Best Album of the ‘90s — Winner Takes All

[cato]

I was trying to make the point that Sonic Youth beget Nirvana. Who did Nirvana beget?

1 out of every 5 t-shirts worn by girls at my daughter’s high school? (I haven’t spotted any Sonic Youth t-shirts yet, but I’ll keep my eyes open.)

 

[Kdogg]

1 out of every 5 t-shirts worn by girls at my daughter’s high school? (I haven’t spotted any Sonic Youth t-shirts yet, but I’ll keep my eyes open.)

Yeah but that's more to be retro cool than starting a band. I don't gate keep music but wonder if they would recognized Breed if they heard it.

 

[Kdogg]

Added the unmentioned ones from this page and fixed a few issues.

For your consideration: 188 Albums plus those four undefined points at the end.

10,000 Maniacs - Our Time in Eden​

A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders​

A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory​

Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill​

Alice in Chains - Dirt​

And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Madonna​

Arrested Development - 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of...​

Backstreet Boys - Backstreet's Back​

Barenaked Ladies - Gordon​

Beastie Boys - Check Your Head​

Beastie Boys - Ill Communication​

Beastie Boys- Hello Nasty​

Beck - Odelay​

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - Flight of the Cosmic Hippo​

Belly - Star or King​

Ben Folds Five - The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner​

Black Crowes - Shake Your Money Maker​

Blind Melon - Nico​

Blink 182 - Enema of the State​

Blues Traveler - Four​

Bonnie Prince Billy - I See a Darkness​

Bonnie Rait - Longing in their Hearts​

Bonnie Rait - Luck of the Draw​

Brooks and Dunn - Brand New Man​

Bruce Springsteen - Human Touch​

Built to Spill - Keep it Like a Secret​

Built to Spill - Perfect From Now On​

Built to Spill - There’s Nothing Wrong with Love​

Bush - Sixteen Stone​

Cake - Fashion Nugget​

Cake - Motorcade of Generosity​

Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting​

Counting Crows - August and Everything After​

Cracker - Cracker​

Cranberries - Everybody else is doing it, so why can't we​

Crowded House - Woodface and Together Alone​

Cypress Hill - Self Titled​

Daniel Lanois - For the Beauty of Wynona​

Dave Matthews Band - Under the Table and Dreaming​

Depeche Mode - Violator​

DJ Shadow - Endtroducing​

Dr. Dre - The Chronic​

Elliot Smith - Either/Or​

Eminem - Slim Shady LP​

Erykah Badu – Baduizm​

Failure - Fantastic Planet​

Fishbone - The Reality of My Surroundings​

Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin​

Fugees - The Score​

Garbage - Garbage​

Garbage - Version 2.0​

Garth Brooks - No Fences​

GBV - Bee Thousand​

Gov’t Mule - Gov’t Mule​

Green Day - Rookie​

Guns N’ Roses - Use Your Illusion I​

Guns N’ Roses - Use Your Illusion II​

Hootie and the Blowfish - Cracked Rear View​

Ice Cube - The Predator​

Indigo Girls "Nomads Indians Saints"​

Iris Dement - Infamous Angel; My Life​

James - Gold Mother​

Jane's Addiction - Ritual de lo habitual​

Jane's Addiction - Same with Nothing Shocking​

Jeff Beck - Who Else?​

Jeff Buckley - Grace​

Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers - American Babylon​

Joe Henry - Fuse​

Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros - Rock Art and the X-Ray Style​

John Gorka - Out of the Valley​

John Hiatt - Perfectly Good Guitar​

John Prine - In Spite of Ourselves​

John Prine - Lost Dogs​

John Prine - Mixed Blessings​

John Prine - The Missing Years​

Johnny Cash - Unchained​

Kenny Chesney - Everywhere We Go​

King Crimson - Thrak​

Kyuss - Blues for the Red Sun​

Lauren Hill - The Miseducation of Lauren Hill​

Living Colour - Time’s Up​

Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville​

Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road​

Lyle Lovett - I Love Everybody​

Lyle Lovett - Joshua Judges​

Lyle Lovett - Ruth​

Lyle Lovett - Step Inside this House​

Lyle Lovett - The Road to Ensenada​

Mad Season – Mad Season​

Mariah Carey - Mariah Carey​

Mary Chapin Carpenter - Come On Come On​

Mary Chapin Carpenter - I Am A Town​

Megadeth - Rust in Peace​

Melvins - Stag​

Metallica - Metallica (Black Album)​

Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West​

Morphine - Cure for Pain​

My Bloody Valentine - Lovelace​

Nanci Griffih - Other Voices, Other Rooms​

Natalie Merchant – Tigerlily​

NIN - The Downward Spiral​

Nirvana - In Utero​

Nirvana - MTV Unplugged​

Nirvana - Nevermind​

No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom​

Notorious B.I.G - Ready to Die​

Notorious B.I.G – Life After Death​

Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory​

Palace Music (Will Oldham) - Viva Last Blues​

Patty Griffin - Flaming Red​

Patty Griffin - Living with Ghosts​

Paul Simon - Rhythm of the Saints​

Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain​

Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted; Brighten the Corners​

Pavement - Wowee Zowee​

Pearl Jam - Ten​

Pearl Jam - Vitalogy -​

Pearl Jam - VS​

Peter Gabriel - Us​

Phish - A Picture of Nectar​

Pixies - Surfer Rosa​

Portishead - Dummy​

Posies - Frosting on the Beater​

Public Enemy - Apocalypse 91​

R.E.M - New Adventures in Hi Fi.​

Radiohead - OK Computer​

Radiohead - Pablo Honey​

Radiohead – The Bends​

Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire​

Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine​

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magic​

Reel Big Fish - Turn the Radio Off​

REM - Automatic for the People​

REM - Out of Time​

Ride - Going Blank Again​

Rush - Counterparts​

Rush - Test for Echo​

Rusted Root - When I Woke​

Sade - Love Deluxe​

Shania Twain - Come on Over​

Shawn Colvin - Fat City​

Sigur Ros - Agaetis byrjun​

Silver Jews - American Water​

Sinead O'Connor - I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got​

Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out​

Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream​

Smog - Knock Knock​

Snoop - Doggstyle​

Soundgarden - Superunknown​

Spin Doctors - Pocket Full of Kryptonite​

Steve Earle - El Corazon​

Steve Earle - I Feel Alright​

Steve Earle - The Mountain​

Steve Earle - Train a Comin’​

Stone Temple Pilots - Core​

Sublime - Sublime​

Swervedriver- Ejector Seat Reservation​

Tears for Fears - Elemental​

Temple of the Dog - Temple of the Dog​

The Cardigans - Gran Turismo​

The Chicks - Wide Open Spaces​

Third Eye Blind - Third Eye Blind​

TLC - CrazySexyCool​

Toad the Wet Sprocket - Dulcinea​

Tom Petty - Wildflowers​

Tomorrow the Green Grass - The Jayhawks​

Tony Rice - River Suite for Two Guitars​

Tool - Ænima​

Tool – Undertow​

Tori Amos - Under the Pink​

Trailer Park - Beth Orton​

Truly - Fast Stories...From kid Coma​

U2 - Achtung Baby​

Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne​

Uncle Tupelo - March 16-20​

Uncle Tupelo - No Depression​

Uncle Tupelo - Still Feel Gone​

Van Halen - For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge​

Weezer - Blue Album​

Whiskey Town - Faithless Street​

Whitney Houston - The Bodyguard​

Wilco - AM​

Wilco - Being There​

Wilco - Summer Teeth​

Will Oldham - Joya​

Wrecking Ball - Emmylou Harris​

Wu Tang Clanh - Enter the Wu Tang​

XTC - Nonsuch​

​

*Anything Tom Petty​

*Johnny Cash - and whichever else of the American Recordings were released in the 90's​

*Judgement Night Soundtrack​

*Three Tenors​

 

[cato]

Yeah but that's more to be retro cool than starting a band. I don't gate keep music but wonder if they would recognized Breed if they heard it.

Very unlikely! I had a carpool policy last year of playing music from any band from the 70s, 80s or 90s that one of the girls was wearing, but I stopped because they didn’t want to listen to the music and my daughter convinced me that I was just being annoying.

 

[luvdahops]

Because Nickelback and Creed killed rock n roll. No more rock at the Super Bowl. Foo Fighters the last really big rock band. There’s talent out there, but sadly rock is no longer king.

Couldn't agree more. Neo-grunge had about as much street cred as hair metal but without the campy antics that made the latter genre at least mildly amusing/interesting.

 

[HoKogan]

I was trying to make the point that Sonic Youth beget Nirvana. Who did Nirvana beget? It wasn’t millennial bands. Olivia Rodrigo is one of the few that claim 90s bands as an influence and that’s probably from what her parents played. That’s thirty years later. It’s like 90s rock didn’t spawn a new wave of bands like every other generation.

Influences in music don't work as cleanly as you suppose, and even if rock music is not top of the charts (and hasn't been in a while in terms of radio play) that doesn't mean rock music is dead. There are still plenty of rock bands out there touring the indie circuit and selling out small venues, and thats probably closer to what Nirvana was most of their career, than the 2 years post Nevermind they became.
Music changes, it changes for every generation, it changes with technology, and whats in style changes with the whims of the tastemakers. Music ensembles of any sort have been largely displaced by single artists, and spotify has cheapened the value of music in general. Doesn't mean that rock is dead by any meahs. My girls enjoy Paramore, Snail Mail, Horsegirl, Mitski, Japanese Breakfast, Soccer Mommy and a bunch of other groups that still use guitars and play rock (along with other styles). And they like Nirvana. Theres more going on than just whatever is on the charts.

 

[stevoflurane]

If anyone has time to listen other podcasts besides the Duke Basketball Roundup, let me put in a plug for 60 Songs That Explain the 90’s. Rob Harvilla does an awesome job doing deep dives into bands, sub genres, and trends of the 90’s. A lot of the songs on these albums are talked about. For any 90s music fan, it’s awesome. And there are 120 episodes, not just 60 .

 

[Kdogg]

Influences in music don't work as cleanly as you suppose, and even if rock music is not top of the charts (and hasn't been in a while in terms of radio play) that doesn't mean rock music is dead. There are still plenty of rock bands out there touring the indie circuit and selling out small venues, and thats probably closer to what Nirvana was most of their career, than the 2 years post Nevermind they became.
Music changes, it changes for every generation, it changes with technology, and whats in style changes with the whims of the tastemakers. Music ensembles of any sort have been largely displaced by single artists, and spotify has cheapened the value of music in general. Doesn't mean that rock is dead by any meahs. My girls enjoy Paramore, Snail Mail, Horsegirl, Mitski, Japanese Breakfast, Soccer Mommy and a bunch of other groups that still use guitars and play rock (along with other styles). And they like Nirvana. Theres more going on than just whatever is on the charts.

Just because there are guitars doesn't make it rock. Gracie Abrams, a talented singer, plays guitar but it's not rock. (Also not a fan of the new album. The first was better but probably not a success). Outside of Paramore and Mitski (who is all over the place), those groups have a clear influence and a sameness derived from Swift. She spawned future acts that bands/artisits from the 90s never did unlike other generations. That's their influence combined with the pop-rock, over produced music of the last 15 or so years. Its not Heart or Joan Jet. It's barely the Go Gos or the Bangles. Let's look at the biggest group for you girl's listening pool - boygenius. It's a super group of reasonable successful indie artists that when combined is bigger than any of them. All three women play guitar but it's not a rock band. It's more modern indie folk. They are great. I actaully love them but they aren't carrying the mantel of rock. Brandi Carlile and Maggie Smith maybe? Also both supremely talents are people should chekc them out.

I agree there are a lot of rock and metal bands tolling away at places like Cat's Cradle. There aren't any breakouts. How many of us saw people at Cat's, or the Ritz or Ziggies up in Winston Salem that ended up playing arenas eventually? A lot of us. I'm in complete agreement that music has been cheapened and commodified more than ever. That's the problem. There is a sameness that we see in car designs. Even in hip/hop and rap there is a generalizal gap of influence. The three biggest artist: J Cole, Drake, Kendrick Lamar. Cole's a product of the 90s but not Drake. I'd say Lamar is more influence by just growing up in Compton than N.W.A. It's weird.

 

[ClemmonsDevil]

If anyone has time to listen other podcasts besides the Duke Basketball Roundup, let me put in a plug for 60 Songs That Explain the 90’s. Rob Harvilla does an awesome job doing deep dives into bands, sub genres, and trends of the 90’s. A lot of the songs on these albums are talked about. For any 90s music fan, it’s awesome. And there are 120 episodes, not just 60 .

There is nothing in my life that I want more than for you to be married to someone named Isolde so she can go by "Isoflurane". Please tell me this is correct.

 

[CameronBornAndBred]

Added the unmentioned ones from this page and fixed a few issues.

For your consideration: 188 Albums plus those four undefined points at the end.

Jane's Addiction - Same with Nothing Shocking

Just curious about this entry. Was that copied from a quote? Made me giggle. (Album is titled only Nothing's Shocking, of course)

 

[Kdogg]

Just curious about this entry. Was that copied from a quote? Made me giggle. (Album is titled only Nothing's Shocking, of course)

Lol. It was. The band names weren't included in that post. The script just lumped it together. At least I got Jane's and the Pixies right (Surfer Rosa). Or I was just testing another Jane's fan. There are probably other minor errors.

 

[HoKogan]

Also Surfer Rosa and Nothing's Shocking came out in 88, so not technically 90s albums

 

[stevoflurane]

There is nothing in my life that I want more than for you to be married to someone named Isolde so she can go by "Isoflurane". Please tell me this is correct.

Sorry…my wife’s name is Desiree—so she goes by Desflurane

Kidding.

 

[cato]

Also Surfer Rosa and Nothing's Shocking came out in 88, so not technically 90s albums

Yep. That was why I noted them, but they don’t qualify for this contest (even if they helped make the contest possible). Ritual de lo habitual should be included, though!

 

[HoKogan]

Yep. That was why I noted them, but they don’t qualify for this contest (even if they helped make the contest possible). Ritual de lo habitual should be included, though!

Pixies had Bosa Nova (1990) and Tromp le Monde (1991). Tromp le Monde is a solid album but doesn't quite hit the heights of Doolittle or Surfer Rosa

 

[cato]

Since this is your bracket and idea, perhaps we need a little more guidance as to what would constitute the best. I was reading it as some combination of successful sales, originality and influence. Which is why to my thinking, Nirvana or Pearl Jam from the grunge/rock genre, Garth Brooks and Dr Dre would be the leaders in my mind. Other people can put those differently (Public Enemy or the Beastie Boys, Shania Twain and Metallica spring to mind) but that's how I would read the central conceit of this project. Which would mean that incredibly great bands who lack commercial success (and there have been a lot of those listed here) probably wouldn't even make the tournament. People on here love John Prine and wilco, but there's no way they have had the success commercially to even make a 32 team tournament I wouldn't think. But Define parameters as you see them. This is, after all, your show.

This is a great point, CD. We need to better define the criteria. I originally thought of this as an exercise I would do over time, listening to each of the entries in their entirety and judging them according to some criteria and assigning a score to each.

When I got above 15 albums, I realized that wasn’t doable.

Now that we have a field and plenty of basketball to entertain us, perhaps we spend time refining what it means to the the best album? Other than knowing it when we see it.

I think you laid out key considerations well. For some context, here are the criteria from my notes:

The Criteria



Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

• How often was this album in the rotation? Relevant places were (a) your or your friend’s car, stereo, Walkman/discman/minidisc player, boombox, (b) small gatherings, (c) large gatherings, (d) covers by high-school/college bands.
• How many top flight bangers does the album have?
• How deep is the album?
• How well constructed is the album?
• Is it genre defining?
• Just how damned good is the album?

 

[brevity]

Also not my party, but I should think that (1) commercial success or viability should not be much of a factor, and (2) one missing criterion is the question, does the album still hold up, from beginning to end?

Opinions will vary, but I read some of these album suggestions and thought, "Well, it was a big deal at the time, but I haven't thought or cared about this piece of music since then." I'm not reverting to my 1990s self here. I am who I am now, so when I listen to this, am I feeling anything other than faint nostalgia?

 

[fidel]

This effort may be more fun by being less absolutist (is that a word?) and more preferential.

What are your 10 desert island albums? Why? Let’s see what is common and what is unique.

I listened to a lot of music in the early 90s and almost nothing in the late 90s. Probably different distributions for everybody.

 

[HoKogan]

1 out of every 5 t-shirts worn by girls at my daughter’s high school? (I haven’t spotted any Sonic Youth t-shirts yet, but I’ll keep my eyes open.)

My youngest daughter took my Jesus Lizard tee shirt and wore it to school last month. I had a Sonic Youth Disappearer shirt years ago, but it...well...disappeared.

 

[cato]

Also not my party, but I should think that (1) commercial success or viability should not be much of a factor, and (2) one missing criterion is the question, does the album still hold up, from beginning to end?

Opinions will vary, but I read some of these album suggestions and thought, "Well, it was a big deal at the time, but I haven't thought or cared about this piece of music since then." I'm not reverting to my 1990s self here. I am who I am now, so when I listen to this, am I feeling anything other than faint nostalgia?

This should be everyone’s party (who wants to be part of it). I agree that we should look at this from where we are now, not where we were then.