Tag: 1990s

CD

Queensrÿche: Empire (1990)

Here is my dirty little secret regarding Queensrÿche. No, it’s not that I really dig the new incarnation with Todd La Torre – that’s neither dirty nor a secret. No, it’s that nine times out of ten when I’m reaching for a Queensrÿche album I don’t reach for Operation: Mindcrime. In fact, it’s been years since I felt the need to revisit that album, which truth be told to these ears hasn’t aged all that well. Nope, when I want to scratch that progressive hard rock itch, I reach for Empire. That’s right; fight me if you want but despite not having a pseudo-SF storyline and 10+ minute “suites” I think Empire feels darker and deeper as an album, which an overall stronger collection of songs. There…that feels good to get off my chest.

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suicidal tendencies - lights camera revolution
CD, Vinyl

Suicidal Tendencies: Lights…Camera…Revolution! (1990)

I’m back at work, and back in the office. Which means I’m commuting again. The routine and mental/emotional expense is exhausting, and as I went in this morning I thought about what to listen to to cover for today’s Consuming entry. I put my phone on shuffle and the choice was made for me. I was aware as a kid of Suicidal Tendencies, whether it was through the immortal “Institutionalized” ands its rally cry of “ALL I WANTED WAS A PEPSI!” as well as the anthemic “How Will I Laugh Tomorrow” that set as much as a template for the band moving forward as anything else. I love both those songs, and their accompanying albums. But if I’m being honest, my go-to album has always been Lights…Camera…Revolution! It was the one I bought first and listened to the most. So I listened to this again this morning on the way to work. In lieu of a “proper” post instead here are some passing thoughts as each song played.

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darkthrone - a blaze in the northern sky
CD, Vinyl

Darkthrone: A Blaze in the Northern Sky (1992)

I am so far behind in cataloging my recent vinyl acquisitions (not to mention all the CD box sets I’ve been picking up) that I’m going to try and buckle down and get some short entries up, and at the very least explain WHY I have not one but TWO copies of A Blaze in the Northern Sky, the seminal black metal classic by Norwegian institution Darkthrone. They were the band that paved the way the way for my own music in Necrolytic Goat Converter, showing me that my musical expression could best be achieved via tremolo riffing and strained, raspy vocals that can’t quite hide the influence of old school melody. By any standard this is a classic of the metal genre, so let’s give it some thought.

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voivod angel rat full
Vinyl

Voivod: Angel Rat (1991)

Day 14 of the #mayvinylchallenge asks for the album you’ve wither waited the longest to receive, or the longest to be released. I’ve got two albums that I ordered back in November that were supposed to be released and six months later I’m still waiting (though one is due to get here next week). And the longest I’ve waited for something that was already shipped I wrote about last year. So how about an album that took 31 years to get a North American release? I may have already featured it a few weeks ago during my Record Store Day excursion, but it’s always a good time to talk about Voivod, and their beguiling release Angel Rat.

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fugazi - repeater
Vinyl

Fugazi: Repeater (1990)

We’re back in Fugazi territory, and with every release I regret more and more not having this band in my life during my childhood. I was 17 when the band’s debut full length Repeater came out, and listening to it now 32 years later I can hear how the intensity, the immediacy of the songs would have taken a hold of me. True, I was listening to Minor Threat and getting my McKaye fix that way, but the space and use of sound as a punctuation rather than a melodic component is so addicting now…I assume I would have mainlined this like a fiend back in the day.

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tricky-maxinquaye
Vinyl

Tricky: Maxinquaye (1995)

I woke up this too early this morning, startled out of bed by the sound of my son screaming downstairs over his headset to his friends over whatever just happened during the masters round of Apex: Legends. After appropriately responding by taking his controller and throwing it outside, I made a pot of coffee, headed up to the office and looked for a record to put that would suitably chill me out and put me in a reflective mood suitable to the cold, wet day ahead. That album was Maxinquaye by trip-hop progenitor Tricky, and it counts for my Day 8 entry for the #mayvinylchallenge, which is the first album you put on this morning.

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