Best Albums of the 90’s: 41 – 50

50. THE SMASHING PUMPKINS- MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS (1995)

SMASHING PUMPKINS_MELLON COLLIE

BuySmashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

Buy AmazonMellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

Over long, overblown and self-indulgent? Without a doubt! But this album, the last great one of the Pumpkins’ career, also has a plethora of great moments. If you pared this down to a single disc it could even give “Siamese Dream” a run for its money. 5 singles strong with some awesome deep cuts as well. Over 2 hours and 28 songs. Wow!




Buy “1979”
Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - 1979

 Buy “Thirty-Three”
Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - Thirty-Three



 

49. JEFF BUCKLEY- GRACE (1994)

jeff buckley_grace

BuyJeff Buckley - Grace

Buy AmazonGrace

“Grace” is the only full length release from this honey throated singer songwriter before his pre-mature death from drowning in the Mississippi River at age 30. The son of cult hero singer songwriter, Tim Buckley (also an early death casualty), Jeff Buckley’s voice simply defies logic. He was unafraid of bombast and grand gestures in a time when most of modern alternative rock frowned on both. His haunting cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” has become a modern day classic- even sound tracking the final episode of the hit teen show “The O.C.’


Buy “Hallelujah”
Jeff Buckley - Grace - Hallelujah

 Buy “Last Goodbye”
Jeff Buckley - Grace - Last Goodbye

 



48. PEARL JAM- TEN (1991)

PEARL JAM_TEN

BuyPearl Jam - Ten

Buy AmazonTen

An even bigger record (sales-wise at least) than “Nevermind”, “Ten” was the album that truly took Seattle-based grunge music into the stratosphere in early 1992. This was Pearl Jam’s first and best record with alternative rock staples “Alive”, “Even Flow” and “Jeremy” and plenty of deep album cuts as well. Not a bad song on it really.




Buy “Black”
Pearl Jam - Ten - Black

 Buy “Alive”
Pearl Jam - Ten - Alive

 

 

 



47. GUIDED BY VOICES- BEE THOUSAND (1994)

GUIDED BY VOICES_BEE THOUSAND

BuyGuided By Voices - Bee Thousand

Buy AmazonBee Thousand

GBV seem to carry the spirit of the early Who & Kinks more than any other 90’s band. Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout and company deal out passion and hooks in equal measure-keeping all songs under 3 minutes and most of them under 2. There are many misses on this album but they are over and done with so quickly that you will pay them no mind. And the great songs do more than make up for them.




Buy “Tractor Rape Chain”
Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand - Tractor Rape Chain

 Buy “I Am A Scientist”
Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand - I Am a Scientist

 

 



46. PORTISHEAD- DUMMY (1994)

PORTISHEAD_DUMMY

BuyPortishead - Dummy

Buy AmazonDummy

Massive Attack created trip hop with 1991’s “Blue Lines”, but Bristol, England’s Portishead furthered the genre with this release by substituting MA’s dance oriented grooves with beats that seem to come from an imaginary film noir soundtrack. As experimental is this music is it was also an unexpected hit and catapulted the trip hop genre into the mainstream thereby creating a ton of imitators who would go on to soundtrack many a yuppie dinner party in the late 90’s and early 00’s.



Buy “Sour Times”
Portishead - Dummy - Sour Times

 Buy “Glory Box”
Portishead - Dummy - Glory Box



 

45. OUTKAST- AQUEMINI (1998)

OUTKAST_AQUEMINI

BuyOutKast - Aquemini

Buy AmazonAquemini

The bridge album between the crazy space funk of ”ATLiens” of 1996 and the world conquering “Stankonia” in the first year of the new century. “Aquemini” is a masterpiece in its own right. The album thrives on diversity as Outkast and production team Organized Noize bring in elements of hard rock, psychedelia, live orchestration and reggae into the hard hitting funky Atlanta rap beats.




Buy “Rosa Parks”
OutKast - Aquemini - Rosa Parks

 Buy “Aquemini”
OutKast - Aquemini - Aquemini

 




44. SLEATER-KINNEY- DIG ME OUT (1997)

SLEATER-KINNEY_DIG ME OUT

BuySleater-Kinney - Dig Me åOut

Buy AmazonDig Me Out

SK’s best album of the 90’s, “Dig Me Out” takes the hard charging feminist punk of the previous year’s “Call the Doctor” to greater levels- more consistency, better and more creative musicianship and more classic songs. All told more bounce per ounce.





Buy “Dig Me Out”
Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out - Dig Me Out

 Buy “Words and Guitar”
Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out - Words and Guitar

 




43. SOUNDGARDEN- SUPERUNKNOWN (1994)

SOUNDGARDEN_SUPERUNKNOWN

BuySoundgarden - Superunknown

Buy AmazonSuperunknown

“Superunkown” is probably the last great grunge album. Soundgarden moves further into the mainstream by writing tighter and more accessible songs than on previous albums. “Spoonman”, “Black Hole Sun” and “Fell on Black Days” were all over the radio airwaves and MTV throughout the whole year and into 1995. And those weren’t even the best songs. Soundgarden would have a few more great songs in them after this, but “Superunknown” was their last great statement. It’s a shame that Chris Cornell’s amazing yowl of a voice has been wasted on such sub-par bands since Soundgarden’s demise.

Buy “My Wave”
Soundgarden - Superunknown - My Wave

 Buy “The Day I Tried to Live”
Soundgarden - Superunknown - The Day I Tried to Live

 



42. PJ HARVEY- RID OF ME (1993)

PJ HARVEY_RID OF ME

BuyPJ Harvey - Rid of Me

Buy AmazonRid of Me

An album just as raw as her “Dry” debut a year earlier, but also better produced (you don’t have to strain your ears to hear the songs!) and all around better. PJ makes her mark here with her best album of one of the best musical legacies of the 90’s/00’s.





Buy “Dry”
PJ Harvey - Rid of Me - Dry

 Buy “50ft Queenie”
PJ Harvey - Rid of Me - 50ft Queenie

 

 

 




41. OASIS- (WHAT’S THE STORY) MORNING GLORY (1995)

Oasis_What's the Story

BuyOasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory

Buy Amazon(What’s The Story) Morning Glory

Oasis’s celebratory album of itself! ‘What’s The Story’ explores what happens to a working class band after it becomes successful. Although this theme has certainly been done before in rock n’ roll, Oasis crafts their songs to sound like the best night of your life. And this album certainly did sound track many a night out in the mid 90’s in Britain, America and all over the world.



Buy “Wonderwall”
Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory - Wonderwall

 Buy “Don’t Look Back in Anger”
Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory - Don't Look Back In Anger

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.