Tag Archives: Decades

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Song of the Day #3,890: ‘Remember the Time’ – Michael Jackson

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.

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Song of the Day #3,889: ‘In Bloom’ – Nirvana

I can’t write about the music of 1991 without mentioning Nirvana’s Nevermind, the smash hit that ushered in the grunge era and defined the sound of the decade to come.

I was never a Nirvana fan, though I do like the album’s four hit singles: ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ ‘Come As You Are,’ ‘Lithium‘ and today’s SOTD, ‘In Bloom.’ This might be the best of them.

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Song of the Day #3,888: ‘By the Time I Get to Arizona’ – Public Enemy

Welcome to the early 90s and the latest edition of my Decades series, wherein I look at the albums released in a given year in the 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s. Most recently I’ve covered 1971 and 1981, which brings us to our current focus: 1991.

This is the year I turned 19, and a time when I was actively buying new music. It was also a very strong year for album releases in general. So I will spend more time than usual on 1991 releases — three weeks on my own favorites from the year and another two or three weeks on critically acclaimed albums I don’t know well.

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Song of the Day #3,808: ‘No Reply At All’ – Genesis

Genesis is a fascinating band, one of the few to fundamentally change musical styles (and singers) over decades while continuing to grow its audience.

They started as a folk rock band fronted by Peter Gabriel, then shifted to prog rock after Phil Collins joined as drummer and background vocalist. When Gabriel left the band in 1978 and Collins took over as lead singer, they started a gradual shift toward pop. That’s where they would ultimately find the most success, reaching their commercial pinnacle with 1986’s excellent Invisible Touch.

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Song of the Day #3,807: ‘Urgent’ – Foreigner

I’m passingly familiar with the next featured 1981 album, Foreigner’s 4. I bought it for $5 a couple of years ago because it seemed like an album I should own.

4 was, appropriately, the rock band’s fourth album. I was going to write that it was by far their most successful, but a quick check revealed that, while this album sold 6 million copies and spent 10 weeks in Billboard’s #1 spot, their 1978 album Double Vision actually outsold it by a million.

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