I Love 1991: Michael Jackson & Soundgarden

Continuing our I Love the 90s series, we move on to 1991, when kids lined up for Sonic the Hedgehog on Sega Genesis while nightly newscasts tracked the crumbling Soviet Union. Don and Dude drop the needle on one polished R&B and soul album and one heavy, alternative release that helped define the decade's sound, connecting both records to a world of Terminator 2 topping the box office, dial up bulletin boards and flannel becoming a fashion statement.

The Albums

Michael Jackson – Dangerous (1991)

Michael Jackson's eighth studio album marked his first major release not built around the Quincy Jones partnership, moving deeper into Teddy Riley's New Jack Swing while still keeping rock, gospel and widescreen pop in the mix. Opening with the hard, compressed groove of "Jam" featuring Heavy D, the record moves through the confessional soul of "Remember the Time," the Slash powered rock detour "Give Into Me," and message songs like "Black or White" and "Heal the World" before closing on the theatrical title track. At nearly 80 minutes across fourteen songs, Dangerous plays as a restless, ambitious time capsule of early 1990s R&B, pop and social commentary.

Soundgarden – Badmotorfinger (1991)

Seattle sound architects Soundgarden built their third album around unusual time signatures, drop tunings and Chris Cornell's four octave vocal range, with new bassist Ben Shepherd pushing the classic lineup into more collaborative songwriting. Produced by Terry Date and released in October 1991 alongside Nevermind, Ten and Blood Sugar Sex Magik, the record opens with the shape shifting "Rusty Cage" and moves through the radio breakthrough "Outshined," the controversial "Jesus Christ Pose" and the horn laced "Room a Thousand Years Wide" before ending on the slow, unsettling "New Damage." Heavier and stranger than its Seattle peers, Badmotorfinger became the blueprint for everything Soundgarden built afterward.

Diggin Albums

Dead Pioneers – Wagon Burner (2026):

The Denver punk band fronted by Gregg Deal pushes past its hardcore roots into heavier riffs and wider atmosphere while keeping its Indigenous rooted, confrontational social commentary intact.

Andy Shauf – The Neon Skyline (2020):

The Canadian singer songwriter's largely self performed concept album follows a single bar room night confronting an old flame through warm chamber pop arrangements built on memory, regret and missed opportunities.

Charli xcx – Music, Fashion, Film (2026):

Coming off brat and her Wuthering Heights scoring work, the British pop artist reteams with A. G. Cook and composer Finn Keane on a seventh album that crosses her music, style and cinema worlds behind cover art pairing John Cale, Marc Jacobs and Martin Scorsese.

Robyn Hitchcock – Stranded in the Future (2026):

The British singer songwriter's second memoir, written and illustrated by Hitchcock himself, traces his teenage and early adult years from 1968 to 1978 as he discovers music and forms the Soft Boys.

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"Hasta la vista, baby." - The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).