The Most Important Albums of the '90s?

[KingLouieLouie]

I've decided to post a thread in which I would list what I consider the 10 most important records of each respective decade, and as always everyone is welcomed to list their own.... Could be very interesting to debate/discuss....

I'll begin with the 90s and these arent listed in order of their overall importance...Some of these werent that significant at the time, but essentially laid the framework down for today's artists...

1) "Nevermind" - Nirvana (esentially ushered in Grunge and music hasnt since recovered).

2) "Park Life"/"Great Escape" - Blur (both had equal impact on that decade's
Britpop)

3) "OK Computer"/The Bends" - Radiohead (again... just difficult to separate the impact both albums made and has inspired so many).

4) "Slanted And Enchanted" - Pavement (this is pretty much where Indie music began to take-off by leaps and bounds)....

5) "Metallica" - Metallica (even though they somewhat started to sell-out on this album..they pretty much added some more lusture/texture to Metal)...

6) "Sublime"/"40 oz to Freedom" - Sublime (really lead to the resurgence of
ska/punk and also incorporated other genres impressively)....

7) "Downward Spiral" - NIN (was really instrumental in the emergence of Industrial-Metal and spawned so many copycats)....

8) "Undertow"/"Aenima" - Tool ("Undertow" especially since it was the most perfect album to help usher in the post-Grunge era and restored Metal to a certain degree)....

9) "Rage Against the Machine" - RATM (just was one of the first successful albums that combined both metal and Rap with pure genius)

10) "The Chronic" - Dr. Dre (he pretty much expanded off of the West Coast rap scene by adding elements that was never incorporated in Rap before and many just have been followers since)....

Some of these I listed arent my favorites, but I would have to consider the top-10 albums from the 90s that helped shape/mold particular styles/genres/movements and have stood the test of time as still being relevant/fresh and will continue to always do so.....

 

[bankybruce]

I think Perl Jam's Ten has to be in there

 

[KingLouieLouie]

I think Perl Jam's Ten has to be in there

I've always been confused about Pearl Jam.... Just there are times I absolutely love "Ten" (or "Vs." for that matter) and then there are other times I just cannot really tolerate it....

I must say that I deserve to myself for excluding both "Facelift" and "Dirt" from my initial post.... I cant believe I overlooked both those albums, however, I guess I omitted them because deep in my mind I'm constantly reminded of all the horrible bands that have since tried to copy AIC... Only Godsmack and Days of the New came close to recapturing their sound/spirit....

 

[Beaver]

Weezer- Blue Album or Pinkerton

 

[Mulli]

Honorable Mention - Red Hot Chili Peppers - bloodsugarsexmagic and Soundgarden's Bad whateverwhatever

 

[KingLouieLouie]

Weezer- Blue Album or Pinkerton

I wouldnt disagree about those 2 being excellent albums (mainly "Blue Album"), however, I would differ on being among the most important compared to the ones I listed, but obviously we're all entitled to our own opinions and standard to what is considered "important" (no one right or wrong to be honest)... Yes, there was that article I posted nearly a year ago of someone claiming Weezer to be the most important band of this past decade, but I still contend that their best work was when Matt Sharp was still in the band..they've somewhat have lost that creative spark since his departure..... I guess Weezer has inspired a few bands with their sound, so I would give them that much credit..

Honorable Mention - Red Hot Chili Peppers - bloodsugarsexmagic and Soundgarden's Bad whateverwhatever

Yeah.. it was really difficult for me to exclude those 2 (along with Soundgarden's "SuperUnknown") since all those albums contained several hits, but I wanted to try my best at limiting myself to just 10 (which is a difficult task in itself)....

 

[Mulli]

Yeah.. it was really difficult for me to exclude those 2 (along with Soundgarden's "SuperUnknown") since all those albums contained several hits, but I wanted to try my best at limiting myself to just 10 (which is a difficult task in itself)....

For sure. Funny thing. This weekend I bought Ten and Bad Motorwhatever on tapes for a car trip. The tapes were only three bucks. Some of the songs sounded okay, but lots of them had terrible distortions. I had totally forgotten how tapes lose their sound quality and are never as good as CD's.

 

[Jttsaz]

I would include Alice'n'Chain's "Dirt"and U2's "Achtung Baby"...

 

[KingLouieLouie]

I would include Alice'n'Chain's "Dirt"and U2's "Achtung Baby"...

Yeah... I couldnt believe that I didnt include AIC (that and "Facelift") in my initial post, but realized that major oversight as an afterthought... I still should ban myself for that error.....

"Achtung Baby".... for some reason I've always considered that the worst U2 album, but at least they were expanding their sound and incorporating more of an avant-garde elements into their music... I guess in this instance allowed my personal opinion of the album affect me in my judgment of how important this album was.....I guess at the time when it initially released I couldnt fully embrace it since it was such a drastic departure from their earlier albums, and I must admit that I havent listened to it in awhile... Perhaps if I did listen to it now..I'd appreciate how much it remains relevant in today's music ("Mysterious Ways" and "One" are brilliant songs)....

 

[thirty-two]

counting crows - august and everything after
nsync - no strings attached (it may not be everyone's favorite, but it shattered a lot of records and brought the boybands into main focus for a while there)

 

[Chaplin]

nsync - no strings attached (it may not be everyone's favorite, but it shattered a lot of records and brought the boybands into main focus for a while there)

Come on Kate, you're old enough to remember New Kids On The Block, the true pioneers of the boyband phenomenon!

 

[thirty-two]

Come on Kate, you're old enough to remember New Kids On The Block, the true pioneers of the boyband phenomenon!

yeah but this is the 90's... NKOTB came out in the 80's

Nsync brought us all back to the NKOTB phenomenon!

 

[thirty-two]

TLC - Crazy Sexy Cool
Boyz II Men - II

 

[Jttsaz]

TLC! How could I forget....Don't go chasin waterfalls...I was in luv with T-Boz...that was a fantastic album...I also have to mention the band Jellyfish....I don't know if anyone remembers them but they were so good...both albums were awesome...they were great live as well...also Concrete Blonde...Bloodletting was a fantastic album...the song Caroline still brings back such memories!

 

[vince56]

While not that "important" in the U.S., Dream Theater's "Images & Words" in 1992 absolutely DEFINED the genre of progressive metal. Bands like Stratovarius, Nightwish, Symphony X, Evanescence, and even bands like Korn and Sevendust may have never sounded near what they do had it not been for Dream Theater's early 90s releases.

Alice In Chains needs to be on that list as well. Definitely the most influencial band of the last 10-15 years in terms of radio-friendly hard rock. Godsmack, Nickelback, Staind, Mudvayne, etc., all draw heavily from AiC.

 

[KingLouieLouie]

While not that "important" in the U.S., Dream Theater's "Images & Words" in 1992 absolutely DEFINED the genre of progressive metal. Bands like Stratovarius, Nightwish, Symphony X, Evanescence, and even bands like Korn and Sevendust may have never sounded near what they do had it not been for Dream Theater's early 90s releases.

Alice In Chains needs to be on that list as well. Definitely the most influencial band of the last 10-15 years in terms of radio-friendly hard rock. Godsmack, Nickelback, Staind, Mudvayne, etc., all draw heavily from AiC.

Agreed on Dream Theater... I wish that prog-metal did receive more attention/airplay here, however, it seems most record executives or program managers at various radio outlets have short attention spans themselves to recognize how riveting/impacting that genre can be....Instead... well.. here's my broken record mantra... style over substance.....

As far as AIC...I realized that after-the-fact and noted that in my 2nd post in this thread... that was a major oversight on my part....

counting crows - august and everything after
nsync - no strings attached (it may not be everyone's favorite, but it shattered a lot of records and brought the boybands into main focus for a while there)

Excellent selection of "August And Everything After".... Really lead to acoustic/rock to make a comeback in the 90s.....Counting Crows are always an intriuiging band...

I wont comment on I how personally feel about both TLC and NSYNC, but I would say in general that they both made huge impacts on their own....

For sure. Funny thing. This weekend I bought Ten and Bad Motorwhatever on tapes for a car trip. The tapes were only three bucks. Some of the songs sounded okay, but lots of them had terrible distortions. I had totally forgotten how tapes lose their sound quality and are never as good as CD's.

I cant believe cassettes are still around, but I obviously know that all cars arent equipped with a c.d. player... Cassettes are this generation's 8-tracks...

Anyways... "BadMotorfinger" was an awesome album...just Cornell's dynamic range and Thayil's skillful guitar playing stood-out... Also was their first album with Ben Shepherd on bass and his contributions were made aware of immediately....

I should have also added in my 1st post Jane Addiciton's "Ritual de lo Habitual" since that album influenced such acts as Our Lady Peace, Tantric, and to a lesser degree Godsmack......

Again.. I tried narrowing it all down to 10 and wow..was it more complex than I thought...Should have attempted 100..

 

[phillycard]

Weezer- Blue Album or Pinkerton

Blue Album, no question! Although Pinkerton is a classic! :notworthy

 

[azsouthendzone]

Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Green Day Dookie have to be included. Mellon Collie is simply one of the best albums ever. Dookie took modern punk rock and made it mainstream. Dookie opened the door for bands such as Blink 182, Rancid (although Tim Armstrong really helped Green Day in the beginning, but Rancid wasn't popular until post Dookie) and many others.

 

[KingLouieLouie]

Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Green Day Dookie have to be included. Mellon Collie is simply one of the best albums ever. Dookie took modern punk rock and made it mainstream. Dookie opened the door for bands such as Blink 182, Rancid (although Tim Armstrong really helped Green Day in the beginning, but Rancid wasn't popular until post Dookie) and many others.

I agree about Smashing Pumpkins....Billy Corgan is simply a genius and to have such a distinctive voice that really couldnt be replicated (and separated him from the masses) really elevated him over most of the bands from the 90s.... Also, his knack on "Mellon Collie" to experiment with different styles in such a compelling manner just won me over then and makes me appreciate it now....

I do differ though regarding Green Day because of the bolded word "mainstream"... True...I loved "Dookie" and "Insomniac", but when I first heard "Hitchin' A Ride" and "Good Riddance", it just about ruined it for me on how they began to sell-out and pretty much alienated those who appreciated their original punk roots... True..they had to began to expand their sound since many were copying off of them, but they didnt have ot resort to that extreme..... I would also have to include the Offspring as being heavily influential ine 90s and at least they've remained true to their sound.... Also,
Social Distortion's self-titled album and I shouldnt overlook Rancid's contributions... Lord... I'm going thru a Punk phase suddenly.....