Sonic Youth belongs in a category of classic bands that are just too loud for me to ever get into. I’ve heard nothing but praise for the work of (one-time) married couple Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon but the music I’ve heard is just too damn noisy.
1990’s Goo, the band’s sixth studio album, is one of their most acclaimed (along with its predecessor, 1988’s Daydream Nation. Even so, I don’t hear a lot on it that grabs me.
After Cocteau Twins and Ride, Jane’s Addiction feels downright conventional, in a good way. I was never a big fan of Perry Farrell’s alternative rock band but I could see the anarchic appeal.
The band’s second album, Ritual De Lo Habitual, was released in 1990 to critical acclaim and strong sales. It turned out to be their last album before their first breakup, as drugs and egos drove the band apart.
I certainly learn things doing these ‘Decades’ posts. For example, I’d never heard of the “shoegazing” genre, which began in the U.K. in the late 80s.
Named after the playing style of band members who stood motionless onstage staring at the floor while playing, but referring as well to the mix of distortion and feedback typical of their songs, “shoegazing” sounds like the soundtrack of Hell.
I’ve heard of the Cocteau Twins but this is the first time I’ve ever consciously listened to their songs. Two Scottish trio released their seventh, and most acclaimed, album — Heaven or Las Vegas — in 1990.
The band’s style is described as dream pop, which apparently means unintelligible lyrics over a bed of ambient sound.
Now that I’ve counted down the (very few) 1990 albums that mean something to me, I turn my attention to the ones I don’t know, or don’t know well.
I scoured as many critics’ lists as I could and narrowed the list down to ten albums that appear on all or most of them.
THe album that showed up the most, by far, was Depeche Mode’s Violator. The seventh studio album by the British New Wave act was not just a critical hut but also the best seller in their 35+ year career.
Meet Me In Montauk 