the UK could we get the whole Blur vs. Oasis thing.  It was almost like a rerun of The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones.

Both Blur and Oasis even made the Six O’Clock news with both bands releasing singles competing for the no.1 battle.  The charts mattered back then.

I didn’t like Blur.  (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? was for me the last great Oasis album.  I preferred it better but 1995 wasn’t all about those two bands as we had great albums from Radiohead (The Bends), Grand Prix (Teenage Fanclub), Sleeper (Smart), Pulp (Different Class), Elastica’s debut album, Smashing Pumpkins (Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness) plus Infernal Love (Therapy?).

Oh, and some fella called Dave Grohl who used to drum for Nirvana unveiled his new band Foo Fighters.  Might catch on with all the X Files hype.

A few other gems from that period included the Passengers album which saw U2 collaborate with the likes of Pavarotti, Howie B and Holi.  Miss Sarajevo still sends shivers down by spine as the war raged in the former Yugoslavia.

The Help album for War Child was another gem, recorded in one day with Sinead O’Connor getting her song in at the last minute.  A fantastic album that had no track listing on it.  You had to get one in either NME or Select magazine.

1996 – a decent year

Looking back at 1996 it is a mixed bag of old favourites with some new favourites coming through.

REM’s New Adventures in Hi-Fi was my favourite album of the year.  We had new albums by Pearl Jam (No Code), Rage Against the Machine raging against the Evil Empire and Alice in Chains putting out the amazing Unplugged album.  A tie with Nirvana in my book.

Metallica cut their hair and gave us Load.   Not my favourite by them with Reload a year later not any better.

We had the return of Manic Street Preachers who released Everything Must Go following the death of guitarist Richy Edwards.

Locally, some teenagers from Downpatrick called Ash put out their debut album, 1977 after a string of hit singles.  The band famously turned down a support slot with Pearl Jam so they could sit their A Levels.  Wise fellas.  After Therapy? they are long term favourites of mine.

1997 Ok Computer?

We are only a few years away from the hype of the millennium bug but the big talking point that year was Ok Computer by Radiohead.  The Bends it isn’t which probably disappointed a lot of people but it made my album of the year for 1997.

After falling out with Oasis, Be Here Now was terrible, I converted to Blur.  Hold on a minute, I used to hate Blur, but Song 2 changed that.  The band produced what was probably their most American influence offering to date and I loved it.  So, I binned Oasis which wasn’t a bad thing.  Surely the Britpop bubble is bound to burst soon.

Apart from Radiohead, Foo Fighters returned with their second album The Colour and The Shape which is the best Foo Fighters album.

I started to get into The Prodigy.  The Fat of the Land was an amazing album.  Green Day came back with Nimrod and there were other great albums by Teenage Fanclub (Songs from Northern Britian), Super Furry Animals (Radiator).  Future success was just round the corner with The Verve (Urban Hymns).

Releasing an album during the Britpop bubble can either make you or break you.  In the case of Kilkenny’s Kerbdog (unfairly named as the Irish Nirvana) should have made it big with On the Turn but it really was a case of album released at worst possible time.  Deserved a wider audience.

1998 Britpop’s dying moments.

I am convinced that by now Britpop was on its last legs.  The likes of Robbie Williams and The Spice Girls were becoming more popular than indie guitar bands.

However, all is not lost as lots of my favourites return this year.  Ash released their underrated Nu-Clear Sounds.  I love this album, a lot heavier than 1977 but still an absolute banger.

Pearl Jam released Yield which rests easily in my top 5 Pearl Jam albums.

Manic Street Preachers finally got their first UK no.1 single with If You Tolerate This Your Children Wil Be Next.  With the release of This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours it propelled the band to arena status in the UK and sparked the whole new fans vs. old fans debate.  My favourite was Mondeo man which was being used to describe the new fans.

REM released their last good album, Up.  Getting away from the whole Britpop thing there were great albums by Gomez (Bring It On), Idlewild (Hope is Important) and Placebo (Without You I’m Nothing).

Up and coming from 1998 included Queens of the Stone Age and the Hives.  We would see more of them soon.

1999 – the end of decade and century

A year that was supposed to be a lot of things, the end of the world, computers crashing but in the end none of these happened as we rolled into the last year of the decade and indeed the century.

Looking back 1999 feels like a damp squib.  I think the 90s peaked in 1996, its best years were behind it as we were on the dawn of a new century.

New for me that year were Muse (Showbiz) complete with very lazy Radiohead comparisons and Chris Cornell going solo after Soundgarden broke up.

Blur took a new musical direction again with the release of 13 and Rage Against the Machine declared war with The Battle of Los Angeles which was their last album prior to breaking up.

Other favourites released that year included Foo Fighters, Pavement, Feeder, Therapy? and Super Furry Animals.

Looking back the 1990s was a great decade. A lot of right time, right now moments that you rarely get these days.

That was a snapshot of a lot of the bands I was listening to. My record collection has expanded lately going back and getting albums that I never bought first time round.