My readers are clamoring for another installment of “In the Year of…” and who am I to deny them?
I started this series by looking at my birth year, 1972, highlighting my top five albums of the year and ten records (new to me) that received critical acclaim. I then jumped forward a decade and gave the same treatment to 1982, discovering a few gems along the way.
Now I’ll skip ahead another ten years and spend the next four weeks on 1992.
Because I was an active music consumer at this point, I’m giving myself a top ten of personal picks rather than a top five. Then I’ll look at ten albums that flew under my radar but earned copious praise.
1992, the year I turned 20, happens to be the year I met my future wife, and as such it is a seminal musical period in my life.
These are the albums I played on repeat through my car stereo (on a Sony discman connected to the speakers via a wired cassette tape) while my life transformed from what it had been to what it would be forever more.
Some of these albums I enjoyed with my wife, and others on my own. Only one did I discover after 1992.
Starting the countdown at #10 is Gin Blossoms’ New Miserable Experience. This is one of the best 90s alt-rock albums, and the only record on this list that fits into that genre. The singles ‘Found Out About You’ and ‘Hey Jealousy’ were on constant rotation that summer, and remain two of my favorite songs from the era. But the whole album is solid, packed with catchy pop gems.
It’s hard to know how far or if at all could go
Waiting far too long for something I forgot was wrong
I don’t know all the answers I think that I’ll find
Or have it within the time but it’s all that I’ll have in mind
[Chorus]
Until I fall away
That won’t keep us waiting long
Until I fall away
I don’t know what to do anymore
Until I fall away
My fear pretend that I’ll never be in love again
It’s real to me but not like these fools and not like this scene
I won’t find or have it within the time
If it’s all rusted and faded in the spot where we fell
Where I thought I’d left behind
It’s loose now but we could try
[Chorus]
When there’s no good answers
To those new questions
Another personal disaster
There’s nowhere to go but down
Meet Me In Montauk 
1992 was a monumental year for me as well, as it was the year I graduated from law school, got married, passed the Florida Bar exam, became an attorney, started my first associate job, moved to Ft. Myers and watched my hometown get pummeled by Hurricane Andrew.
Somehow, through all of that, I don’t recall heavily listening to new music, so it will be interesting to see how many of the tunes you will feature this month are familiar to me. Today’s song isn’t one of them and, while I have heard of the Gin Blossoms, I’m not even sure I really know the two hits you mentioned. Their sound, however, feels like fairly soulless alt pop that rarely resonates with me.
I liked the Gin Blossoms a lot … catchy pop They petered out quickly though …