16 '90s Alt-Rock Albums I'm Not Supposed to Like Anymore (But Still Do) I can't wait for the nth wave of alterna-rock revivalism to really hit it with the kids. It's bound to happen -- it already did with '60s garage rock, '70s post-punk, and most recently '80s new-wave and new romantic revivalism a la The Bravery and The Killers. The goods from the '90s are ripe for resuscitation; there's no reason the best of grunge, shoegaze and generic alternative rock wouldn't make for a great new "scene" of unoriginal sound bandits. But since it's our most recent lost decade, the '90s have garnered a curious amount of snarky dismissal, hip-hop, indie rock and I Love the '90s aside. As a child of the '90s, I'll defend the "Alternative Nation" and its failed promise 'til the day I die, even if plenty of it was pure manure. For every fondly-remembered OK Computer or Loveless, there are scores of forgotten records that aren't half as bad as you think they are. Here are 16 of those.
REM's Monster This one is obvious -- possibly the most sold-back album of all time, and REM's most maligned album. After discovering Murmur and Reckoning, I can buy the complaints -- overeffected, awkwardly loud guitars and uneven songwriting -- but this is still REM we're talking about, and Monster is far from bad. Everyone still loves "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?", but what about "Crush With Eyeliner", which was actually an adventurous single? (Its echoing guitar was the only thing to break from the rut of alterna-buzz guitar to which rock-radio subscribed.) "Strange Currencies" is a great REM ballad, too -- better than the corny-as-hell "Everybody Hurts" from the otherwise classic Automatic for the People. Monster is currently on sale for $1.99 at every used record store in the country. Out of Time is great too, "Shiny Happy People" haters be damned.
Sonic Youth's Experimental Jet Set, Trash, and No Star Another hated album by an otherwise revered band. What's up with that, anyway? Every album SY make has at least one thing that makes it worth owning, so we're gonna pick the worst one (not counting NYC Ghosts & Flowers, which really does suck) and hate it irrationally? On Jet Set, SY apparently decided to go pop and fit in with the alt-rock nation they helped create, albeit in their own fucked-up, tuneless way. This awkward stab at accessibility spawned an amazing single, "Bull in the Heather", and a handful of other great songs like the acoustic (!) "Winner's Blues" and the touching "Sweet Shine" -- two of Thurston Moore's and Kim Gordon's prettiest songs, respectively. This was my and many others' first exposure to Sonic Youth. Kim called out in her scariest voice, "10-20-30-40, tell me that you wanna score me," and I was never the same.
Stone Temple Pilots' Tiny Music... Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop Poor Stone Temple Pilots. Did they really deserve the hatred poured upon them? Maybe. Have you ever actually tried to listen to all of Core? This was their first -- and last -- solid album. You can hate "Big Bang Baby" in theory for stealing the chorus from "Jumpin' Jack Flash", but actually doing so is another story. The first few songs on <>Tiny Music have the Stones-riff firepower Weiland and co. strove for throughout their career.
Smashing Pumpkins' Adore I'll never understand why this wasn't hailed as the classic it truly is. Billy Corgan, James Iha and D'arcy made one the most gorgeous, understated things to come out of the late '90s, only to have it trampled on by people wanting another "Today" or "Bullet With Butterfly Wings". You can't listen to these songs outside the album's context. It's a fully-formed excursion into gothic misery with simple arrangements and light electronic touches that add up to a greater experience than Mellon Collie -- it's the ultimate late-night album. "To Sheila" will always be my favorite song.
Hole's Celebrity Skin Released around the same time as Adore, these twin Corgan knockouts came at the heels of the Pumpkins' world domination following Mellon Collie's massive success. Backlash is inevitable. Corgan co-wrote these songs with Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson (one of the great unsung guitar heroes of the '90s) and a few others. The result was what America's Sweetheart should have been: a pop-rock treat for fans who wondered when Courtney would get it together. Here's hoping Corgan and Love's newly announced collaboration will be as fruitful.
Veruca Salt's American Thighs For a short while, American Thighs was one of my favorite albums -- coy, girlish wonder wrapped around guitar hooks that Nina Gordon and Louise Post were just learning to master in underheard gems like "Wolf" and "Twinstar". It borrowed freely and extensively from the Pixies and the Breeders (note: Bossanova and Last Splash are far too good to even consider for this list) and tacked on forced innocence and vague lesbian undertones. I wracked my 12-year-old brain wondering what the hell a "Seether" was.
The Cranberries' No Need to Argue Their first album was better, but this one had "Zombie"! Is there a better recording of a fey Irish pop band trying to be dark, grungified, "important" rock stars with thick, unrelenting distortion? No, there isn't.
Various Artists: Empire Records Soundtrack Speaking of the Cranberries, their "Liar" leads this wonderfully generic alt-rock comp, which includes fewer than half the songs from the movie, but that shouldn't stop anyone inexplicably obsessed with the mediocre film from buying this and thinking about Liv Tyler and Renee Zellwegger's mammoth girl fight over a nasty pill-popping habit (if you don't know what I'm talking about, see the movie now). Screw the lame Edwin Collins and Gin Blossoms hits -- download "Free" by the Martinis for the best generic alterna-girl rock song ever.
Various Artists: The Saint Soundtrack Terrible film, great soundtrack. It came right at the peak of "electronica is the next grunge" and served as a nice primer to electronica hopefuls who would never be the massive stars they thought they would. Chemical Brothers' "Setting Sun", Daft Punk's "Da Funk" -- hot damn, I almost wept when I thought I'd sold my copy.
Poe's Hello God, girls really could do what they wanted in the '90s. Hello really shouldn't be as good as it is. "Angry Johnny" is just the tip of the femme-angst iceberg. Try "Fly Away" for an amazing lonely girl guilty pleasure, far better than that shitty Alanis hidden song where she's crying in the shower or whatever.
Foo Fighters' The Colour and the Shape My roommate put this in the other day and I didn't say anything. What could I say? Holy crap, I fucking love this album? "Hey, Johnny Park!" and "February Stars" are the best songs Mr. Grohl has ever written. Even "Everlong" sounds great again if you haven't heard it five-hundred times in the last week on "Rock 97.1" or whatever shitty modern-rock station has played it to death. (Note: The Wallflowers' Bringing Down the Horse is a great modern-rock hit too, but is too boring to talk about).
Travis's The Man Who Travis has gotten the short end of the stick lately, blamed for the Keanes and Snow Patrols sneaking into the Billboard charts. That's fine; just don't say anything bad about The Man Who, one of the most sincere Britpop records around. These guys actually had the heart-on-sleeve personality to make "Why does it always rain on me? / Is it because I lied when I was seventeen?" something you wanted to shout along to. Without Travis, Coldplay wouldn't have stood a chance. Is that really a world you'd want to live in?
Eels' Beautiful Freak I think most people will be with me on this one. Eels' later, more confident output hasn't really done it for me, but this album, which I bought on cassette for four dollars, has an "I'm a screwed up weenie so I'm gonna write some songs about it" vibe you can't copy. I can't believe something as fragile as "Novocaine for the Soul" ever made it onto the radio.
The Dandy Warhols' ...The Dandy Warhols Come Down A long, uneven album punctuated by sinfully catchy singles that I dare anyone to dis. I bought it without hearing anything other than the single, and wondered why there were so many short, spacy, not-catchy songs (I soon learned that this was called "indie rock"). "Not if You Were the Last Junkie On Earth" is probably the only reason anyone cares about that movie Dig!.
Fiona Apple's Tidal Fiona Apple can just kill you with her voice. Norah Jones will never write a song as soulful as "Shadowboxer" or as heartbreaking as "Sullen Girl". Maybe Tori Amos was crazier or When the Pawn... was more confident. Maybe Extraordinary Machine will forever languish on Interscope's shelves, promised Outkast beats and all. Mark my words -- Apple's the real deal, and the best songs here will outlast the mean-spirited jabs at her infamously unstable persona.
Belly's Star The other most sold-back album of all time. I'm not sure why -- it's one of the best albums on this list. Maybe it's because people can't believe there was actually a time that wispy jangle-rock sung by girls with waifish voices could ever land on the cover of Rolling Stone (it happened). "Feed the Tree" is great, sure, but so are "Slow Dog" and "Gepetto", swirling indie-pop so sweet it sounds like Disney characters personified. Juliana Hatfield's Become What You Are also belongs here for that great "My Sister" song, which was sweetly, unconvincingly mean.
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