44 Days That Changed Music and Defined Gen X Vol. 2
A Story Unfolding Across Timelines.
Intro
Our second part begins where the first left off.
and I ended the first part with The Radio Song and are starting this one with my favorite quote that defines a playlist. In the 1990s, we created playlists on mixtapes, which were the first playlists of our lives. They captured how music connected us and reflected the global impact of those 44 unforgettable days and the albums that changed everything for a generation.Current Time.
Liat Portal: "Making a playlist is a delicate art; it's like writing a love letter but better in a way. You get to say what you want to say without actually saying it." This is my love letter to a time I doubt will ever return. A time when everything seemed possible. A time of hope, of courage to bring up topics that hadn’t been discussed before. A time of artistic freedom to create a new genre that had never existed, bring it into the spotlight, and shape entire generations through the foundation of music.
So here we are, August 12, 1991, in the United States. Anyone turning on the radio hears these sounds:
Metallica was already a well-known band, but they specialized mainly in thrash metal. They released the album Metallica, or The Black Album, as it was immediately called. They redefined their music with songs that were slightly more melodic but without compromising on heavy guitars and ominous motifs. This Metallica album, which is the first of the seven albums released during those 44 days, included other masterpieces like "The Unforgiven," "Sad But True," and, of course, the moving ballad "Nothing Else Matters."
Kevin Alexander: I was a much bigger fan of Ride the Lightning, but I will say that “Enter Sandman” sounded incredible blasting out of my car as I raced around Washington County.
Two weeks later, on August 27, 1991, this guitar entered our lives, officially marking the beginning of the grunge era.
Pearl Jam brought something different. They brought existential sadness that resonated with everyone, teens and young adults alike. Everything was wrapped in distortion-filled melodies, delivered with raw energy. The album was called Ten, and it was just that; it got a perfect ten score. Alongside Alive, it also featured Even Flow. Both songs, Even Flow and Alive, were filmed during live performances in Seattle. Jeremy was based on a true story about a boy who shot himself in class in front of his classmates and teacher. It was a very unique clip that won MTV’s Video of the Year award.
Back then, Jeremy was just aired freely on MTV. Today, if you want to watch it on YouTube, you have to click a confirmation that the video may contain topics of suicide or self-harm. The boy who played Jeremy became a huge star but couldn’t handle the fame and ran away from it. In 2016, he drowned in Puerto Rico.
Also on this great album is the masterpiece Black, which was never released as a single but lives on forever. It’s a deeply sad song about a breakup, yet it’s charged with immense sexual energy. Listening to this song while making love or during the heartbreak of a teenage breakup transforms it into a perfect and powerful memory with the unforgettable lyrics, "I know someday you’ll have a beautiful life; I know you’ll be a star."
Kevin Alexander: I hate that I’m getting old, but I feel lucky that it means I was around to see bands like Pearl Jam in the early years when they were still relatively unknown. If you had told me in 1991 that they would be the last of the “Seattle bands” standing and still putting out solid records 33 years later, I probably would’ve laughed you out of the room. But they are, so here we are.
Liat Portal: In 1991, Guns N’ Roses were four years after their debut album, Appetite for Destruction. They already had massive hits like Welcome to the Jungle, Sweet Child of Mine, and Paradise City. They had sold 30 million copies of their debut, but no one expected them to suddenly release two albums on the same day. Three weeks after Pearl Jam released Ten, on September 17, 1991, Guns N’ Roses released the masterpiece albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, which immediately topped the Billboard charts, taking first and second places, and brought a list of hits that defined their legacy and left a lasting mark on rock music.
You Could Be Mine, the ballad trilogy, November Rain, Strange, and Don’t Cry, became anthems for a generation and strengthened the band's legendary status. As the sister of a guitarist, I’ve always imagined my brother playing the solo from November Rain while climbing onto a grand piano during a live performance. I wouldn’t be surprised if they discovered one day that only I watched this video a million times out of all the views. After so many imaginary rehearsals, it’s bound to happen eventually. My brother will play this solo on a grand piano during a live performance.
Kevin Alexander: In eighth grade, I bought my first CD player, and a batch of 4 CDs to go along with it. This was one of them. There was a long stretch where I disavowed any love of this record, but the truth is for what it is–and the era it was released in– it holds up well. I recently listed it as one of my top 100 albums of all time.
Liat Portal: Three days later, just three days later, the last three albums, the greatest albums that defined a generation, were released on the same day. The fifth album by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blood Sugar Sex Magik. After many lineup changes, deaths, and heroin, they exploded with this album, which didn’t sound like anything else. Let’s listen to Give It Away:
This album taught the world what funk rock really is. It was full of madness, creating an album with deep personal and social lyrics while also managing to deliver the perfect next rock ballad we’ll listen to. I wish I had a counter for the number of times I’ve watched Under the Bridge on MTV.
On that same day, Soundgarden released Badmotorfinger. Although it received little airplay or recognition in Israel, it sold a million copies in the United States alone. It’s an incredibly important album in the grunge scene and paved the way for hits like Black Hole Sun. Let’s listen to Outshined:
In Israel, we had one public TV channel that unsurprisingly had 100 percent ratings. With no other options, where else could viewers possibly go? Those with some technical know-how who bought an antenna, or in certain areas of Israel when the skies were clear and there were no disruptions, could pick up the Jordanian TV station. But generally, that was all we had.
When cable TV entered our lives, first as pirate stations and later as official ones, our lives changed completely. It was an absolute transformation. In the late 1980s, the cable infrastructure in Israel began its trial phase, and from the early 1990s, more stations were added to the broadcast, connecting us to the world and changing our lives. As a teenager, I was fascinated by MTV. I was glued to the screen; no one could separate me from it. One day, these sounds came out of the TV and changed my life forever.
I still listen to this song. It's the kind of song you can’t hear just once, and I usually play it on repeat. Back then, I didn't have YouTube or Spotify to listen to songs on repeat! I needed to wait for it all day, and if I missed it, it was a bummer. Every time I listen to it, I feel light and filled with teenage energy. I also weave my head the way they do in the video clip; it's like an instinct I cannot get rid of. From the very first listen, it was clear that this song was going to be extraordinary.
On September 24, Nirvana’s second album, Nevermind, was released. It exploded like nothing before it. This album defined the genre, the decade, and an entire generation - my generation, Gen-X. In academic research, we are also called the MTV generation or latchkey kids, referring to the key around your neck. We used to let ourselves into the house after school because, for the first time, there was a generation of kids whose parents both worked, so they needed to take care of themselves.
Nevermind is a brilliant and sweeping album, almost entirely written by Kurt Cobain. It has everything within it. It was dark and disturbing; it had humor, anthems, and small, painful songs. There are songs that catch you immediately and others that take time to discover. Come As You Are, Lithium, In Bloom, Polly, and Something in the Way all became classics that hit your guts, filled you with emotions, and helped you scream out all your pain.
I’m not a professional, but this album taught an entire generation to scream out pain through music and let it go. There was no filler; every song is excellent on its own. This album marked the beginning of the great rock explosion of the 1990s, which later spread to England and, of course, to Israel.
Kevin Alexander: Another band, I was extremely fortunate to see play when they were still coming down to Portland to open for other bands. The first time I heard them rip into Bleach’s “Negative Creep” was like a kick to the head in all the best ways. Everyone there that night knew we were getting in on the ground floor of something special. Nevermind took that electricity and launched it into the stratosphere.
Liat Portal: Those 44 days brought something that hasn’t repeated itself since and probably never will. I miss that feeling of deeply connecting with something new, something exciting, and creative. Maybe part of it is age; what you can feel as a teenager is less possible at 44, my age today. But here we are, 33 years later. Kurt Cobain and Chris Cornell are no longer with us. R.E.M. disbanded in 2011 and broke my heart. Guns N' Roses are touring the world after not speaking with each other for a decade or two. Red Hot Chili Peppers lost their guitarist to heroin, replaced members, and still found ways to redefine themselves. Dave Grohl founded Foo Fighters and lost his drummer in unfortunate circumstances. Even though they lost Cliff Burton, Metallica is the only band that has remained continuously active.
Thirty-three years have passed since 1991. Russia is still in the headlines, not only in newspapers but also on news websites and social media, dealing with conflicts that originated from the dissolution of the Soviet Union. There are still Israelis in captivity in enemy hands, only many, many more. Civilian Israelis live with daily alarm sirens from missile attacks for more than a year. Although we developed the Iron Dome to protect us, it didn’t prevent PTSD, and probably the entire state suffers from it on different levels.
Some of those who were teenagers back then, during those 44 days, have children who served in the IDF or danced at the NOVA festival and won’t come home anymore. Unfortunately, those Gen-X teenagers can’t just lock themselves in a room with music and distortion and escape from it all. There are still captives who are alive, and the only thing we can learn from 1991 is to demand that the government bring them home at all costs and never stop demanding this loudly and publicly until they do.
Nova Festival Victims Memorial
These great albums were released in 1991. Their songs shaped my teenage years and made me who I am. While I could only dream of seeing these bands live in the 1990s, Kevin actually did it.
We both still listen to these albums; their songs never fade away. That is the greatness of music - it remains with us forever. It takes us back in time and reminds us of feelings we experienced for the first time or at a specific time.
Even though we lived on the other side of the world, living completely different lives, the same music found a way into our hearts. While some think that living in Israel means living in a war zone, we still found a way to thrive with music and get to know it, thanks to technology like MTV and traditional radio stations that aired it.
One music channel broadcasted to the world and defined a generation. One TV channel connected us all through music. Through music, one channel bridged distances and proved that creativity, amplified by innovation, could shape a generation and echo across decades.
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Liat
In this journey, I weave together episodes from my life with the rich tapestry of Israeli culture through music, food, arts, entrepreneurship, and more. I write over the weekends and evenings and publish these episodes as they unfold, almost like a live performance.
Each episode is part of a set focused on a specific topic, though sometimes I release standalone episodes. A set is released over several days to make it easier for you to read during your busy workday. If one episode catches your attention, make sure to read the entire set to get the whole picture. Although these episodes are released in sets, you can read the entire newsletter from the beginning, as it flows smoothly, like music to your ears - or, in this case, your eyes.