Fossils
Artist: Dinosaur Jr.
Community Score: 8.50

A brief, eight-song compilation of the group's SST singles, Fossils effectively sums up the power and vision of Dinosaur Jr.'s early work. Not only does it contain the two masterpieces from You're Living All Over Me and Bug -- "Little Fury Things" and "Freak Scene," respectively -- but it also gathers several excellent B-sides, including... Read More

Smoke 'em If You Got 'em
Artist: Reverend Horton Heat

Given how the psychobilly/punk/greaser/whatever underground just seemed to grow and grow throughout the '90s, there's every reason in the world to choose this album as one of the things that sparked it off. Little doubt as to why, too, re-recorded on two-track after a more technically complex version was deemed to lack that certain something,... Read More

Let Me Come Over
Artist: Buffalo Tom
Community Score: 10.00

While Birdbrain was a marked improvement over Buffalo Tom's self-titled debut album, Let Me Come Over was truly the great leap forward for the band, sounding richer, more imaginative, and more emotionally powerful than anything they'd attempted in the past. Guitarist Bill Janovitz, bassist Chris Colbourn, and drummer Tom Maginnis individually... Read More

Sweet Oblivion
Artist: Screaming Trees
Community Score: 8.39

The Screaming Trees one-upped their major-label debut, Uncle Anesthesia, with this solid, vastly underrated effort. Sweet Oblivion's lead single, the jumpy hard rocker "Nearly Lost You," proved itself a highlight on the hugely successful, Seattle-themed Singles soundtrack. But even though the Screaming Trees stacked up quite well against their... Read More

Puzzle
Artist: Dada

Guitar riffs permeate dada's pleasing debut Puzzle, wedded to thick slices of an equally important influence -- 60s psychedelia. The L.A. trio offers plenty to keep the ears busy: the orchestral sadness of "Timothy," and insidious melody of "Dog, " strung-out ravings of "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, " and over-the-edge teen-angst of "Dizz Knee... Read More

Hit Parade 1
Artist: The Wedding Present

The Wedding Present have been unanimously despised by the British music press following a brief honeymoon period in the mid-'80s. When they announced their desire to issue a single a month for a whole year, one particularly caustic Melody Maker journalist pointed out that she now had two low spots in her monthly cycle to endure. It must also be... Read More

Honey's Dead
Artist: The Jesus and Mary Chain
Community Score: 7.31

Again working with Alan Moulder but now also using a live drummer on most tracks -- namely Monti from Curve, one of the Mary Chain's many descendants -- the Reids came back strong with Honey's Dead, on balance a more consistent and satisfying record than Automatic. There's a sense of greater creativity with the arrangements, while the balance... Read More

Copper Blue
Artist: Sugar
Community Score: 7.00

How ironic that after years fronting the hugely influential but desperately overlooked Hüsker Dü, Bob Mould's first project with new band Sugar, 1992's Copper Blue, would become the most commercially successful project of his career. Of course, it was released just as the seeds sown by his former band were bearing bountiful fruits in the... Read More

Bricks Are Heavy
Artist: L7
Community Score: 7.70

Though they hailed from sunny L.A., L7 became the poster girls for grunge, and more specifically the "riot grrrl" movement in 1992, with the meteoric success of their third album, Bricks Are Heavy. While their previous efforts had sounded sloppy and uneven, Nevermind producer Butch Vig helped the girls obtain a tight, compact sound on Bricks,... Read More

Badmotorfinger
Artist: Soundgarden
Community Score: 7.54

Bidding for a popular breakthrough with their second major-label album, Soundgarden suddenly developed a sense of craft, with the result that Badmotorfinger became far and away their most fully realized album to that point. Pretty much everything about Badmotorfinger is a step up from its predecessors -- the production is sharper and the music... Read More

Eggnog
Artist: Melvins
Community Score: 5.15
Smell the Magic
Artist: L7
Community Score: 7.50

On 1991's Smell the Magic, L7 begins to find the sense of melody to complement its distorted punk guitar assault. The band deserves ultimate praise for writing from a completely female perspective at all times, and the fabulous "Fast and Frightening" just might be the ultimate "riot grrrl" anthem. "Shove" pleads the case for mosh pit etiquette,... Read More

The Way to Salvation
Artist: King Missile

King Missile's initial stab at the world of major labeldom was fair if not great -- lacking absolute standout numbers like Mystical Shit's genius "Jesus Was Way Cool" and "Gary & Melissa," The Way to Salvation is enjoyable enough but lacks a final killer touch. Having Lou Giordano on production instead of Kramer is also a bit disconcerting --... Read More

Reluctantly We
Artist: Ellen James Society
Un-Led-Ed
Artist: Dread Zeppelin

Despite singer Tortelvis' reputed propensity for gas, there is no denying that, initially, Dread Zeppelin was a breath of fresh air in a stale music scene which oftentimes took itself way too seriously. Anyone jaded enough to think they had seen it all in rock & roll was forced to think again when faced with the band's improbable reggae... Read More

Inhaler
Artist: Tad
Community Score: 8.00

Thanks to producer J. Mascis, Tad gets a more focused and driven sound on their major-label debut, Inhaler, easily their best and most consistent album to date. Fortunately, the group has lost none of the grit that marked them as the grungiest of the Seattle scene, while keeping their songs full of hooks and melodies. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine,... Read More