My #8 album of 1991 belongs to the late, great Tom Petty, recording as he so often did, with The Heartbreakers.
Into the Great Wide Open was the follow-up to 1989’s Full Moon Fever, and can’t help but pale in comparison to that all-time classic. But this is still a very good collection in the same smart Byrds-ian pop-rock vein as its predecessor.
Morrissey kicked off a successful solo career following the disbanding of The Smiths in 1987. He has released 11 albums in the three decades since, though the most interesting output came during the late 80s through mid 90s.
For my money, his best solo albums are his 1988 debut, Viva Hate, and his third album, 1992’s Your Arsenal, easily his best work. Sandwiched between them was 1991’s Kill Uncle, an oddly endearing record that I rank as my #9 album of 1991.
Continuing my look at the year 1991 in music, I’ll now count down my personal top ten albums of that year.
At #10 is U2’s Achtung Baby, the band’s seventh studio album and the first proper follow-up (setting aside the soundtrack album Rattle and Hum) to 1987’s classic The Joshua Tree.
Achtung Baby was a massive hit, with 18 million copies sold worldwide, second only to The Joshua Tree among their discography.
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.
Meet Me In Montauk 