Trent Reznor’s tortured, angry persona got old for me pretty quick for a couple of reasons. One; a performative aspect began to creep into it after Nine Inch Nails achieved massive mainstream success, and two; the bloat of 1997’s The Fragile was a major turn-off. It just seemed like too much to get through). With… Read More “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails (1994)
If anyone thought that success would’ve mellowed Pearl Jam out, all they had to do was press play on the Seattle band’s second album, Vs. Talk about coming in hot! “Go” comes after you with the strength and speed of the train that runs those kids off the track in Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” video. It’s… Read More “Go” by Pearl Jam (1993)
Why yes, there was a lot of music made by and for disaffected people in the early ‘90s, particularly by and for young men. Gangsta rap took over one side of the spectrum, and morose alternative rock consumed the other side. Then the two merged and we got Korn and Limp Bizkit and that was the… Read More “Creep” by Stone Temple Pilots (1992)
Of course, I was an alienated teen in the ‘90s. Hell, I’m a somewhat alienated adult in 2018. I was/am also a fairly alienated teen/adult who developed/develops unrequited crushes on people I didn’t/don’t think I’m worthy of because I had/have shitty self esteem. So, Thom Yorke in the summer of 1993 was speaking my motherfucking… Read More “Creep” by Radiohead (1992)
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” did not knock me off my ass the way it did millions of other folks that were in my general age range during the winter of 1991-1992. I was a junior in high school and my musical tastes generally ran (and still run) softer. “Teen Spirit” was “crazy white boy heavy metal… Read More “Come As You Are” by Nirvana (1991)
Chris Cornell didn’t really know what “Black Hole Sun” was about. Allegedly. “Regarding “Black Hole Sun”, Cornell stated, “It’s just sort of a surreal dreamscape, a weird, play-with-the-title kind of song.”[5] He also said that “lyrically it’s probably the closest to me just playing with words for words’ sake, of anything I’ve written. I guess it… Read More “Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden (1994)
My best friend in high school was this stout Italian kid named James. You could usually find us sitting outside the mechanical engineering room, doing the Statler and Waldorf thing while waiting for our friends to get out of class. We traded handwritten letters every day (in addition to passing notes during the classes we… Read More “Black” by Pearl Jam (1991)
The unofficial first single from STP’s big-deal sophomore effort, and a featured song from a movie I still have yet to see (”The Crow”), “Big Empty” brooded in the manner of much ‘90s-era grunge. The quiet verse/loud chorus dynamic worked its best here, and Weiland’s anguished growl proved him a worthy successor (or mimicker) to Vedder,… Read More “Big Empty” by Stone Temple Pilots (1994)
Five Star Jamz 