Mount Rushmore of albums from the 1990s
 

Hey all,

It is the return of Mount Rushmore. Been a while since we've had one of these. You know the rules, your 4 (and only 4) choices for top albums of the 1990s.

Here's mine to start things off:

1. Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morrisette
Just a great album, start to finish
2. Sublime - Sublime
A band whose time was cut way too short
3. The Chronic - Dr. Dre
Dre proved he didn't need NWA to make it big
4. OK Computer - Radiohead
An overachieving concept album that exceeded the expectations

Just missed:
Nevermind - Nirvana
Four great songs, but a few filler songs on there as well
Achtung, Baby! - U2
Contains one of my all-time favorite songs (One)

The basic Mount Rushmore concept stated and violated in record time. Impressive.

They weren't carved into the mountain, but were among the names considered. Hence the non-bolded nature and lack of number. Consider it the equivalent of "other receiving votes" in a Top 25 poll.

It's like Quik hasn't even seen the little statues of James K. Polk and Andrew Johnson in the Mount Rushmore visitors center. Jeeze.

LS, think your picture belongs in the guy slapping the toddler thread from yesterday.

To go back on topic:

OK Computer
Nevermind
The Chronic
No Fences

Beck - Odelay
Dr. Dre - The Chronic
Pearl Jam - 10
Metallica - Metallica

NIN - Pretty Hate Machine
Nirvana - Nevermind
U2 - Achtung Baby
Radiohead - OK Computer

To be fair, Pretty Hate Machine came out in October of 1989.

Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle

It took full advantage of the springboard Dr. Dre's 'The Chronic' provided it. While The Chronic came first, this was the album that every high school kid/young adult had the day it dropped, white, black, hispanic, or asian.


Weezer - S/T (The Blue Album)

Impossible not to feel good while listening to this record, even today. It had two huge singles, and Guitar Hero may have turned another song into the most popular one of all.

Nirvana - Nevermind

Not much needs to be said here. Everybody knows the story already. Therefore, it belongs.

Sublime - Sublime

As passe as Sublime is to me now, there's almost no question in my mind that this belongs on here. Once college kids started co-opting Bob Marley, this was the next logical step. A dub band of kids from Long Beach that were actually really good. Maybe it's just because summer is winding down, and I'm feeling sentimental, but I don't think I'm alone in saying a lot of great times and memories were scored by this album that I can barely even stomach any more.

Nirvana -- Nevermind, Pearl Jam -- Ten, Alice in Chains -- Dirt

I've still never convinced myself which album is better but those three to me define the 90s. Two of them have to go but I'm not sure which one I'd dump. I think I believe Ten is the best of the three but Nirvana's Cobain factor tends to bump them up. Tough call and maybe I create a crazy three-headed monster with it.

Dr. Dre -- The Chronic -- definied rap at the time.

Alanis Morisette -- Jagged Little Pill -- I still listen to this CD from time to time. There's part of me that believes she might be the coolest chick on the planet.

Green Day -- Dookie -- I always felt this CD brought in a new era of music.

BTW, I like the Jagged Little Pill picks. That was a unique moment in music, having her at the top of the charts.

Seeing as how Nevermind changed the face of the music industry in a seismic fashion, any Mt. Rushmore that doesn't include it (presumable as #1), is an epic motherfucking fail.

The album isn't all that good.

<3

It's obvious from the general reaction it gets that Nevermind is of critical musical importance.

For me personally, I can't stand it, or the whole depressing, stupid Seattle scene. IMO, it set back music years, and over-exposed depression-themed, anti-melodic songs and little-range artists massively throughout the whole decade, pushing aside better played and sounding music.

I listen to music to hear music. Not sounds that seem created from someone hitting the gas in neutral over and over again.

While I can see an argument that the album "as a whole" isn't that good, the first 24 minutes of it changed the face of the music industry completely.

Total, absolute paradigm-shift.

I fail to see the "epic motherfucking fail" you claim. Nevermind is not one of my 4 choices for top albums of the 1990s. Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em was pretty important, too.

LOL

valid point - if it is all about personal taste then it's wide-open to interpertation of what was a "top" album

i'm not gonig to pickup the mantle of "Nirvana defender" in this thread - I'll save that for someone who likes them more than me.

Now if anybody tries to go off on Green Day...watch the fuck out.

It revolutionized those balloon pants, and the way we play side step defense in basketball.

Well, as the album that brought rap to white people, you could argue it did even more to change the music industry than Nevermind. If that's the rubric we're using.

IMO, if you assume that brought rap to white people, you need to give more love to Vanilla Ice.

Anti-melodic? The reason Nirvana got so huge is that they had instantly memorable melodies. Everything else, that's just how you feel.

Memorable is not melodic.

Meh, PHDHE was nearly a half a year before Ice, and I could be wrong but I would guess the majority of the purchases were by whites.

Dude, just...dude. I relent. You win. I'm going to go eat lunch.

I can't name one Radiohead song, and yet so many people seem to like them.

Were they really that good? Apparently I missed Radiohead while I was working nights and my wife was having babies.

WOOHOO! :D

Creep, IIRC, was their first really big hit. I am pretty sure you would know it.

Radiohead, Weezer, Green Day, it's funny these are groups that kinda got their start in and around the grunge time, and you can see the influence in their songs. But these bands, IMO, far transcended their beginnings and developed and became much more.

Speaking of Nirvana before, while I am not a fan there, I think Dave Grohl and his work with the Foo Fighters is terrific.

Okay, I vaguely remember Creep.

I listened to snippets of half a dozen songs from OK Computer on YouTube just now. I didn't recognize any of them.

I hate it when I completely miss out on seminal albums. :)

*doesn't know any Radiohead songs*
*barely knows any Weezer songs*
*crazy rabid Green Day fan*

:eek:

+100

Even though I liked some songs on Dookie, in my mind, at the time of that release, Green Day was just another grunge-ish offshoot, STP was the same way for me (liked them better than Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, but only by a little). Green Day grew beyond that, though, and I consider them to be a much better developed band now. By comparison, STP didn't really develop, IMO, although that was probably because Weiland was always hopped up or in rehab.

Radiohead and Weezer had roots influenced by grunge, but of course, they both sound completely different from that, from each other and from Green Day. They all three have distinctive sounds that work for them and their fans. My personal favorite of the three is Weezer.

Ok, I have do this favor for you...From Nirvana's allmusic.com biography...pretty much the biggest music encyclopedia the internet has ever seen:


Q: What else could you be?


A:ALLLLLL APOLOGIES

EDIT: Link http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg...ifexqr5ld6e~T1

Didn't know this was the Mount Rushmore of Shit.

I don't deny their influence. I even point that out above in my first post in thread.

But it's not a sound I like. The music is too guttural and low, not enough free flowing. Specific to Nirvana, Cobain's voice is awful, and even if it's an intentional affectation, it doesn't make it any better to listen to. The only thing I generally like about Nirvana music is the lead guitar melodies, when they're not using it to produce the "white noise" mentioned in your link. For instance, the counterplay chorus riff in "All Apologies" or the opening lead in for "Come As You Are".

IMO, the overall sound of Nirvana and the grunge scene was never really appealing musically. It was new and innovative, and interesting the first few times. But it got tiresome quickly--much more quickly than radio stations stopped overplaying it unfortunately. A lot of grunge, I found, relied on using off-notes, tunes that don't conform with the natural hearing tendencies of the human ear. I think this can be well used to a point, but if you use it too much, it can become maddening. "All Apologies" is a good example actually--lots of off notes in that one. I can only listen to that so long.

An example of a song that does this that is one of my favorites is the Beatles' (Harrison's really) "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". It's a beautiful song that often sounds off-chord, but they bring it together well, and don't over-do it with the off-tunes.

Nirvana did a lot of things great. But for me personally, they screwed up a whole decade with their sound. Remember, the guys copying Nirvana were not themselves Nirvana, so that didn't help. Just my opinion, take it for what it's worth.

Don't you have something better to do? Like running into other mongoloids inside of a sweaty teen center while some bratty kids have epileptic fits on a stage?

Yeah, despite our differences on Nirvana, I have to agree with Karl here. Nevermind's already spoken for. Sublime might be my favorite album from the 90s. And Weezer's terrific. Never gave Snoop a full listen, but I know enough of his songs to know I would probably enjoy the above album (and probably know half the songs already).

Faith No More - Angel Dust: The best album by the best rock/metal band of the 90's. Such a diverse CD that showcased the brilliance of Mike Patton and co, and ushered in the (unfortunate) era of "nu-metal" years later.

Down - NOLA: The best real rock album of the 90's. Just a great album with a lot of southern influences. The best thing Phil Anselmo has ever done besides heroin.

Alice in Chains - Dirt: The only Seattle band worth a damn, this one album made up for all the other shit Nirvana and Pearl Jam spewed out. A great rock album that holds up well today.

Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion: C'mon, it was an epic that ended up being the last great thing GNR ever did. Two discs of epic songs.

Sorry, I couldn't hear you over your awful music tastes.

Faith No More had a couple really great songs, but I got tired of them faster than I got tired of Nirvana.

Alice In Chains is in the same group for me as STP. They had a sound I liked better, but they never developed far enough to grow out of it.

I don't know Down.

Loved Use Your Illusion in its day. Don't listen much anymore, but it was a good listen while I had it in my regular rotation.

Im kinda surprised Slim Shady or Devil without a Cause hasnt slipped onto someone's list

For me the 90s
1) GnR UYI 1 &2 (admit it it was 1 album)
2) Jagged Little Pill (kinda unique musical time as mentioned earlier)
3) No Fences (Who can forget the 90ss urban cowboy movement, I literally remember a 90210 episode with Friends in Low Places playing at a Beverly Hill Party)
4) All Eyez on me - If you are going to throw the token rap album in there, at least let it be the best one of the decade.

They've all been mentioned already but Dookie, Nevermind, OK Computer, and Weezer (blue album) for me.

Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine
Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole
U2 - Achtung Baby

Haven't offered mine up yet...

Sublime-Sublime
Metallica-Metallica (Black Album)
Tragic Kingdom--No Doubt
Weezer--Weezer (Blue Album)

Really tough to get this down to four, especially after the first two.

And the Beastie Boys make either claim irrelevant.

1. Metallica - Metallica (The Black Album)
2. Garth Brooks - No Fences
3. Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory
4. Kid Rock - Devil Without a Cause

(now that's a token rap album)