albums that came out in 1991 that are better than “nevermind”
Periodically music people will mention, in a sneering way, that Spin rated Teenage Fanclub’s Bandwagonesque as the best album of 1991, beating out Nirvana’s Nevermind, which they ranked third (after second-place REM’s Out of Time).
However, Spin was correct. Both Bandwagonesque and Out of Time were better albums than Nevermind and, I would argue, they hold up much better today. Nirvana is fascinating culturally and from a business perspective, musically, not as much. Nevermind is very weak, and is not even the best Nirvana album: Both Bleach and Unplugged are much better.
1991 was an extremely strong year for music so, in another sense, Spin was wrong. The best album of 1991 was probably Loveless by My Bloody Valentine. Of course, exact rankings of this sort are subject to endless argument. Maybe Steady Diet of Nothing is better. Therefore, I have arranged the following list of
albums that came out in 1991 that are better than Nevermind in alphabetical order, to avoid controversies of this kind.
808 State: Ex:el
AFX: Analogue Bubblebath Vol I
Atheist: Unquestionable Presence
Bats: Fear of God
Beat Happening: Dreamy
Big Audio Dynamite: The Globe
Billy Bragg: Don’t Try This at Home
Blur: Leisure
Bolt Thrower: War Master
Bonnie Rait: Luck of the Draw
Cannibal Corpse: Butchered at Birth
Carcass: Necroticism - Descanting the Insalubrious
Coil: Love’s Secret Domain
Consolidated: Friendly Fa$cism
Daniel Johnston: Artistic Vice
De La Soul: De La Soul Is Dead
Death: Human
Dinosaur Jr.: Green Mind
Earth: Extra-Capsular Extraction
Electronic: Electronic
Feelies: Time for a Witness
fIREHOSE: Flyin’ the Flannel
Front 242: Tyranny (For You)
Fugazi: Steady Diet of Nothing
Gavin Bryars: After the Requiem
G&R: Use Your Illusion I / Use Your Illusion II
His Name
is Alive: Home Is in Your Head
KLF: The White Room
Lassigue Bendthaus: Matter
LFO: Frequencies
Liz Phair: Girly Sound
Massive Attack: Blue Lines
MBV: Loveless
Meat Puppets: Forbidden Places
Melvins: Bullhead
Mercury Rev: Yerself Is Steam
Momus: Hippopotamomus
Morbid Angel: Blessed Are the Sick
Morrissey: Kill Uncle
Mudhoney: Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
Nation of Ulysses: 13-Point Program to Destroy America
Ned’s Atomic Dustbin: God Fodder
Ocean Blue: Cerulean
Orb: The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld
Pet Shop Boys: Discography
Pixies: Trompe le Monde
Plaid: Mbuki Mvuki
Pooh Sticks: The Great White Wonder
Primal Scream: Screamadelica
Prince: Diamonds and Pearls
REM: Out of Time
Screaming Trees: Uncle Anesthesia
Screeching Weasel: My Brain Hurts
Sebadoh: Sebadoh III
Sepultura: Arise
Slayer: Decade of Aggression
Slowdive: Just for a Day
Smashing Pumpkins:
Gish
St Etienne: Foxbase Alpha
Superchunk: No Pocky for Kitty
Teenage Fanclub: Bandwagonesque
Thee Headcoatees: Girlsville
Thee Headcoats: Headcoatitude
This Mortal Coil: Blood
Throwing Muses: Real Ramona
Tribe Called Quest: Low End theory
Wedding Present: Seamonsters
Ween: The Pod
Wonder Stuff: Never Loved Elvis
Thank you to the Friends of Tom for the following additions, some of which I know and agree with, others which I trust meet the criteria for inclusion and will investigate further.
Slint: Spiderland
Cranes: Wings of Joy
The Young Gods: Play Kurt Weill
Doubting Thomas: The Infidel
Matthew Sweet: Girlfriend
Neil Young & Crazy Hose: Weld and Arc
Monster Magnet: Spine of God
Ice Cube: Death Certificate
The Jesus Lizard: Goat
Voivod: Angel Rat
Dead Horse: Peaceful Death & Pretty Flowers
Geto Boys: We Can’t Be Stopped
Del tha Funkeé Homosapien: I Wish My Brother
George Was Here
Skid Row : Slave to the Grind
Fudge Tunnel: Hate Songs
Black Sheep: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
Vic Chesnutt: West of Rome
Tags 1991, music