URBAN: "All We Want From You Are The Kicks You've Given Us". - Claiming to hate the press, pop, art, sex, well, basically everything really, the well educated lads from Wales took the U.K. and Europe scene by surprise in '92. They were apparently 'Manic Street Preachers' and the controversial approach shocked all of us, especially as we watched the apathetic guitarist Richey James carve the words "4 Real" into his arm.
"Despair Seeps Through And Cuts Our Eyes". They were rebels with a cause as their message 'sort of' made sense to a young and depressed kid as yours truly. The timing was just perfect as it's the first CD where I thought or rather felt like the lyrics spoke directly to you... and not necessary about the tiresome old cliches such as 'puppy love' or 'happy days forever after'.
"the only free choice is the refusal to pay!"
"Your Lack Of Ego Offends Male Mentality". Tracii Lords guest appears on the controversial duet "Little Baby Nothing" and it's not the 'happy hooker' b.s. story as so many other bands tried to force fed us with. "The Only Free Choice Is Refusal To Pay". Damn, that's such a great quote from "Generation Terrorists". The only free choice is the refusal to pay! I knew much later that posh U.K. artists such as The Smith and Morrissey must have been a great source of inspiration to these lads.
It's the stylistic 'think before you act' approach as MSP were "EMO" rock long before the genre and sub-culture hit us like a sledgehammer in the 00's. Sadly a bit too real at times as we know what happened to Richie James (or rather we don't! he's still missing). "Life's like a slow suicide orthodox dreams and symbolic myths. From feudal serf to spender this wonderful world of purchase power. Just like lungs sucking on air survivals nature as sorrow, sorrow, sorrow. Under Neon Loneliness - Motorcycle Emptiness".
"norway is THE place to be in '92 - if you're into church burnings and extremely crappy black metal".
Norway is THE place to be in '92 if you're into church burnings and extremely crappy black metal. The Count aka Varg Vikernes of Burzum - the craziest cookie of them all as he actually managed to burn down a church and threathens to kill all the other black metal musicians. Various people commit suicide (including a famous musician) in the name of Satan and it's all a very cozy year in the northern town of Bergen, Norway.
On the other side of the scale/coin - you have former rapper U.S. Ice T and his "metal" project Body Count. Infamous for their pig friendly song and dance number "Cop Killer", which was eventually dropped from their album after death threats (Varg again?) to the band and their record company. I believe that Ice T's been acting and playing a pig... ehem, cop, on several episodes of a popular tv series in the states. Oh how quickly they forget, huh?
"F**K You, I Won't Do What You Tell Me" - Rage Against The Machine is yet another controversial music happening this year. Their self-titled debut album is filled with political statements and manifestos in/of metal.
The "Revenge" of KISS includes a new version of "God Gave Rock N Roll To You" (originally recorded by Russ Ballard and later Petra) and the return of 'The Wiz'. Gene & Paul decided to bring back Vinnie Vincent as songwriter as he actually manage to kick-start their career once again
"wave your panties in the air - lick your lips- shake your hair".
Stanley came up with "classy" lines such as "So I hop into my car hit the local titty bar" and "Wave your panties in the air - lick your lips- shake your hair". Sadly it went quickly sour (again) and the lawsuits were soon flying across the scene. Eric Carr (R.I.P.) had been replaced with Eric Singer (Badlands, Gary Moore, Alice Cooper) and the track "Car Jam 1981" was a riff written by Carr and recorded by Kiss already back in 1981. That very riff was later (or if you like previously?) used on Ace Frehley's debut album as the song "Break Out" in 1987. Revenge!
The stinking persona of yet another 'Stanley' - the talk of the town for a week or two in '92. He's the smelly street bum aka front figure of the U.S. band Life, Sex and Death. Songs such as "Tank" and "Jawhol Asshole" made everyone sit up and take notice (and not to mention gasp for fresh air!) as they hit/crush MTV. It's a fun album, no doubt, but, c'mon dude, grab a shower while you're at it.
"their marvelous funky self-titled debut is the next 'big thing' according to posh mag's".
From 'down under' came the 'thunder' of Rick Price as he's yet another one-hit wonder this year. "Heaven Knows" is a fine, laidback album with plenty of smooth music and hooks 'ala kangaroo rock from Australia. T-Ride and their marvelous funky self-titled debut is the next 'big thing' according to posh mag's such as Kerrang! and Metal Hammer. It never happened though. It's a superb platter and you can find a 'Just For The Record' episode (see our 'interviews' section) with one of the band members. While you're there, check out the Unruly Child episode too since that's one classy platter from '92.
Alice in Chain's 'Dirt' and 21 Guns with 'Salute', two just as equal good albums even if I hold the latter as the slightly better (see my personal list). I couldn't care less if you're "not supposed" to like one or the other (or both at the same time) since it's one super glossy melodic hardrock album (the new 'at the time' band by Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy fame) vs. one grungy and ugly looking one. So what? I like sweet and sour too - light and dark - it's just a matter of what current mood I'm in and the same goes for hardrock really
"I couldn't care less about what people think about my taste in music (or rather the complete lack of it)".
I want the best of both worlds and again, I couldn't care less about what people think about my taste in music (or rather the complete lack of it). One moment I like to groove along the lines of "Them Bones" and "Rooster", the other I'am shouting along to "Marching In Time" and "Just A Wish" at the very top of my lungs. The latter having 'special lyric' that goes straight to the heart.
The perfect solution to enternal bliss? Here's two couples with a match making straight out of hell in 1992. Nirvana's Kurt Cobain marries Hole's Courtney Love and Whitney Houston marries Bobby Brown. 'Love and Marriage, Al Bundy - we salute you! Speaking of comedy, one of its all-time cult heroes dies in 92' as U.K. comedian Benny Hill is no longer with us - we salute you! Jeff Porcaro of Toto fame dies - we salute you! The funniest TV moment? When George Bush (the older one with at least half a brain) is televised falling violently ill at a state dinner in Japan, vomiting into the lap of Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa and fainting. Japanese food - we salute you too in '92!!!
ALAN: 1992 was the year that, for many, the music died. Oh sure, there were some great releases, but it was just a last, choking breath before 1993 came along and smothered it. 1991 had seen Nirvana release 'Nevermind', with Kurt Cobain uniting alienated youth with some lyrics copied out of a rhyming dictionary ("A mulatto, A Mosquito, My libido" anyone?) and a riff lifted from "More Than A Feeling". Cruel, then, that Boston's greatest opus should have marked the beginning of the end (for a while, anyway) for melodic rock.
At the movies, Wayne & Garth instructed everyone to 'Party On', and party we did, almost like it was 1999, with some superb albums to party to. Britain led the melodic rock charge (of course), because Finland hadn't been invented yet, with F.M going for a slightly heavier sound with 'Aphrodisiac', which would, unfortunately, prove to be their best album for 18 years.
"they proved to be another band making a last hurrah that would be followed by several average albums".
Thunder managed to follow up their unfollowable debut with the stellar 'Laughing On Judgement Day', but, alas, they proved to be another band making a last hurrah that would be followed by several average albums and a temporary split. Following in their footsteps were Magnum, whose 'Sleepwalking' effort was certainly a good album, but again was a bit of a peak until over a decade later.
1992 was certainly a year that brought some interesting music, with more contemporary releases catching my ear as much as the melodic rock stuff. Del Amitri and The Manic Street Preachers proved to be bands worth watching, and even W.A.S.P found their place in the Universe with the surprisingly good 'The Crimson Idol' proving that they weren’t just schlock horror metal merchants.
Elsewhere, Bon Jovi produced a memorable single in 'Keep The Faith', but forgot to make the rest of the album half
as good, and Def Leppard just about held it together with 'Adrenalize', an album that at least gave us the stone cold classic song 'Let's Get Rocked.
"there was something in the air, though, that whiffed like Blackie Lawless' codpiece on a rainy day".
There was something in the air, though, that whiffed like Blackie Lawless' codpiece on a rainy day, with many previously decent bands releasing so so albums. Extreme gave us the crappy 'III Sides To Every Story', Kiss felt the need for "Revenge", and Brian May made us pray for death, or at least deaf, with 'Back To The Light'. We all got a little bit excited with the
arrival of a sparkly, talented new band by the name of Bangalore Choir, but little did we know they would bugger off for 18 years after releasing a solitary classic album.
I'd love to be able to wax lyrical about 1992, to say how it was a golden year, but it was more of a gold plated year, with some shiny goodness that would flake off and turn your skin green over time. Our golden years were truly over, and the Dark Ages had begun.
KIMMO: 1992... The last of the "golden years" of the nineties. The major labels were starting to shift their focus to grunge and rap, and most of the hard rock bands who released their debuts on these big record labels in 1992 soon ended up being dropped. Leppard and Jovi still sold reasonably big numbers though, but they were treated as priority acts.
In an attempt to stay "up-to-date", several bands were trying to re-invent themselves. Warrant, Treat, Extreme, Bon Jovi, Kiss... the results were varying, both commercially and artistically. The worse times were still ahead of us, with bands completely abandoning their past and making complete tools of themselves. Yes, the dark years are approaching us...
[ 1992 ] Back to the nineties' index
Alan, Bandi, Kimmo, Martien, & yours truly, Urban of RockUnited.Com have once again been spending weeks, months, wading through a bunch of nasty looking artcovers and albums. Only this time it's the nineties and not like our first massive series of the eighties! Indeed, not an easy task, tracking back in space and time, especially since most of us are still mere kidz (early teens) at the early days of this era of grand and fantastic music. Check out the left-side border for our yearly write-up in 'black', and this is RockUnited's official 'Best-Of-Album Chart of 1991', calculated from the individual charts. No live-ones, EP's or compilations are included, merely studio albums. You can find them all and complain about our personal taste (or rather the complete lack of it) further down this page! This is merely our humble and tiny celebration of the 90's metal days or daze for that matter. Enjoy or not - this is the nineties: 1992.
THE ALBUMS OF THE YEAR: 1992
100.Pantera - Vulgar Display Of Power
99. Rockhead - Rockhead
98. Southgang - Group Therapy
97. Neil Zaza - Two Hands One Heart
96. The Steve Morse Band - Coast to Coast
95. Gary Hughes - Gary Hughes
94. Victory - You Bought It - You Name It
93. Widowmaker - Blood and Bullets
92. Wildside - Under The Influence
91. Kyuss - Blues For The Red Sun
90. Company Of Strangers - Company of Strangers
89. Stage Dolls - Stripped
88. Motorhead - March Or Die
87. Tony Martin - Back Where I Belong
86. Wall Of Silence - Shock To The System
85. Royal Hunt - Land Of Broken Hearts
84. Gorky Park - Moscow Calling
83. Samael - Blood Ritual
82. Tony Borg - Tony Borg
81. Gin Blossoms - New Miserable Experience
80. Paradise Lost - Shades Of God
79. Kiss of the Gypsy - Kiss of the Gypsy
78. Robin Beck - Human Instinct
77. Kreator - Reneval
76. Tony Macalpine - Freedom to Fly
75. Faster Pussycat - Whipped
74. Trixter - Hear!
73. If Only - No Bed Of Roses
72. Extreme - III Sides to Every Story
71. Blind Guardian - Somewhere Far Beyond
70. Babylon A.D - Nothing Sacred
69. Legend - Legend
68. John Parr - Man With A Vision
67. Lillian Axe - Poetic Justice
66. Love/Hate - Wasted In America
65. Heavy Bones - Heavy Bones
64. MSG - Msg
63. Soul Kitchen - Soul Kitchen
62. Nuclear Valdez - Dream Another Dream
61. Life,Sex & Death - The Silent Majority
60. Electric Boys - Groovus Maximus
59. Dan Lucas - Canada
58. Tora Tora - Wild America
57. Manowar - Triumph Of Steel
56. Patty Smyth - Patty Smyth
55. Warrant - Dog Eat Dog
54. Lynch Mob - Lynch Mob
53. Running Wild - Pile Of Skulls
52. Von Groove - Von Groove
51. Del Amitri - Change Everything
50. Fair Warning - Fair Warning
49. Return - V
48. Shadow Gallery - Shadow Gallery
47. FM - Aphrodisiac
46. T-Ride - T-Ride
45. Bad Company - Here Comes Trouble
44. Bill Hicks - Relentless
43. Stone Temple Pilots - Core
42. From The Fire - Thirty Days And Dirty Nights
41. Black Crowes - Southern Harmony & Musical Companion
40. Toto - Kingdom of Desire
39. Gotthard - Gotthard
38. The Brave - Battle Cries
37. Steelheart - Tangled In Reins
36. Robby Valentine - Robby Valentine
35. Stan Bush - Every Beat Of My Heart
34. Treat - Treat
33. Gun - Gallus
32. Faith No More - Angel Dust
31. Slaughter - The Real Life
30. Iron Maiden - Fear Of The Dark
29. Casanova - One Night Stand
28. TNT - Realized Fantasies
27. King's X - King's X
26. John Norum - Face The Truth
25. KISS - Revenge
24. Rick Price - Heaven Knows
23. Megadeth - Countdown To Extinction
22. Marty Friedman - Scenes
21. Yngwie Malmsteen - Fire and Ice
20. W.A.S.P. - The Crimson Idol
Originally recorded as the first solo album by Blackie Lawless and quite the concept album. It's a rather dark and gloomy story based around a musician wannabee (Jonathan Steel) who end up hanging himself by the strings from his guitar. 'Chainsaw Charlie' - the president of a major record company and you better 'Hold On To Your Heart'. Ambitious.
19. Firehouse - Hold Your Fire
Surely the very last of the pure 'Hair Metal' acts to make it big in the U.S.of A. 'Hold Your Fire' was yet another successful album (much like their debut in '90) as it spent more than thirty weeks in the Billboard 200 Top Albums chart peaking at #23. The ballad, 'When I Look Into Your Eyes' reached #8 and there's no grunge to be found on this platter.
18. Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine
The most controversial metal act (political speaking) to ever come out of the U.S. of A? The slogan 'F**k You, I Won't Do What You Tell Me' - became a manifesto of/in metal in '92 and De La Rocha - the talk of the states. Revolutionary viewpoints critical of the domestic and foreign policies, etc. Highly political and addictive schtuff - 'Killing In The Name'.
17. Damn Yankees - Don't Tread
Damn Yankees - the gathering of white trash and rednecks? Founded in 1989, consisting of Tommy Shaw (Styx), Jack Blades (Night Ranger), Ted 'Motormouth' Nugent, plus the odd out drummer (who?). It's their second and last album and they even managed to come up witha minor hit or two (Where You Goin' Now - peaking at #20 in the singles chart).
16. Magnum - Sleepwalking
Sort of 'back to basics' - regarding songwriting and production (once again self-produced by Tony 'The Hat' Clarkin). Was originally to be called 'Nightwatch', which was the title given in the Rodney Matthews calendar of 92 (responsible for the artcover as usual). Not quite as 'fancy' and 'posh' as the late eighties material (nor good for that matter). Solid as always.
15. Joe Satriani - The Extremist
'The Extremist' -yet another successful instrumental rock album released by Joe Satriani. The track "Summer Song" was used heavily in a Sony commercial around the time of its release, while the track "War" was used by Disney to promote the Power Rangers. It's full on widdling, no vocals, and more than enough for any potential guitarist to hand in the axe.
14. Alice In Chains - Dirt
The critically acclaimed "Dirt" - a weird mixture of anti-social behaviour, depression, death, drug use, war, and various other heavy topics (such as being smashed over the head with a coffee table). Quadruple Platinum - the album debuted on #6 on the Billboard 200. Grunge had its very peak, but, Starr and Stanley's heavy drug abuse started to show.
13. Manic Street Preachers - Generation Terrorists
"4 Real" - the words will haunt you just as much as the melodies! Welsh Glam/Punk/Rock heroes and they quickly gained cult status and a massive fanbase in the U.K. In the U.S. some of the more political tracks were dropped and censored (free speech? the land of the free?). Intellectual rock - 'Motorcycle Empiness' - so good that it hurts!!!
12. 21 Guns - Salute
It's a 21 Guns salute! The at the time new project by former Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham (also ex-Asia) and bassist Leif Johanson of Phenomena fame. The two of them came up with one of the best 'new' melodic rock albums of 92'. Killer vocals by Tommy LaVerdi and huge sounding production, they were custom made for success... if it had been 1987.
11. Bon Jovi - Keep The Faith
'Faith: you know you're gonna live through the rain - Lord you got to keep the faith'. I dunno, I kinda' lost fate though. Speaking of Jersey rocker (see above). Sold 2 million copies in U.S. and peaked at #5, while it debuted at #1 in the U.K. and spent 24 weeks inside the top 20. The beginning of the end in my personal opinion. Bed Of Roses?
10. Bangalore Choir - On Target
Former Accept vocalist David Reece decided to leave the teutonic heavy metal of 'Eat The Heat' behind him and record a pure 'Hair Metal' album. Not the best of timing since the record company decided to pull the plug on all the 'hair' projects. It's a fun little record though with songs co-written by Jon Bon Jovi and Aldo Nova.
9. Thunder - Laughing On Judgement Day
The sophomore release from the biggest act of the second generation of traditional U.K. hard rock in the vein of Free, Bad Company. 'Laughing On Judgement Day', Thunder's most successful album reaching #2 on the U.K. albums chart and thus being certified 'silver' (not gold though). America couldn't care less? strange...
8. Fiona - Squeeze
Yes, please!!! I'm sure we'd all like to 'Squeeze' the lovely Fiona Flanagan (sexist pig). No, seriously, she's just so hug-able. The fourth and unfortunately last (?) album by the New Jersey rocker (obviously Irish background). Diane Warren and Jani Lane (Warrant) wrote a couple of tracks and it's all very much in the style of Heart (in the 80's).
7. Unruly Child - Unruly Child
Mark Free (King Kobra, Signal), Bruce Gowdy (Stone Fury, World Trade), Guy Allison (World Trade) - the perfect soft-rock debut album by the Unruly Child. Produced by Beau Hill and released at his very own record label in '92. Big choruses, huge background vocals, stunning material, unbelievable ballads, this one had it all... except for success.
6. Mitch Malloy - Mitch Malloy
Hailed as the new saviour of AOR - poor Mitch sank before he learned how to swim. Not entirely his fault though as the times were a changing. Opening track, 'Anything At All' (a minor hit in the states) one of the all-time AOR anthems quite similar to the sound of Europe and Joey Tempest. Briefly vocalist for Van Halen in 1996 but lost out to Cherone.
5. House of Lords - Demons Down
Recorded with an all new line-up, except for founding members: vocalist James Christian and keyboardist Gregg Giuffria (ex-Angel, Giuffria). It's the third and last album (until the comeback in the 00's) by the band as they broke up late 1992. Not quite as much 'pomp' as their previous efforts and the ballad 'What's Forever For' is a real tearjerker.
4. Dream Theater - Images And Words
Dream Theater's second album release and the first to feature out of ordinary vocalist James LeBrie. It's a classic landmark release for the Progressive Metal genre and quite possible the next in line to get after you've listened to 'Operation Mindcrime' and 'Empire. The song, 'Pull Me Under', a hit on MTV and Top 10 on mainstream rock radio in U.S. Classic!
3. Def Leppard - Adrenalize
'Let's get, let's get, let's get, let's get rocked??? Debuted at the number one position in both the U.K. and the U.S. and it's yet another very successful album release by the lads from Sheffield. Looking back, it's more like a poor man's version of 'Hysteria' and it took longer to record (much due to the problems and later death of Steve Clark, R.I.P.).
2. Giant - Time To Burn
Just as great as The Last Of The Runaways? Perhaps not, but it's still miles ahead of most releases in 92 (thus why it's RockUnited.com's #2 of the year). The first record had a more "experimental" sound, while 'Time To Burn' is utterly commercial melodic rock. Jim Vallance and Van Stephenson co-wrote several tracks and 'Chained' was a minor hit.
1. Hardline - Double Eclipse
Eclipse? Nah, it's something as rare as a 'Double Eclipse' as well as the smashing debut album by U.S. act Hardline. Originally the project of the Gioeli bros. (Johnny & Joey) they managed somehow to convince Neil Schon (Journey, Bad English) to join the band and co-write most of the material. Hardly any keys on this platter and it rocks harder than Schon's previous bands - just as catchy though!!! [all album comment nonsense by: Urban]
INDIVIDUAL LISTS OF 1992 *Personal Stuff* |
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Urban:
1. Dream Theater - Images And Words
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Kimmo:
1. Hardline - Double Eclipse |
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Martien: 1. Dream Theater - Images And Words Alan: 1. Bill Hicks - Relentless
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Bandi: 1. Bangalore Choir - On Target
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So you think we're way off mark? Well, here's your chance to cast your vote!
PS. If the form doesn't work, just copy the question to your e-mail program and send your answers to giveaway "at" rockunited.com.
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