Sponge
Rotting Piñata
WORK Group Records / Sony Music
1994
Sponge was a favorite band of mine in the 90s. My radio station was one of the first to play these guys outside of their native Detroit, so the band’s management and label sent me a gold record when they hit 500,000 units in sales.
This was my first gold record I ever received from a band and I was thrilled!!!
Then … I unwrapped it and realized they spelled my name wrong. Oh, well. I still love this album, the band, and the gift.
Alice In Chains
Alice In Chains
Columbia Records
1995
Layne Staley’s last studio record is brilliant.
The Nixons
Foma
MCA Records
1995
One of my favorite short-lived bands from the 90s: Oklahoma City’s THE NIXONS. Great record and great live band.
Soundgarden
Down on the Upside
A&M Records
1996
Most people think the trend of vinyl records “coming back” is a recent thing. But as early as the mid-1990s, vinyl was making a comeback, mostly by cool grunge bands who issued new albums with an LP version. A great example is this limited edition (only 10,000 copies were pressed) of Soundgarden’s Down on the Upside.
Mad Season
Above
Columbia Records
1995
An underrated record from the end of the Grunge era was the only album by Mad Season called Above. This was a side project by members of Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, and Screaming Trees. This vinyl version was produced as a double album and featured a minor radio hit, “River of Deceit.”
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