Congregation
Artist: The Afghan Whigs
Community Score: 7.00

The grunge era's most overlooked masterpiece, Congregation was the Afghan Whigs' breakthrough album, an incendiary and insidious set which bridges the gap between the noisy aggression of the band's early releases and the soulful swagger of their later work. Slipping with ominous ease into the sinister, self-obsessed Lothario guise which would... Read More

Sap
Artist: Alice in Chains
Community Score: 7.05

Upon its release, Sap was a revelation, a seemingly tossed-off EP of four mostly acoustic ballads (augmented with a goofy bonus track) that threw Alice in Chains' melodic gifts into stunning relief while exposing a gentler, more melancholy side of their sound, something that Facelift never even hinted at. The mood is still bleak, but not... Read More

Dry
Artist: PJ Harvey
Community Score: 9.12

Polly Jean Harvey arrives fully formed as a songwriter on PJ Harvey's debut album, Dry. Borrowing its primitive attack from post-punk guitar rock and its form from the blues, Dry is a forceful collection of brutally emotional songs, highlighted by Harvey's deft lyricism and startling voice, as well as her trio's muscular sound. Her voice makes... Read More

Dirt
Artist: Alice in Chains
Community Score: 8.68

Dirt is Alice in Chains' major artistic statement and the closest they ever came to recording a flat-out masterpiece. It's a primal, sickening howl from the depths of Layne Staley's heroin addiction, and one of the most harrowing concept albums ever recorded. Not every song on Dirt is explicitly about heroin, but Jerry Cantrell's solo-written... Read More

Dirty
Artist: Sonic Youth
Community Score: 7.39

When DGC Records signed Nirvana in 1991, one of DGC's A&R reps expressed the opinion that, with plenty of touring and the right promotion, the new act might sell as well as its labelmate and touring partner Sonic Youth. The surprise success of Nevermind upended previous commercial expectations for Sonic Youth (among other established alternative... Read More

Ferment
Artist: Catherine Wheel
Community Score: 7.38

Centered around re-recorded versions of four songs from the band's two Wilde Club singles and the seven minute lovelorn "Black Metallic" - which was referred to as the "Like a Hurricane" of the ‘90s - the deeply rich Ferment firmly established Catherine Wheel amongst the shoegaze contingent of the early ‘90s. The band would proceed to denounce... 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

The Nymphs
Artist: Nymphs

Since Nirvana's Nevermind pretty much killed glam-metal, the Nymphs' self-titled (and only) album might well be the last great glam-metal album. Released the same year as Nevermind, female lead singer Inger Lorre shares Kurt Cobain's sense of angst, a sense that was absent from most glam. In "Wasting My Days," Lorre sings, "Talk to myself, cuz... 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

Live in Toronto
Artist: The Chameleons UK

Thankfully captured by editor of the noted Big Takeover fanzine (and Chameleons diehard) Jack Rabid from a radio broadcast of a Canadian date in early 1987, Toronto remains the only official live document of the band from their final days, and the only one with a full mix of material from all three albums. Though the sound betrays the disc's... Read More