The Four Best Albums of the 90's

[IrishCanadian25]

Disclaimer- This is my own personal list and my own personal opinions. It is not an official list created by anybody other than yours truly. Any disagreement with said list DOES NOT immediately mean that the list is: a joke, a farce, a sham, a con, a slight, etc.

That being said, I invite each of you to comment on my list of 4 and also provide your own.

1. Live - Throwing Copper. This breakout album for Live was also on my list among the greatest albums in history. Let's first look at commerical success - 5 singles on the album, including: I Alone, Selling the Drama, Lightning Crashes, All Over You, and White Discussion. Beyond the great alternative rock sounds, the choruses you LOVE to belt out, and the cover-band quality riffs of All Over You, every song on that album had deep meaning. Lightning Crashes about unwanted pregnancy and the life/death cycle. Selling the Drama about freedom from whatever oppresses you. All Over You about illicit love. Shit Towne about the dregs of middle-class suburbia and being trapped in a world you cannot seem to get out of. Even Waitress, a simple photograph about putting aside angry instincts and empathizing with what someone else has going on in their lives. Top to bottom, this album was AMAZING!

2. Ozzy Osbourne - No More Tears. Another album in my top 10 of all time, also IMO the best work Ozzy has ever done. The title track was a musical epic. The raw song "Mr. Tinkertrain" which is a POV song about child abuse, incest, and loss of innocence / virginity through rape is razor sharp, indicting, and hard to face. While many feel the song "Mama I'm Coming Home" was actually about repairing a relationship with his mother, it was actually written about Sharon Osbourne and trying to reconcile his life with her. Another great top to bottom job, showing more of Ozzy's musical range as a heavy metal god and also cementing his friendship with Lemme of Motorhead.

3. Chumbawamba - Tubthumper. Ok, I know. You all know this simply as the "I get knocked down...but I get up again..." band. And while that was a fun sing and a classic single about the cycle of drinking to excess every night, it was FAR from the best song on a classic, politically charged masterpeice. This album cost the band much of their hardcore fan base who claimed they "sold out" but each track tackles something important, be it homelessness, labor relations in the Liverpool Dockers Strike, racism, the facades we see in everyday people (Scapegoat), etc. The Good Ship Lifestyle, IMO the best song on the album, about loneliness and abandonment caused by one's own shortsightedness and ego. The song "Small Town" about the loss of privacy and the reactions people have to gossip and the desire to only be surrounded by those like them. "Mary, Mary" about the loss of the female innocence in the world. I mean, ALL AMAZING meaning full songs set to a fun dance beat. It's too bad people couldn't get past "I get knocked down..."

4. The Offspring - Smash. One of the albums responsible for resurrecting punk in the 90's, Smash is currently the highest selling independent album of all time and gave The Offspring 4 hit singles: Self Esteem, Bad Habit, Come Out and Play, and Gotta Get Away. Run down the classic songs and the meanings in your own head, and see how great this album was! Nitro is all about the feeling in youth of invincibility and the dangers that presents. Bad Habit is still the single greatest road rage anthem of all time. Gotta Get Away dealing with an individuals trek through personal paranoia. Come Out and Play was an early indictment of children with guns and the effects they'd have in schools, including the classic lyric- "By the time you hear the sirens...it's already too late...one goes to the morgue and the other to jail...one guy's wasted and the other's a waste." Of course, the title track Self Esteem - a role reversal about a male who lacks self confidence and uses sex as a connection- which is a glaring look at the double standard society looks upon men and women with. Again, this is an album I can put in and NEVER skip a track!

So there you are - 4 albums from the 1990's which I consider the 4 best of the decade in terms of overall music quality, influence, meaning, and value. Comment away!

 

[FoleyIsGod]

I agree with your forth choice, Smash reinvented punk in the 90s in an era where Guns and Roses reigned surpreme. They inspired bands who went on to be huge in the nu-punk market(like Blink 182) and generally wrote a whitehot album.

My other choices are;


Nirvana : Nevermind - Such a great album. Every track is a masterpiece. SMells like teen spirit was the song of my youth, even though it was 7 years after Kurt died. That is an example of a goood song.

Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish - It has been ages since I alst heard any songs from this album, but at the time, it was fantastic. It crossed metal, rock and hiphop and made it cool to like rock music (for a while). Although not the original nu metal band, Bizkit achieved success on a global scale.

Slipknot: First album Ok i could enevr remeber the name of Slipknots first studio album, but it opened my eyes to thrash and metal music. Every song is great on this album, I think ill go listen to it now

 

[RVDgurl]

1. Alanis Morrisette - Jagged Little Pill. Honestly, I haven't heard a song since by this chick that I like since, but this entire album is amazing from the first note to the last. All the songs have incredible lyrics with great hooks. The songs were crafted to havea rock feel, which is appealing to me. I think all the singles released were Top 5 hits. For all the guys that thought Alanis was just angry chick music- please listen to this album. It's amazing.

2. Metallica - The Black Album. One of the best selling metal albums of all time. It's definately their musical masterpiece. The songs on this album are just so good. All Alot of hardcore Metallica fans felt that they sold out with this album but it opened up their fanbase tenfold. This album was indeed a metal album and it's one of the best ever. It made metal mainstream and gave Metallica the status of biggest band in the world.

3. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Lauryn Hill. Hip hop is not exactly my genre of choice. There are very few hip hop songs I can really get into, but this entire album was incredible. I think that Hill won something like 10 grammies for this work. The songs are so smooth and melodic. She has the voice of an angel and raps like a dude. It incorporated every element of R&B, rap, soul, pop and hip hop which is what makes this album so good.

4. Alice in Chains - Facelift. My favorite band to come out of the Seattle scene. These guys were a great metal band who made phenomenal music. Their songs were so dark and brooding. Staley's on going battle with heroin inspired just about every song on this album. You can feel his struggle through the music. Staley and Cantrell blend their voices like nothing I have ever heard- something that is very unique to the metal genre.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

The Cranberries: No Need To Argue

The whole album is classic. Not only does it have two of the greatest songs ever, Zombie & Daffodil Lament. It's better than their best of CD, Stars. If it's better than the bands Best Of you know you're on to a winner.

Oasis: The Masterplan

This is pretty much the only Oasis album I'll always listen to. I like them. But they ain't as great as everyone says. But this album is awesome. Why the fuck are these B sides?

Marilyn Manson: Portrait Of An American Family

Initially I only bought it because I was curuious about the term sodomy. I asked my mum. She gave me a bullshit answer. Something about anal sex. But she forgot to mention the prison rules.

I haven't actually listened to it in years. But it's a peronal favorite because it's the first album I ever really remember listening too over an over again. Other than Spice Girls-Spice that is.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers: Californication

I'm really struggling for 90's albums.

If I like a genre it's punk or dance. With those it's more individual songs than artists. The rest of the music I like is from the 80's.

 

[rockofhysteria]

this is my picks for the four best albums of the 90's in no particular order


Trial By Fire by Journey- This is the last Journey album with Steve Perry on lead vocals and I think its the best Journey Album with Perry It is a storm of sounds especially the opening Track Message of Love which has become a staple of their live shows with every lead singer they had since Perry. And It also has their last big hit song When You Love A woman which also got them a Grammy nod that year definately in my opinion one of the best albums of the 90's.


Nevermind By Nirvana- There isnt much to say about this album that hasnt already been said by music critics around the world or even others who posted in this thread but for many this album introduced the world to the genius that was Kurt Cobain I know this wasnt their first album but most casual Nirvana Fans don't know that. There are so many great tunes on this album Come as you are, lithium, of course Teen Spirit, and my fav Territorial pissing.


Adrenalize by Def Leppard- This Album to me is about bouncing back for Def Leppard even more so than Hysteria was cause with Hysteria they had to deal with the loss of Rick Allen's arm with this one they had to deal with the untimely Death of Steven Clark one of the best guitarists Ive ever heard. This album has such a great sound and has so many great tunes like the opening track Let's Get Rocked which Def Leppard usually uses now to open their shows, Heaven is which is a great song about a hooker, White Lightning another great rock track. And my all time fav Leppard tune of all time the Powerful Ballad Have you Ever needed someone so bad. that song is tremendous all in all a great album from Def Leppard and it also was their only album to debut at number 1.


These Days by Bon Jovi- This album to me is the greatest Bon Jovi Album of all time and certainly the darkest from a songwriting standpoint most of the critics say that all great bands have at least one album that is very dark from all aspects and for Bon Jovi this album was certainly it from society commentaries on Hey God the opening track. to the Soft but powerful Ballad Lie to me, to the inspirational anti suicide song Something To Believe in. this album has everything a Hard Rock fan could ever ask for.

 

[Jonny B]

I agree with your forth choice, Smash reinvented punk in the 90s in an era where Guns and Roses reigned surpreme. They inspired bands who went on to be huge in the nu-punk market(like Blink 182) and generally wrote a whitehot album.

You might want to re-think that "Smash changed the face of Modern Punk" statement. Dookie came out two months before and while the two albums are so close together they could both be considered to have played a massive part in the way Punk went into the late 90's early 00's I think to say Smash on it's own revolutionized the industry is a bold and incorrect statement. By the way Smash did actually out sell Dookie at 16 Million copies to Dookie's 15 Million, but seriously they both played a massive part in changing the face of Modern Punk.

 

[X]

You might want to re-think that "Smash changed the face of Modern Punk" statement. Dookie came out two months before and while the two albums are so close together they could both be considered to have played a massive part in the way Punk went into the late 90's early 00's I think to say Smash on it's own revolutionized the industry is a bold and incorrect statement. By the way Smash did actually out sell Dookie at 16 Million copies to Dookie's 15 Million, but seriously they both played a massive part in changing the face of Modern Punk.

I was actually about the post the same thing in more general terms Jonny. People tend to forget that The Offspring started off as a very much TSOL kind of hardcore punk influenced band. Their first album, which personally is my favorite of their albums (I'm a hardcore punk junkie, what can I say), had some classics on it like "Jennifer Lost the War" and "Beheaded".

As for the Four Best Albums of the 90's...I'll give you mine. These are my PERSONAL opinion. Not the best-selling or most influential, though some may have been. I'll try to do them in chronological order. (Oh, and why is this the FOUR best albums of the 90s? Was Top 5 just too much?)

Depeche Mode - Violator (1990)

An absolute classic by any genre standard. Electronic rock at it's absolute finest, it's also one of the most haunting and yet beautiful records I've ever heard. Whenever I'm in that depressed state of mind, I put on a latter-era Depeche Mode record like Violator. Granted that may not be good exactly, but it's truly a classic record. Songs like "Enjoy the Silence", "Personal Jesus", and "Policy of Truth" have not only been played to death on radio stations for years, but they've become absolute classics of any music genre. This is simply a record that everyone should own if they have even a passing interest in Depeche Mode, electronic/rock music, or atmospheric and extremely intelligent music. Very synth-heavy, be warned.

Nirvana - Nevermind (1991)

Obviously the most popular pick so far, but validly so. This album is not only still utter punk/alternative rock-pop at it's absolute finest, it is a revolution in music of modern times, equal to that of bands like the Sex Pistols in that they virtually single-handedly popularized a musical genre, bringing it to the forefront of the rock-music scene for years to come.

That being said, it's still a classic record by any measure. From the opening chords of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as the record opens, to the calm, reflective, yet unnerving finale of "Something in the Way" (Not counting the hidden track on the first 100,000 or so copy's of the record, "Endless, Nameless") this album goes from sizzling guitar-crunching rock, to softer, moodier punk-ballads that one would expect to find on an Echo & the Bunnymen or Killing Joke record ("Come As You Are" especially).

Cobain's genius is still truly underrated in my opinion, and it's not because of his lyricism as so many people believe. It's for his music-making ability, the melodies he would devise on his records. The man truly was dabbling with pop genius on this record, along the lines of Brian Wilson on Pet Sounds or Arthur Lee on Love's Forever Changes. One of the best albums ever, not just of the 90s.

The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness (1995)

Many people tend to disregard the Smashing Pumpkins as yet another grunge band from the 90's, but there was so very much more to them. They were a band like Radiohead in that regard; so many people tended to only listen to their grunge songs and disregard anything even remotely experimental or progressive. This record is very experimental in it's own way, yet still rocks as hard as anything you'll get your hands on (Bullet With Butterfly Wings, Bodies), and tugs at your heart with soft ballads with the best of 'em (To Forgive, Tonight Tonight, 1979, Cupid de Locke).

Thank god it's a double album, because there is such a great wealth of material here. Their best album by far, hands down. Siamese Dream & Gish are both classics as well, but I don't think they hold a candle to Mellon Collie.

Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West (1997)

Some people like indie-rock. Some don't. For those that do, there is Modest Mouse, the god's of said indie-rock in the 90s. Forging the hard rock indie of The Smithereens with the quiet, beautiful indie of The Smiths with the unnervingly frantic and catchy punk indie of Throwing Muses to create a killer crockpot of indie-rock goodness. This is their best record, though some of their best material lays on their earlier EPs.

Classics abound here, from the classic "Heart Cooks Brain" with it's swirling guitar riff and DJ record-scratching in the backround (one of the greatest rock songs of all time in my opinion) to the soft and beautiful "Bankrupt on Selling", which features the great line "Well all of the apostles are sitting in swings, saying I'd sell out our savior for a set of new rings".

Be warned, if your music taste doesn't expand past nu-metal and you think anything made before 1998 "sucks", then you won't like these I'm guessing.

And those are my four personal choices.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

XFear, you have a great list. Mellon Collie by the Pumpkins was absolutely epic. And I agree that this band of often overlooked on the backdrop of so many other 90's grunge bands. The genius of this album spilled over into videos as much as almost any other.

Nevermind is a great album, and I purposely avoid giving it any due because of my disdain for Nirvana. I cannot be objective with them at all. But they were damn successful and this album was fantastic.

Dookie and Smash are the one-two punch of 90's punk revival. In my opinion, the songs in Smash were more meaningful and more powerful. And if I had to choose a 5th album, I'd kick around nominationg Bad Religion's "Stranger Than Fiction."

 

[tj3000x]

All great choices so far. I'll give in my personal opinions.

1) Fiona Apple - Tidal
There is just so much to say about Fiona Apple and her debut CD. It's astonishing how at her age she produced such a great record. This record is filled with so much emotion, wit, and truth. Truly she is a talented artist. Listening to this album will enable you to feel her brokenness and disdain.

2) Weezer - Self-titled (The Blue Album)
Another debut album, another great piece of art. This album meant a lot to me, it made me feel great. Amazing catchy lyrics accompanied by great guitars and that feel good persona. This album alone produced two great singles that still receive random radio play from the local rock station here, Undone (The Sweater Song) and Buddy Holly. In my opinion, it's timeless.

3) Nas - Illmatic
Once again, another debut album (lol). One of the greatest rap albums ever. Compare this cd to rap today and you will hear a major difference. Personally, this album drew me into rap. Nas' lyrics are stunning and are delivered with such presence and emotion. The album is so raw and enlightening.

4) Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Wu-Tang Clan's debut album paved the way for so many rappers. Not only for the members of Wu (Rza, Gza, Ghostface, Method Man, etc.) but without this album, I believe there would be no Jay-Z, Nas, Biggie, and others. I had the pleasure of seeing them live and you can see it in their performances that they take pride when it comes to songs off this album. This album is a pioneer of hardcore rap, it made hardcore rap a force to be reckoned with. It's a true classic from start to finish, it gives us a real example of what a true MC (or MCs) should sound like.

...sorry about all the debut albums lol

 

[Kasey]

1)Weezer - Blue Album

Ric Ocasek of The Cars produced this dynamo that is the blueprint for all mainstream indie-rock and false emo out on the market. Frontman Cuomo was the prototypical butt-rocker who shed all the phoniness to carve out something new and groundbreaking at a time when the typical grunge product was ruling the airwaves. A record so good that fans drove the band to re-unite and keep the ship sailing. Tell me when that's ever happened to a band. If worth were determined by general appeal and street cred, this record is the equivalent of Fort Knox. Still a solid effort that I can spin from front to back all the way home without stopping. A rarity in these times of one-hit-wonders and albums geared around only one single. I'm goin' surfin...

2)Metallica - Black Album

Probably the first true sign that metal as a whole was here to stay and that a band could exist outside the realm of MTV and pop radio and have a cultlike appeal that eventually made them the biggest band on the planet, heavy or not. Once they stripped away the thrash and raw speed (much to the chargrin of many of their faithful) they had a lean, mean, rocking machine that converted just about everyone who liked music into a Metallicahead, if not a full-blown metalhead. Another consistently catchy record that can be played straight through without stopping and never leaving a dull moment.

3)Nirvana - Nevermind

Goodbye, hair-metal. You've just been wiped out. All it took were three scrubby-looking goofballs from Seattle to do it. I don't think I've ever seen another band who can come out and be labeled in such a way, but these guys pretty much squashed the utter frivolity of commercial pop-metal overnight ala' Smells Like Teen Spirit. This record was the beginning of a stranglehold that the Seattle music scene would have on mainstream radio and MTV for several years. The record itself is a masterwork. Steve Albini at his finest hour in terms of the production and good old analog engineering and mastering make the blistering cuts fly right out of the speakers. Not to mention that Cobain, Novoselic and Grohl were in the midst of making some of the best music around at that time. This record was the exclamation point of a new breed's dominance and the old guard being put out to pasture...forceably.

4)Dr. Dre - The Chronic

The summer of 1992 had this record bumping on nearly every stereo that played a rap record. The beginning of the Death Row era saw Dre doing some of his finest programming and putting drum 'n' bass on the map while introducing everyone to what became known as "gangsta." MTV and the radio also had this song nearly surgically installed into the daily rotations, and for good reason if you were a hip-hop fan.

I can probably ramble off a bunch more. This is a good thread...and fun, too.