Fifth anniversary music

Words to Live By
Janet Jackson, janet. (1993) ”[S]he fixates on the sight of lips, waists, and various organs. Who can blame her? Given her family, she’s probably unaccustomed to seeing authentic body parts.”

Michael Jackson, Dangerous (1991) ”For the first time, he’s caught up in problems not even a good beat can solve.”

Mariah Carey, Music Box (1993) ”[L]ove songs that make Carey sound as if she hasn’t had an actual human experience in her life.”

Nirvana, Nevermind (1991) ”Cobain’s strange idea of a love song, ‘Come As You Are,’ has a refrain of ‘And I swear that I don’t have a gun,’ as if that’s supposed to be comforting.”

Billy Ray Cyrus, Some Gave All (1992) ”[S]uggests he’s really just a Dew Drop Inn regular who stumbled into the big time.”

Whitney Houston, I’m Your Baby Tonight (1990) ”The album adheres doggedly to [proving] she’s a get-down, funky human. Granted, it’s taken 7 producers, 34 engineers, and 16 songwriters, but no one said it’d be easy.”

Meat Loaf, Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell (1992) ”Sixteen years have passed since his Bat Out of Hell captured the hearts and groins of suburban teens, and it takes nearly that long to plow through the interminable [sequel].”

Sting, The Soul Cages and A Month in the Brazilian Rainforest (1991) ”The records help answer one of [life’s] most vital questions: Which is more irritating, mosquitoes or pompous rock stars?”

Did We Say That?
k.d. lang, Ingenue (1992) ”[A] country singer moonlighting as a white-bread Marlene Dietrich.”

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991) ”[T]his sort of stuff, even at its best, doesn’t translate well to record.”

Jesus Jones, Doubt (1992) ”Whoa what an intense record!”

Arrested Development, Zingalamaduni (1994) ”[They] might wonder if they can climb that high again judging from this, there’s no need to worry.”

Aerosmith, Get a Grip (1993) ”With some strong, razor-edged material, the band could have pulled it off. Yet the songs are a mixed lot.”

Extreme, III Sides to Every Story (1992) ”[F]ull of the finely wrought detail found only in classical works.”

Prince, Graffiti Bridge (1990) ”[S]eems like a masterpiece.”