John Mellencamp’s Human Wheels, my #3 album of 1993, was the roots rocker’s 12th studio release. And he’s recorded 12 more since, during a career that has now spanned more than 40 years.
That’s quite a legacy for a man whose first album was released (without his knowledge) under the name Johnny Cougar, sold just over 10,000 copies, and prompted his label to drop him.
My #4 album of 1993 is Sting’s fourth solo record, Ten Summoner’s Tales. While 1987’s …Nothing Like the Sun holds the title as my favorite Sting album, this one is right up there with it.
An Album of the Year Grammy nominee and triple Platinum seller, this album didn’t produce any runaway hits but it is Sting’s top-selling album. Singles ‘If I Ever Lose My Faith in You’ and ‘Fields of Gold’ reached #17 and #23, respectively, on Billboard’s Hot 100.
I like doing the Decades series because it exposes me to new music I’ve missed over the years, but that’s just half the appeal. I’m equally happy to revisit albums I haven’t listened to in ages and remember how much I love them.
Jackson Browne’s I’m Alive has climbed up my 1993 list to #5, after starting toward the bottom half of the top ten when I first started planning these posts. All it took was for me to listen to the damn thing again.
Liz Phair’s 1993 debut album, Exile in Guyville, is probably the most critically-acclaimed album on my list. In fact, it landed at #1 on Village Voice’s annual Pazz & Jop poll, which aggregates hundreds of critics’ top ten lists.
It will have to settle for #6 on my own list, but that shouldn’t diminish its importance as a trailblazing achievement for the independent rock scene. This album gave a voice to a new generation of young women unafraid to be frank about their sexuality. It still sounds great, too.
My #7 album of 1993 is Bob Dylan’s World Gone Wrong, the second of back-to-back albums featuring covers of classic folk and blues songs.
This album, and its predecessor Good As I Been To You, fulfilled a recording contract Dylan had signed five years earlier and can reasonably be looked at as a low-effort way of meeting that obligation. But the entirely acoustic recordings feature some wonderful performances. World Gone Wrong even won a Grammy, for Best Traditional Folk Album.
Meet Me In Montauk 