ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON DEC. 23, 1999
By Steve Newton
As far as guitar-based rock music goes, the ’90s were definitely better than the ’80s, but still not as good as the ’70s. Mind you, I was younger then.
Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Ragged Glory (1990). The Can-Am rock legend ripped into the ’90s with a wonderfully raging blast of fuzzy guitars, shitkicker rhythms, and down-home poetry.
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Into the Great Wide Open (1991). With a little help from coproducer Jeff Lynne of ELO and ex-Byrdsman (and undying influence) Roger McGuinn, Petty came up with his best album of the ’90s. The ’80s were also good to him, as were the ’70s. Who knows what he’ll accomplish in the ’00s?
John Mellencamp, Whenever We Wanted (1991). Mellencamp’s self-produced eighth album wasn’t one of his most popular, saleswise, but it captures the Indiana roots-rocker at his most raw and electric. Guitarists David Grissom and Mike Wanchic play fast and loose, and drummer Kenny Aronoff is typically bang on. Aronoff even uses the fabled cowbell on four cuts. Bring back the cowbell! I want my cowbell!
Gary Moore, Still Got the Blues (1990). The former Thin Lizzy member traded in his hard-rock stance for searing blues and delighted fans of both genres with sharp originals and choice standards by Jimmy Rodgers, Otis Rush, and Peter Green, this album’s dedicatee.
The Tragically Hip, Fully Completely (1992). Canada’s best rock band hit its stride with unbeatable grooves and proud slices of Canadiana. Superior tracks like “Fifty Mission Cap”, “Locked in the Trunk of a Car”, and “Fully Completely” should be Canuck-rock radio staples for decades to come.
Joe Satriani, The Extremist (1992). The Bay Area guitar wizard gave up on the subpar singing that clouded the earlier Flying in a Blue Dream, concentrated fully on instrumentals, and–with the core rhythm section of Bissonette brothers Matt and Gregg–delivered his best-rounded recording since the scorching breakthrough of ’88, Surfing With the Alien.
Danny Gatton, 88 Elmira St. (1991). Instrumental virtuoso Danny Gatton made his presence known outside the city limits of Washington, D.C., where word of his awe-inspiring guitar work had been spreading for years. Technically boggling, but tasty too. Ya gotta like that.
Steve Earle, I Feel Alright (1996). Heroin addiction and run-ins with the law couldn’t derail this “hardcore troubadour” from his task of boldly merging pure country music and gritty roadhouse rock.
Dan Baird, Love Songs for the Hearing Impaired (1992). I really missed the Georgia Satellites in the ’90s, but former frontman Baird kept the hell-raisin’ backwoods boogie flame alive in gritty, twang-infested tunes of lost highways and trailer-park trysts.
The Hellecasters, The Hellecasters (1993). The union of Telecaster masters John Jorgenson, Will Ray, and Jerry Donahue was manna from heaven for fans of both flatout country boogie and evocative, cinematic soundscapes.
To hear the full audio of my interviews with John Mellencamp, Joe Satriani, Danny Gatton, Gary Moore, and members of the Tragically Hip subscribe to my Patreon page, where you can eavesdrop on over 650 of my uncut, one-on-one conversations with rockers since 1982.