Musicwhore.org Music and memory

A decade ago, I wrote a series of entries ranking my favorite albums from 1985 to 2004. My collection has expanded greatly since then, particularly in the last five years. So I wanted to see what has changed in 10 years.

We’ve actually revisited 1992 earlier in the year, and this list hasn’t changed, although I did tack on L7 and Helmet in the extended list.

1. Wayne Horvitz / The President, Miracle Mile
2. Máire Brennan, Máire
3. Henryk Górecki, Symphony No. 3 (Dawn Upshaw, David Zinman, London Sinfonietta)
4. k.d. lang, Ingenue
5. Sade, Love Deluxe
6. En Vogue, Funky Divas
7. Prince and the New Power Generation, 0(+> (Love Symbol Album)
8. Emmylou Harris and the Nash Ramblers, At the Ryman
9. Kronos Quartet, Pieces of Africa
10. Robin Holcomb, Rockabye

Other favorites from the year:

• The Sugarcubes, Stick Around for Joy
• Faith No More, Angel Dust
• Sonic Youth, Dirty
• Helmet, Meantime
• L7, Bricks Are Heavy

Helmet got caught up in the grunge craze of the early ’90s, even though they were clearly not grunge. Wikipedia says Helmet’s staccato riffage would influence Mastodon, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Korn and Linkin Park.

I’ll admit I picked up Meantime because of the grunge-adjacent marketing hype. I didn’t hold onto it, but like Shudder to Think’s Pony Express Record, I couldn’t shake it. So I brought it back into my collection when it was reissued on vinyl earlier in the year.

Bricks Are Heavy also suffered a bit of guilt by association. Butch Vig had been doing miraculous work with Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana and Sonic Youth. Surely, L7 would follow in that vein. I didn’t warm up to it. I’m not sure how 25 years turned around my perception of the album, but it did.

Tags: emmylou harris, en vogue, faith no more, favorite edition, helmet, henryk gorecki, kd lang, kronos quartet, l7, maire brennan, prince, rewind, robin holcomb, sade, sonic youth, the president, the sugarcubes, wayne horvitz