Music: Best Albums of the Year Series: 1992

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

My other five would be:

1. Extreme - III Sides to Every Story

Completely missed this one. I don't think I would have put it in my ranking, music is not really my style, but there's some good moments, and the concept is certainly intriguing. It should have been in my curiosities at the very least. Thx.

 

[frisco]

Other than Automatic For The People:
Walking In London-Concrete Blonde
Human Touch-Bruce Springsteen
Lucky Town-Bruce Springsteen
Scream In Blue-Midnight Oil
Come On, Come On-Mary Chapin Carpenter
Welcome To Wherever You Are-INXS

My Best-Carey

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Alice In Chains - Dirt

Pantera - Vulgar Display Of Power

Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky

Ministry - Psalm 69

Honourable Mentions:

L7 - Bricks Are Heavy

Cannibal Corpse - Tomb Of The Mutilated

 

[Ouroboros]

Incantation - Onward To Golgotha [Death Metal]
diSEMBOWELMENT - Dusk [Death Metal]
At The Gates - The Red In The Sky Is Ours [Death Metal]
Kaija Saariaho - Maa [Modern Classical/Electroacoustic]
Darkthrone - A Blaze In The Northern Sky [Black Metal]
Timeghoul - Tumultuous Travelings [Demo] [Death Metal]
Order From Chaos - Stillbirth Machine [Death Metal]
The Jesus Lizard - Liar [Noise Rock]
Skullflower - IIIrd Gatekeeper [Noise Rock/Drone]
Godflesh - Pure [Industrial/Sludge Metal]
Thomas Köner - Teimo [Ambient/Drone]
Eliane Radigue - Kyema, Intermediate States [Drone]
J.S. Bach - Die Kunst Der Fugue [Tatiana Nikolayeva] [Baroque]

 

[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.

Oh..., I thought you were talking about Dirty.... Dirt?... There's great albums, then there's Dirty, then there's 50 feet of crap, and then you can dig up Dirt.

 

[Saturated Fats]

I think that this poll, more than any poll to this point, has me realizing the lean of this board. It is heavily, heavily skewed towards radio-hard rock.

I love Dirt, but for RatM and Pantera to have over 10 votes while an electronic masterpiece like Selected Ambient Works... and two pop rock classics in Slanted and Enchanted and Automatic for the People are getting absolutely skunked, hurts my heart a bit.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

I think that this poll, more than any poll to this point, has me realizing the lean of this board. It is heavily, heavily skewed towards radio-hard rock.

I love Dirt, but for RatM and Pantera to have over 10 votes while an electronic masterpiece like Selected Ambient Works... and two pop rock classics in Slanted and Enchanted and Automatic for the People are getting absolutely skunked, hurts my heart a bit.

I respectfully disagree. I voted myself for the Aphex Twin album, but I think it is generally highly overrated and really not close to the better albums from this year, and don't get me started about REM (which will end up with 10 votes) and Pavement. I certainly prefer the Pantera album to all three, and even though I'm not a huge fan of RaTM, I think that particular album makes a strong case here too (my HMs are in approximative order and I stand by it!).

I guess that makes me part of the radio-hard rock crowd. I knew I was part of something.

 

[YoSoyLalo]

I think that this poll, more than any poll to this point, has me realizing the lean of this board. It is heavily, heavily skewed towards radio-hard rock.

I love Dirt, but for RatM and Pantera to have over 10 votes while an electronic masterpiece like Selected Ambient Works... and two pop rock classics in Slanted and Enchanted and Automatic for the People are getting absolutely skunked, hurts my heart a bit.

I gave Slanted and Enchanted a vote but it’s like Pavement’s fourth best album so I get it

 

[Saturated Fats]

Not disparaging radio-hard rock (or whatever you want to call it). I've had AoTY's in past polls that've been exactly that! Dirt is in my top-3 on the year! Just making an observation on what I see as a trend.

And calling Selected Ambient Works highly overrated is blasphemous, sir, and I will now proceed to roll a steamroller back and forth over my John Zorn records.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Not disparaging radio-hard rock (or whatever you want to call it). I've had AoTY's in past polls that've been exactly that! Dirt is in my top-3 on the year! Just making an observation on what I see as a trend.

And calling Selected Ambient Works highly overrated is blasphemous, sir, and I will now proceed to roll a steamroller back and forth over my John Zorn records.

Before you do that......... what are they? I've got like 35 and might be interested in taking 'em from you.

And Selected Ambient, like I said, it's good, I like it, I listed it in my HMs, I voted for it even though it was far away from my to-10, BUT it's treated like it's the Graal of electronica and ambient works, and it's just not. I'm not a big fan of electronica, so I'll admit that it's one of the very good albums I know of the genre. As for ambient, it's middle of the pack at best (among the good stuff). My opinion of course, which might well be blasphemous.

 

[Roo Returns]

A great year for music. That 1991-95 era IMHO is either the best or second best era of all time. 1992 was a sweet spot.

Let's give a little love to.....

NOFX-White Trash....might be their most fun album

Porno For Pyros-s/t this album sometimes gets trashed or was considered lackluster but the performance and pure sounds of Distefano on guitar and Le Noble on bass are two or my favorite instrument recordings of all time (along with Bospath's drums from Divine Intervention).

There was so much going on this year. A lot of the 1991 stuff carried over into 1992 and a lot of the stuff in 1992 released end of year table set for 1993 and even 1994.

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

Don’t Sweat the Technique by Eric B and Rakim was by far the best rap album of 92, imo. Pretty much a perfect album as far as rap goes.

Dirt is an easy pick for me

Best pure grunge album of all time imo. Incredible project.

 

[Ouroboros]

I think that this poll, more than any poll to this point, has me realizing the lean of this board. It is heavily, heavily skewed towards radio-hard rock.

I love Dirt, but for RatM and Pantera to have over 10 votes while an electronic masterpiece like Selected Ambient Works... and two pop rock classics in Slanted and Enchanted and Automatic for the People are getting absolutely skunked, hurts my heart a bit.

The results look exactly like I'd expect given that this is a non-random sample likely comprised nearly entirely of white males in the 25-40 age range.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

white males in the 25-40 age range.

What's the demographic that's supposed to vote for Aphex Twin, REM or Pavement if not exactly those?

 

[Ouroboros]

What's the demographic that's supposed to vote for Aphex Twin, REM or Pavement if not exactly those?

Dweebs maybe?

Well... first let me say that I have no knowledge whatsoever of either REM or Pavement.

That said, a little bit of research tells me that REM were formed in 1980 and their debut album was released in 1983. That's practically a decade ahead of AiC and RATM who are neck and neck to win this poll. Seems logical that REM fandom would skew a bit older. Anecdotally, I can remember RATM being an absolutely massive band when I was a teenager. REM? Not so much. On the flip side I am genuinely surprised by the AiC votes - never would have expected that. In my mind I've always sort of conceptualized them away as some weird half grunge/half hair metal hybrid - file under Guns'N'Roses and Pearl Jam I guess.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks to me like Pavement never had any degree of mainstream success. This is probably their demo but they just don't have the critical mass to break through in this format.

Aphex Twin is a bit different. I feel like much of his popularity is in some way retrospective. I think he benefited a great deal from exposure on platforms like Pitchfork and thus I think his demo may skew slightly younger. It also just seems like electronic music has very few fans on HFBoards in general.

You have to admit that there have been some strange results in these polls. There aren't too many communities where Iron Maiden can beat Michael Jackson in a popularity contest!

 

[Saturated Fats]

Dweebs maybe?

Well... first let me say that I have no knowledge whatsoever of either REM or Pavement.

That said, a little bit of research tells me that REM were formed in 1980 and their debut album was released in 1983. That's practically a decade ahead of AiC and RATM who are neck and neck to win this poll. Seems logical that REM fandom would skew a bit older. Anecdotally, I can remember RATM being an absolutely massive band when I was a teenager. REM? Not so much. On the flip side I am genuinely surprised by the AiC votes - never would have expected that. In my mind I've always sort of conceptualized them away as some weird half grunge/half hair metal hybrid - file under Guns'N'Roses and Pearl Jam I guess.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks to me like Pavement never had any degree of mainstream success. This is probably their demo but they just don't have the critical mass to break through in this format.

Aphex Twin is a bit different. I feel like much of his popularity is in some way retrospective. I think he benefited a great deal from exposure on platforms like Pitchfork and thus I think his demo may skew slightly younger. It also just seems like electronic music has very few fans on HFBoards in general.

You have to admit that there have been some strange results in these polls. There aren't too many communities where Iron Maiden can beat Michael Jackson in a popularity contest!

This is an excellent post. I would agree with it entirely, were it not for the fact that Coldplay won the 2005 poll for X & Y. I look at the trends of winners, and I see everything that I would expect - and then I see Coldplay. I mean, it was 7 votes vs. Kanye, the White Stripes, and I think the Mars Volta getting 6, but still...

Anyway, it's been fun to track the trends and see instances in which I've been surprised. I think the only winners that have truly surprised me were Coldplay in 2005, Behemoth in 2014, and Lauryn Hill in 1998 - the latter being because it's just so not in keeping with what has won these polls. But it was really cool, because that is a fantastic album, and hip-hop/soul don't tend to get a lot of love on these boards.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Dweebs maybe?

Well... first let me say that I have no knowledge whatsoever of either REM or Pavement.

That said, a little bit of research tells me that REM were formed in 1980 and their debut album was released in 1983. That's practically a decade ahead of AiC and RATM who are neck and neck to win this poll. Seems logical that REM fandom would skew a bit older. Anecdotally, I can remember RATM being an absolutely massive band when I was a teenager. REM? Not so much. On the flip side I am genuinely surprised by the AiC votes - never would have expected that. In my mind I've always sort of conceptualized them away as some weird half grunge/half hair metal hybrid - file under Guns'N'Roses and Pearl Jam I guess.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks to me like Pavement never had any degree of mainstream success. This is probably their demo but they just don't have the critical mass to break through in this format.

Aphex Twin is a bit different. I feel like much of his popularity is in some way retrospective. I think he benefited a great deal from exposure on platforms like Pitchfork and thus I think his demo may skew slightly younger. It also just seems like electronic music has very few fans on HFBoards in general.

You have to admit that there have been some strange results in these polls. There aren't too many communities where Iron Maiden can beat Michael Jackson in a popularity contest!

Agree completely on AiC, never saw that coming. As for Aphex Twin, he was already highly praised in the 90s, but I think Drukqs got things overboard and afterwards it was just too much (I agree that it's his best album, and a very good one, but ok, enough...).

As for the poll results, I was surprised by Madvillain and Behemoth, and very disappointed by AC/DC, but (like you, obviously) it's mostly stuff I don't care much about that wins and I'm ok with that.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

And just because (and to rinse everybody's breath after talking so much about Dirt):



I thought this album was rare (it used to be). YouTube really is an amazing thing.

 

[Ouroboros]

This is an excellent post. I would agree with it entirely, were it not for the fact that Coldplay won the 2005 poll for X & Y. I look at the trends of winners, and I see everything that I would expect - and then I see Coldplay. I mean, it was 7 votes vs. Kanye, the White Stripes, and I think the Mars Volta getting 6, but still...

Anyway, it's been fun to track the trends and see instances in which I've been surprised. I think the only winners that have truly surprised me were Coldplay in 2005, Behemoth in 2014, and Lauryn Hill in 1998 - the latter being because it's just so not in keeping with what has won these polls. But it was really cool, because that is a fantastic album, and hip-hop/soul don't tend to get a lot of love on these boards.

I actually don't think Coldplay is that far out of line with expectation. I guess they're one of those bands that has become the target of vitriol from critics and tastemakers, but yet they keep selling millions of albums so somebody must like them. If you have tastes that lean toward mainstream/accessible rock music it seems reasonable enough - there isn't a lot of choice for that sort of thing in the modern musical landscape. That said, I'd have probably bet on Queens Of The Stone Age. Of course, as you've alluded to, the modern polls are almost useless due to lack of participation.

 

[Ouroboros]

Agree completely on AiC, never saw that coming. As for Aphex Twin, he was already highly praised in the 90s, but I think Drukqs got things overboard and afterwards it was just too much (I agree that it's his best album, and a very good one, but ok, enough...).

As for the poll results, I was surprised by Madvillain and Behemoth, and very disappointed by AC/DC, but (like you, obviously) it's mostly stuff I don't care much about that wins and I'm ok with that.

I think there is a lot of cornball stuff on the particular Aphex Twin album in this poll - maybe only about a third of the record is actually good. He would get better in the future. Praise has definitely gone overboard for him, I agree. Put him on a shortlist of bands/artists with the most obnoxious fans. Maybe a distant 2nd behind Tool fans...

I find the adulation for Aphex Twin a bit perplexing. It's fairly pleasant - even quite good at its best - but in my estimation he's about one-tenth as compelling as Autechre yet receives 100x the accolades. It's madness.

I think Madvillain has the market cornered on 'rap music for people who don't like rap'. A little surprising but not a huge stretch.

The less said about Behemoth the better. That's the poll result that bothers me the most to be honest.

 

[beowulf]

Missing Dream Theater Images and Words

 

[Saturated Fats]

Missing Dream Theater Images and Words

It's there!

 

[beowulf]

It's there!

List is so long I missed it lol...would be easier in alphabetic order or something.

 

[Saturated Fats]

For me, this is a strange year. I don't love it. There is no single album or set of albums that stands out as being a classic, and I'm not sure any of these crack my top-50 or even top-75. That being said, there are four that I really enjoy. Of the three, Dirt, Little Earthquakes, and Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde are poll options. I think my favourite album on the year is actually 99.9 F° by the perpetually underappreciated Suzanne Vega. As a lover of indie/folk pop, I adore the arrangements on the album, and her voice is so unique and just - cool. Most people know her from her appearance on that 90's hit 'Ton's Diner', but I'd encourage you to give her back-catalogue a listen.

1. Suzanne Vega - 99.9 F°
2. Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
3. Alice in Chains - Dirt
4. The Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde

5. Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92
6. Michael Kamen - Brazil (Film Score)
7. The Magnetic Fields - The Wayward Bus
8. R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
9. Catherine Wheel - Ferment
10. Neurosis - Souls at Zero

 

[Gordon Lightfoot]

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

I agree. I used to strongly dislike 'Everybody Hurts' but I've come around to it. So basically I think it's close to a perfect album.