# Best band of the 1990's **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 6, 2004, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806 "2004-03-06T02:16:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/1 "2004-03-06T02:16:23Z")
Rolling Stone (in 1999) said it was Nirvana. I disagree. I think Uncle Tupelo, the brilliant and influential alt-country rock band, takes the prize. What do you say? Hmmmmmmmmmmm? ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/2 "2004-03-06T02:42:20Z")
These things are so subjective. Nirvana is a pretty “safe” answer, though Cobain’s early death kept them from playing through the decade. U2 could be in there if it weren’t for Flop…uh, Pop. But I favor Beck to all these bands for his creativity, stylistic range and output. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/3 "2004-03-06T04:29:53Z")
No Doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/4 "2004-03-06T04:45:23Z")
Blur, for the same reasons **Hey You!** gave for Beck. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/5 "2004-03-06T04:48:28Z")
Emperor or Opeth. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/6 "2004-03-06T05:15:56Z")
If I absolutely had to vote for someone I guess I’d vote for Pearl Jam. Outstanding body of work in the 90s. I’ve never understood some people’s fixation with Nirvana. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/7 "2004-03-06T05:31:42Z")
I vote for Pearl Jam too. I was the target audience in the 1990s, they influenced me more than any other band of the decade. No Doubt? Where did you get that idea? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/8 "2004-03-06T05:38:34Z")
Nirvana, with Pantera a close second. I’ll throw in a vote for Live at number 3. Worst band of the 1990s? Metallica. Not a single album they made in the 90s was any good. Not one. ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/9 "2004-03-06T05:40:51Z")
If you mean the best band _around_ in the '90s, I’d have to go with U2. Even though they’re old they have more talent than anyone in the past fifteen years. If you mean the best band that _originated_ in the '90s…well, considering how miserably untalented most newer bands are (I’m talking at least marginally mainstream bands, since I admit I’m not familiar with many lesser-known ones like Opeth or Uncle Tupelo), I don’t think I could give a conclusive answer. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/10 "2004-03-06T06:12:51Z")
Hmmm…that’s a toughie. I’d go with Flaming Lips, Radiohead, Pavement, Guided by Voices, and Nirvana. I’d also throw in the Pixies, but they straddle the late 80s and early 90s, and My Bloody Valentine, but they only had one release in the 90s. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/11 "2004-03-06T06:32:48Z")
Tool. ---
**Author:** ![nitroglycerine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nitroglycerine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nitroglycerine)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/12 "2004-03-06T06:43:39Z")
Alt rock-They Might Be Giants Pacific Northwest-Mudhoney Metal-Prong Punk-Electric Frankenstein Garage-The Cynics IMHO anyway 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/13 "2004-03-06T06:53:15Z")
Huh, this is going to be a big list. (In no particular order, except for the first one) Radiohead Beck The Flaming Lips Blur Nirvana Guided By Voices The Beta Band (they started in the late 90s, but whatever) Built to Spill The Pixies (as already stated, they straddle the 80s and 90s) Neutral Milk Hotel Boards of Canada ---
**Author:** ![Nightime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Nightime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightime)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/14 "2004-03-06T07:53:04Z")
Flaming Lips, Smog, Belly, Tindersticks, Beta Band, Cat Power, Slint, Bedhead, Boredoms, Jeff Buckley… I’ll just go to the top five: 5. PJ Harvey 4. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds 3. Neutral Milk Hotel 2. Nirvana 1. Radiohead barely edges out Nirvana. ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/15 "2004-03-06T08:27:08Z")
Limiting myself to bands who originated in the 90’s, as opposed to older bands who were still making new music in the 90’s, I’ll nominate two: Dave Matthews Band and Everclear. ---
**Author:** ![Algorithm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/algorithm/32/12204_2.png) [@Algorithm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algorithm)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/16 "2004-03-06T08:34:56Z")
Radiohead. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/17 "2004-03-06T12:29:50Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > If I absolutely had to vote for someone I guess I’d vote for Pearl Jam. Outstanding body of work in the 90s. > > I’ve never understood some people’s fixation with Nirvana. I’ll third Pearl Jam. I’d even go so far as to take the unpopular position that Nirvana, while unquestionably a major band of the decade, would not occupy the same pedestal if Cobain had lived. I well remember the way that many people who’d never had much interest in “grunge music” before converted to Nirvana fandom in the weeks immediately following Cobain’s death. I always considered Pearl Jam the better group, and the post-mortem idolization of Cobain was (and is) IMHO pretty damn creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/18 "2004-03-06T12:35:46Z")
The Spice Girls. Oh, wait, _best_ band, not _breast_ band. Never mind. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Griffin)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/19 "2004-03-06T13:23:13Z")
The Smashing Pumpkins ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2004, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806/20 "2004-03-06T14:10:51Z")
_You Am I_ is the most influential Australian band off the 90s. They started in 1990 and are, last I heard, still going. They released 4 consecutive number 1 albums in a market where both US and British acts receive massive exposure - the charts are regularly an amalgam of both overseas charts plus some locals. Three of these albums _Hi Fi Way_, _Sound As Ever_ and _Hourly, Daily_ have made Top 100 albums lists. They are probably the best live band in the country. They have championed beginner bands and gave touring breaks to _Powderfinger_, _Silverchair_, _The Strokes_, _The Vines_ and _Jet_. _Regurgitator_, _Powderfinger_ and _Silverchair_ deserve a mention. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-band-of-the-1990s/232806.md?page=2)