‘Social Distortion’: Joan Jett’s favourite album of the 1990s
The canon of 1990s rock music deserves its own course of study, because in many ways the decade-long melting pot of hedonism and partying and cultural shifts resulted in some of the best rock music ever created. Between grunge, Britpop, and alternative, the genre was having its thriving moment in the mainstream, and Joan Jett was in the topflight among them. ‘The Queen of Rock and Roll’ truly had a voice, and she knew how to use it.
As the culturally adopted ruling monarchs of the scene, she and Elvis Presley represented polar opposite ends of the rock sonic scale, but indeed, this spoke to the vastly different eras in which they made their names. By the time the ‘90s had rolled around, gone were the days of the polished, swooning stars of Presley’s calibre, and instead, 40 years down the line, rock and roll was an altogether dirtier affair. A major part of this was the revolutionising shake-up of patriarchal standards – and as the ‘original riot grrrl’ herself, Jett was one of the loudest voices and brightest beacons for change within this.
During her cultural comeuppance as part of the Runaways and the Blackhearts, as well as in her own solo career, Jett has stayed the test of time long enough to know a good rock record when she hears one. Particularly in the ‘90s, she felt there was one special work among all her other favourite albums that deserved its own place in glory for soundtracking the early rise of a rock revolt.
That was the 1990 mainstream debut Social Distortion by the American punk band of the same name. In many ways, Jett’s reverence of this record should come as no real surprise – she and this class of Orange County hardcore rockers were experiencing much of their most critical success at the same moment of this pivotal era, and so it’s easy to see how Social Distortion’s seminal album was a prized piece to her in this time.
Although in reality, their third album, Social Distortion, true to what its name suggests, was the real concrete reintroduction to the band, who had been together for close to 15 years by the time of its release. Selling a quarter of a million copies in their native US, the record was their most successful offering to date and, indeed, the first to break into the all-important charts. With standout singles like ‘Ball and Chain’ and ‘Story of my Life’, Social Distortion were hot on the heels of the alternative rock sonic landscape, but here were playing their part in seeing it sailing to the masses.
For pioneering forces such as Jett, there’s no mistaking the asteroid impact that those who dared to shoot for the big leagues would have on her own sense within the industry. The notion that alternative was limited to the secret confines of the underground became increasingly dismantled by the power of Social Distortion, much like Jett herself was being simultaneously propelled to new heights. In 1991’s Notorious and 1994’s Pure and Simple, the Godmother of Punk paid various homages to the heavyweights that had come before her, and in doing so cemented herself to be as much of an icon as the rest of them.
As Joan Jett and Social Distortion both demonstrate, anything is possible in rock music. What really is the point in the mainstream when the foundations of the genre lie in breaking up the status quo? In their own revolutionising ways, these two proved just that.
