Clearly, these lists are lightning rods for controversy. I guess it’s fair to say I enjoy and am annoyed by it at the same time, as some of the comments are thought provoking and some induce cringes (suggesting Journey albums, really?). However, I think the decade that will cause the most controversy is the nineties. Not only is it the freshest in our minds, but there is even less consensus than other decades. One of the most popular band in the US during this decade (Pearl Jam) was only moderately well known in the UK, and the UK’s biggest band of the nineties (Oasis) exists only in the form of one album in America. Like the other decades, there are more than 10 great albums, but these are the ones I think are the best.
10. Different Class Pulp Wikipedia
Unlike their Britpop peers, Pulp had been around for a good long time before they finally made it big with Different Class with its big single, “Common People.” Jarvis Cocker became a spokesperson alongside Blur’s Damon Albarn and Oasis’ Noel Gallagher for the new music scene that had swept the UK. Cocker, never comfortable with his position, went into a dark period following Different Class which is documented on their follow-up, This Is Hardcore.
9. Loveless My Bloody Valentine Wikipedia
So much has been said about My Bloody Valentine’s brilliant “Loveless” that I just don’t feel it necessary to elaborate farther. Frankly, I wonder if I should have put it higher on this list as I’m sure several of you will find its spot at number nine not high enough for such a great album, and you may be right.
8. Achtung Baby U2 Wikipedia
After the mixed reception of Rattle And Hum, the U2 camp was divided over which way to go. Bono and the Edge wanted to pursue a more techno/electronica oriented direction, while Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. wanted to stay with the sound they were known for. Tension grew to high levels until the Edge came up with the progression for “One,” and the rest is history. One of the all time great sound reinventions in rock and roll history.
7. Automatic For The People R.E.M. Wikipedia
Automatic For The People is considered to be among R.E.M.’s best albums, and certainly their best release of the nineties. Automatic For The People continues the folk/country rock/classical pop themes of the band’s previous albums Green and Out of Time. U2′s Bono called it “the greatest country record never made.” The album had 3 top 40 hits in the US, among them “Man on the Moon,” one of R.E.M.’s biggest hits.
6. The Downwards Spiral Nine Inch Nails Wikipedia
Trent Reznor’s most famous work is also his strangest. The album was recorded in a building whose history is tied to the Manson Family, while his songs make that subject matter seem somewhat tame. Really, is there anyone who doesn’t feel at least a little uncomfortable when they hear Reznor wail, “Your god is dead, and no one cares, if there is a hell, I’ll see you there,”? Certainly not this writer. The Downwards Spiral contains two of rocks most recognizable songs, the lustful “Closer” and the ache of “Hurt.” The latter was famously covered by Johnny Cash, which some say is the definitive version. In either case, the album is a conceptual masterwork.
5. Grace Jeff Buckley Wikipedia
It’s tragic that this is the only album we ever received from Jeff Buckley during his lifetime. Like his famous father (Tim Buckley), Jeff died mysteriously in a swimming incident during the recording of his second album. However, with only one album released during his life time, we got a man who shaped what is the model for modern singer/songwriters. More than just an amazing voice, Jeff’s songs span from Led Zeppelin epics (“Mojo Pin,” “Eternal Life”) to the tenderness of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” with Buckley’s version becoming the definitive reading. It’s hard to imagine Radiohead being what they are today without the groundwork of Grace.
4. Nevermind Nirvana Wikipedia
Nevermind is popularly known as the album that brought alternative music into the mainstream. The album with its popular track, “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” certainly opened the door for similar bands to become commercially viable, such as fellow Seattle bands Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice In Chains. The album contains many of the decades greatest songs, such as the aforementioned “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Come As You Are,” “In Bloom,” and “Lithium.”
3. Ten Pearl Jam Wikipedia
Rarely can a band rock as hard as Hendrix and yet be as lyrically relevant as Pete Townshend. Ten shows that Pearl Jam could do just that. While addressing issues like abortion, depression, suicide, and singer Eddie Vedder’s own checkered past. In the early nineties, it was not the norm for grunge bands to write anthems, but Pearl Jam did so successfully with “Alive” and “Jeremy.” The former deals with (and slightly exaggerates) Eddie’s own discovery that the man whom he thought was his father wasn’t, while the latter deals with a young student’s suicide during an English class. Along with the hard rocking “Evenflow” and “Black,” Pearl Jam became instant favorites in the United States, although they have never been able to find quite the same success in the UK.
2. Definitely Maybe Oasis Wikipedia
Definitely Maybe is the album the US audience missed, and it is one of the biggest crimes against music. Definitely Maybe is superior to its successor, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? in every way, yet the only the latter is recognized in the states. The album shows that from the outset, Oasis had a fully developed sound. One needs not go any farther than “Live Forever” to see that the band was the real deal. That song is in many ways a statement of its time as “My Generation” was for the sixties. Great melody, great lyrics, great vocals, everything. But there are also well known songs “Supersonic,” “Shakermaker,” “Rock ‘N’ Roll Star,” “Cigarette’s & Alcohol,” and the beautiful “Slide Away.” For those of you who haven’t heard this album (and I imagine most of my reader’s have not), go get a copy now, even if you didn’t care for Morning Glory. It’s that good.
1. OK Computer Radiohead Wikipedia
Radiohead went from being presumed one hit wonders due to their grungy hit “Creep” (not to be confused with the mediocre Stone Temple Pilots song of the same name) to being serious contenders with their second album The Bends. Thom Yorke decided he wanted to go even further, and the band reinvented itself for 1997’s OK Computer. Gone are many of the aggressive guitars that defined their sound and in came atmospheric soundscapes. Radiohead had been depressing, but they had never been as nihilistic as OK Computer. Songs like “Karma Police” can make you question morality, however, the lyrics can easily be overlooked when listening to the album. The sound is just so different than anything else before it. It would be cliché to say the album broke down barriers, but it’s true, so much so that it made Kid A possible.
Contributor: Jason Hirschhorn
Hobolad: I quite liked Oasis second album – and the first one was okay too – I was put off them later because of the attitude from the main guy. He was quite a dick.
I like and listen to 7 of these on a regular basis… to whom who like those, maybe they’ll like “whithout you i’m nothing” from Placebo.. imo, a great album
I own none of those albums, despite growing up in the 90′s. Well, I used to borrow Definately Maybe from my dad sometimes but a YouTube video displaying all of Oasis’s blatent ripping off of other songs kinda turned me off ‘em.
Will be checking out the rest though!
where is the miseducation of Lauryn Hill ? that's been noted as one of the best albums of all time. let alone the nineties.
lots of awesome works there, especially OK computer
Maybe these are the best rock albulms of the 90′s or what not, but these are definitely not the best overall albulms. I mean, there’s not a single hip hop albulm in here.
evan: that is one I haven’t heard – or at least I don’t remember hearing it.
Dre: I will leave it up to the contributor to explain the omission of hiphop/rap
he was the reason why Oasis broke up
interesting tidbit about a song called paranoid android on OK Computer, its just about the only rock song I can recall that has no repeating chorus.
the album was, like the write up says, very different than anything else out at the time. very mellow and kind of depressing, yet catchy. its wierd to explain. Great album but if you didnt hear it at the time compare to the other music, it may not seem so much of a breakthrough now. but still definately worth a listen.
I agree with your choices although U2 should’ve been number one and Radiohead 2
Good list anyway!
evan: thanks for that bit of info – I will try to listen to them all today
Reea: I am glad you agree with the items at least
I’ve only heard “Live Forever” from that oasis album, definitely will be checking the rest out!
Major props for including Jeff Buckley, it’s amazing how an artist could have such an impact on music with just one album. “Last Goodbye” is one of my favorite songs of all time. Sad to think what great music he’d be making if he were still alive.
No Spice Girls??? Just kidding don’t worry!
-Beck’s Odelay
-The Wallflower’s first album
-Cake’s first or second album
Anything from Cracker during the nineties.
I would have had Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Blood sugar ***** magik in there otherwise good list.
I think this is a great list. =) All the comments are very true and the list is well ordered. Maybe Achtung Baby could have been higher, but I suppose there are quite a few greats higher than it. I’d agree that OK Computer is the greatest album of the 90′s. In fact, it’s possibly my favourite album of all time. I really enjoy it, and find it very meaningful every time I listen.
Dre: I really don’t think there are any rap albums that would qualify as being great albums. There are often some tracks on an album that would be named as great, but rarely do you get a rap album that is brilliant throughout. After this decade, Eminem’s Marshall Mathers LP will probably come close to top in the best album of the 2000′s list.
in the face of being flamed, I think eminem is ok, but highly overrated.
I am so surprised at how civil the comments have been on this one so far
Ten was, in my opinion, the only really good album from Pearl Jam.
I lost respect for them because they’re fakers. When Ten came out, and Alive and Evenflow were rocking the radio, I got really into them and was reading all kinds of music magazines. In every interview, they stated that they were just a Rock N’ Roll band- just wanted to rock and have a good time- no agenda, just fun. They even came on Headbangers Ball wearing Laker’s jerseys and joked around with Ricky Rackman (Sp?) about how Nirvana was out trying to save the world but you’d never see any of that pretentious crap out of Pearl Jam…
A couple months later, the video for Jeremy came out. Eddie Vedder developed his perpetual “I have a headache” face and Pearl Jam became all political and pretentious. Poseurs!!!
It doesn’t take away from the fact that they’ve written some good songs, but I just can’t take them seriously.
Great list, by the way. I never thought Pulp got the respect they deserved.
Some notable omissions:
Pantera- Vulgar Display Of Power- rewrote the book on heavy metal
Tool- (Either Undertow or Aenema)- not a single band on the radio (or in the studio) today was not in some way inspired by Tool. Probably THE most influential band of the 90′s
That “Toy Soldiers” one by Eminem was class. Hell, Eminem is class. All those rock/metal people who dismiss rap as “not music” need their eyes opening- or ears unclogging, whatever makes most sense.
Hobolad: I’m not a fan of Eminem, but I believe that song was on his last studio album, which came out in maybe 2003/2004?
Also, JFrat, I don’t know how much you’ve been in the States, but if you had been here in the 90′s you would have known that Oasis was HUGE!
I recently bought Definitely Maybe again after losing it years ago. I was suprised by how many songs on that album are still in rotation on the radio today. Oasis did very, very well over here. They probably still would if they could stop releasing albums that sucked and make a good one for a change!
I got a lot on the comments today!
When I think about it, my favorite 90′s album is Alice In Chains’ Dirt.
Flawless, beautiful, tragic.
Awesome.
Yarr, I agree with you about PJ being poltical boneheads. I can’t stomach it sometimes. I still love them anyway.
Jason – ya gotta put Nevermind at #1 and Achtung Baby higher please. (no *****ing, my opinion)
Foo Fighters Color and Shape anyone?
Pretty good list, pretty safe. Nothing too surprising. Like one commenter above said, it’s all pretty much rock music.
I would certainly have something from Orbital in there, probably ‘Snivilization’, and Primal Scream’s ‘Screamadelica’ might make it too. Incredible, massively influential works.
Yarr: I didn’t know that – I was in New Zealand when their music started to really make it big – they were huge there as well. I also really liked The Verve who were around the same time (Bittersweet Symphony).
Ach… “Losing My Religion” is not on AFTP and “Fake Plasic Trees” is not on OK Computer.
i’d like to think that if you are going to make a definitive list of recordings of the 90s you’d at least know what songs are on which albums of your so called favorites from that time period.
“Losing My Religion” is not on AFTP.
“Fake Plastic Trees” was on The Bends.
although i am sure there are many who would disagree, i feel these albums did alot more for music then they are given credit for:
fugazi – in on the killtaker
refused – shape of punk to come
toadies – rubberneck
sonic youth – dirty
deftones – adrenaline
rage against the machine – rage against the machine
unfortunately, the cure’s “disintegration” barely misses the list.
Thanks for pointing out the errors – I have corrected them – if I am still wrong let me know (I didn’t write the list so I am not very familiar with the subtleties of it!)
While I own and enjoy all but the Jeff Buckley on the list I have to add “Violator” by Depeche Mode. One of the best crafted, composed and produced albums from that time. Yeah, it is synth-pop but there isn’t a bad song on it and it is representative of how good synth-pop can be if the artist really tries. As to “Nevermind” and “Ten”; I had them on opposite sides of a cassette tape (how *****ogue) and had a really hard time deciding which side of the tape was better. Cheers for having them both on the list and back-to-back. I can waffle as to which deserves to be higher but won’t quibble with your selection.
You’ll have to forgive me for those two glaring errors. My burns of those two albums have extra tracks on them (from friends who were trying to be generous). I’ll send jfrater an update so they can be fixed. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
Didn’t the Verve have to give up all their royalties to the Rolling Stones? (Bittersweet used an unauthorized sample)
Of the 90′s British Invasion, Radiohead and Suede (or The London Suede if you will) were my 2 favorites.
I know that Blur was really *****ed that Oasis was more successful, but while Blur was great, Oasis had them on pop sensibility.
Bush got really big, but I still think they were a label creation rather than a real band.(Though I did enjoy their first album.)
Is Travis still around? (I know, they’re Scottish, but still…)
I never really dug U2. “One” is a good song, though. Can’t argue with that one.
“Disintegration” needs to be top or close to the top of the list for “Best Albums Of All Time”
Why are the British so much better at Rock N’ Roll than Americans?
oh boy, yarr really did it now, wheres my popcorn, this could be good…
jane’s addiction – Ritual de lo Habitual – grunge before there was grunge
daft punk – homework – has there been an EDM album that has done more to shape the landscape for the next decade? Justice, erol alkan, sebastian, digitalism, etc. would not exist if it were not for this or daft punk’s subsequent albums.
yes. the british are so much better at rock than americans. we can thank them for robbie williams, the spice girls, james blunt and unsuccessfully trying to create the next the clash for the past 20 years. we get it. london falling was great.
failing that, there is always some band who fails to live up to the hype of being the next beatles. go england.
London *Calling, you *****ing retard. Are you forgetting The Rolling Stones, The ***** Pistols, Black Sabbath? Go listen to Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, you musically uneducated loser.
As much as I know people would not agree with me
Type-O-Negitive–Bloody Kisses and/or October Rust
Yeah, the artistic side of our music scene is currently non-existent. We have the likes of Amy Winehouse (Music? No. She’s just drugged up tabloid fodder) and Mark Ronson (And those annoying horns he insists on putting in every “remix”)
But the USA let Paris Hilton make a record.
We’re all wallowing in musical filth together
But you guys do have Devendra Banhart and the freak folk people- so you’re currently winning
Yarr: The Verve did give up all the royalties to the Rolling Stones… for the single of “Bittersweet Symphony.” The royalties for the album, Urban Hymns (which almost made this list), all went to the Verve.
I didn’t mind some of the stuff from Blur, but I preferred the more melodic music of Oasis. I also loved Supergrass for being fun, and Placebo – but neither ought to be on this list.
yes, but to be fair, i think three people bought her album, but i agree that mainstream music is probably the worst it has ever been right now.
Pearl Jam is awesome! Favorite song has to be Even Flow!
jfrater: I agree about Placebo. I love them, but I love them for their greatest hits. I have all their albums, but there are only a few tracks on each that stand out as great.
Where is Green Day _Dookie?
Ryan: totally – I just add the ones I like to iTunes and forget the rest. When they are good they are great.
Yarr – I fully agree: Dirt by Alice In Chains is probably the most hard-hitting album I’ve had the pleasure to sit through – it rivals OK Computer for sheer emotional depth.
As for other omissions, the whole electronic genre seems to have been overlooked as well. The Orb and Aphex Twin amongst others (Prodigy took crossover hardcore/techno to its zenith) surely produced bona fide classics in this period.
Yarr: I don’t think either country is better at rock n’ roll, but they definitely had their decades: The Americans took out the 50′s and 80′s, whereas the poms were best in the 60′s 70′s and 90′s – ok maye they are better.
Fantastic list – im gonna have to do a bit of listening today – haven’t even heard of 9 or 10
Notable ommissions that haven’t been mentioned: Korn, System of a down, Jagged little pill
SOOO happy to see Jeff Buckley was on the list. He is amazing, yet often overlooked. Great list!
I agree with Ian, if you want to start in on electronica I don’t think you can leave off The Orb. Man, that is some great stuff, there.
Radio Head? Really? Uhg. What about Dirt by Alice in chains? That album is amazing. I loved the Verve until they let the movie Cruel Intentions use Bittersweet Symphony. Why let a cheesy movie use your great song?
HooRAH for radiohead!! Kid A is my favorite album of theirs, but alas, it came out a year too late for this list. Anyone like the new album?
Enjoyable list. I’m a big fan of nineties music, and I’ve just encountered my first My Bloody Valentine. Thanks!
gorgeousgrant: you are right on with refused and deftones.
i would say that Glassjaw’s “Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence” is probably the greatest album of the 90s hands down. It helped usher in a new era in music. And Daryl Palumbo remains one the most definitive singers and songwriters ever.
I would add Tom Waits – Bone Machine
Quote:
“The album with its popular track, “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” certainly opened the door for similar bands to become commercially viable, such as fellow Seattle bands Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice In Chains.”
This is factually inaccurate as I posted in a previous list with links to wikipedia. Alice in Chains and Soundgarden were commercially successful a couple of years before Nevermind was released.
If anything, the success of these two bands lead to the discovery of Nirvana and Perl Jam. Alice in Chains was touring with Van-Halen and released two commercially successful albums while Nevermind was being written and recorded. Soundgarden also had several albums released and was enjoying moderate success before the discovery of Nirvana.
I have to disagree with Perl Jam being on this list. AIC or Soundgarden should replace them as they have both put out much better albums and consistently put out good music. (Dirt, Superunknown) PJ released one good album and have been putting out mostly ***** since.
If I had to pick between AIC and Soundgarden, (Hard choice) I would have to say AIC is the better of the two.
Have to agree with Robert on Tom Waits.
I agree with Sooner on this. AIC and Soundgarden are the reason Grunge became what it was. nirvana was just the post boy for it.
You know, I have to agree with those who said that this list is severely lacking in hip hop and rap. Now, I am not a fan per se, but the Dr. Dre Album THE CHRONIC was a huge success and outsold many of these other ones. This album also marks the first appearance of Snoop Dog. This album cam out just about the time I graduated around 1992 and was a huge commercial success. Also, the early nineties marked the end of many of the 80′s bands careers and quite a few of them put out some pretty amazing penultimate albums as well.
any of these could be included in the 4-10 area, as 1-3 are undeniable
green day- dookie
souls of mischeif- from 93 til infinity
de la soul- de la soul is dead
tupac- me against the world, all eyes on me
snooop dog- doggystyle
rage against the machine- rage against the machine
nevermind- in utero, unplugged
a tribe called quest- low end theory
gang starr- step into the arena
metallica- metallica
wu-tang clan- enter the wu-tang (36 chambers)
eric clapton- unplugged
del tha funkke homosapien- i wish my brother geore was here
epmd- buisiness never personal
im done thinking, its starting to hurt
and whoever complained about people not liking rap, RAP does suck (look at the retards on mtv), HIP-Hop is real and where its at
Quote:
“This is factually inaccurate as I posted in a previous list with links to wikipedia. Alice in Chains and Soundgarden were commercially successful a couple of years before Nevermind was released.
If anything, the success of these two bands lead to the discovery of Nirvana and Perl Jam. Alice in Chains was touring with Van-Halen and released two commercially successful albums while Nevermind was being written and recorded. Soundgarden also had several albums released and was enjoying moderate success before the discovery of Nirvana.
I have to disagree with Perl Jam being on this list. AIC or Soundgarden should replace them as they have both put out much better albums and consistently put out good music. (Dirt, Superunknown) PJ released one good album and have been putting out mostly ***** since.
If I had to pick between AIC and Soundgarden, (Hard choice) I would have to say AIC is the better of the two.”
I’m afraid you are incorrect. For starters, Pearl Jam had only been in existence for a few months when Nevermind was released. AIC and Soundgarden weren’t insignificant, but there’s a fine difference between being known and being huge. Neither were more than modestly well known outside of their area before Nirvana hit it big and then Pearl Jam shortly after. Nirvana is more than just the “poster boy,” they are the reason, but I agree they aren’t necessarily the best. It’s also worth noting the influence of the movie “Singles.” The movie featured a great deal of the grunge scene and was filmed before the scene blew up. Soundgarden and AIC both perform during the movie as well as Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, and Eddie Vedder (all of Pearl Jam) in the band fronted by Matt Dillon’s character.
WearShades:
Great response and well informed. First, I want to just say I personally consider Nirvana, AIC and Soundgarden in the same class. While AIC and Soundgarden had a little better musicians, Nirvana (Kurt Cobain in particular) were better at writing lyrics that better connected with people. That in my opinion puts Nirvana on equal or even a little higher footing than the other two. Pearl Jam is more like the less talented little brother riding on the coattails of the other three.
I still have to disagree with your assessment of AIC. You were absolutely correct about Soungarden’s success, yet AIC was on heavy rotation on MTV prior to Nevermind or SAP with Man In The Box. Singles was released in September 1992 after the success of Nirvana and AIC. The movie gave all of these bands much greater exposure to a wider audience after their initial success and was probably partially responsible for the success of Ten. Ten was not a hit until a year after it’s release in 1991.
I am not saying Nirvana was not responsible for increasing exposure of AIC. I am just saying AIC would have been successful with or without Nirvana.
Singles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singles_%281992_film%29
AIC: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_in_Chains
Pearl Jam: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Jam
There is one notable exception that I see here:
Manic Street Preachers – The Holy Bible
As far as great bands of the 90′s, we could go on and on.
I believe the 90′s are on par with the 60′s as far as creativity, substance, and pushing the limits of music. I think sometimes I’ve become an old fart when I listen to “inspired” music today. Sorry Bub, I think I heard it already, back in the 90′s…
Ravyn: October Rust is the *****! Type O was kickass! (Awesome live too!!!)
And Matt:
Will the legacy of Radiohead, Oasis, Blur, Supergrass, Placebo, etc. be sullied because of the Spice Girls? Michael Bolton was in the top 10 when Nevermind came out. Does that make Nirvana irrelevant? Look at the size of the UK and look at the size of the USA. You have to agree that British musicians have been far better at awesome than Americans. It sucks, but it’s true. I used to try to convince myself otherwise, but be it savvy marketing alone, the Redcoats take it. Even Jimi Hendrix left Seattle to go to England because nobody here would sign him. Ain’t THAT a *****?
Dirt? Black Album? Anything Chili Peppers?
It’s so inherently wrong to rank Oasis above Nirvana.