Music: Best Albums of the Year Series: 1992

[Saturated Fats]

1965: The Beatles - Rubber Soul
1966: The Beatles - Revolver
1967: The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
1969: The Beatles - Abbey Road
1970: Black Sabbath - Paranoid
1971: Led Zeppelin - IV
1973: Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
1975: Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
1977: Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
1979: Pink Floyd - The Wall
1980: AC/DC - Back in Black
1982: Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
1984: Metallica - Ride the Lightning
1985: Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair
1988: Metallica - ...And Justice for All
1989: Pixies - Doolittle
1991: Nirvana - Nevermind
1994: Nirvana - MTV Unplugged in New York
1996: (TIE) Soundgarden - Down on the Upside // Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire
1998: (TIE) Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill // System of a Down - System of a Down
1999: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
2000: Radiohead - Kid A
2002: Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
2004: (TIE) Madvillain - Madvillainy // The Killers - Hot Fuss // Green Day - American Idiot
2005: Coldplay - X & Y
2007: Radiohead - In Rainbows
2010: The National - High Violet
2011: No definitive winner
2014: Behemoth - The Satanist

1972: Neil Young - Harvest (15 votes)

2nd Place: David Bowie - The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (14 votes)
3rd Place: Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath Vol. 4 (10 votes)
4th Place (TIE): Nick Drake - Pink Moon (8 votes)
4th Place (TIE): Steely Dan - Can't Buy a Thrill

Great to see so much participation in this one, and even better to see two outstanding albums duke it out. Honestly surprised to see Bowie not pull this one out - to be fair, when looking at who voted for what, there's a lot of overlap. But it is Neil Young, and probably his best-known album.

1992 is a monster year in the midst of a run of some of the most important years in modern music. There is no Nirvana/Metallica/Pearl Jam release to automatically plug into a victory, so I'm very curious to see which of these outstanding works gets the most love.

10/06: 2001
10/09: 1976
10/11: 1987

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[Langdon Alger]

Automatic for the people is one of the best rock albums of the decade imo.

 

[Teemu]

R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
Alice in Chains - Dirt
Lyle Lovett – Joshua Judges Ruth
The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall
The Offspring – Ignition
Uncle Tupelo - March 16-20, 1992

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Wow! Neil Young won the last poll. I wasn’t expecting that.
I really like Harvest a lot but it’s probably only my fifth best Neil album:
1. After the Goldrush
2. Tonight’s the Night
3. On the Beach
4. Everybody Knows This is Nowhere

Now back to 1992,
1. Tom Waites Bone Machine. My favourite album by him.
2. REM
3. Rage
4. Neil Young
5. Other: Peter Gabriel Us

 

[Cas]

I voted for A Blaze in the Northern Sky, but I have to mention:

Black Sabbath - Dehumanizer
Blind Guardian - Somewhere Far Beyond
Candlemass - Chapter VI
Count Raven - Destruction of the Void
Demolition Hammer - Epidemic of Violence
God Dethroned - The Christhunt
Iced Earth - Night of the Stormrider
Running Wild - Pile of Skulls
Samael - Blood Ritual
Sodom - Tapping the Vein

You start seeing a lot of variety in the early 90's as the black/death scenes coalesce. However, I think the best overall album of this bunch in 1992 was Black Sabbath - Dehumanizer.

 

[kihei]

The Cure: Wish
REM: Automatic for the People
Morphine: Good
Aphex Twins: Ambient Works 85-92
The Jesus and Mary Chain: Honey's Dead
Djavan: Coisa de Acender
Pat Metheny: Secret Story
The Charlatans: Between 10th and 11th
Daniela Mercury: O Canto de Cidade
Pavement: Slanted and Enchanted


:

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

This is Zorn's year and I'm giving him all top-3 positions. Great year overall and amazing top-end.

1. John Zorn – Elegy / John Zorn (with Lewis and Frisell) – More News For Lulu / John Zorn – John Zorn's Cobra Live At the Knitting Factory (not the best recording of Cobra, but this was my introduction to this piece and remains special to me / More News for Lulu is a minor live album, but the real piece de resistance here is Elegy, might be my favorite Zorn album)
2. Painkiller – Buried Secrets (probably my favorite Painkiller album)
3. Naked City – Grand Guignol / Naked City – Heretic: Jeux des dames cruelles / Naked City – Leng Tch'e (my favorite Naked City album came out in 1993, but this is still a monster year)
4. Cows – Cunning Stunts
5. Optical*8 – Optical*8 / Optical*8 – The Last Waltz From Distorted Honky-Tonk (this is basically two more Hoppy Kamiyama albums, I put them first 'cause they're even better than the following one, but like Zorn, they really could be all together – the self-titled one is a little harder to find, but really the best of the three IMO --- edit: never mind this last comment, it's now on YouTube!!)
6. Hoppy Kamiyama – Welcome to Forbidden Paradise
7. Ruins – Burning Stone
8. Barkmarket – Vegas Throat
9. Faith No More – Angel Dust
10. Boredoms – Pop Tatari
11. Tom Waits – Bone Machine (plus the subpar soundtrack for the Jarmusch film)
12. Suicidal Tendencies – Art of Rebellion
13. God – Possession
14. Caspar Brötzmann Massaker – Der Abend der schwarzen Folklore
15. XTC – Nonsuch

HMs
Otomo Yoshihide – We Insist?
The Nation of Ulysses – Plays Pretty for Baby
Diamanda Galas – The Singer
Ministry – ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ (Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs)
Body Count – Body Count
God Is My Co-Pilot – Speed Yr Trip / God Is My Co-Pilot – I Am Not This Biody / God Is My Co-Pilot – How I Got Over
The Mummies – Never Been Caught
Sonic Youth – Dirty
The Terminals – Touch
Marc Ribot – Requiem for What's His Name
Pantera – Vulgar Display of Power
Gallon Drunk – You, The Night...and the Music
The Fall – Code: Selfish
Leonard Cohen – The Future
Rage Against the Machine – Rage Against the Machine
Darkthrone – A Blaze in the Northern Sky
Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85-92
Steven Jesse Bernstein – Prison
The Tear Garden – The Last Man to Fly
Skinny Puppy – Last Rights
Brainbombs – Burning Hell
Cherubs – Icing
Melvins – Lysol (thanks to @jamppardi for the reminder)

Curiosities:
No artist (“NASA Voyager Recordings”) – Symphonies of the Planets (1 to 5)
Keiji Haino – Itsukushimi (Affection)
Ween – Pure Guava
The Jesus Lizard – Liar
The Irresistible Force – Flying High
In Slaughter Natives – Enter Now the World
Paul Schütze – New Maps of Hell
Coil – Stolen and Contaminated Songs
Laswell, Sharrock, Zorn, Frith, Bailey & Noyes – Improvised Music New York 1981 (this is a live recording, good but not great, but I had to include it, what a lineup!)
Extreme – III Sides to Every Story (thanks to @Smelling Salt for the reminder)

 

[kook10]

Other = Lazer Guided Melodies - Spiritualized

 

[reckoning]

This might be R.E.M.'s best chance to win one of these polls, though RATM is probably the favorite:

1) Automatic For The People - R.E.M.
2) Little Earthquakes - Tori Amos
3) Angel Dust - Faith No More
4) Dry - PJ Harvey
5) The Southern Harmony & Musical Companion - Black Crowes (not on poll)
6) Fully Completely - Tragically Hip
7) Slanted & Enchanted - Pavement
8) Dirty - Sonic Youth

 

[Eisen]

Biohazard - Urban Discipline
Therapy? - Nurse
Carter USM - 1992 The Love Album

 

[YoSoyLalo]

Dirt is an easy pick for me

 

[Mescaleroman]

Paul Weller - s/t
Cracker - s/t
Catherine Wheel - Ferment
James - Seven
Jonathan Richman - I , Jonathan
Manic Street Preachers - Generation Terrorists
Social Distortion - Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell

 

[plank]

It was a very good year!

1. March 16-20 1992 - Uncle Tupelo
2. Harvest Moon - Neil Young
3. s/t - Blind Melon
4. The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion - The Black Crowes
5. Main Offender - Keith Richards
6. Gravity - Alejandro Escovedo
7. s/t - Cracker
8. Arkansas Traveler - Michelle Shocked
9. Kiko - Los Lobos
10. Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell - Social Distortion
11. Sweet Old World - Lucinda Williams
12. Copper Blue - Sugar
13. Core - Stone Temple Pilots
14. Grave Dancers Union - Soul Asylum
15. Dirt - Alice in Chains
16. Fully Completely - Tragically Hip
17. Joshua Judges Ruth - Lyle Lovett
18. Hollywood Town Hall - The Jayhawks
19 . It's a Shame About Ray - Lemonheads
20. Candyland - James McMurtry

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

Rage Against the Machine is an awesome album but i hope Dirt wins here.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

There is Dirt, and then there is wrong.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

There is Dirt, and then there is wrong.

My HMs are not in rigid order, but I'm wrong at least 20 times before getting there. Very good album still, just an amazing year.

 

[plank]

for anyone not familiar with Sheila E's uncle

 

[VC]

Beastie Boys' Check Your Head is my al time favorite album so I vote for that.

 

[Perennial]

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Dirt is an easy pick for me

Ditto

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Rage Against the Machine is an awesome album but i hope Dirt wins here.

It's a great year with Core, Psalm 69, Fully Completely and the first Rage album, but yeah. The best grunge album by the best grunge band takes it.

 

[Babe Ruth]

There is Dirt, and then there is wrong.

yeah, I cast a vote for Dirt, and the Kyuss' album.
Also thought Rollins Band' The End of Silence was a great '92 album, but didn't see it on the list.. I'm casting a write-in for it.

 

[Azathoth]

Went with Dirt, Vulgar Displays of Power, A Blaze in the Northern Sky, Countdown to Extinction and Others

Others:
Blind Guardian-Somewhere Far Beyond
Cannibal Corpse-Tomb of the Mutilated
Amorphis-The Karelian Isthmus

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

It's a great year with Core, Psalm 69, Fully Completely and the first Rage album, but yeah. The best grunge album by the best grunge band takes it.

*metal band mislabeled as grunge because they came from Seattle

 

[Smelling Salt]

From the list I went with:

1. Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power
2. AIC - Dirt
3. Dream Theater - Images & Words
4. RATM - RATM
5. Megadeth - Countdown to Extinction


My other five would be:

1. Extreme - III Sides to Every Story
2. Bon Jovi - Keep The Faith
3. Warrant - Dog Eat Dog
4. AIC - SAP
5. Def Leppard - Adrenalize