While I don’t believe this topped the previous year in overall entertainment, that’s a position subject to debate. Because at the very least, this came pretty damn close. But this year also came with some warning signals. 1990 primarily had 1 film that I could say was overly blunt in SJW content (it’s nothing compared to today, but it’s there, with the film Pacific Heights). This year had more films then that suffering from those symptoms. Nowhere near enough to ruin it (if nothing else, some of the shows that debuted in September did far more damage in both the short and long term than anything else put out at any other time the entire year), but it makes me wonder how next year is going to fare, given the upcoming L.A. riots that would ensure over the Rodney King decision.

Music

This was an incredible year for music (though the sublime albums tended to come out on a bell curve release pattern, with most of the standouts arriving between August and November). It really pained me trying to cut this down to 30 standout selections, and I couldn’t bring myself to put it that low. I’ll just say that these are only the highlights, and you should check out the other noteworthy albums I highlighted throughout each month of 1991.

Saxon: Solid Ball of Rock (February)

Queen: Innuendo (February)

Motorhead: 1916 (February)

R.E.M.: Out of Time (March)

Metal Church: The Human Factor (March)

Slint: Spiderland (March)

EMF: Schubert Dip (May)

The Smashing Pumpkins: Gish (May)

David Byrne: The Forest (June)

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 (June)

L.A. Guns: Hollywood Vampires (June)

Alice Cooper: Hey Stoopid (July)

The Allman Brothers Band: Shades of Two Worlds (July)

Metallica: Metallica; Black Album (August)

Album of the year.

Cypress Hill: Cypress Hill (August)

Spin Doctors: Pocket Full of Kryptonite (August)

Pearl Jam: Ten (August)

Tesla: Psychotic Supper (August)

Level 42: Guaranteed (September)

Slowdive: Just for a Day (September)

Overkill: Horrorscope (September)

Rush: Roll the Bones (September)

Ozzy Osbourne: No More Tears (September)

Guns N’ Roses: Use Your Illusion I & II (September)

Note that these are two separate albums, but were released together and basically intended as one set.

Kyuss: Wretch (September)

Soundgarden: Badmotorfinger (September)

Nirvana: Nevermind (September)

Red Hot Chili Peppers: Blood Sugar Sex Magik (September)

Prince & The New Power Generation: Diamonds & Pearls (October)

Savatage: Streets: A Rock Opera (October)

Warren Zevon: Mr. Bad Example (October)

Yanni: In Celebration of Life (November)

U2: Achtung Baby (November)

Michael Jackson: Dangerous (November)

Movies

I’m not so sure this month had the best quantity of good films compared to last year (also subject to debate). But what this (may have) lacked in quantity it made up for in quality.

The Grifters (January)

Heaven & Earth (February)

*It’s Japanese, but it was also made with a Canadian and American audience in mind.*

Silence of the Lambs (February)

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (March)

The Josephine Baker Story (March)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (March)

Hangin’ with the Homeboys (April)

Out for Justice (April)

La Femme Nikita (April)

A Rage in Harlem (May)

Stone Cold (May)

Backdraft (May)

Hudson Hawk (May)

Thelma & Louis (May)

City Slickers (June)

The Rocketeer (June)

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (July)

Film of the year.

Boyz n the Hood (July)

Point Break (July)

Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (July)

The Commitments (September)

The Fisher King (September)

Black Robe (October)

Frankie & Johnny (October)

City of Hope (October)

Cape Fear (November)

Beauty and the Beast (November)

My Girl (November)

At Play in the Fields of the Lord (December)

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (December)

JFK (December)

Fried Green Tomatoes (December)

Until the End of the World (December)

Naked Lunch (December)

Games

No question about it, this year’s selection of games blew last years out of the water. This year was downright legendary for the games it brought to the table, and the Super Nintendo console played a pivotal role in that. But even the arcades picked up the slack with one legendary release that ended up stealing “Game of the Year” from all consoles and computers.

Sword of Vermillion (January; Sega Genesis)

Sid Meier’s Civilization (January; PC)

Street Fighter II (February; Arcade)

Game of the year, no question.

Metal Storm (February; NES)

Lemmings (February; Amiga [later on Sega Genesis and SNES])

Valis III (March; Sega Genesis, Turbografx, PC)

Golden Axe Warrior (April; Sega Master System)

Warsong (April; Sega Genesis)

The G.G. Shinobi (April; Game Gear)

Devilish (April; Game Gear)

Bomber Man (April; Turbografx)

Starflight (May; Sega Genesis)

Bonanza Bros. (May; Sega Genesis)

Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood (?; PC)

Elite Plus (?; PC)

Battle Isle (?; Amiga, PC)

Battletoads (June; NES)

Sonic the Hedgehog (June; Sega Genesis)

Alien Storm (June; Sega Genesis)

Master of Monsters (July; Sega Genesis)

Bonk’s Revenge (July; Turbografx)

Duke Nukem (July; PC)

Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom (August; NES)

Shining in Darkness (August; Sega Genesis)

Metroid II: Return of Samus (August; Game Boy)

F-Zero (August; SNES)

Super Mario World (August; SNES)

Rampart (?; Sega Genesis [Arcade version came last year])

Streets of Rage (September; Sega Genesis)

Pirates! (October; NES)

Toejam & Earl (October; Sega Genesis)

Fatal Fury: King of Fighters (November; Arcade)

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Road Rash (November; Sega Genesis)

ActRaiser (November; SNES)

Final Fantasy II [aka Final Fantasy IV] (November; SNES)

Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts (November; SNES)

Raiden (November; Turbografx)

Out of This World; aka Another World (November; SNES, Sega Genesis, Amiga, DOS, Atari)

#Another World from Byte Sized Classic Games

Tecmo Super Bowl (December; NES)

Super Castlevania IV (December; SNES)

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge (December; PC)

Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi (December; PC)

Shows & Miniseries

Just because of a few certain shows that premiered on Syndication, I’m going to say this year was a downgrade from the last on the tv show department, in spite of the good stuff that came out.

Talk Soup (January; E!)

Dark Shadows (January; NBC)

Fifteen (February; Nickelodeon)

Son of the Morning Star (February; ABC)

The Pirates of Dark Water (February; ABC)

Clarissa Explains it All (March; Nickelodeon)

The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage (March; NBC)

Dinosaurs (April; NBC)

My pick for show of the year.

Sisters (May; NBC)

Salute Your Shorts (June; Nickelodeon)

Shop till you Drop (July; Lifetime)

Doug (August; Nickelodeon)

Rugrats (August; Nickelodeon)

Ren & Stimpy (August; Nickelodeon)

Roc (August; Fox)

The Legend of Prince Valiant (September; The Family Channel)

Land of the Lost (September; ABC)

Darkwing Duck (September; Disney Channel)

Bucky O’Hare and the Toad Wars (September; Syndication)

Maury; The Montel Williams Show; Jerry Springer (September; Syndication)

I’m listing all 3 of these as one entry, because they’re all the same thing. They are all shit shows with shit people on them, with shit people hosting them, with shit people watching them, on the same station. And all of these shows can burn in hell.

Eerie, Indiana (September; NBC)