120 Months Podcast

May 1992 was another legendary month of album releases, with Radiohead's first EP, Drill ; Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds with the haunting and chaotic Henry's Dream ; Gang Starr's 3rd hip hop masterpiece Daily Operation ; Euro art rockers Stereolab with their debut album Peng! ; Iron Maiden's dense and heavy Fear of the Dark ; and the Indigo Girls continuing their run of '90s classics with Rites of Pa...

April 1992 saw album releases from some of the biggest performers of the decade: Beastie Boys with a huge sonic leap forward on Check Your Head ; Pavement's indie rock masterpiece Slanted and Enchanted : The Cure's poppier sound on Wish ; Annie Lennox's haunting, impressive solo debut, Diva ; L7's angry, hilarious alt rock on the Butch Vig-produced Bricks Are Heavy ; The Breeders with solid EP, Sa...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit 120months.substack.com Our survey of albums released in March 1992 continues with the haunting Ingenue from k.d. lang; They Might Be Giants' darker-themed Apollo 18 ; Body Count's mystifyingly horrible debut Body Count ; Gwar's hilarious America Must Be Destroyed ; White Zombie's third album, La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1 ; PJ Harve...

March 1992 is stacked with big releases, so here's Part One of an incredible month of music: Tool's debut EP, Opiate ; Bad Religion's iconic Generator ; Cracker's hilarious, often poignant eponymous debut; David Byrne's 3rd solo album, Uh-Oh ; solid classic rock from King's X on their self-titled album; Walking in London , the fourth studio album from Concrete Blonde; and truly inspired political...

It's February 1992 and we're listening to Sap , an incredible EP from Alice in Chains featuring Chris Cornell, Mark Arm, and Ann Wilson; Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell , a solid collection of outlaw country punk from Social Distortion; End of Silence , a surprisingly crushing and dynamic album from Rollins Band; Vulgar Display of Power , top shelf classic metal from Pantera; Stick Around for Jo...

We're kicking off 1992 by listening to albums released in January: the lush, confessional genius of Tori Amos on Little Earthquakes ; Lou Reed at his most vulnerable and insightful on the classic Magic and Loss ; Afghan Whigs upping their game on Congregation ; the vibrant dreampop of Lush on Spooky . Check out the playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1mMpHXJ8vtpWWOEHBkj49Q?si=72ccd799f3424...

It's time to look back on an incredible year in music, as we each pick our top ten albums of 1991 -- along with some honorable mentions and our choices for song of the year. #90smusic #nirvana #metallica #redhotchilipeppers #1990s #1991 #tompetty #massiveattack #mybloodyvalentine #smashingpumpkins #alternativerock #mtv #pearljam #gunsnroses This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this w...

It's the last month of an amazing year in music, and we're listening to three albums that hit record stores just before the closing bells of 1991: Green Day's leap forward into pop punk stardom, Kerplunk ; Live's mystically-infused debut Mental Jewelry ; and the hilarious stoner metal of Monster Magnet on the influential Spine of God . Listen to the playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist...

November 1991 features several contenders for album of the year. On this episode we listen to U2's reinvention as an electronically-infused art rock band on Achtung Baby ; Ani DiFranco developing her brand of acoustic activist poetry on Not So Soft ; Tupac Shakur's bracing, incredible debut 2Pacalypse Now ; My Bloody Valentine shattering all expectations of what a guitar can sound like on Loveless...

Ride along with us as we listen to albums released in October 1991: Soundgarden's attempt at a "heavy metal White Album," Badmotorfinger ; Ice Cube's righteous fury on Death Certificate ; Public Enemy continuing their incredible early '90s run on Apocalypse '91: The Enemy Strikes Black ; Superchunk finds their sunny indie groove on No Pocky for Kitty ; and Neil Young puts of a fierce, classic live...

In the final installment of our trilogy on the insane month of September 1991, we listen to the Red Hot Chili Peppers' towering funk rock masterpiece Blood Sugar Sex Magik ; the demented, chemically-influenced slop rock of Ween on The Pod ; the lush shoegaze of Slowdive on their beautiful debut, Just For a Day ; and the jam-tastic stylings of Blues Traveler on Travelers & Thieves . Check out this...

On this episode we continue our survey of a historic month in music, September 1991, when "alternative" music hit the mainstream. We're listening to Nirvana's monumental album Nevermind ; Uncle Tupelo's Still Feel Gone ; Trompe Le Monde from Pixies; and the hip hop masterpiece The Low End Theory from A Tribe Called Quest. Check out this month's playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6AgXYXUe5...

We're kicking off one of the most insane months in music history, September 1991, by listening to just 4 of the many classic albums released within the same 30 days: Guns N' Roses with the epic double barrel of Use Your Illusion I and II ; Ozzy Osbourne's soaring, surprisingly sentimental No More Tears ; Kyuss with an influential stoner rock debut, Wretch ; and Hole's Kim Gordon-produced gut-wrenc...

On this episode we're listening to albums released in August 1991: the chaotic experimental rock of Mr. Bungle on their self-titled debut; indie rock majesty from Sebadoh on III ; jammy pop from Spin Doctors on Pocket Full of Kryptonite ; and heavy grunge tones from Skin Yard on the magnificently titled 1000 Smiling Knuckles .Listen to the whole playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3bg...

Our survey of albums released in the summer of 1991 continues into August, with Metallica's epic self-titled collection (more commonly known as "The Black Album"); Pearl Jam's meteoric debut Ten ; Blur's uneven debut (later disowned by Damon Albarn), Leisure ; and Toad the Wet Sprocket's acoustic hit machine, fear .Check out our August 1991 playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/73dsuQXB...

It's the long hot summer of 1991, and we're listening to July's album releases: the intricate punk twang of Meat Puppets on Forbidden Places ; the highly influential alt rock weirdness of Mudhoney on Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge ; the always compelling Fugazi on the incomparable Steady Diet of Nothing ; the swan song of '80s legends Psychedelic Furs on World Outside ; and the always welcome nosta...

May 1991 saw some weird, marvelous album releases, and we're reviewing them all here: Bullhead, the 3rd studio album from Seattle alt rock pioneers Melvins; Gish, the majestic and haunting debut studio album from '90s legends Smashing Pumpkins; De La Soul is Dead, a challenging and hilarious collection of hip hop gems from national treasures De La Soul; Sailing the Seas of Cheese, the major label...

April 1991 features a number of searing album releases: Violent Femmes with their 5th studio album Why Do Birds Sing? ; the self-titled Andrew Wood tribute from a Seattle supergroup, Temple of the Dog ; trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack's stunning debut Blue Lines ; Brazilian metal gods Sepultura's now classic collection, Arise ; the smart, dynamic alternative rock of Firehose on Flyin' the Flannel...

It's time to listen to albums released in March 1991: R.E.M.'s majestic, dynamic mainstream breakthrough Out of Time ; Morrissey's 2nd solo album Kill Uncle ; the criminally underrated Urge Overkill with The Supersonic Storybook ; the always hilarious punk sounds of NOFX on their 3rd album, Ribbed ; the Steve Albini-produced noise rock of The Jesus Lizard on Goat ; and the impressive songwriting c...

On this episode we listen to albums released in February 1991: Freddie Mercury's swan song on Queen's Innuendo ; the grunge sounds of Tad, the unluckiest of the Seattle bands, on 8-Way Santa ; J. Mascis going it alone on Dinosaur, Jr.'s majestic Green Mind ; the Butthole Surfers being their obnoxious, idiosyncratic selves on Pioughd ; and the timeless hard rock of Motörhead on the genuinely awesom...

1991 is a legendary year in the history of American popular music. As we’ll see, by the time summer hits, legendary albums are dropping literally every week, and a genuine renaissance is in full swing. But this is January 1991, and we’re still in the calm before the storm, though in the albums we profile in this episode, definite trends are rising. We listen to the grungy tones of Screaming Trees...

Over the past 12 podcast episodes, John and I have listened to (and argued over) more than 70 albums released in 1990. Some definite themes have emerged: the transition from ‘80s to ‘90s in both the form and content of popular music; the birth of new aesthetics and sociopolitical concerns in both rock and hip hop; and more than anything, the undeniable sound of underground music moving into the ma...

Let’s listen to albums released in December 1990: Tristessa , the first EP from The Smashing Pumpkins and a blistering proof of concept; Smooth Noodle Maps , a sad and disappointing collection of songs from Devo, one of the best to ever do it; Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em , a promising debut album from rockabilly masters The Reverend Horton Heat; Kill at Will , Ice Cube’s fierce and refined follow-up...

This week we’re listening to music released in November 1990: Against the Grain , harmonic, philosophical punk rock from the legendary Bad Religion; Hell’s Ditch , Shane MacGowan’s final album with Celtic punk stalwarts The Pogues; Reverberation , Echo & The Bunnymen’s sad attempt to replace frontman Ian McCulloch; Ferociously Stoned , a surprisingly dynamic debut album from swing and ska band Che...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit 120months.substack.com On Part Two of our survey of albums released in October 1990, we listen to music from some of the most popular singer-songwriters of the era: Paul Simon’s Brazilian flavored mid-life crisis exploration on Rhythm of the Saints ; Dwight Yoakum’s tenderhearted Bakersfield crooning on If There Was a Way ; roots rock s...