30 Albums That Are 30 Years Old That I Still Listen To

Friday is fun because it's music. So, playlists, and albums to check out...Today, I go back to 30 albums that are now 30 years old, but I love them still.

Oct 12, 2023

Ah, 1993, I remember it like it was…well, 30 years ago…I was in high school still (a year to go). And I think it’s fair to say that 1993 is the first year in my time listening to music where the bands and solo acts of my lifetime – the ones I discovered as opposed to ‘borrowing’ from my folks or learning about through my older brother – took centre stage. That is to say, I was still into Led Zeppelin and Neil Young and The Beatles and old jazz and all sorts, sure. But in 1989 and the first years of the 1990s I was hooked on the 60s and 70s revival of Vietnam War-era soundtracks and the other things in the world from early in the 1980s like the Big Chill OST and the soundtrack to Stand By Me. I still love those things. But 1993 is the year I started buying CDs. I still had tapes, and would take a year or two of convincing (as I discussed briefly last week). But as I started buying CDs, I started documenting and cataloguing the bands of that day, of the then-current era. A lot of 30^th Anniversaries this year, and I thought I’d sweep a bunch together with 30 Albums That Are 30 Years Old That I Still Listen To. Catchy wee title, huh.

For this list, I haven’t ranked them, just dropped them down as I thought of them. I have left off key compilations, or else Prince’s The Hits/The B-Sides would be there. And The Police’s Message In A Box: Complete Recordings was a revelation for me also. And a set of records I now somewhat wrestle with, but ultimately I love them for Stewart Copeland’s contributions. I’ve left off live albums too – or else I’d be raving about Neil Young’s Unplugged – and for that matter 10,000 Maniacs’ MTV Unplugged album too (though not Rod Stewart’s one…there were a LOT of Unpluggeds…) I have had to leave off The Velvet Underground’s reunion live double – which is a beautiful cataloguing of a comeback that might never have happened, and then somewhat correctly imploded almost as soon as it started.

And there were a couple of key soundtrack albums in 1993 – which I’m not going to include. I might write about Judgment Night’s OST another time – because its anniversary has only just happened, and because I recently got the album on vinyl (as a birthday present, thank you Sam!) And because it’s just fucking fantastic! And Poetic Justice’s OST is a stretch as I really didn’t love it when it was released, but now I do. Anyways, I’ve written about that (in probably the appropriate place for it) already.

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There are plenty more albums from this bumper year that I’ve had to leave off my list of 30. And there are really only a few ‘legacy’ acts on here, and if they are, they’re there for a reason. Comeback. Underappreciated release. Sign of new things to come. Final great album. Etc. For the most part this is grunge, and indie and hip-hop and this is artists bursting out of the gate with ideas, debut albums, second and third albums, consolidations – or just a whole new musical world being there and right there right away. We could argue about production here and there – but these albums continue to grow and move, and I continue to reappraise them. Something like Siamese Dream for instance. It’s been relegated to a once-a-year type listen for ages. But this year it’s right back in the rotation, sounding as good as it ever did. Because I’ve probably ditched any baggage around being a Pumpkins fan. Billy seems better. Billy seems cool. Billy seems eager to tour the album – fingers bloody crossed!

So, buckle up, because it’s going to get loud – and long – this was the start of the peak CD era. Albums stretched to breaking point, too long in some cases, but these ones are great examples of what felt like vital, new music. And what now is considered, lol, “Classic Rock”. Or as my son says, “that’s enough of your boomer-rock grandpa tunes”. Then he puts his headphones on and listens to some slurring mumble rap from a 21 year old allegedly bored with life already. Sigh O’ The Times eh…

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I’m not saying this music is better than anything – I’m not saying it’s more important than everything else, but it was vital then and I’m pleased to still hear it as vital now. Here are 30 albums that have just had or will very soon have their birthday. They are now 30. In some cases, they’re the only album I like by this band (Pearl Jam). In other cases, they are one of many brilliant albums by an uncategorisable artist that I love with all my heart (Dead Can Dance). And sometimes they’re just the thing that was nice and surprising at the time and suggested a new peak only to lead to more disappointment down the track (Sting). Join me for a stroll down the street of 1993. It’s paved with greasy, wonderful music…

Nirvana, In Utero