The 1990s is the decade where albums went to die, AFAIAC. Inevitably, when I’d buy an album by a new band like the Wallflowers or Third Eye Blind, I’d find that the only songs I really liked were the ones that had already gotten airplay.
And by the end of the decade, it started being possible to buy individual tracks online for reasonable prices. Meanwhile, CDs were still typically selling for $16.99, which meant that you were effectively paying more money for the tracks that *weren’t *regarded as worthy of airplay than for those that were.
I do have a few favorite albums from the decade, despite all that. I’ll come up with a list later. But I probably won’t be able to come up with 10, let alone 15.
Many of those albums are already on my list (or if not favorites, certainly likable).
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blood Sugar Sex Magik
R.E.M., Automatic for the People
R.E.M., Out of Time
Pearl Jam, Ten
Allow me to add:
Dr. Dre - The Chronic
Beastie Boys - Check Your Head
Beastie Boys - Ill Communication
Beck - Odelay
Green Day - Dookie
The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die
Pearl Jam - Vs.
Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
Sublime - Sublime
U2- Achtung Baby
Dire Straits: On Every Street House of Pain
INXS:*** X***
Eric Johnson: Ah! Via Musicom
Hal Ketchum: Past the Point of Rescue
Annie Lennox:*** Diva***
***Metallica ***
Offspring: Smash
Ozzy Osbourne: No More Tears
REM: Monster
Rush: Counterparts
Santana: Supernatural
Scorpions: Crazy World
Matthew Sweet: 100% Fun
U2: Achtung, Baby
Bob Dylan, Time Out of Mind
Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
Jeff Buckley, Grace
Beastie Boys, Ill Communication
Lauryn Hill, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
U2, Achtung Baby
Nine Inch Nails, The Downward Spiral
Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream
Depeche Mode, Violator
Massive Attack, Protection
Alanis Morrissette, Jagged Little Pill
The Breeders,* Last Splash*
Sinead O’Connor, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got
Billy Bragg & Wilco, Mermaid Avenue
Fiona Apple, Tidal
Nirvana - Nevermind
Nirvana - In Utero
Sepultura - Roots
Alice in Chains - Dirt
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
Stone Temple Pilots - Purple
Pantera - Great Southern Trendkill
Alice in Chains - Self-titled/Tripod
Nirvana - Unplugged
Pearl Jam - Ten
Stone Temple Pilots - Core
Alice in Chains - Unplugged
Soulfly - Soulfly
That’s all I can think of now. The best overall album was either Nirvana’s Nevermind or Sepultura’s Roots.
Lots of good ones listed above. I don’t have time to add much but I will add a quick one: Weezer - the blue album (hell, I’ll put in Pinkerton too). I think of them because I have been loving their recent release and relistening to their first few lately.
Well, I pondered, and I honestly believe the only two CDs I bought in the 1990s were The Wallflowers, Bringing Down the Horse, and Neil Young, Harvest Moon.
Sublime - 40 oz. to Freedom
Megadeth - Rust in Peace
AC/DC - The Razor’s Edge
Ween - Chocolate and Cheese
Public Enemy - Apocalypse '91… The Enemy Strike Black
Clutch - Clutch
Beastie Boys - Check Your Head
Deee-Lite - Dewdrops in the Garden
Black Moon - Enta da Stage
Nine - Nine Livez
Everything but the Girl - Walking Wounded
Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die
Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power
Stevie Ray Vaughan - The Sky is Crying
Weezer - Pinkerton
I recently was asked to do my top twenty albums (in nor order) and most of them were from the nineties. So here’s the list, with the non-nineties stuff taken out:
Nowhere - Ride
Souvlaki - Slowdive
Loveless - My Bloody Valentine
Bandwagonesque - Teenage Fanclub
Mobile Safari - The Pastels
Moon Safari - Air
Screamadelica - Primal Scream
The Soft Bulletin - The Flaming Lips
Seamonsters - The Wedding Present
Stoned and Dethroned - The Jesus and Mary Chain
Deserter’s Songs - Mercury Rev
Ten Rapid - Mogwai
The Fun of Watching Fireworks - The American Analog Set
Lazer Guided Melodies - Spritualized
Against Perfection - Adorable
Which comes to sixteen. I’ve no idea which one to remove.
ETA:
Scratch that, “The Stone Roses” was released in 1989 and so is out, out, out.
There were a ton of great hip hop albums in the 90s.
Nas - Illmatic
Raekwon - Only Built for Cuban Linx
Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang
Notorious BIG - Ready to Die
Dr Dre - The Chronic
A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
Outkast - Aquemini
Gang Starr - Hard to Earn
Jay Z - Reasonable Doubt
Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle
The Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde
The Coup - Steal This Album
Goodie Mob - Soul Food
Mobb Deep - The Infamous
Pete Rock and CL Smooth - Mecca and the Soul Brother
I could probably list another 20-30 before I started reaching.
[ol]
[li]Automatic for the People - R.E.M.[/li][li]I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got - Sinead O’Connor[/li][li]Nevermind - Nirvana[/li][li]Singles Original Soundtrack - Various Artists[/li][li]Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumpkins[/li][li]Superunknown - Soundgarden[/li][li]Violator - Depeche Mode[/li][li]The Bends - Radiohead[/li][li]American Recordings - Johnny Cash[/li][li]Odelay - Beck[/li][li]OK Computer - Radiohead[/li][li]Grace - Jeff Buckley[/li][li]In Utero - Nirvana[/li][li]Exile in Guyville - Liz Phair[/li][li]Use Your Illusion I - Guns N’ Roses[/li][/ol]