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1991 is Fun (whatever, bad title)


On 07/08/2015 at 03:53 AM by KnightDriver

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1991 seems to be the real start of the '90s the way I see it. I heard Blues Traveler, Metallica, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Spin Doctors all over the radio (As soon as I listened to my playlist tonight, I was immediately brought back to the 90s and everything I did in those years). The SNES came out and the war between Sega and Nintendo began; although, i wasn't gaming at all and wasn't aware of it. The only movie I saw in the theater that year was Woody Allen's Shadow's and Fog. I don't remember anything about it, but I do remember the theater I went to see it in New York. It was a trying year for me that ended in me returning to my hometown. Below I've listed some media I'd like to visit, or in some cases revisit, this week. 

Music: 

Iced Earth - Night of the Stormrider: I've heard most of the tracks from live albums, but I'd like to hear the original album.
Kyuss - Wretch: Never heard much from Kyuss, but would like to. 
Sepultura - Arise: Can't get enough Sepultura.
Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger: My favorite Soundgarden album that somehow escaped my collection. MUST HAVE!
Carcass - Necroticism: This was the heaviest album I'd ever heard at the time from a cassette I bought at a used record store. I love the down-tuned guitars and how low in register they are. 

Games:

I think I'll play Pilotwings, a very early SNES title, on the weekend via Wii virtual console and Final Fantasy IV (then labeled FF II in the U.S. for SNES) on DS during the work week. I just played the opening segments of the game and I got chills from the music and opening CG cut scenes. Such a great game. I bought it (again) today and miraculously got it in the box. Must've been the only DS game in the box left at any Gamestop in the nation. Pic below.

                 stuff

Also in the pic are 1991 albums Red Hot Chili Pepper's Blood Suger Sex Magic, Primus' Sailing the Seas of Cheese, and Cypress Hill's debut album. I've always been curious about Cypress Hill. Thought I'd check it out.

 Books: 

If I can finish The Bourne Supremacy I'd like to read Stephen Fry's Liar or Bernard Werber's scifi novel Empire of the Ants. He's a French writer who put a lot of ant science in his books. I find ants fanscinating. It's weird this book came up today when I was thinking about how ants make labyrinthian constructions that would be great designs for dungeons in games. 

Film:

I want to see Cronenberg's Naked Lunch but I just watched the opening to the cartoon The Priates of Dark Water and noticed the animation looks surprisingly like Don Bluth's Dragon's Lair. I really want to see that too and Darkwing Duck. Of course, I'm still trying to finish My Neighbor Totoro and The Lair of the White Worm and not doing to well at getting to them. I'm about 2/3rds through Totoro. 

So that's 1991 for me this week. Where were you in 1991, and what did you take in media wise?


 

Comments

Cary Woodham

07/08/2015 at 04:04 AM

As much as I praise the 80s (better music than the 90's, arcade classics), I have to say the 90's were great for gaming, too (SNES, PSOne). 

I have a lot of good memories with Pilotwings on the SNES.  When I first got my SNES and Pilotwings, I took it to Alabama to visit family that Christmas.  My dad and his brothers stayed up to like, 5 in the morning playing Pilotwings every night we were there!  They loved that game!

I didn't really like the DS version of FF4.  It's not anything like the SNES version, which you should play if you want the true 90's expereince.  Plus, the DS version is all in 3-D and is way too hard.  While I previously played RPGs like Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior on the NES, FF4 was truly the first game that got me into RPGs.  To this day, 16-bit RPGs are my favorite.

Darkwing Duck is awesome.  You should watch that.  I loved the Disney Afternoon cartoons as a kid.

KnightDriver

07/09/2015 at 01:18 AM

Looks like the SNES cart of FFII (IV) isn't as pricey as I thought it would be. Maybe sometime I'll try that original version. 

I'd like to see Darkwing Duck but it's not on Netflix. I'll have to find it in the wild I suppose.

GeminiMan78

07/08/2015 at 12:49 PM

I agree, Bad Motor finger is arguable one of Sandgardens best ( and all of their stuff is pretty amazing). I have heard a few tracks by Kyuss on Pandora, kind missed them back in the day. Interesting fact about them is Josh Homme of Queens of the Stoneage,Eagles of Death Metal, and Them Crooked Vultures fame got his start with Kyuss.

 The DS version of FFIV is my favorite version. It's still crazy ass hard, but the new mini games and beefed up visuals & sound really bring it to life. i wish V VI would get this same kind of make over.

KnightDriver

07/09/2015 at 01:34 AM

The Josh Homme connection from Queens of the Stoneage is what alerted me to Kyuss. I heard a track I liked too. Too bad I couldn't find any Kyuss in the wild this week. At some point I'm going to have to go to Amazon or iTunes for this stuff.

Super Step Contributing Writer

07/08/2015 at 07:13 PM

I was one year old. But I definitely remember a lot of the music from Metallica, RHCP, Blues Traveller, Spin Doctors, Pearl Jam, etc. because it kept being played throughout the decade. I didn't find out until years later that Mariah Carey was actually by far the most popular artist of the time, because my older brother and I typically kept tuned to the alternative and hard rock stations in Dallas. 

The music you've got on your list is way heavier than anything I'd have listened to in the 90s though. I was a little guy, so I was more of a Hanson and Green Day fella. I did really like Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City" too. 

As for gaming, I believe Super Mario World and F-Zero were launch titles. I played a ton of the former and remember the latter and Star Fox being rented from hotels when we were kids. 

I think most of Blood Sugar Sex Magic was aired on the radio throughout the 90s. Rick Rubin knows what he's doing and that's when RHCP's signature sound really formed. I forget if that CD or Mother's Milk were when Jon Frusciante became their guitarist. Their 80s funk metal stuff is cool. Primus was never my favorite; honestly never got into "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" from Tony Hawk's soundtrack. Only songs I know from Cypress Hill are "Insane in the Membrane" and "I Could Just Kill A Man" because Rage Against the Machine covered it; I actually prefer the cover.

I think I had an ant farm as a kid. Was actually pretty interesting. I love Stephen Fry. I didn't get into Cronenberg movies like The Fly until much later on. He's one of those film nerds directors that film geeks I know love. I liked Darkwing Duck as a kid. 

 

KnightDriver

07/09/2015 at 01:52 AM

I listened to rock radio, so I didn't hear much pop stuff. I did go over all the billboard chart listings at the end of the decade and saw Mariah Carey all over the place. The stuff I listed is mostly the result of my current interest in metal. At the time, I just listened to mainstream rock. In a year or so I started getting into singer-songwriter stuff via a local station and steered away from mainstream rock a bit. I went on a folky kick for a while.

Ranger1

07/11/2015 at 09:21 PM

Ants are one of the few things that really creep me out. For some people, it's spiders, for others, it's snakes, for me, it's fricking ants. I hate them. With a passion. Especially the big ones with wings. Some things should just not have wings. Ants are one of them. Monkeys are another.

I love My Neighbor Totoro. I think that and Spirited Away are my two favorite Studio Ghibli films.

KnightDriver

07/12/2015 at 03:03 AM

Totoro was so good. I've got to see all the Ghibli films now. I've only seen Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro and Wind Rises so far.

I'm fine with all bugs. I picked up a spider at work the other day to the horror of all. It can't harm me. I put it outside so it could make a web or whatever. 

Ranger1

07/12/2015 at 11:10 AM

Grave of the Fireflies is an excellent movie, but so, so incredibly sad. Just a warning. While I felt it was incredibly well done, it's one of the movies I have put in the category of "I can only watch this movie once".

KnightDriver

07/13/2015 at 01:13 AM

After Wind Rises, I expect sadness. Totoro didn't go where I thought it was going.

Alex-C25

07/17/2015 at 12:14 AM

Really love Blood Sugar Sex Magik (with K damnit!). Badmotorfinger I don't have yet, but I do own Superunknown, which I think you should listen if you are going to do 1994. It's their more Grunge release rather than the Alternative Metal/Grunge of past releases, but it's still a masterpiece.

That DS version of FF4 is a remake with like Cary said rather than the original version (which is now avaiable on Steam also with a remake of The After Years). Though the Wii's Virtual Console has the original SNES release, the PSP has this if you'd like to check out.

KnightDriver

07/17/2015 at 01:54 AM

Yea, I noticed that "k" after I posted the blog. It's a great album. I've heard Superunknown a bunch way back in the '90s and will definitely add it to my '94 list. I actually learned Fell on Black Days on bass when I was in my band. Spoonman is my favorite song off that one. 

I'm glad the original release is on Virtual Console. I'll have to check that out. I saw that PSP game with the After Years included. I'm interested in that too. And. . . I got killed on my first quest with Cecil and Kain last week. Oh boy.

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