When people talk about seminal, groundbreaking periods in rock ‘n roll history, they often talk about 1967, specifically the first 6 months of that year. It was the height of psychedelic rock and a time in which rock ‘n roll expanded its horizons. Between January and mid-June 1967, such iconic records such as The Doors (January 4), Surrealistic Pillow by Jefferson Airplane (February 1), The Grateful Dead (March 17), Are You Experienced? by the Jimi Hendrix Experience (May 12) and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles (May 26) hit the charts and turned pop music and rock ‘n roll on its head. These releases were followed by the legendary Monterey International Pop Festival in Monterey, CA from June 16-18, a renowned music festival remembered for the first American appearances of the likes of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and The Who which also featured Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Buffalo Springfield, The Grateful Dead and The Mamas & The Papas. It was six months of some of the most groundbreaking and creative pop and rock music to ever have been recorded and released. Nearly 60 years later, many Baby Boomers and music critics hail 1967 as once-in-a-lifetime explosion of musical creativity and envelope-pushing.
While there is no denying the importance of those 6 months
of music history, I would submit that we Generation X folks had something
similar in the late summer and fall of 1991.
In a span of just 14 weeks, 6 groundbreaking and paradigm shattering
albums were released, albums that shook the very foundation of rock ‘n
roll. Albums that ended the hair band and
glamor rock eras and pushed heavier, grittier, angrier rock to the
forefront. Between mid-August and
mid-November of 1991, these albums changed rock ‘n roll and had impacts not
just in America but around the world. So,
on the 35th anniversary of these halcyon days of music, I wanted to pay tribute
to these albums – in the order in which they were released in 1991.
Metallica – Metallica (aka The Black Album).
Released 8/12/91. Sold 20 million copies in the U.S. and 30 million copies
worldwide. Prior to the release of this album, heavy metal was largely a
fringe, underground segment of rock ‘n roll.
While bands such as Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest had
forged successful careers in the 1970s and 1980s, they weren’t exactly topping
the charts. Even Metallica, the most
successful and well known of the “Big 4” thrash bands, was largely successful via
word of mouth and underground channels.
That all changed with this album.
Powered by the lead single and opening track “Enter Sandman,” this album
blew open the doors on the accessibility and popularity of heavy metal. While some deride this record as not being as
heavy as its predecessors, I disagree.
It is every bit as heavy – it is just a different KIND of heavy. While the material on …And Justice For All,
Master of Puppets, Ride the Lightning and Kill ‘Em All
were intricate and blisteringly fast, Metallica features a wall of heavy
but slower riffs. Whereas Metallica’s
earlier stuff paid tribute to and was undoubtedly influenced by the British New
Wave of Heavy Metal licks of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, this album leaned
more into the Black Sabbath side of metal.
I would offer that “Sad But True” is as heavy as any Metallica song
before it – it was just a different kind of heavy. Three of its songs (“Enter
Sandman,” “The Unforgiven” and “Nothing Else Matters”) actually charted in the
Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 while those plus two others (“Wherever I May
Roam” and the aforementioned “Sad But True”) charted on the Mainstream Rock
Charts, achievements that were essentially unheard of for a heavy metal band. Metallica brought metal to the masses
in a way that had never been seen before.
While some metal heads dismiss the album as being too commercial and
brand the band as sellouts, it’s not a coincidence that many of those who first
came to hear and love Metallica via this album subsequently went back and
discovered some of their earlier albums. I include myself in that category and
many of my favorite Metallica songs actually come from the first four albums,
the releases prior to Metallica.
Pearl Jam – Ten. Released 8/27/91. Sold 13 million
copies in the U.S. and 16 million worldwide. The “Seattle Sound”, more
commonly known as “grunge” was a term originally applied to a number of rock
bands in the Pacific Northwest in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was always a misnomer, though, because
within the “grunge” category, there were different types of grunge. Some were heavier and showed heavy metal
influences while others owed a clear debt to punk rock while still others were grounded
in big, arena rock chops. This album
falls in that latter category. Ten
offered the guitar hooks and big, anthemic choruses of arena rock but paired it
with more serious, downcast lyrics and subject matter. With three huge hits in
“Alive” (which deals with some, shall we say, delicate family dynamics), “Even
Flow” (about a homeless man) and “Jeremy” (about a school shooting), Ten
helped put Pearl Jam individually and grunge collectively on the rock ‘n roll
map. The crunching guitar riffs helped
replace those from hair bands while the darker, more serious lyrics resonated
with a generation of young people who were raised as latchkey kids and many of
whom were the product of broken homes and divorce. Instead of singing along to songs about
having a good time and partying, rock fans had an outlet to sing along to songs
about serious real world concerns with which they or their friends had likely
experienced. For many of them, it was quite cathartic. Three of the most famous
Seattle grunge bands released records during this 14-week period – this just
happened to be the first and it spawned the longest lasting bands of the three,
as Pearl Jam continues to record music and tour more than 30 years later.
Nirvana – Nevermind. Released 9/24/91. Sold 13
million copies in the U.S. and 30 million worldwide. Nirvana had been a
part of the Seattle scene for a few years – and had previously released an
album on Sub Pop Records – before Nevermind hit record stores. But, more than any other album on this list,
this one is the one that REALLY shook things up. Propelled by its iconic, genre
bending lead single “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” Nevermind blew the doors
off the rock ‘n roll world. Residing
more on the punk rock side of grunge, Nirvana mixed fuzzy, crunchy garage rock
guitars with brash, sometimes screamed vocals. Whereas ‘80s rock and hair bands
were polished and theatrical, Nirvana was imbued with a gritty, do-it-yourself
vibe reflected in the grubby attire (flannel shirts and unkempt, seemingly
unwashed hair) and the simple, straightforward songs. But make no mistake – as loath to be
commercial and popular as Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was – he had innate,
undeniable pop rock sensibilities. He
knew how to write a hook and build a catchy 3-minute song around it. Filled with legendary songs like the
aforementioned “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Come as You Are,” “Lithium” and “In
Bloom,” Nevermind is unquestionably the seminal alternative rock album
of the ‘90s, the one that helped catapult alternative rock to the forefront of
the music world. Even though Nevermind was released a few weeks AFTER Ten,
its success was the thing that got the likes of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden
noticed outside of the Pacific Northwest.
For example, while Ten was released in August 1991, its first
single (“Alive”) wasn’t released until the Spring of 1992, following the
overwhelming success of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Come as You Are” off of Nevermind.
Without Nevermind, there’s no telling how successful some of the other
Seattle and grunge groups would have been.
Nirvana was the match that lit the rock music world on fire and Nevermind
was the gasoline poured on it to make the blaze catch and spread.
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magik.
Released 9/24/91. Sold 7 million copies in the U.S. and more than 13 million
worldwide. Incredibly, this record was released on the same day as Nevermind. What are the chances of two imminently
influential albums – both of which have sold tens of millions of copies- both
being released on the same day? The
Chili Peppers had been around for nearly a decade and had released four albums
and an EP prior to this release. They had had some minor success on the
alternative music charts, most notably with their blistering cover of Stevie
Wonder’s “Higher Ground” in 1989, but they will still largely unknown by most
music fans. That all changed with Blood
Sugar Sex Magik. Produced by the esteemed Rick Rubin, who had a wealth of
prior experience working with both rock and hip-hop artists, the album took the
Chili Peppers to unexpected heights.
Rubin was the perfect person to shepherd the band’s unique blend of
funk, punk, rap and rock into a new decade.
Songs like “Give It Away” and “Suck My Kiss” delivered the funky grooves
expected from the band but those brash numbers were paired with and buoyed by
more melodic songs like the monster hit “Under the Bridge” and “Breaking the
Girl.” This variety brought in hordes of new fans. “Under the Bridge” was a Top 3 hit in the
U.S. and peaked in the Top 5 in countries around the world. Blood Sugar Sex Magik made the Red Hot
Chili Peppers a household name and helped push a funkier side of alternative
rock into the mainstream.
Soundgarden – Badmotorfinger. Released 10/18/91. Sold
3 million copies worldwide. If Pearl Jam represents the arena rock side of
grunge and Nirvana represents the punk rock side, Soundgarden – especially
their first 3 albums – represents the heavy metal side of grunge. This album
wasn’t as commercially successful as the other albums on this list but it is
still incredibly influential. Similar to Metallica, this album helped
bring metal to the masses. With alternative
tunings and a wall of guitars supporting Chris Cornell’s soaring, one-of-a-kind
vocals, Badmotorfinger showed a band that was maturing, honing their
craft and hitting their stride on their third album. “Jesus Christ Pose” offers
deft political criticism, while “Rusty Cage” offers distorted guitars and odd
time signatures that keep up with any thrash band out there. The album’s biggest hit, “Outshined” – in
addition to showcasing Chris Cornell’s vocals – provided us with one of rock’s
all-time great lines: “I’m looking California and feeling Minnesota.”
U2 – Achtung Baby. Released 11/18/91. Sold 8
million copies in the U.S. and more than 18 million worldwide. Unlike the
other groups on this list, U2 was a well-established, world-famous band long
before 1991. One could argue that,
following the success of 1987’s The Joshua Tree, U2 was the biggest band
in the world. However, some of that shine wore off with the clunky follow-up, Rattle
& Hum, and even the band themselves was at a crossroads. After nearly breaking up, the band spent nearly
a year recording Achtung Baby. They wanted to create something that
sounded different than what people expected of U2. They wanted to reinvent
themselves to show that they were still relevant for another decade. With Achtung Baby, they did just
that. The band leaned into European
dance music while also channeling the sounds of the emerging alternative music
of the late 1980s. In the mid-1980s,
with The Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree, U2 had a distinct
sound that was different from almost anything else on the radio while still
being very accessible. With Achtung
Baby, the band created an album that didn’t sound like much of anything
else on the radio but that also didn’t sound like U2…while still being very
accessible. Anchored by the funky beats
of “Mysterious Ways”, the crunching guitars and conversational vocals of “Until
the End of the World” and the unifying, anthemic “One,” Achtung Baby
took a band that was on the precipice of dissolution and proved once again that
they were the biggest band in the world.
Along the way, the new sound U2 put forth on the record lent credence to
and helped further acceptance of alternative rock in the early 1990s.
Honorable Mention:
In addition to those 6 iconic albums, the aforementioned 14-week
period also produced some other great, popular albums:
·
Spin Doctors, Pocket Full of Kryptonite.
Released 8/20/91. Some fun funk rock that produced monster hits is “Little
Miss Can’t Be Wrong” and “Two Princes”
·
Toad the Wet Sprocket, fear. Released
8/27/91. Jangly, folk alternative rock at its finest. Produced two big hits in “All I Want” and “Walk
on the Ocean.”
·
Guns ‘n Roses, Use Your Illusion I and
Use Your Illusion II. Both released 9/17/91. The two records
pushed Guns ‘n Roses from the gritty blues hard rock of their earlier releases
into more of an art rock direction, with longer songs and elaborate videos for
massive hits like “November Rain” and “Don’t Cry.”
Thanks for joining me on this trip down memory lane of one
of the most consequential 3-month periods of rock history.
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