Show Notes
It's the last month of an amazing year in music, and we're listening to three albums that hit record stores just before the closing bells of 1991: Green Day's leap forward into pop punk stardom, Kerplunk; Live's mystically-infused debut Mental Jewelry; and the hilarious stoner metal of Monster Magnet on the influential Spine of God. Listen to the playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/23g5A89ga1J2jbS1qdkSZZ?si=a3a974b479d84518 #greenday #punk #90smusic #90srock #monstermagnet #stonerrock #metal #heavymetal #1991 #podcast #musicpodcast
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 120months.substack.com/subscribe
More from 120 Months Podcast
A storm of classic rock albums dropped in September 1992: Alice in Chains with their bracing, nightmarish grunge masterpiece Dirt; Stone Temple Pilots with their hit machine debut, Core; Blind Melon's sunny, Southern rock-infused self-titled debut; and Nine Inch Nails introducing their scary, deeply influential new sound on the EP Broken.
The 1992 movie Singles, written and directed by Cameron Crowe, helped spread awareness of the Seattle grunge scene to a mainstream American audience, and includes cameos from figures in bands like Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden (even Tad makes an appearance!). The soundtrack, featuring songs from Seattle's rising stars, probably had a bigger impact than the movie itself. This week we talk Singles and explore the role Hollywood plays in promoting, defining (and ruining?) regional music scenes.
Here’s video of this week’s episode, in which we discuss album releases from August 1992: Gin Blossoms’ New Miserable Experience, Uncle Tupelo’s March 16-20, 1992, Lucinda Williams’ Sweet Old World, The Wallflowers’ self-titled debut, INXS’ Welcome to Wherever You Are, and The Flaming Lips’ Hit to Death in the Future Head.
The legacy of Bob Dylan hangs heavily over the essential album releases from August 1992: Gin Blossoms with a brilliant, nostalgic collection of songs on New Miserable Experience; Uncle Tupelo's ode to ragged politically-charged folk music, March 16-20, 1992; Lucinda Williams showing off incredible songwriting chops on Sweet Old World; The Wallflowers with an impressive self-titled debut; INXS attempting to bridge their sound into the '90s on Welcome to Wherever You Are; The Flaming Lips gearing up for massive tonal changes on Hit to Death in the Future Head.
July 1992 is a month packed with new album releases. On this episode we talk about Sonic Youth's monumental Dirty; Megadeth's crossover classic Countdown to Extinction; Morrissey's harder sound on Your Arsenal; and Gordon, the debut album from Canada's hardest rocking nerds, Barenaked Ladies.