There is nothing quite like a little nostalgia.
A month ago, I traveled out to Montana and Wyoming for the college. While there, I found my rental car stereo tuned to a 24-hour Pearl Jam XM station. I had no idea such a thing even existed. I played around with some of the other music settings. Nothing grabbed me, especially since the 1980s station seemed to mean really nothing but John Cougar Mellencamp. Not my 1980s, to be sure.
I’ve never been a huge Pearl Jam fan, but I’ve owned a few of their albums, and I’ve listened to them from time to time. I do remember, well, seeing Pearl Jam playing live on Saturday Night Live, being rather taken with the intensity of their performance of “Not for You.” I have also always held a fondness for their 1993 song, “Rearviewmirror,” a heartfelt reaction to the horrors of child abuse.
As I turned the station back to the all-Pearl Jam channel, I realized that 1993 was 20 years ago. Yes, the obvious. But, still. . .there’s being aware, and then there’s being aware. I felt the latter.
What floods back over me, as I think back to 1993, is what a wonderful year for music it was. I’m, of course, a prog guy, and prog was rather scarce in 1993. But, there was some excellent music, nonetheless.
In many ways, 1993 represented the best of the “alternative” scene. Maybe we can consider it the end of the classic college rock/alternative scene, awaiting the rebirth of prog with Marillion’s Brave, Spock’s Beard’s The Light, and Roine Stolt’s The Flower King a year later.
One important exception to the non-prog of 1993 rule is Kevin McCormick’s brilliant first album, With the Coming of Evening. Sadly, this album never received the recognition it so clearly (at least to those of us who know McCormick’s music) deserved. Following what Mark Hollis began with The Colour of Spring, McCormick anticipated much of what would appear in the rebirth of prog over the next two decades. His album is nothing short of a masterpiece.
Whatever we want to label them, a number of excellent albums came out that year. Here’s a list of several.
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The The, Dusk
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Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream
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Pearl Jam, Vs.
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Tears for Fears, Elemental
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World Party, Bang
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Phish, Mound
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Catherine Wheel, Chrome
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Sarah McLachlan, Fumbling Toward Ecstasy
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Radiohead, Pablo Honey
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Cure, Show
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Dead Can Dance, Into the Labyrinth
Progarchy 
Kind of surprised not to see Counterparts on that list of albums. Were you focusing mostly on the alternative stuff, or is that not one of your better-liked Rush albums?
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Erik, I’m not totally sure I want to admit this out loud, but it’s by far my least favorite Rush album. It has brilliant moments, and I love certain songs–Cut to the Chase and Leave that Thing Alone. But, over all, it’s the only Rush album I wouldn’t miss if I had to give up my Rush collection.
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It’s ok, to each his own. There are certainly albums by just about all of my favorite artists I wouldn’t miss.
I rate Counterparts somewhere in the middle, maybe slightly above, in the rankings of their albums. However, I absolutely *love* ‘Stick It Out’, both for the heavy, grungy sound, as well as the sentiment in the lyrics (for which I can find countless examples in surveying the culture today).
Thanks for responding!
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It is definitely one of the better Rush albums!
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