Notes

Background The birth of this site is due firstly and primarily to our love of music, secondly to our fascination with lists of all types and thirdly to our snail-like acceptance that maybe the world-wide-web isn't so bad after-all.

The 1,000 albums listed in The 1990's Greatest 1,000 Albums list are directly representative of what critics thought was the best music of the 1990's, both during and retrospectively. Some of the albums listed we consider to be atrocities, yet - inexplicably - at one time or another they struck a chord with at least a handful of music critics.

Why the 90's? Although our 'real' passion for music began in the early to mid-80's with seminal bands like The Smiths, The Go-Betweens & The Jesus and Mary Chain, our passion turned to obsession during the 90's. Thanks to the rare talents of Teenage Fanclub, Beck, The Elephant Six Recording Company (particularly The Apples in Stereo, Neutral Milk Hotel and The Olivia Tremor Control), Pavement, Smog, Sloan,  Sebadoh, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Will Oldham, Tobin Sprout-era Guided by Voices, Matthew Sweet, Luna, The Lilys, The Lemonheads, The BMX Bandits, Velvet Crush, Ween, Stephen Merritt, Uncle Tupelo/Son Volt/Wilco, Mazzy Star and many, many more. Quite simply, we consider the 1990's, alongside the 1960's, to be the most interesting and rewarding popular music decade to date.

Sources The 1990's Greatest 1,000 Albums list was compiled from critics' polls conducted by NME (UK), Musik Express (Germany), Q (UK), Spex (Germany), Village Voice (USA), Melody Maker (UK), Select (UK), Iguana (Spain), Les Inrockuptibles (France), Panorama (Norway), Face(UK), Eye Weekly (Canada), Spin (USA), Rock de Lux (Spain), Rock Sound (France), VOX (UK), Mojo (UK), Magnet (USA), Humo (Belgium), Magic! (France), OOR (Netherlands), Addicted to Noise (USA), Wall of Sound (USA), Uncut (UK), Rolling Stone (USA), Nojesguiden (Sweden), Technikart (France), Rock & Folk (France), Mondo Sonoro (Spain), College Music Journal (USA), Music Central (USA), All-Star (USA), L'Indic (France), Sounds (UK), Music365 (UK), Hot Press (UK), Launch (USA), Pitchfork (USA), Request (USA), Best (France), Ink Blot (USA), Babylon (Greece), Mofo (Belgium), German Rolling Stone, Intro (Germany), Big O (Singapore), L'Annee (France), Aftonbladet (Sweden), Pop (Sweden), Bibel (Sweden), OAZA (Yugoslavia), Kinda Muzik (Netherlands), Pop Matters (USA), VH1 (USA), Pop News (France) and many others.

This is not a static website. Aside from featuring lists from 2000 and beyond, any future polls we can get our hands on - relating to 1990's albums - will be added to the brew. This will then cause the current rankings to alter. Certain albums in the lower reaches of the 1,000 list will drop out and new albums will obviously come in. Additionally, from now on we will also take into account "Best Albums of All-Time" polls that are not just 1990's-specific. Therefore, a 1990's album that appears in a poll alongside 60's classics such as "Pet Sounds" or "Revolver" will be rewarded accordingly. Without giving too much of our 'elaborate' points system away, an album appearing in an "All-Time" poll will be scored highest, an album appearing in a "Best of the 90's" poll will be scored next highest and an album appearing in a "Best of Year" poll will be scored lowest. "Get a Life!", I hear you exclaim.

Images All of the photos used within these pages have been collected (or should I say pinched!) from various sources over a period of time. Those who have copyright to and/or those who object to any images from being displayed should email us as soon as possible and we will trash them.

Who are the makers of Jumping Fences and where are they based? We are based in Adelaide, Australia, which is according to Stephen King "the scariest city in the world". There are only 2 of us. One girl, one boy.

What's with the name? Jumping Fences is the title of a song off The Olivia Tremor Control's 1996 masterpiece "Dusk at Cubist Castle".