35 Years Later, These Are the Best Albums of 1991

Image via Warner Bros. Published Jul 23, 2026, 2:29 PM EDT Shawn Van Horn is a Senior Author for Collider. He's watched way too many slasher movies over the decades, which makes him an aficionado on all things Halloween and Friday the 13th. Don't ask him to choose between Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees because he can't do it. He grew up in the 90s, when Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, and TGIF were his life, and still watches them religiously to this day. Larry David is his spirit animal. His love for entertainment spreads to the written word as well. He has written two novels and is neck deep in the querying trenches. He is also a short story maker upper and poet with a dozen publishing credits to his name. He lives in small town Ohio, where he likes to watch professional wrestling and movies. Sign in to your Collider account In the early 1990s, music was in a strange place. Radio was dominated by uninspired pop music and the dying fad of hairbands in rock 'n roll. In 1991, things got raw thanks to the explosion of grunge, led by Nirvana and their breakout hit "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Although Kurt Cobain and company changed music forever, they weren't the only ones creating great albums in the decade's second year. Iconic rock bands and the King of Pop himself were still out there better than ever. These are the 10 best albums of 1991. 10 'Dangerous' Michael Jackson In 1991, Michael Jackson was arguably the most famous musical artist in the world. MJ dominated the 80s with albums like Thriller and Bad, and in a new decade he didn't slow down. Released on November 21, 1991, Dangerous was Jackson's first album in four years. He hadn't lost a step during his time away, delivering an album that came in at a whopping 76 minutes plus and immediately shot to number one on the charts. Dangerous is the work of an iconic artist continuing to evolve his sound, this time away from producer Quincy Jones. "Black or White" has deeper lyrics about race in America and "Remember the Time" delivers more of Jackson's soul. Dangerous is also a fun album filled with energy with bangers such as the opening "Jam". None of it is as admittedly as good as Thriller, but even a small step down for the King of Pop was good enough to be one of the best albums of the year. 9 'The Low End Theory' A Tribe Called Quest Hip hop was about to change in a major way in the early 90s, but before the badly named "gangsta rap" took over, A Tribe Called Quest produced one of the best albums of the genre with The Low End Theory. Released on September 24, 1991, the album came a year after their debut, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm. The sophomore effort is so proudly Black, from the cover drawing of a Black woman to the lyrics about what it means to be Black in America. The Low End Theory has a lot to say, and it does it with fun, heavy beats that get your attention, no matter your race. It's an evolving sound aimed at everyone, an album that perfectly melds hip hop and jazz into "jazz rap." In an era where everyone was turning so angry and negative, The Low End Theory, with songs like "Check the Rhime" and "Excursions", is a celebration of life and music. 8 'Badmotorfinger' Soundgarden 1991 was the year grunge broke out and few did it better than Soundgarden. Released on October 8, 1991, Soungarden's third album, Badmotorfinger, is arguably their best, and helped define the sound of the genre. While 1994's Superunknown was more commercial and polished, Badmotorfinger is dirty and raw without losing crossover appeal to the masses. If Nirvana added a pop influence to alternative rock, Soundgarden brought along the influence of heavy metal. Badmotorfinger has some of the band's biggest hits, such as "Jesus Christ Pose," "Outshined," and "Rusty Cage." Kim Thayil's guitar, Matt Cameron's drums, and Ben Shepherd's bass blend together seamlessly, but who are we kidding, Soundgarden is all about the late, great Chris Cornell. Not only did he write all of the lyrics, but he crafted the music for many of the songs. His vocals are iconic, like an angel come down from heaven in a flannel shirt. No one in 1991 had a voice as compelling as his. 7 'Use Your Illusion 1 & 2' Guns N’ Roses Guns N' Roses had overwhelming success in 1987 with their monstrous debut, Appetite for Destruction. Four years later, on September 17, 1991, GNR released a two-and-a-half hour double album called Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II. It may have come out right as the sound of rock was changing, but Guns N' Roses showed that there was still a place for their more traditional sound, which has now moved to new heights. Use Your Illusion I is highlighted by an excellent cover of Paul McCartney and Wings' "Live and Let Die" and the timeless ballad "November Rain." Use Your Illusion II kept the perfect covers coming with "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," along with original pieces such as "You Could Be Mine" and "Civil War." Slash's masterful guitar playing and Axl Rose's unique singing style created a sound so its own that the double album was still producing singles all the way into 1994. 6 'Out of Time' R.E.M. Athens, Georgia's R.E.M. was already well established by the time their seventh album came out. Released on March 12, 1991, Out of Time is the work that took the band to the next level, moving them beyond an act known in smaller circles into worldwide icons. R.E.M. can't be easily defined, which is what made their sound so refreshing in a landscape of predictability. Were they rock? Folk? Pop? Out of Time was all of the above. Their overwhelming success in 1991 began with their first single, "Losing My Religion," which put an unforgettable riff alongside powerful lyrics. To this day, it's the band's most well known and probably best song. They followed it up with the joyful "Shiny Happy People," with accompanying vocals from the B-52's Kate Pierson, then "Radio Song," which included spoken word lyrics from KRS-One. Out of Time is more than the usual guitar and drums sound. It added instruments like mandolins and organs and somehow made them sound cool. 5 'Achtung Baby' U2 There were few bigger bands in the 1980s than Ireland's U2, who found great acclaim and pop culture success with albums such as 1987's The Joshua Tree. Bono, Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. still had so much to say on their seventh album, Achtung Baby, which came out on November 18, 1991. Here, the band continued to evolve, changing not only their musical style, but getting away from more political lyrics to something more personal and easily relatable. "The Fly" is shocking in how different and futuristic the sound is. "Mysterious Ways" makes the hair stand up on the back of your next from the opening chords. "One" is their answer to John Lennon's "Imagine," a plea for humanity that's an ambiguous conversation which squeezes every emotion out of its listener. In 1991, U2, who had found fame through a well-known sound, decided to change it up with a big risk that blended genres. It paid off and then some. 4 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik' Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers, with their distinctive California funk rock sound, became major rock stars in the 1980s. On album number five, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, which debuted on September 24, 1991, they became household names. On this album, the band slowed things down, taking their time with an evolving sound that evoked every emotion under the sun. In 74 minutes, RHCP and producer Rick Rubin had fans dancing and crying. "Give It Away" fused rap and rock with Anthony Kiedis' rapid-fire lyrics. "Suck My Kiss" is all passion, highlighted by Flea's iconic bass slapping. The most memorable song, though, goes to "Under the Bridge." Here, the Red Hot Chili Peppers deliver an iconic ballad about the band's love for Los Angeles. Kiedis' lyrics about how his loneliness was saved by a city are powerful, but it's John Frusciante's guitar, especially alone in the intro, that take the song to new heights and the band along with it. In 1991, Metallica should have been a band on the decline. Sure, they dominated the 1980s, but the heavy metal sound was supposed to be dying out in 1991. Instead of falling, however, the band only got bigger with their self-titled album, which was released on August 12, 1991. Unofficially referred to as "The Black Album", Metallica got away from the traditional sound that had worked for so well. On their fifth album, they went more mainstream and polished, but without losing what made them so great in the process. Metallica has an absolute banger of an opening track. As soon as the opening riff of "Enter Sandman" kicks in, you know you're in for something unique. Three decades later, it's an anthem that still has tens of thousands jumping up and down in sports arenas across the world. Previous Metallica albums always had that one track that slowed down and took a breath. "The Black Album" is filled with them. "Nothing Else Matters," "Sad But True," and "The Unforgiven" are a band ready to do something new. In 1991, they were at their peak. 2 'Ten' Pearl Jam If the next band on the list is the one who changed everything, then Pearl Jam was right on their heels. Built on the ashes of Mother Love Bone and Green River, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, and Mike McReady brought in a surfer and singer from California named Eddie Vedder as the final member of their new band Pearl Jam. On August 27, 1991, they released their first ever album together, Ten. It went on to define a generation. Ten became a staple of rock radio. Gossard and Ament wrote much of the music for the album, developing instant classics such as "Even Flow," "Alive,", "Black," and "Jeremy." But like Chris Cornell with Soundgarden, it's Eddie Vedder's vocals that transform the band into something more. Vedder's deep voice brings the stories in the lyrics to life, whether it be the pained, repetitive question of "Why go home?" in "Why Go?" or the gut-punch real-life story of a bullied kid who ends his life in heartbreaking fashion in "Jeremy." 1 'Nevermind' Nirvana No band or artist, not even Michael Jackson himself, meant more to music in 1991 than Seattle's Nirvana. The little band had one indie album under their belt with 1989's Bleach. On September 24, 1991 they released their Butch Vig produced major label debut with Nevermind. Their first single, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," spoke to the anger and uncertainty of Generation X. The wails of Kurt Cobain, the smashing drums of Dave Grohl, and Krist Novoselic's thumping bass killed off hairbands in one fell swoop. Where Nevermind finds iconic status is after track one ends. Nirvana was no one-hit wonder. The album is a mishmash of Black Sabbath, Boston, and Beatles pop. "Come As You Are" and "Lithium" speak of self-acceptance in the craziness of a changing world. "Polly" challenges with a story of sexual assault told through the perspective of the assailant. And "Something the Way" sounds epic even though the sound is so stripped down. Nirvana's time together would be short, but they live on forever with Nevermind, the best album of 1991.