It has been 20 years since one of the world's greatest album came out

[VALuvsMKwan]

[QUOTE=aliceanne;3300861]

Each generation has its own “greatest album” seems to me. For one gen., Nirvana was it. Perhaps in my antediluvian times, it was Sgt. Pepper. For those a tad younger, Dark Side of the Moon, and so on. It all depends on where your head was at. [/

Pink Floyd! My favorite was "The Wall".

And this generation's, at least in terms of catchy, quirky pop songs, may be "Torches" by Foster the People - or even a follow-up to it.

[Civic]

[QUOTE=VALuvsMKwan;3301022]

And this generation's, at least in terms of catchy, quirky pop songs, may be "Torches" by Foster the People - or even a follow-up to it.

My touchstone album: "Off the Wall" by Michael Jackson.

MJ was a year older than I and I had been a big fan since the Jackson 5 scored their first hit song. In 1979 we were both taking our first steps into the adult world.

[oleada]

My first CD was Spice.

Mine too

Ironically enough, I went to karaoke this week, and a bunch of people our age decided to sing Wannabe. And then we sang 2 Become 1.

[PrincessLeppard]

My first album was Cheap Trick's live at budakon, but the greatest album ever is Def Leppard's Hysteria.

I do remember the first time I heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit" though. I was in grad school and driving to my job when it came on the radio. I nearly blew the speakers out of my Geo Storm.

[michiruwater]

And this generation's, at least in terms of catchy, quirky pop songs, may be "Torches" by Foster the People - or even a follow-up to it.

Who?...

I still listen to the Spice Girls regularly and their reunion tour A2 concert was pretty much my favorite night ever.

I don't know what Generation Y's biggest album is. I'm a little afraid that it's probably Britney's first album but I wouldn't be surprised.

And then I went to go see what the bestselling album of 2000-2009 was... and it was The Beatle's 1 album. Huh. If 1999 was included BSB's Millennium would have topped the list, though.

I have no idea. There aren't really that many touchstone artists from my generation who have been going strong long enough. Britney, Eminem... uh, not even sure who else to list. Usher, maybe.

Guess I'll know better in a few decades...

[PDilemma]

Who?...

I still listen to the Spice Girls regularly and their reunion tour A2 concert was pretty much my favorite night ever.

I don't know what Generation Y's biggest album is. I'm a little afraid that it's probably Britney's first album but I wouldn't be surprised.

And then I went to go see what the bestselling album of 2000-2009 was... and it was The Beatle's 1 album. Huh. If 1999 was included BSB's Millennium would have topped the list, though.

I have no idea. There aren't really that many touchstone artists from my generation who have been going strong long enough. Britney, Eminem... uh, not even sure who else to list. Usher, maybe.

Guess I'll know better in a few decades...

If you're going to rank them by sales, then apparently Shania Twain is the voice of the 90s. Nevermind is all the way down at 29. Kid Rock and the Titanic Soundtrack sold better among other dreck.

Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syl.../1S0SYHCCVKIAM

[loulou]

OT here, but you've heard the song by Maroon 5, "Moves like Jagger?" I looked up the meaning of the song and in the comments by readers section at the bottom, someone cracked me up when they asked, "Who's Jagger?" LOL!

Makes me feel old!

Each generation has its own “greatest album” seems to me. For one gen., Nirvana was it. Perhaps in my antediluvian times, it was Sgt. Pepper. For those a tad younger, Dark Side of the Moon, and so on. It all depends on where your head was at.

Oh my! Do you really have to have been there to know Jagger and The Dark Side of the Moon? It's like asking: "What was that thing, Woodstock? I wasn't born yet".

(I'll admit though: I don't know by the top of my head if it's "Dark Side of the Moon" or "The Dark Side of the Moon" - I'd have to check).

[genevieve]

I went into the coffee shop today and they were playing Nevermind. I was going to groove with the barista on it, but then I realized he was probably about 5-6 when it came out

I moved to Seattle 6 months before this record came out. I was too broke to go to shows, even local bands (I remember being irritated that local shows cost $8!! ) so I missed the opportunity to see Nirvana before they broke into the bigtime, sigh.

Love Nirvana, and love nevermind - but even Kurt freely admitted that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was a Pixies ripoff. You want to talk one of the world's greatest albums? Try Doolittle.

[aliceanne]

Who?...

I still listen to the Spice Girls regularly and their reunion tour A2 concert was pretty much my favorite night ever.

I don't know what Generation Y's biggest album is. I'm a little afraid that it's probably Britney's first album but I wouldn't be surprised.

And then I went to go see what the bestselling album of 2000-2009 was... and it was The Beatle's 1 album. Huh. If 1999 was included BSB's Millennium would have topped the list, though.

I have no idea. There aren't really that many touchstone artists from my generation who have been going strong long enough. Britney, Eminem... uh, not even sure who else to list. Usher, maybe.

Guess I'll know better in a few decades...

You have so much more to choose from! When the Mick and the Beatles came out there were 3 or 4 television stations to choose from and 3 or 4 local radio stations. The record companies controled the airplay and the tv networks controled the news. It was easy to totally dominate the media. Barry Gordy did manage to squeeze Motown in, and there was the occasional standard (Sinatra, Martin), but that was it except for some local stations that specialized in jazz or classical music.

[Satellitegirl]

I was more into Aerosmith and Alanis Morrissette(sp) at the time than I was Nirvana. I like some of Nirvana's songs, but I always felt they were overrated. The lyrics were along the lines of Red Hot Chili Peppers, where you're left going "ok that had a good beat/tune, but wtf did any of it mean?"

Also, first album I ever got, was a Michael Jackson Thriller Cassette

[MacMadame]

I went into the coffee shop today and they were playing Nevermind. I was going to groove with the barista on it, but then I realized he was probably about 5-6 when it came out

It's a great album though.

Which is why I've been listening to the Nirvana special on SirusXM radio all weekend!

I didn't get into Nevermind when it first came out. I liked Smells like Teen Spirit, but I didn't get the CD with the rest of the songs until a year or two later. I was in my 30s and I didn't care that it was supposed to be an anthem to a different generation. It was good stuff and I wore out my CD listening to it in the car.

[Susan1]

I was walking down the street in Manhattan on the day after John Lennon was murdered and overheard someone say, "Hey, did you know that Paul McCartney was in another band before Wings?" That made me feel old as well.

Same thing happened to me in 1990. I was so excited at work about my first Paul McCartney concert and a 21 year old girl said "didn't he used to be in Wings?" Uh, yeah?

[jenny12]

It's a great album though.

Which is why I've been listening to the Nirvana special on SirusXM radio all weekend!

I didn't get into Nevermind when it first came out. I liked Smells like Teen Spirit, but I didn't get the CD with the rest of the songs until a year or two later. I was in my 30s and I didn't care that it was supposed to be an anthem to a different generation. It was good stuff and I wore out my CD listening to it in the car.

I always thought of Nirvana more in terms of trend setting in terms of culture than in terms of music. IMO, there were definitely more creative rock albums that came out in the 90s: Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dreams, Pearl Jam's Vitalogy, Soundgarden's Superunknown, Radiohead's OK Computer, etc.

[MacMadame]

I always thought of Nirvana more in terms of trend setting in terms of culture than in terms of music. IMO, there were definitely more creative rock albums that came out in the 90s: Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dreams, Pearl Jam's Vitalogy, Soundgarden's Superunknown, Radiohead's OK Computer, etc.

But whether or not an album is creative is a subjective matter. I don't think Nirvana's place in music history is as subjective. They really did change the face of rock music. Before Nevermind, albums like that never had mainstream success. Grunge rock was only known locally. Rock music was in a dormant period as well and their success paved the way for other types of rock to be more appreciated as well.

The other thing that is precedent-setting about them is that Nevermind really did give them overnight success in a time before YouTube and Facebook where someone with marginal talent can "go viral" without any input from the traditional music industry. They went from playing small clubs that held hundreds to selling out arenas in a period of months, not years.

You don't have to like their music or think their album is the best thing ever to see what an impact they had on the music industry.

[UGG]

The first album I remember getting was Bon Jovi Slippery When Wet and I also got a tape of the Bangles the same day LOL.

Edit to add-actually I did get Thriller before those. So I guess Thriller is the first one I remember. Did anyone NOT have Thriller when it came out?

[PrincessLeppard]

I have never owned Thriller. But I did have the 45 of "Beat It."

[PDilemma]

I have never owned Thriller. But I did have the 45 of "Beat It."

I never owned it either. My best friend had it. We never bought the same records in order to double our available listening on our limited budgets. Whoever liked something most bought it. She definitely liked Thriller a lot more than I did and she bought all the MJ stuff.

[nerdycool]

I was more into Aerosmith and Alanis Morrissette(sp) at the time than I was Nirvana. I like some of Nirvana's songs, but I always felt they were overrated.

Me too. And I think at the time, Smells Like Teen Spirit's video got overplayed on MTV, so it quickly got old for me.

The first album I remember getting was Bon Jovi Slippery When Wet

My sister and I um... reappropriated my brother's cassette of Slippery When Wet. We rocked out to it so much, and his friends thought it was so cute that his little 5 & 6 year old sisters really got into it. Livin' On a Prayer still brings back great memories.

[vesperholly]

I have never owned Thriller. But I did have the 45 of "Beat It."

My parents had Thriller, and I used to play it on my Fisher-Price record player. I thought "Beat It" was about vegetables.

[topaz]

Not everyone may think this is one of the world's greatest albums, but it was certainly one of the most influential of its times. It showed that heavier rock/grunge would sell just as well as more poppy songs (even though there were pretty melodic songs under the loud noise), and really changed record companies' thinking as to what was "commercial".

I didn't appreciate Nevermind at all at the time, and thought that Smells Like Teen Spirit was shrieky dreck, but now I really like it.

I completely agree with this. I hated the grunge scene in the early 90s. The only grunge band I liked was Sound Garden. Chris Cornell's vocals are some the best in rock in history and he is hugely talented. He's so underrated.

Nirvana's music didn't really express my attitude or feelings. I was listening to and being galvanized by Public Enemy at this time(Fear of Black Planet).

I completely respect Nirvana's talent as a group now. David Grohl, I love Foo Fighters. Cobain wasn't "The group", all the musicians were talented.