An Influential, Critically Acclaimed Masterpiece — October’s Album of the Month

Photo by Compare Fibre on Unsplash

The year is 1991 — a monumental year for music, probably one of the greatest years ever. In the article below, I briefly profiled 45 albums from 1991 (cut down from 89!), considering their impact, influence, legacy and sales — you may wish to go down that rabbit hole later!

Was 1991 The Greatest Year For Music?

These albums, amongst many others, set the pace for the year:

• 12 March:
  REM — Out Of Time
• 8 April:
  Massive Attack — Blue Lines
• 14 May:
  Primus — Sailing The Seas Of Cheese
• 11 June:
  Natalie Cole — Unforgettable … With Love

Then along came a period of intense musical activity, which saw the following albums released:

• 12 August:
  Metallica — Metallica
• 13 August:
  Cypress Hill — Cypress Hill
• 27 August:
  Pearl Jam — Ten
• 17 September:
  Guns N’ Roses — Use Your Illusion I & II
• 24 September:
  A Tribe Called Quest — The Low End Theory
  Red Hot Chili Peppers — Blood Sugar Sex Magik
  Nirvana — Nevermind
• 1 October:
  Public Enemy — Apocalypse 91… The Enemy Strikes Black
• 8 October:
  Soundgarden — Badmotorfinger
• 4 November:
  Teenage Fanclub — Bandwagonesque
  My Bloody Valentine — Loveless
• 18 November:
  U2 — Achtung Baby

Now, that certainly is a monster collection of incredible albums! And all released within a period of about four months. We’re talking hugely influential records and career-defining albums, many of which were multi-million sellers. And, of course, Nevermind turned the music world upside down. So-called ‘alternative’ music became front and centre, disenfranchised youth found something to cling to, and hair metal was dead in the water.

Right in the middle of that prolific couple of months, on 22 October to be precise, an album was released that also became a timeless…