My Thoughts on the Top ≈ 400 Albums of 1992 (Part 4)
The list of top albums of 1992 continued (Part 3 if you missed it)
#37 Album of 1992
PJ Harvey – Dry
Gonna be honest, my only experience with PJ Harvey is her song that was on the Batman Forever soundtrack. Interesting that that song, One Time Too Many, isn’t even an album cut (though it did appear as a b-side on another album). That song isn’t much of an indication of what this album would be, however. She’s a rock chick, makes rock music but I think what makes it work is she’s herself and not trying to be like someone else who makes rock music. You know like a female trying to emulate how a guy would do music, trying to be badass or something. Instead he just is able to be badass by doing her own thing. Overall, a pretty ok album that definitely sounds like a product of the time.
#41 Album of 1992
Megadeth – Countdown to Extinction
Megadeth – Countdown to Extinction
I enjoy some Megadeth. In fact my introduction to them was probably in the ’90s. When MTV always played that riff from Peace Sells, I had no idea it was from Peace Sells! Obviously I have visited their back catalog since then. While not as good as Peace Sells or Rust in Peace, it’s still one of their top albums. I personally checked out of this band after United Abominations but Megadeth will always hold a place in my heart. Songs like Symphony of Destruction, Foreclosure of a Dream, Sweating Bullets, and Ashes in Your Mouth are the standout tracks but the rest is pretty solid as well. If you were going to sit down and listen to Megadeth you wouldn’t be doing wrong if it was with this album.
#43 Album of 1992
Ministry – Psalm 69
Ministry – Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed & the Way to Suck Eggs
Ministry was another band I discovered by watching Beavis and Butthead. N.W.O. is some good fun even if I always thought he was saying, “New World Alert” which made no sense considering the title of the song. For a long time I always thought Psalm 69 was the best this band got, without having heard any of their other albums. Truth be told The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste is their masterpiece. By comparison this album is a bit of a disappointment. It has great songs on it but it also kind of falls off towards the end. But I’ll always hold it in high regard because the first two tracks are pretty awesome and of course Jesus Built My Hotrod. (OK I lied Hero is pretty good too). As for being in the top 50 of 1992, I wouldn’t argue against it.
#45 Album of 1992
Pantera – Vulgar Display of Power
Pantera – Vulgar Display of Power
It’s unfortunate that Pantera have only released five albums. That’s right, they only have five, they’ve never done anything before Cowboys From Hell. This album in particular probably regarded as their best album. Pantera has a particular iconic sound that has never been emulated. Some say so, but nothing comes close to these buzzsaw sounding riffs to my ears. The album comes out swinging (literally if you look at the album cover) with awesome hard hitting metal. In retrospect it’s somewhat amazing that several of these songs go radio play. Pantera was a band that defined an era and this album is a hallmark of the ’90s metal scene.
#56 Album of 1992
At the Gates – The Red in the Sky Is Ours
At the Gates – The Red in the Sky Is Ours
At the Gates were one of the innovators of the Gothenburg melodic death metal sound but my first exposure to said genre wasn’t through this band. I did see the name in Century Media catalogs before but Dark Tranquillity was probably my first exposure to this type of music and they are also one of my favorite bands. As for At the Gates I tried getting into them in the past several years and though they make solid music there’s just something about what they do that doesn’t quite stick to me.
The Red in the Sky Is Ours is their debut album and much like a lot of the bands of this era, their first couple of records sound very raw, this album included. I don’t have much to say about this album except things I’ve said about similar albums. Maybe something innovative for it’s time but somewhat boring to listen to these days but then again, like I’ve said previously, this band never really did anything for me unfortunately. That being said, I do enjoy their next few albums (Slaughter of the Soul and Terminal Spirit Disease) more than this one.
Skipped albums: 38, 39, 40, 42, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55
