Essential Studio Albums

[liebzz]

Hell yeah. Even as someone who generally does not enjoy "traditional" metal in that vein, that album rips.

It cured me of the concern I was getting jaded.

[liebzz]

Guns N’ Roses - Appetite For Destruction

This is one of those iconic albums that I had as a small kid (my parents needed a bit more oversight but that’s neither here nor there) that I tossed aside in the sweep of early 90s alternative rock movement. It’s one of the albums I shouldn’t have parted with. Jagged, raw, and dangerous - Axl’s on another level here, and while some of the lyrics can get clownish (“Take that to heart!”), he weaves through these songs with a perfect personality for the instrumentation he’s working with. I ragged on Sweet Child O’ Mine for years in the same way I can sometimes look down on Black - the anthem for all the feels amongst the very crowd the protagonist is feeling alienation from. But besides that point, this album is pretty spectacular as a debut. Mr. Brownstone evokes the vibe of its lyrical content, as does all of the first half of the album really. Paradise City is an epic anthem. Welcome to the Jungle, It’s So Easy, Nightrain, Out Ta Get Me, My Michelle - there’s no shortage of great highlights. I may not be a GNR lifer, but I can recognize on this album they had all the ingredients and cooked up something special.

The Essential Track: Mr. Brownstone

Up Next: Big Black - Songs About Fucking

[VinylGuy]

yeah, thats a classic. Its So Easy is one my favorite songs ever. That fucking bass line

[liebzz]

Big Black - Songs About Fucking

Even by the standards of the last week of listening, this is an incredibly abrasive album to listen to. It may reveal more on repeat listens, but it came off at first blush rather chaotic - though I was into the first track and Fish Fry in spots. It probably really just blew over my head, which is not so different than their first album. They were wise though to keep the run time down here since as albums seem to be getting longer, this sort of sound suits a 30 minutes and out approach.

The Essential Track: The Power of Independent Trucking

Up Next: Dinosaur Jr. - You’re Living All Over Me

[oasisfan35]

Guns N’ Roses - Appetite For Destruction

This is one of those iconic albums that I had as a small kid (my parents needed a bit more oversight but that’s neither here nor there) that I tossed aside in the sweep of early 90s alternative rock movement. It’s one of the albums I shouldn’t have parted with. Jagged, raw, and dangerous - Axl’s on another level here, and while some of the lyrics can get clownish (“Take that to heart!”), he weaves through these songs with a perfect personality for the instrumentation he’s working with. I ragged on Sweet Child O’ Mine for years in the same way I can sometimes look down on Black - the anthem for all the feels amongst the very crowd the protagonist is feeling alienation from. But besides that point, this album is pretty spectacular as a debut. Mr. Brownstone evokes the vibe of its lyrical content, as does all of the first half of the album really. Paradise City is an epic anthem. Welcome to the Jungle, It’s So Easy, Nightrain, Out Ta Get Me, My Michelle - there’s no shortage of great highlights. I may not be a GNR lifer, but I can recognize on this album they had all the ingredients and cooked up something special.

The Essential Track: Mr. Brownstone

This cassette was the first piece of music that was mine and goddamn that takes me back
Popping it on now, thanks liebzz!

[liebzz]

Dinosaur Jr. - You’re Living All Over Me

This is one of those bands I always felt like I should get into and never took the dive. What a great excuse to finally go there, and so happy that’s happening. This one, like the debut, is fantastic. Just thoroughly enjoyed most of this: Slugefeast, The Lung, Tarpit, and Little Fury Things jumped out at first, along with that wild cover of Just Like Heaven. Not perfect here but I don’t think it’s really meant to be that.

The Essential Track: The Lung

Up Next: Green River - Dry As a Bone/Rehab Doll

[liebzz]

Guns N’ Roses - Appetite For Destruction

This is one of those iconic albums that I had as a small kid (my parents needed a bit more oversight but that’s neither here nor there) that I tossed aside in the sweep of early 90s alternative rock movement. It’s one of the albums I shouldn’t have parted with. Jagged, raw, and dangerous - Axl’s on another level here, and while some of the lyrics can get clownish (“Take that to heart!”), he weaves through these songs with a perfect personality for the instrumentation he’s working with. I ragged on Sweet Child O’ Mine for years in the same way I can sometimes look down on Black - the anthem for all the feels amongst the very crowd the protagonist is feeling alienation from. But besides that point, this album is pretty spectacular as a debut. Mr. Brownstone evokes the vibe of its lyrical content, as does all of the first half of the album really. Paradise City is an epic anthem. Welcome to the Jungle, It’s So Easy, Nightrain, Out Ta Get Me, My Michelle - there’s no shortage of great highlights. I may not be a GNR lifer, but I can recognize on this album they had all the ingredients and cooked up something special.

The Essential Track: Mr. Brownstone

This cassette was the first piece of music that was mine and goddamn that takes me back
Popping it on now, thanks liebzz!

Hell yeah! Still holds up, sans the cheesy song endings Axl throws in - but that probably releases some of the self-seriousness this album could have had, so we’ll take it.

[wease]

Guns N’ Roses - Appetite For Destruction

This is one of those iconic albums that I had as a small kid (my parents needed a bit more oversight but that’s neither here nor there) that I tossed aside in the sweep of early 90s alternative rock movement. It’s one of the albums I shouldn’t have parted with. Jagged, raw, and dangerous - Axl’s on another level here, and while some of the lyrics can get clownish (“Take that to heart!”), he weaves through these songs with a perfect personality for the instrumentation he’s working with. I ragged on Sweet Child O’ Mine for years in the same way I can sometimes look down on Black - the anthem for all the feels amongst the very crowd the protagonist is feeling alienation from. But besides that point, this album is pretty spectacular as a debut. Mr. Brownstone evokes the vibe of its lyrical content, as does all of the first half of the album really. Paradise City is an epic anthem. Welcome to the Jungle, It’s So Easy, Nightrain, Out Ta Get Me, My Michelle - there’s no shortage of great highlights. I may not be a GNR lifer, but I can recognize on this album they had all the ingredients and cooked up something special.

The Essential Track: Mr. Brownstone

Up Next: Big Black - Songs About Fucking

A perfect album. A desert island disc for sure.

[oasisfan35]

Guns N’ Roses - Appetite For Destruction

This is one of those iconic albums that I had as a small kid (my parents needed a bit more oversight but that’s neither here nor there) that I tossed aside in the sweep of early 90s alternative rock movement. It’s one of the albums I shouldn’t have parted with. Jagged, raw, and dangerous - Axl’s on another level here, and while some of the lyrics can get clownish (“Take that to heart!”), he weaves through these songs with a perfect personality for the instrumentation he’s working with. I ragged on Sweet Child O’ Mine for years in the same way I can sometimes look down on Black - the anthem for all the feels amongst the very crowd the protagonist is feeling alienation from. But besides that point, this album is pretty spectacular as a debut. Mr. Brownstone evokes the vibe of its lyrical content, as does all of the first half of the album really. Paradise City is an epic anthem. Welcome to the Jungle, It’s So Easy, Nightrain, Out Ta Get Me, My Michelle - there’s no shortage of great highlights. I may not be a GNR lifer, but I can recognize on this album they had all the ingredients and cooked up something special.

The Essential Track: Mr. Brownstone

This cassette was the first piece of music that was mine and goddamn that takes me back
Popping it on now, thanks liebzz!

Hell yeah! Still holds up, sans the cheesy song endings Axl throws in - but that probably releases some of the self-seriousness this album could have had, so we’ll take it.

Just listening to Welcome to the Jungle and clearly this is well above the hair metal you have been running through but damn, pull Axl out and it is still incredible... I have instrumentals of that and Sweet Child of Mine and totally

[liebzz]

Green River - Dry As a Bone/Rehab Doll

Taking these two EPs together for this. The tension between the sound of their first EP, Come On Down, and an effort to start moving towards a more commercial sound is one that I think produces some gems here, and this is a band, if they were able to manage that tension, somewhat akin to Mick Jagger’s constant need to sound fresh and relevant against Keith Richards’ blues base, could have yielded some pretty great results over time. At the least, they go down as the band that was there first in Seattle and spawn two extremely successful bands in their wake. This Town, Unwind, Searchin’, Ain’t Nothin’ To Do, Queen Bitch, Forever Means, Rehab Doll, Porkfist, Take A Dive, and One More Stitch are all really solid tracks with way more range than you’d expect. I can’t really lament their demise after this because well I much prefer both Mudhoney and Pearl Jam, but they were certainly on to something.

The Essential Track: Searchin’

Up Next: The Melvin’s - Gluey Porch Treatments

[liebzz]

The Melvins - Gluey Porch Treatments

This another been there first Seattle area band, though much different sounding than Green River. The Melvins sound much more muddied, a sludge metal that recalls moments of Sabbath’s most deliberate heavy riffing. Here, the Melvins choose a lot of very short track, as if they were getting the framework of the sound down on paper, moving through on a sort of stream of consciousness in this world. The opening track, Eye Flys, is I think the most essential here, building into the sludge fest brick by brick. I had a few of their 90s albums and enjoyed those, so I know it progresses from here.

The Essential Track: Eye Flys

Up Next: Soundgarden - Screaming Life/Fopp

[liebzz]

Soundgarden - Screaming Life/Fopp

This is a great way to straddle the line between the close of our run of ‘87 albums into ‘88. Again combining the EPs together, Soundgarden hitting this thread to me is a major occasion. While this one is a sort of up and down affair, in part due to the rough nature of the recording, there’s a few tracks here that are essential to the Soundgarden experience for me - particularly Entering and Nothing to Say. At the same token, the Fopp EP is ultimately nothing like you’d expect or really hear from them again - Fopp and the remix are fun and easy, almost to the point of pop, and their take on Swallow My Pride is pretty great too. Just an incredible band, even at this early juncture.

The Essential Track: Nothing to Say

Up Next: Van Halen - OU812

[liebzz]

Van Halen - OU812

I’m not sure if there’s more comfort or I’m just mentally more calibrated to Van Halen with Sammy Hagar, but I found this to be an upgrade from 5150. The token ballad is still hard to stomach, When It Love, and I have a hard time in coming to a conclusion on Finish What Ya Started, but that’s been the case since I first heard that song many years ago. There are just some things, like Eddie Van Halen’s guitar that draw me in, and simultaneously something beyond description that pulls me away. Mine All Mine, AFU, Cabo Wabo, and Source of Infection make this album worth it though, where Sammy’s style of party rock feels much more natural.

The Essential Track: Source of Infection

Up Next: Lita Ford - Lita

[wease]

Van Halen - OU812

I’m not sure if there’s more comfort or I’m just mentally more calibrated to Van Halen with Sammy Hagar, but I found this to be an upgrade from 5150. The token ballad is still hard to stomach, When It Love, and I have a hard time in coming to a conclusion on Finish What Ya Started, but that’s been the case since I first heard that song many years ago. There are just some things, like Eddie Van Halen’s guitar that draw me in, and simultaneously something beyond description that pulls me away. Mine All Mine, AFU, Cabo Wabo, and Source of Infection make this album worth it though, where Sammy’s style of party rock feels much more natural.

The Essential Track: Source of Infection

Up Next: Lita Ford - Lita

Black and Blue has long been my pick, but Mine All Mine has got to be one of the most kicking keyboard songs.

[liebzz]

Lita Ford - Lita

Welp, I hope you enjoyed our hair metal break for a moment as we dip our toes back into those waters. I don’t know that Lita Ford fits neatly in that category really, a kind of mush mash of hard rock and metal, but we’re in route. The class of this thing is her duet with Ozzy, who has an inexplicable ability to deliver on ballads, and again here on Close My Eyes Forever. The start of this album is also pretty good with Back to the Cave, Can’t Catch Me, and Blueberry - though admittedly this gets old on me after that.

The Essential Track: Close My Eyes Forever

Up Next: Winger (we take the full dive)

[wease]

I went to a party last Saturday night. I didn’t get laid, I got in a fight. It ain’t no big thing.

[liebzz]

Winger

I’ll say this - they finish both halves of this album in fascinating form - the first with a hair metal rendition of Purple Haze, and the second with the most recognizable song here, Headed for a Heartbreak. I can’t say I cared much for any of this album, but I can respect the big swings, even if that’s what this album mostly amounts to, other than sounding much like the other hair metal bands of this era.

The Essential Track: Headed for a Heartbreak

Up Next: Poison - Open Up and Say Ah

[VinylGuy]

those two Green River and Soundgarden album remain untouchable classics for me, even if i dont listen to them that much. I remember getting to listen to Green River and actually understanding what Mudhoney was trying to do and what Jeff and Stone brought to MLB afterwards.

[liebzz]

those two Green River and Soundgarden album remain untouchable classics for me, even if i dont listen to them that much. I remember getting to listen to Green River and actually understanding what Mudhoney was trying to do and what Jeff and Stone brought to MLB afterwards.

Re: Green River, especially the latter, meaning Dry As a Bone/Rehab Doll you can hear those roots even more than on Come On Down.

[VinylGuy]

those two Green River and Soundgarden album remain untouchable classics for me, even if i dont listen to them that much. I remember getting to listen to Green River and actually understanding what Mudhoney was trying to do and what Jeff and Stone brought to MLB afterwards.

Re: Green River, especially the latter, meaning Dry As a Bone/Rehab Doll you can hear those roots even more than on Come On Down.

yeah, totally.
And i can understand also why the break up too, if you think about Jeff and Stone love´s for Janes or Gnr and Mark and Steve love for The Stooges for example, you can listen to those two paths on MLB or Mudhoney.