1991

Most of the time, the interest of commercial music consumers runs in a parallel line to those on the fringe, in the indie or metal underground; two camps with no interest at all in one another. The lines hardly ever intersect. But every once in awhile, an album so remarkable will come along, it will actually find a way to achieve high marks in both camps. Albums like “Master of Puppets”, and “Paranoid” took both camps by storm, and have remained classics to this day. About 2 minutes into “Slaves and Bulldozers” it becomes apparent that “Badmotorfinger” is one of these special albums. Kim Thayil’s elephantine guitar noises and Cornell’s voice lock together in an unbelievable cascade of great, heavy, and challenging music throughout this disc. From the wailing vocals of “Outshined” to the super-tight liquid groove of “Jesus Christ Pose”, this disc is full of surprises, and continues to reveal them for years of repeat spins.

Picks of the litter, 1991: