Revisiting My Favorite Albums of The 1990s

Hey, it's that time of year again. Every year (starting--and probably ending--in 2010) I've kicked off Spring by revisiting my favorite albums of the decade lists. As I did before, I'll count down my favorites from the '90s then the '80s then the '70s then the '60s then, finally and counterintuitively, the '00s. Why? you ask. Because not only are my tastes constantly changing a little--I'm getting more or less mature (not sure which), more or less knowledgeable, etc.--but also I'm always hearing new (old) music.

The lists will be presented in one serving (a.k.a. post) and counted down from #90 to #1. When compared to the original lists, albums that are completely new to the lists will be listed in blue. Albums that have moved up ten or more spots will be in green, and albums that have moved down ten or more will be in red. I will choose to write blurbs about random albums that are listed in these colored fonts. The write-ups will be in grey. It will be awesome. Hopefully. It might be confusing.

This installment--the first of five--will count down my 90 favorite albums of the 1990s. The '90s were a wonderful decade full of grunge, lo-fi, Furbies, six Bulls championships, and, best of all: me! Kidding. Sort of. Anyhow, we'll be looking at the music of this particular decade, which was largely defined by the first two of the examples I just gave (grunge, lo-fi), but was also shaped by the continuing evolution of hip-hop, electronic music, and shoegaze plus the advent of post-rock and freak-folk. So basically, it was a great decade. If you want to see my original list, it's here, here, and here.

So without further ado, here are my 90 favorite albums of the '90s as of right now:

90. Pixies--Trompe Le Monde

I hate to knock the Pixies, but after listening to Trompe more since the first incarnation of this list, I've realized that it's noticeably less inspired than their other albums. That said, it's still quite good.

89. Smog--Knock Knock

88. Fennesz--Hotel Paral.lel

87. Jeff Buckley--Grace

86. Shellac--At Action Park

85. Arthur Russell--Another Thought

84. Built To Spill--There's Nothing Wrong With Love

83. A Tribe Called Quest--Midnight Marauders

82. Bardo Pond--Amanita

81. De La Soul--De La Soul Is Dead

80. The Olivia Tremor Control--Dusk At Cubist Castle

79. Sonic Youth--Washing Machine

There are still some albums in the SY canon that I haven't heard. This was one of them until a couple months ago, and I soon realized that, while not as visionary and spectacular as some of their '80s albums are, Washing Machine is entirely worth listening to.

78. Tortoise--TNT

77. The Melvins--Houdini

76. Smashing Pumpkins--Siamese Dream

75. Mouse On Mars--Iaora Tahiti

74. The Breeders--Last Splash

73. Slowdive--Souvlaki

I think this batch of very good albums was just hurt by all the new additions to the list.

72. Gas--Konigsforst

71. K.M.D.--Mr. Hood

70. Massive Attack--Mezzanine

69. Boredoms--Pop Tatari

68. Beastie Boys--Ill Communication

67. Nirvana--About A Girl

66. Primal Scream--Screamadelica

65. Mogwai--Young Team

64. Unwound--Repetition

63. Beck--Midnite Vultures

62. The Notorious B.I.G.--Ready To Die

61. Bjork--Debut

60. The Beta Band--The Three EP's

59. Jawbox--For Your Own Special Sweetheart

58. Squarepusher--Music Is Rotted One Note

Music Is Rotted One Note is a weird and surprising listen; it juxtaposes drum n' bass/IDM with fusion/free jazz. It's an interesting concept, and it's executed quite well. In a world where a lot of IDM sounds the same, it's cool and impressive that Squarepusher is so distinctive.

57. Tom Waits--Mule Variations

56. A Tribe Called Quest--The Low End Theory

55. Weezer--Pinkerton

54. Aphex Twin--Selected Ambient Works, Vol. II

53. Pavement--Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

Sorry. I just can't love this album like the rest of you do. I'm not sure why.

52. Tortoise--Millions Now Living Will Never Die

51. The Orb--The Orb's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld

50. The Jesus Lizard--Liar

49. TLC--Crazysexycool

Maybe nostalgia is playing a role in this choice, but I'm not so sure. While I of course owned this album like everyone else in the mid- to late-'90s, it didn't find its way into my library until more recently. When I first listened to it for the first time in a decade or so, I was a little shocked at how good it was. It's a pop/R&B album, yes, but it's a brilliantly produced, pretty weird, very unique pop/R&B album with Andre 3000 on it. And it's truly great.

48. Raekwon--Only Built 4 Cuban Linx

47. Sonic Youth--Goo

46. Nas--Illmatic

45. Oval--94 Diskont

44. Radiohead--The Bends

43. Company Flow--Funcrusher Plus

You maybe have started to notice (and should continue to notice) that I've added some more hip-hop albums to the list, and also treated most of the existing ones kindly in my rankings. I guess I like more hip-hop now. But it's still not my expertise by any means.

42. Boredoms--Super Ae

41. Palace Music--Viva Last Blues

40. Radiohead--OK Computer

39. Scott Walker--Tilt

38. Beastie Boys--Check Your Head

37. Brainiac--Hissing Prigs In Static Couture

36. Built To Spill--Perfect From Now On

35. Guided By Voices--Propeller

34. Massive Attack--Blue Lines

33. Godspeed You! Black Emperor--F#A# (Infinity)

32. The Jesus Lizard--Goat

31. Tom Waits--Bone Machine

30. Dr. Octagon--Dr. Octagonecologyst

29. Wu-Tang Clan--Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

28. Spiritualized--Ladies and Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space

27. Yo La Tengo--Painful

26. Outkast--Aquemini

It's too bad that I didn't have this sooner. As you gathered by me putting Stankonia at #2 on my Favorite Albums of The '00s list, I love Outkast. I think they're arguably the greatest hip-hop group of all time. Aquemini just helps to prove my point.

25. Fugazi--Red Medicine

24. Tricky--Maxinquaye

Hip-hop is better represented on this list than on the original, and so is trip-hop. I'm not sure why, but I started listening to the classic trip-hop albums (this, Blue Lines, Dummy, etc.) more and more a few months ago, and I realized that they are all absolutely amazing and cool and everything good. Maxinquaye is such a thick and heavy album that its beauty is shocking and extremely refreshing.

23. Bjork--Post

22. Aphex Twin--Richard D. James Album

21. Ride--Nowhere

20. Nirvana--In Utero

Hip-hop, trip-hop, and Nirvana, too. Nirvana was my favorite band ever in the world ever for several years of my young life, but when I got all indie and snobby during mid-adolescence, I kind of put them on the back-burner. I still liked them of course, but not as much as I used to. Well, I think I pretty much like them now as much as I used to. They were completely brilliant.

19. Boards Of Canada--Music Has The Right To Children

18. Pixies--Bossanova

17. Talk Talk--Laughing Stock

16. Public Enemy--Fear Of A Black Planet

15. Bonnie "Prince" Billy--I See A Darkness

14. Yo La Tengo--I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One

13. Bjork--Homogenic

12. Beck--Odelay

11. Weezer--Weezer (Blue Album)

10. Guided By Voices--Bee Thousand

9. Portishead--Dummy

8. Pavement--Slanted & Enchanted

7. DJ Shadow--Endtroducing...

6. Slint--Spiderland

5. Guided By Voices--Alien Lanes

4. Modest Mouse--The Lonesome Crowded West

3. Nirvana--Nevermind

2. Neutral Milk Hotel--In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

1. My Bloody Valentine--Loveless

The top twenty is pretty much the same. Nevermind jumped up a bit, as did Dummy and Weezer. But these are the albums that I have cherished throughout my life as the sound of my first decade. The dirty, fuzzy, feedback-y sound of my birth. (That was totally weird to say.)

That's what I think--for now at least. The most noticeable changes are understandably at the bottom of the list, but there was some big tinkering towards the top, too. Stay tuned for my retuned '80s list.