All New. Top Ten Albums of the 1990's!


First, I must start off with the honorable mentions. These are great albums that just didn't make the final cut. (In alphabetical order)

Alice in Chains - Facelift - 1990. Their first album is their best. Facelift is grunge metal at it's finest.

Tori Amos - Songs From the Choirgirl Hotel - 1998. Her best album. Loaded with great songs.

Catherine Wheel - Happy Days - 1995. A great album by the decade's most underrated group. 15 awesome tracks.

Dave Matthew's Band - Under the Table and Dreaming - 1994. How good it this band when this album (not even their best in my opinion) makes honorable mention. They were perhaps the most successful band of the second half of the decade.

Dave Matthew's Band - Before These Crowded Streets - 1998. Their best studio album. Hopefully they will continue to produce gems like this one.

Live - The Distance to Here - 1999. In the worst music year of the 90s, this was by far the best album. Live shows that rock can be "pretty" and hard.

Nirvana - In Utero 1993. The only reason this didn't make the top ten is there were so many great albums there just wasn't room. (I really wanted to get it on there)

Nirvana - Unplugged in New York - 1994. The finest of the Unplugged series, it is a beautiful album that shows the groups talent.

Nirvana - From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah - 1996. As much as Unplugged showed their beauty and talent, Wishkah showed their power, strength, and ferocity.

Pearl Jam - Live on Two Legs - 1998. I absolutely love this album (see my best of 1998) I just decided that the top ten should have only studio albums. This album is a must for any collection.

Pearl Jam - Vitalogy - 1994. Possibly their best album. Only a few small, weird tracks keeps this from being a masterpiece. I wish I could have found room, but I restrained myself to only 2 PJ albums in the top 10.

Pearl Jam Yield - 1998. Their last studio album of the decade is a great sign of things to come. For those of you that still think the band died in the mid 90's pick up this one and Live on Two Legs. Minds can be changed.

Stone Temple Pilots - Purple - 1994. One of the last cuts. This is by far their best album and a reminder of what a great band this used to be.

Tool - Anema - 1996. A great album. Like Vitalogy, only a few weird tracks keeps this album down. Place this one on full volume when you're in a bad mood.



And Now the Top Ten Albums of the 1990s. (thanks to CDNow for letting me borrow the pictures until I scan in my own)

10. Live - Throwing Copper - 1994. A great band's greatest album. This one made them superstars. It produced hit after hit after hit.
Highlights include: I Alone, Lightning Crashes, Selling the Drama, White Discussion, and Pillar of Davidson.





9. Soundgarden - Superunknown - 1994. Like Throwing Copper, this one made Soundgarden superstars.
Highlights include: Black Hole Sun, Spoonman, The Day I Tried to Live, Limo Wreck, and Fell on Black Days.





8. The Smashing Pumpkins - Siames Dream - 1993. Possibly their best album. It was a tough choice and I probably went with volume over quality. (see #5) This album made them stars (see a trend forming) and made me a lifelong fan. I am eagerly awaiting their new album in February.
Highlights include: Mayonaise, Cherub Rock, Today, Disarm, and Quiet.



7. Radiohead - The Bends - 1995. The album that proved they weren't "one hit" Nirvana wannabees. The interesting story about Creep is that it was originally a satire, but when they recorded it, for whatever reason, Thom decided to sing it straight. This album showed everyone (fans and critics) that Radiohead is an extremely talented, innovative, band to be reckoned with.
Highlights include: Fake Plastic Trees, Street Spirit, High 'n Dry, Planet Telex, The Bends, and My Iron Lung.





6. Metallica - Metallica - 1991. What a great year 1991 was for albums. This is my favorite Metallica album. It rocks from start to finish and just about every track is a classic. I can't wait to see them on New Year's Day 2000 at Gund Arena in Cleveland. I have great seats too.
Highlights include: Enter Sandman, Nothing Else Matters, The God that Failed, Wherever I May Roam, Unforgiven, and Through the Never.





5. The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - 1995. What a whallop. 28 songs, 2 hours. This showed the world what a creative, inventive band SP is and how great they sound. This double CD has a little bit of everything and just about all of it works. It's a steal at under $20.
Highlights inlclude: Bullet with Butterfly Wings, Tonight Tonight, Zero, 1979, To Forgive, By Starlight, and Where Boys Fear to Tread.





4. Pearl Jam - Ten - 1991. The greatest debut album of all time (and it's not even their best overall). These boys burst onto the scene and took the world by storm. They continue to make amazing music as the decade draws to a close. If you see any band live before you die, see Pearl Jam.
Highlights include: Black, Jeremy, Porch, Even Flow, Release, Alive, and Once.





3. Nirvana - Nevermind - 1991. This album deserves to be on the list simply for the fact that it changed rock forever, but it goes beyond that. It is a collection of 12 amazing tracks that serve as a constant reminder of how great this band was, and how they will not soon be forgotten. Sorry about the picture, but Geocities frowns on nudity (even if it's just a baby.)
Highlights include: Smells Like Teem Spirit, In Bloom, Lithium, Stay Away, and Something in the Way.







2. Pearl Jam - Versus - 1993. My favorite ablum, my favorite band, was there any doubt about this one. Not only did it show that Eddie and the boys weren't a fluke, it solidified them as the best band in the world (at least in my humble opinion).
Highlights include: Rearviewmirror, Daughter, Rats, Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town, Dissident, and Indifference.




1. Radiohead - OK Computer - 1997. I chose this album because it is one of my favorites as well as the most well done, creative album of the 90s. It combines 70's style rock with new catches and amazing vocals. Some songs are beautiful, some are strange, and some are haunting, but all of them are unforgettable.
Highlights include: Climbing Up the Walls, Paranoid Android, Let Down, Electioneering, Karma Police, Lucky, and Airbag.

Check Out My Best Albums of 1998
Check Out My Best Albums of 1997
Check Out My Best Albums of 1996
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