“You Oughta Know” had a real impact at the time, but hasn’t worn well IMHO. I’ve never understood the attraction of Oasis; I can barely tell them apart from groups like Smashing Pumpkins. I’m a bit of a Green Day fan, but these aren’t their best songs.
“Lightning Crashes,” by a mile.
Really? They’re quite different bands with quite different sounds. If anything, Oasis gets compared to the Beatles.
It was 1996, and they actually charted #1 on Billboards 1996 Mainstream Rock in April, so that’s not shabby at all.
And I do recall (as most people around then do) that at the time Oasis was proclaimed as the next Beatles; what I didn’t realize at the time was it was Oasis themselves doing the proclaiming: Sir Paul McCartney (who may know a few things about being the Beatles) mocks them a bit about it…
BTW, It’s very easy to differentiate between the Smashing Pumpkins and Oasis - Oasis songs are OK, and early Pumpkins songs are great…
I went with ‘You Oughta Know’ but there are a great many songs I could choose from on this list so ask me tomorrow and you might get a different answer.
I went with Alanis because that’s one of the songs out there that absolutely caught everyone’s attention and made her a star right NOW. Things moved so fast that the first time I heard it the DJ on WHFS (Washington’s Only Alternative!) said something like, “You have to hear this song. It’s off the album ‘Morrisette’ by Alanis.”
I have to admit, I love Flea’s silky, funky bass line on that song. Totally drives that song.
I went with U2 because I hated all the other songs. 
Didn’t recall “Misery” from name, brought it up on YouTube… and I only vaguely recall it, but it sends me right back to 1995 anyhow. J.A.R. was another forgotten radio song from that era.
Wonderwall gets my vote. Champagne Supernova will likely not next year (presuming it was a #1 song).
Surprised that Smashing Pumpkins’ Bullet With Butterfly Wings didn’t crest at #1 at the end of the year. Looks like the Presidents and Red Hot Chili Peppers kept it from the top spot.
This was my era. Green Day, PUSA, Better than Ezra, Soul Asylum, I lived on that stuff for a couple years around junior high, early high school. A few years after I started listening to modern rock (I was an oldies/classic rock kid until I was 11 or so), this is right around the time I would hang out with friends in the mall and I started buying my own CDs.
I will say that this U2 song from the Batman soundtrack is the only U2 song I ever liked. It’s actually pretty good. The rest of their stuff, while I can appreciate that they have talent and understand why some people like them, just grates on me.
Green Day’s J.A.R. is one of their best. BtE’s Good was their best known song, and one of my favorites at the time. I still think it’s pretty good (they have a new album out now I’m thinking of checking out, after I thought they sank and burned with the rest of the 90s stars). PUSA holds a special place in my heart. I love “not quite novelty” bands, like Ween and They Might Be Giants, and the Presidents’ musical simplicity, believe it or not, introduced me to punk music. Live was the first band I ever saw in concert, and they have some great music, but “Lightning Crashes” was not their best.
I’m going to give the award to one of the most underrated bands of the 90s, with sophisticated songwriting and arrangements (though their sound was somewhat derivative on their first album), and still one of the best concerts I’ve seen: Silverchair, with their first hit, Tomorrow.
The rest of this stuff is standard radio fare and while it is nostalgic to listen to, doesn’t strike me as “great” music.
You gave the award to Silverchair but you did not vote for it ?
What happened to your vote?