Smells Like Teen Spirit
1991 · From Nevermind
Four chords, a mumble nobody could decipher, and the riff that ended one decade of rock and started another.
★ 9.9
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1991
Showing 53 songs from 1991
Losing My ReligionR.E.M.
Losing My Religion
1991 · From Out of Time
Buck wrote the riff while teaching himself mandolin in front of the television, and R.E.M. got their biggest American hit.
★ 8.2
Enter Sandman
1991 · From Metallica (The Black Album)
Hammett built the riff after Soundgarden's Louder Than Love, and Bob Rock sent Hetfield back to write a child's nightmare.
★ 8.1
Come as You Are
1991 · From Nevermind
A Small Clone chorus pedal gives the riff its underwater sound, and Cobain nearly withheld the single.
★ 8.0
Mind Playing Tricks On Me
1991
An Isaac Hayes loop from Tough Guys, three verses by Scarface, and a rap record about fear rather than swagger.
★ 7.7
Under the Bridge
1991 · From Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Rubin found the poem in Kiedis's notebook and pushed for it; Frusciante's mother sings in the choir at the end.
★ 7.7
Scenario
1991 · From The Low End Theory
Five MCs passing the microphone, and Busta Rhymes at nineteen turning a guest verse into an entire career.
★ 7.6
Alive
1991 · From Ten
Gossard's demo was called Dollar Short until Vedder set it to learning who his real father was.
★ 7.6
In Bloom
1991 · From Nevermind
Cobain aimed it at fans who missed the point, and Kerslake's video staged them on a mock Ed Sullivan Show.
★ 7.4
Lithium
1991 · From Nevermind
The only Nevermind track cut to a click track, and Grohl's metronome only makes the quiet-loud lurch hit harder.
★ 7.4
Can I Kick It?
1991 · From People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
A borrowed Lou Reed bassline that reportedly took all the royalties, and a call-and-response hook the crowd finishes.
★ 7.3
Give it Away
1991 · From Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Nina Hagen handed Kiedis a jacket from her closet, and Frusciante ran his solo backwards over Flea's jam-session riff.
★ 7.2
OPPNaughty by Nature
OPP
1991
A loop of the Jackson 5's "ABC," Melvin Bliss drums, and an acronym that carried the group to number six.
★ 6.9
I Can't Make You Love Me
1991
Bruce Hornsby's piano behind a vocal Raitt cut in one take, then refused to try again.
★ 6.7
Nothing Else Matters
1991 · From Metallica (The Black Album)
By Hetfield's account the open-string intro came one-handed during a phone call, and Kamen's strings did the rest.
★ 6.6
Remember the Time
1991 · From Dangerous
Teddy Riley's new jack swing under a nostalgia lyric, with John Singleton staging the video in ancient Egypt.
★ 6.5
Black or White
1991 · From Dangerous
Bill Bottrell played the riff everyone credits to Slash, then rapped the verse himself after eight months of searching.
★ 6.5
The Choice Is Yours
1991
An upright bass loop, a playground chant for a hook, and a remix that so eclipsed the original nobody plays it.
★ 6.3