25 Albums Turning 25 That Don’t Suck

1991.  Was that really 25 years ago? I was a sophomore in college. About to be dumped by my girlfriend who in hindsight was a total bitch.  And of course going to spend a large amount of my time and disposable income in music stores.  The year started with the thankfully brief Gulf War.  Which motivated Yoko Ono to gather a bunch of celebrities and her son to record a rendition of “Give Peace A Chance” that most certainly displeased the corpse of John Lennon.  While 1990 was a year in flux, 1991 would be the year Nirvana and grunge took over.  With records from Seattle bands Temple of The Dog, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and, of course, Nirvana dominating radio and MTV and taking over rock music.

Ugly Kid Joe came and went. Guns N’ Roses finally delivered a follow-up to their 1987 debut.  Metallica released the Black Album ensuring they would never need to pay less than $200 for a pair of jeans again.  As my face was seeing it’s last pimples the first Lollapalooza Tour was launched as sales of Doc Martins surged.  And lucky me flannel shirts became fashionable.  And I think the New Kids On The Block were still sort of a thing and the MTV music awards featured videos you actually saw on MTV.

Eric Clapton’s kid fell out a window and died. Reba McEntire’s band and manager died in a plane crash.  Whitney Houston lip-synced the national anthem at the Super Bowl.  Izzy Stradlin quit Guns N’ Roses.  Freddy Mercury knocked off any chance of Eric Carr’s death making news by dying on the same day.  And I feel compelled to say something about Boyz 2 Men.  I think they were sort of a thing around this time.  Tupac released his first record.  He’s dead now.  And a lot of great records were released.  And in my expert opinion.  These were the best 25 of the lot.  Let me know if you think I missed something I will explain how you are wrong.

So in no particular order and no explanation, I give you…

25 Albums Turning 25 That Don’t Suck!