Hard to believe it’s already two years since Aimee Mann released her last album, the gorgeously melancholy Mental Illness. This was the sweetest, saddest Aimee Mann album an Aimee Mann fan could ever hope for.
Mann’s lyrics are always beautifully evocative even when they’re maddeningly inscrutable. Today’s SOTD, ‘Philly Sinks,’ appears to be about a man who abuses both alcohol and women, but that’s just a guess.
This is a very timely Random Weekend selection, as Eminem’s 1999 The Slim Shady LP celebrated its 20th anniversary exactly one week ago.
This was Eminem’s second full-length album and his first with Interscope records. While his debut album, 1996’s Infinite, sold only 1,000 copies, this record was a massive success, going quadruple platinum and kicking off a period where he was the most talked about and listened to rapper in the industry.
Nirvana is the grunge act that receives most of the credit for popularizing the genre, but fellow Seattle band Pearl Jam was just as successful and influential. The band’s 1991 debut, Ten, is neck-and-neck with Nevermind in terms of domestic album sales, both topping 10 million.
I love several tracks on Ten, including ‘Black,’ ‘Evenflow,’ ‘Alive’ and today’s SOTD, hit single ‘Jeremy.’ The rest of the cuts are either a little too loud, a little too meandering, or both.
Red Hot Chili Peppers’ breakthrough 1991 album Blood Sugar Sex Magik sold 7 million copies in the U.S. and doubled that worldwide. It was the commercial peak of a career that has been remarkably consistent. I was surprised to see that every one of the half-dozen albums they’ve released since this one has gone Gold or Platinum.
I’ve never been much of a Chili Peppers fan, but I gave this album a lot of attention in 1991. If you’re in the mood for the band’s brand of L.A. soulful funk, this record is a minor masterpiece.
Michael Jackson’s Dangerous is the top-selling 1991 album worldwide, though it has sold “only” 8 million copies in the United States. Jackson’s follow-up to Bad and Thriller doesn’t have as many hits as those albums but it certainly found an audience.
I remember listening to this album a fair amount when it came out, though skimming it now I don’t recognize most of the songs. The exceptions are ‘Black and White,’ ‘Heal the World,’ ‘Dangerous,’ and today’s SOTD, ‘Remember the Time.’ I don’t much like any of those other than this one, but I like this one a lot.
Meet Me In Montauk 