Top 10 Albums of the 1990s (Revised 9/28/00)
Written: Jul 22 '00 (Updated Sep 28 '00)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: N/A
Cons: N/A
|
|
|
| MattA75's Full Review: Rock and Pop |
Since it seems my idea for this category is not going be recognized, I see no reason not to write it under the general category of "rock and pop music." What follows is what I feel to be the 10 best albums of the 1990s, my reasons and explanations. If anything, I can hopefully draw some of the other excellent music writers on this site to do the same thing. I am excluding live albums and greatest hits packages from my list. Here we go:
10:Reel Big Fish-Turn the Radio Off:Those of you who know me know that I would not write this without having a couple of ska bands in here, and Reel Big Fish created one of the most happy, joyous, and full of life recordings I've ever heard with their 1996 album Turn the Radio Off. Peppy horns, sweet guitar licks, and humorous and sometimes poignant lyrics move this album along smoothly.
9:The Black Crowes-Shake Your Money Maker:My recent review of this 1990 release sums up how I feel about it. Great old school southern rock and roll that leans in the direction of Skynyrd and the Stones, and was and still is a great throwback album.
8:Mighty Mighty Bosstones-Don't Know How to Party: This is the second and last ska album on this list. I've always felt as if this album defined the third wave of ska. Melding punk and hardcore with rock and ska, every track on this record is full of vigor and energy. It is here where the Bosstones begin to mature as songwriters, and is the precursor to the excellent albums Question the Answers and Pay Attention.
7:Red Hot Chili Peppers-Calfornication:A smart rock album in a world full of Limp Bizkits and Slipknots, the Peppers brand of funk, rock and pop is unique, and this 1999 album is the best work they had done in just about nine years.
6:Live-Throwing Copper:I had to choose between this and 1999's The Distance to Here, but chose Throwing Copper because it will proove to be the band's calling card album with critics. Live's talented lineup created a sometimes dark and sometimes beautiful album with this one, although it seemed to always blow your mind, no matter what the mood of the songs.
5:REM-Automatic for the People:Two words:Everybody Hurts. It is rare that an album full of mostly softer and more melodic songs than what a group may be known for is actually done better than anything said band has done before. REM pulls this off with Automatic... because they had the vision and talent to do so. The Andy Kaufman tribute Man on the Moon and the excellent and vastly under-rated Drive help make this album a certifiable classic.
4:Nirvana-In Utero:This album is so vastly under-rated, and so vastly overshadowed publically by Nevermind that it never really got it's fair shake. The songs on this record are better, and the songwriting by Cobain has gotten much better as well. All Apologies stands as one of the 5 best songs of the 1990s, and the variety of tones and moods laid down on this record far surpasses Nevermind.
3:Foo Fighters-There Is Nothing Left to Lose:By far the biggest and best surprise of the decade. It surpasses the mediocre at best Colour and the Shape easily, and it's power and melodies cannot be ignored. Just a great great GREAT rock and roll record. For all the talk of the Foo Fighters "softening" on this album, you can forget about it, that's all it was:talk.
2:Smashing Pumpkins-Mellon Cholie and the Infinite Sadness:Two discs of sprawling images, sounds, moods, and wonderful songs. And while there is no way this disc completely hits the mark, for a two disc set, it more than surpassed all expecatations while setting the stage not only for 1998's Adore, but also 2000's Machina:The Machines of God.
AND THE NUMBER ONE ALBUM OF THE DECADE IS..........
1:Pearl Jam-Ten:In many ways, Ten is far from Pearl Jam's best album. But much like Live and their album Throwing Copper, I have to put this CD on here rather than any of their other excellent CDs. Ten bristles with raw energy that is never really found anymore, except for when it's "bottled" and "manufactured." And while the production quality lags on this album, a quick listen to any live version of any song from this album from the 1992 era tour will make you realize how classic this album is, and how important it was to Pearl Jam's stellar ongoing career.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Guns and Roses-Use Your Illusion II
Smashing Pumpkins-Siamese Dream
Soundgarden-Superunknown
Nirvana-Nevermind
Pearl Jam-No Code, Vs., Yield and Vitalogy
Korn-self titled
Green Day-Dookie
U2-Achtung Baby
Rancid-And Out Come the Wolves
Tom Petty-Wildflowers
Soul Asylum-Grave Dancers Union
Radiohead-The Bends (damn me to hell for not listening to this record sooner)
Dave Matthews Band-Under the Table and Dreaming
Mad Season-Above
Alice in Chains-Dirt
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
MattA75
|
 - Top 50 |
|
Member: Matt Aucoin
Location: South Berwick, ME
Reviews written: 1162
Trusted by: 465 members
About Me:
Gonna be a daddy, April 2010!
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.