Touched by Jesus
Artist: All About Eve

To call All About Eve's "situation" in 1991 precarious would be an understatement. Gone was guitarist Tim Bricheno, the credibility of goth pop like the Eves and the Mission had been pushed aside by shoegazing and baggy, and their sophomore release, Scarlet and Other Stories, had not met expectations critically or sales-wise (perhaps no fault of... 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

Organ Fan
Artist: Silverfish

This is where L7 jugular ripping meets the subterranean scuzz rock of Throbbing Gristle and Motörhead with exceptionally disastrous results. Made up of ex-members of Rover Girls and In-Stinks and future Ruby frontwoman Lesley Rankine, you would be forgiven for thinking that this was another laborious exercise constructed by industrialized noise... 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

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

Little Magnets Versus the Bubble of Babble
Artist: Transvision Vamp

One 1991 release that certainly didn't deserve to be neglected was Transvision Vamp's \Little Magnets Vs. The Bubble of Babble, an eccentric and quirky effort drawing on both early-'80s new wave and '60s rock. Though the group sometimes inspires comparisons to outfits like the Divinyls and Siousxie & the Banshees, this obscure band has a sound... Read More

Reading, Writing and Arithmetic
Artist: The Sundays
Community Score: 9.20

The Sundays' debut album builds on the layered, ringing guitar hooks and unconventional pop melodies of the Smiths, adding more ethereal vocals and a stronger backbeat. As evidenced by the lilting, melancholy single "Here's Where the Story Ends," it's a winning combination, making Reading, Writing and Arithmetic a thoroughly engaging debut. ~... Read More

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

Hindu Love Gods
Artist: Hindu Love Gods
Go Go Harlem Baby
Artist: Flat Duo Jets

This band's deliciously dirty and rough brand of rockabilly is unrivaled, and this disc is perhaps their finest. Whether they are running a chainsaw through "Froggie Went A-Courtin'" or crooning a baleful "You Belong to Me," the result is pure joy. ~ Tim Sheridan, All Music Guide Read More

Reluctantly We
Artist: Ellen James Society
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

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