Uncle Tupelo - Still Feel Gone

Label: Rockville Records
Genre: Alternative Country
Year: 1991
Recommended by: Chris Neseman

Jeff Tweedy is awesome. Any project that Tweedy is attached to will get my unwavering backing. Uncle Tupelo is no different.

While the genre is listed as alternative country, it differs greatly from alternative country in general.

Uncle Tupelo's first album No Depression was used as a nickname for alternative country in the 90's. Also, Rockville Records are scumbags and never paid Uncle Tupelo any royalties. You can now purchase with out feeling bad, as Uncle Tupelo has gotten the rights to their Rockville releases.

If I were to recommend any Jeff Tweedy, it would be a Wilco album, but listen to Uncle Tupelo it created an entire Genre of music. So it's important, and stuff.

Pearl Jam - Ten

Label: Epic
Year: 1991
Genre: Grunge
Recommended by: Kirsten Turnqvist

This is an album in which I am very familiar. Early in my life my sister was collecting all of the Pearl Jam albums.

Now I've enjoyed Pearl Jam, but have never understood the cult-like mainstream status they have achieved. They are a more commercially successful Bruce Springsteen. They have their own satellite radio station! I mean "Even Flow" is pretty great. They continued to have more success, but I don't sense greatness out of any of their single albums. They are the Eddie Murray of the music industry. He played baseball for 21 years, was always good until the very end, and hit all the benchmarks for the Hall of Fame. There was never a single season you would say was amazing. Craig Biggio was the other baseball player I was going to use. Either way Ten is very enjoyable, it's familiar, and it's an EVEEEEEEENNNNNNN FLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW.

Ned's Atomic Dustbin - God Fodder

Label: Columbia
Year: 1991
Genre: Alternative Rock
Recommending Person: Paul Conant

I was first made aware of Ned's Atomic Dustbin by the amazing soundtrack on the NCAA Football 06. Maybe the best soundtrack in video game history, right up there with MVP Baseball 05, FIFA 98 Road to the World Cup, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.

While "Kill Your Television" is the biggest hit on the album it is not the only enjoyable song on God Fodder. The entire record is full of punk rock goodness I think best exemplified by "Throwing Things". While Trip Shakespeare was over taking by the grunge dominance of 1991, Ned's Atomic Dustbin was huge in the UK and was able to have a fantastic career. 

Fun record, Fun Fact: Carl Winslow is quoted from Die Hard "Why don't you wake up and smell what you've been shoveling!"

Trip Shakespeare - Lulu

Label: A&M
Year: 1991
Genre: Rock
Recommending Person: Melissa, AKA My Sister

This 90s album, that wishes so much to be a band that played at Woodstock or open for the Grateful Dead, shows how many times that current bands take from their inspiration a little too closely to heart.

Unfortunately, Lulu never really caught on as a big seller during the 90s. It came out when Grunge was turning the business on it's head. It was way to poppy, happy, and melodic to succeed in a time when the biggest band in the world had a singer that no one could totally understand. Nirvana's Nevermind just changed the decade and Lulu would never become popular.

The record industry, through no work of their own, now has enough niches that Lulu would easily become a hit today and would be one of the top albums of the year. However, in 1991 you had to be over the top pop or grunge. Lulu was neither and failed because of it.

Every song seems familiar, as if it was in every movie from the early 90s, but has it's own spin. The biggest issue I have about the record is that for no reason what so ever the final track is two and a half minutes of crickets chirping. Now they title it correctly, but I really was waiting for something else. I guess they win.