Some of our all-time favorite albums were released in years ending in 7. As we are waiting to see what 2017 has in store for us, we have already revisited the great punk rock debuts of 1977 and looked for obscure UK indie gems in Cherry Red's C87 compilation.
For the third installment of this series we are returning to 1987, but this time we are selecting tracks from 5 seminal albums that defined the '80s US alt. rock scene and greatly influenced what was to come in the next few years leading up to the grunge explosion that shook up the mainstream of the early '90s. Here is our US alternative rock Top 5of 1987:
A break to the stream of fine new releases we've been presenting lately (there's more to come soon) for a toast to two of the rare few truly great bands that combined exceptional quality with huge commercial success (whether they wanted it or not).
It was twenty years ago today, September 24, 1991, that Nirvana released "Nevermind", their major label debut, a record that within a few months would shake the foundations of the record industry establishment and turn upside down the rock music landscape of the era. With no marketing tricks and ploys, just with the power of the sheer brilliance of Cobain's songwriting and the band's breathtaking live shows, Nirvana would soon take over the charts and, most importantly, would finally bring attention to the riches of the underground indie rock scene that was constantly bringing out great music throughout the '80s and early '90s but up to that moment had no chance of breaking through to a wider public.
To commemorate the album's 20th anniversary various limited boxes and "special" deluxe editions are being released next week, in my opinion exactly the kind of marketing ploy that was out of the picture 20 years ago - just another record industry trick to get people to buy expensively the music that they already have. My vinyl copy of "Nevermind" was bought a month later, on October 24, 1991, and I'm sticking to it 'til death do us part. I'm sure Kurt would agree with me. Of course that doesn't mean that we shouldn't celebrate the occasion. Records like "Nevermind" are few and very far between, so get your old copy out and take it for another spin today - here's the track that started it all:
Nirvana - Smells like teen spirit
Fast forward to September 21, 2011, a date that became historic due to R.E.M.'s announcement of breaking up after 31 years together. They were one of the very few bands I've been following for so long without ever losing interest in their output. Sure, the later period of those three decades was not on the same level as the extraordinary run between 1983 and 1992 when all the classic R.E.M. albums came out, changing the expectations of the level of success that could be achieved by an uncompromising alternative band, but R.E.M. never lost the ability to write great music and play great shows. The band's latest albums "Accelerate" and "Collapse Into Now" were rightly hailed as a return to form and somehow I'm sure that although they've said goodbye, there will still be great music in the future that will somehow involve Stipe, Buck or Mills or all three of them (and let's not forget Berry either).
Over at mixrgrill we have voted our favorite albums and tracks of the band and here is my personal selection (at least for the time being):
Top 5 R.E.M. Albums
1. Document
2. Murmur
3. Lifes Rich Pageant
4. Green
5. Automatic for the people
Top 20 R.E.M. Tracks
1. The One I Love
2. Radio Free Europe
3. It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
4. Driver 8
5. World Leader Pretend
6. Pretty Persuasion
7. Begin the Begin
8. Drive
9. Fall on Me
10. Losing My Religion
11. Imitation of Life
12. Orange Crush
13. Finest Worksong
14. Leave
15. Accelerate
16. These Days 17. Maps and Legands 18. Bad Day 19. Uberlin 20. Catapult
Marking the launch of a well known music television station in Greece, R.E.M. played a free show in Athens last Sunday. It was just their second appearance in Greece ever, which took place in the historic Panathinaiko Stadium, aka the Kallimarmaron, the place where the first modern-day Olympic Games were held in 1896. In a place loaded with such history, R.E.M. unfolded their own, nearly 30-years long history, playing a vintage 90-minutes set. Their performance mixed the old with the new, covering a lot of ground from 1984's "(Don't go back to) Rockville" to 2008's return-to-form "Accelerate" hits, like set opener "Living well is the best revenge". R.E.M. proved once more that they remain the most relevant among the big-time rock bands of today, since the power of their shows does not rely just to past glories ("The one I love", "Losing my religion"), but they are always able to keep it fresh, mixing in lesser known, but just as great tracks from their astonishing back-catalogue ("She just wants to be"), along with brand-new future classics ("Living well is the best revenge", "Man-sized wreath"). Here's a taste from a triumphantly rocking show:
R.E.M. live at Kallimarmaron, Athens (October 5, 2008)
R.E.M. - "(Don't go back to) Rockville" live in Athens, sang by Mike Mills (October 5, 2008)
