Tonight on Twitter, a meme was going around asking us to share our top nine albums from the 1990s. Lists like that are arbitrary, and, much like any list, will vary from day to day as to what my response will include.
Like many of my Gen X friends, the ’90s was a crucial decade for me. It ran from high school, through college, and into my first years of adulthood — and my major years of concert attendance. But because my high school years extended into two decades, I had to check which decade some pivotal albums came out. (Maybe sometime soon I’ll consider my top 8 albums from the ’80s…)
But for tonight, these were my answers:
- Boys on the Side soundtrack: While out with my volleyball teammates a couple weeks ago, we were considering all-important questions of places we wanted to visit and places we’d recommend. One asked if there was a specific song that we associated with being on vacation. I couldn’t think of one, but I associate this soundtrack with roadtrips and sunny days heading down the highway. This would be my convertible album, if I owned a convertible.
- Rites of Passage, Indigo Girls: This isn’t my favorite Indigo Girls album, but is probably the one I know best.
- Little Earthquakes, Tori Amos: Tori was the first artist I discovered in college and this angsty, heart-rending album epitomizes my first year.
- Automatic for the People, REM: This was the first cd I bought just before heading off to college.
- River of Dreams, Billy Joel: I can remember Grey Kitten and I going into Caldor’s to buy this the summer after my first year of college. “Lullabye (Good Night My Love)” is one of my favorite songs.
- The Honesty Room, Dar Williams: This album brought me back to my folkie roots. Dar’s written many other great songs and albums that I’ve loved, but no more so than her first commercially successful one.
- Beauty and the Beast soundtrack: What bookworm didn’t see Belle on the screen and immediately see herself reflected back at her? If someone offered me a yellow ballgown to this day, I would immediately say yes, because I would know that there were hours of reading and waltzing in a magnificent personal library in my future. Who’d have guessed, indeed…
- New Moon Shine, James Taylor: J.T. has many great great songs that date back before I was born. But this album seems to finally find him feeling comfortable in his own skin and his own place in history, and I appreciate that.
- Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette: If Tori started the early ’90s with a feminist yowl, Alanis picked it up in the later half of the decade, giving voice to so many of women in their 20s.
In true definitive list format, as soon as I was writing this I realized I’d left off a crucial album: Kenny Loggins’ Return to Pooh Corner. For years that album sang me to sleep and soothed me through stressful moments, and I don’t know how I could have overlooked it. Which album would it replace? Maybe J.T., if push came to shove. But no one is going to push or shove, and so my list comes in at a round ten.
Do you have nine albums from the 1990s you consider to be part of you? Or a similar list from another decade that’s more meaningful to you?
Like you say, this list can vary from time to time, but here are the 9 I posted on Twitter with a bit more explanation behind their inclusion.
Amused To Death – Roger Waters. This all ties into my Pink Floyd fandom (thanks, Dan and Garrett), and I’d already heard of this album years before it was released. As it played off themes from Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death (a book I read in high school English class that really resonated with me), I couldn’t wait for this album. And it lived up to expectations: moving, brash, loud, and amazingly melodic given David Gilmour’s soaring guitars were nowhere near this thing. The album arrived at the right time for me: in 1992, when I was disillusioned with college and needed a big change.
Flood – They Might Be Giants. I was on the brink of graduating from high school when this came out, and it was simply quirky. I didn’t really warm up to it until I was actually in college, but once it clicked, it grew on me quickly.
Automatic For The People – R.E.M. I blame my R.E.M. appreciation on two of my coaches from Rowmark, Jack and Steve, who listened to Document so many times on long road trips that I couldn’t help but love their sound. Their tour behind Green was an early concert experience for me. And this album was so strong and still sees frequent play time on my iPhone and iPod.
Rhythm of the Saints – Paul Simon. When this album first came out, I called it “Variations on a Theme of ‘Cecilia.'” I didn’t really like the rhythm-heavy arrangements, but my opinion changed when I saw Simon and his band perform many of its tracks live in SLC. Since then, the album has grown on me and I now consider it one of Simon’s strongest.
Flight of the Cosmic Hippo – Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. I first saw this “jazzgrass” quartet at the Utah Arts Festival in the spring of 1991 and was blown away by their sound. Because of this performance I decided to drive (with my friend Menasheh) to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival where they were headlining (as were Indigo Girls, David Wilcox, and this bloke called James Taylor). “Blu-Bop” from this album is a perfect wake-up alarm tone.
Flaming Pie – Paul McCartney. This album hit just after graduating from Conn. McCartney wrote some of his best material since 1988’s Flowers In The Dirt, the recent Beatles reunion bringing Jeff Lynne and Ringo into the mix and producing a work that still gets frequent headphone time.
Achtung Baby – U2. I remember buying this album at a record store that was where SLRC now is. The opening salvo of “Zoo Station” still packs a punch, and that sound narrated my move from Utah to Connecticut.
Ten Summoner’s Tales – Sting. Easily Sting’s strongest solo album, every track is strong, and listening to this album brings me back to summers in Utah in the early 1990s, when my friends and I frequented outdoor concerts at ParkWest. Good times.
The Sky Is Crying – Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Dan turned me on to SRV and his emotive blues guitar. This album was released posthumously and contains some of his best work, including the title track, a moves-me-to-tears cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing,” and the all-too-prescient “Life By The Drop.”
Harvest Moon – Neil Young. Garrett turned me on to Neil Young, loaning me his Decade hits set. I really dug his early acoustic work, and this album revisits that early style. I saw Young in concert at ParkWest, with third row center seats. Young performed solo, moving from instrument to instrument (and beer to beer) as the night rolled on. It was an improvised setlist, where if a song wasn’t clicking Young would just stop, shrug, and start something different. It was a great show, and is a great album.
Honorable mentions:
The Division Bell – Pink Floyd. I associate this album with two excellent concerts in 1994 – one at the old Foxboro Stadium, the other at the old Giants Stadium at The Meadowlands. The album was a welcome return to form for Pink Floyd, and at the time they were the band I listened to the most.
Anthology 2 – The Beatles. Why this one over the first volume? Because it contained the most un-bootlegged material of the series. My “Beatleg” collection was already huge at this point, but having outtakes from Sgt. Pepper was truly awesome. And of the two reunion tracks, “Real Love” was the stronger one (because it was essentially completely written before Paul, George, and Ringo added their bits).
River of Dreams – Billy Joel. This album was on the in-store playlist at the Strawberries music store I co-managed in Rocky Hill. I dug it. I still do.
Comment by Rudi 03.11.20 @ 10:41 am