1993

Well that was a long break. Why? Because 1993 wasn't a huge year for music in my life. Rap dominated it, and while I clearly love the albums I'm about to list, there isn't much to say about some of them. I fell into a trap of feeling like I had to write a ton because I had done it before. SO, I'm gonna try to write less and actually get caught up, all the way to 2011 by New Years Eve 2012.

First, the runners up:

LL Cool J- 14 Shots To The Dome: I was too young for his earlier stuff, and everything after this was tame, radio friendly love rap. This had a perfect mix of everything, and some downright ghetto sounding stuff. "How I'm Comin'" is a rap classic in my book.

Green Jello- Cereal Killer Soundtrack: Such a stupid, weird album full of random songs, but somehow a classic. I used to listen to this on tape all the time. Sure, "Three Little Pigs" was a huge hit, but people who didn't give this album a chance missed out on classics like "Misadventures of Shitman."

The Breeders- Last Splash: "Cannonball" sold me on this album when I didn't really care about any music sung by women. But the songs are all great and I love the Deal sister's ethereal harmonies/production tricks. They just sound so spacey and awesome. 

Lords of The Underground- Here Come The Lords: In a year when I really embraced rap, this one was one of the first less known rap groups I discovered on Yo! MTV Raps. Listening now, the songs rarely change and Chief Rocka's vocals get old pretty fast, but this had catchy beats and relentless bass lines that kept my head bobbing for years. 

Phish- Rift: I wouldn't hear this for many many years, but it's a classic, and my 3rd favorite Phish album. Some of their better songs ("Rift") and some of their oddest/most annoying ("Lengthwise") make for an interesting listen and a great introduction to the world of Phish, as this was the second album I heard after Junta.

10. Wu-Tang Clan- Enter The Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers

I kind of didn't want to include this album since I didn't listen to it a ton and its inclusion on nearly every top whatever list from 1993 makes me feel like it's a bit overrated. And it is, but still- this is quite the album. Its sheer number of awesome rappers mixed with its absolutely horrid production and hilarious samples from Kung Fu movies make this quite the interesting listen. It honestly sounds like you just got dropped into the scariest ghetto imaginable, and a fight just broke out around you. This is battle rap, and for a white kid who grew up in the Maine woods, it's both terrifying and incredibly interesting. It  hits the spot perfectly for a guy who, for some reason, likes extremely mean gangsta rap. Method Man rules, and Old Dirty Bastard is hilariously challenged. 

Best songs: "Shame On A Nigga," "Can It All Be So Simple,""C.R.E.A.M," "Method Man," "Wu Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing Ta Fuck Wit"

9. 2Pac- Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.

2Pac would later become a legend- argued as either a violent chauvinist or street poet, and tragically killed by a driveby shooting. So many terrible and obvious cash- in albums have come out since his death that he either never died, or they just found a guy who sounds exactly like him. My brother became obsessed with him to the point where he wrote "2pac forever" on his track shoes and his AP art thesis piece was a 4 foot pastel drawing of him. I feel like this was 2Pac's best work, and all I think about when hearing it is drives to school in whatever grade I was in when this came out. Our ride to work played this, Ice Cube and Dr. Dre almost exclusively. This album was therefore a huge part of my high school experience, and even though today, some of it is forgettable or at least dated, "Holler If Ya Hear Me" and the other favorites still hit home as the driving anthems they were back then. It's no surprise that this started a seemingly never ending career for 2pac.

Best Songs: "Holler If Ya Hear Me," "Last Wordz," "Strugglin," "Keep Ya Head Up," "I Get Around," "Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z," "5 Deadly Venomz"

8. Smashing Pumpkins- Siamese Dream

 I first heard The Smashing Pumpkins along with the rest of the world, with the video for "Today." I didn't care much for Gish, and Mellon Collie... will always be my favorite. This album is carried 100% on the strength of the hits, as well as the amazing "Mayonaise." Every song is drenched in psychedelic  feedback and layers of guitar, and the ballads are instantly catchy and wonderful. I still don't really like Billy Corgan's voice, but he certainly had a unique one. Looking back on this album, my memories go straight to what "Mayonaise" meant to me (I even quoted it on my senior page in the yearbook ("No more promise, no more sorrow, no longer will I follow. Can anybody hear me? I just want to be me"- ahhh teenage angst)), or what "Disarm" always makes me think of- the second to last episode of the Shield, with Shane staring off into the sunset, contemplating the horrible thing he's about to do and remembering the innocence they all once had. Shivers. 

Best songs: "Today," "Rocket," "Disarm," "Mayonaise," "Cherub Rock"

7. Lenny Kravitz- Are You Gonna Go My Way

I liked "Are You Gonna Go My Way" a lot and always turned the TV up when the video came on. It was fun, the riff ruled, and it was catchy as hell. It wasn't until I decided to borrow (and eventually steal) the full CD from my brother when I realized that that song was just part of a masterpiece of fusing funk and 70's rock in a time when neither were popular- all into something amazing. The production even sounded like it was 20 years old. The true gems of this are when the strings kick in at the end of "Believe" and turn an otherwise quiet funky rock song into a beautiful epic, and the entire 7 minutes of "Sister"- from acoustic strumming flowing into wah pedal blues soloing, to Lenny cry-singing, to a huge hook and ridiculous soloing. What a song. While the album is a bit hit or miss, it's still quite a cool and unique album full of great songs.

Best songs: "Are You Gonna Go My Way," "Black Girl," "Is There Any Love In Your Heart" "Believe," "Sister"

6. Counting Crows- August And Everything After

I wouldn't appreciate this album until a solid 14 years later. At the time, I tried to dislike it, but just couldn't deny the catchiness of "Mr. Jones." Who was this weirdo with crappy dreads hopping around in a video singing about guitar colors? Then "Round Here" came out and I admitted that sure, they had a few good songs. Years later, after falling in love with "A Long December,"I finally checked the whole album out when I was old and somber enough to appreciate it. What a quiet, sad, rainy day album full of solid songs. Some take a long time to hit home, but once they do, they stay with you. It's not an album of catchy singalongs, and it's absolutely not a happy album. It's more of a mood album that just has a weird little magic to it that's hard to define. I mean, it OPENS with "Round Here." If this had come out at the right time in my life, it probably would have been a HUGE part of my musical life. Instead, it's something I quietly respect from afar and listen to every now and then when it fits my mood, which again, is usually sad while it's raining outside.

Best songs: "Mr. Jones," "Round Here," "Anna Begins," "Rain King," "A Murder Of One"

5. Ice Cube- Lethal Injection

This is another one that my ride to work, Cory, played endlessly. I will forever think of riding to high school and being blasted in the head with his car's absurd bass, the thumping beat of "Cave Bitch" kicking my ass at 7 in the morning. At first, I just liked the evil sounding angry stuff, but over time, I grew to appreciate nearly every song on this, specifically the party anthem of "Bop Gun (One Nation)"- which would also be my first true introduction to George Clinton and P funk. The music is perfectly produced, Ice Cube sounds great- mean when he needs to be, smooth and cool when he needs to be. This and The Predator made him my favorite rapper in the years when rap dominated my life. Not only is this is a perfect example of 90's gangsta rap, but it also stood the test of time. It still sounds fantastic today.

Best songs: "Ghetto Bird," "You Know How We Do It," "Cave Bitch," "Bop Gun (One Nation)," "Down For Whatever"

4. Cypress Hill- Black Sunday

This was one of the first ten CDs I bought, and my first one with a parental advisory sticker, when my parents finally allowed me to buy such "filth." I, along with the rest of the world, enjoyed "Insane In The Brain," and was intrigued by how unbelievably dark and evil the cover was. I had heard some of it in Cory's car, and listened to samples before I bought my used copy at Bull Moose, but had no idea just how awesome of an album it was. Somehow a cartoonish voice mixed with classic guitar sampling and huge bass mixed with mysterious creepiness and a completely over the top obsession with weed made for great music. Like the other rap classics from the early 90's, this is extremely varied, yet has a perfect flow and commonality to it. I was sad I couldn't blast this in my room (so as not to offend my parents), but boy was I happy that they finally let me hear swears so I could own such an awesome album.

Best songs: "I Wanna Get High," "Insane In The Brain," "Hits From The Bong," "A To The K," "Break 'Em Off Some"

3. Snoop Doggy Dogg- Doggystyle

This came out shortly after Dr. Dre's The Chronic, and at first, I didn't like it as much. I felt like it was more poppy, less mean, had more singing, had more of that g-funk influence, etc. But through Cory and my brother incessantly playing it, it grew on me like crazy, and now that I'm older and don't only want to listen to mean gangsta rap about killing people, I think I like this better than The Chronic. It captures perfectly that Death Row Records sound that either just ran out, or nobody has been able to capture since Dr. Dre disappeared off the face of the earth. There's not much else to say- everyone who liked this back then still has this album, and everyone recognizes it as the classic it is, right down to the bits in between songs. What they may not appreciate as much as me though, is just how awesome of a beat "Gzs And Hustlas" has. Go listen right now- it's so good.

Best songs: "G Funk (Intro)," "Gin And Juice," "Tha Shiznit," "Murder Was The Case," Who Am I (What's My Name?" "Gzs And Hustlas"

2. Nirvana- In Utero

Whether 1993 was clearly a big year for rap in my tastes, or those albums just stood the test of time better than some of the one hit wonders of those years, I'm not sure. But Nirvana was still dominating the world, and even though this lost the top spot of 1993 and is a lesser album than Nevermind, it's still a classic. How could it not be? It's less polished, not as obviously poppy, produced with the drums incredibly loud, and weirder (from songs called "Rape Me" to Kurt Cobain's obsession with birth), but every song is still immediately catchy and work to form not only a varied and classic album, but a great send off (as this was their last album). It wasn't as consistent as Nevermind, but "Heart-Shaped Box" and "Rape Me" are easily some of their best songs ever, and "All Apologies" still gives me chills for being the maybe-meant-to-be, maybe-not goodbye letter I see it as. This album makes me think of the Christmas morning I got it, and still gives me the weird feelings it did back then. It's an odd, unsettling combination of driving rock, sad melodies, and small bits of weird in just good old fashioned classic songwriting. And it's fantastic.

Best songs: "Scentless Apprentice," "Heart-Shaped Box,""Rape Me," "Dumb," "Milk It," "Tourettes," "All Apologies"

1. Pearl Jam- Vs.

At the time, In Utero probably would have been my choice for album of the year. But over time, I've realized that my semi-obsession with Nirvana may have influenced my opinion. The truth is, after getting both of these albums for Christmas that year (what a year!), this is the one I listened to more. And it's the one I appreciate more now. It's the best Pearl Jam album in my opinion, and the last one that I really cared about (Vitalogy has some classics, but it's not consistent enough to really work as a full album). It's extremely varied- from straight forward alternative rock ("Go") to radio ballad singalongs ("Daughter") to rippers (yes, rippers ("Blood")) to weird songs that shouldn't be as good as they are ("Rats") to "Rearviewmirror," a song that at the time was just another good song on a good album, but over time has become my favorite Pearl Jam song. Great guitar line, solid chorus, building flow, etc. It's just great. The whole album flows perfectly- it really is a band at the top of their game putting out a classic album. 

Best songs: "Go," "Animal," "Daughter," "W.M.A,""Rearviewmirror," "Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town"