Best Albums Of The 1990s, Pt. 1

October is finally here and that means that the last section of my four-part countdown of my favorite albums is beginning today! We’ve reached the glorious 90s, meaning that, for the first time in this countdown, all the following albums were released while I was actually alive. Exciting stuff. Our journey through this glorious decade will remind us of a time when “alternative rock” still could sort of be defined. A time when rap was just emerging as the chart-dominating force it is today. A time when Weezer didn’t suck. Those sure were some good years.

As always, we have the requisite disclaimer:
This list is just a matter of my own opinion. This list is less about saying one album is “better” and another and more about just presenting music that I’ve enjoyed over the years. If you disagree with anything on here, feel free to comment and say so. Polite disagreement is always appreciated, however.

Also, check out the other parts of this countdown:

Best Albums Of The 1960s: Pt. 1, Pt. 2, Pt. 3, Pt. 4, Pt. 5
Best Albums Of The 1970s: Pt. 1, Pt. 2, Pt. 3, Pt. 4, Pt. 5
Best Albums Of The 1980s: Pt. 1, Pt. 2, Pt. 3, Pt. 4, Pt. 5

Kicking off the list, we have someone who I argue had the biggest effect on music within the past ten years. However, before the chart-topping and MTV Award antics took over, we had…

#50
The Slim Shady LP
Eminem
1999

The legend begins. With crucial tracks like “My Name Is”, “Guilty Concience” and the still-frightening “97’ Bonnie & Clyde”, The Slim Shady LP immediately threw Eminem’s mission statement in America’s face. Em presented his Slim Shady persona as a kind of cartoon Antichrist, saying deplorable things and then playing the whole thing off as a joke, with a wink and a funny voice. We wouldn’t meet the man behind the mask until the next album, but already, the ferocious mix of provocation, humor, anger and skill that would make Eminem famous was in full effect.

#49
Ocean Songs
Dirty Three
1998

They say violins are the instruments that most closely imitate the human voice, but all across Ocean Songs, a gorgeous album from Australian instrumental trio Dirty Three, Warren Ellis’ violin expresses sadness and painful yearning that no voice could ever hope to capture. It’s an album that avoids all the usual pitfalls of instrumental rock by featuring a lead instrument so expressive and full of emotion that you never really notice that there’s no one actually singing. Both soothing and incredibly tragic, Ocean Songs is a stunning achievement.

#48
Pod
The Breeders
1990

Recorded while she was still with Pixies, Kim Deal formed the Breeders in response to Black Francis’ creative stranglehold in her more famous band. Pod makes Francis look like quite an idiot for not including more of Deal’s songs on Pixies albums of the same era. With a dry, crisp atmosphere provided by uber-producer Steve Albini, the album coasts along with skeletal renditions of songs that hint and nibble at pop stardom, but never quite get there. Add in a barbed cover of “Happiness Is A Warm Gun” and you’ve got an album brimming with subdued anger, just bubbling under the surface and waiting to boil over.

#47
Ten
Pearl Jam
1991

Sure, they had more in common with Neil Young and the Grateful Dead than the punk and metal bands that inspired the rest of the Seattle grunge scene. Sure, they’ve gone on to become a graying behemoth of a band, struggling to maintain the relevancy they enjoyed an era ago. It’s undeniable, though, that when Pearl Jam first arrived on the scene with Ten, they rocked. Hard. Emerging out of nowhere with fully realized songs like “Alive” and “Even Flow”, Pearl Jam were ready to tear stadiums down from the word “go.”

#46
Aquemini
Outkast
1998

Atlanta’s Outkast have never sounded like any other rappers. The winning combination of Andre 3000 and Big Boi complement each other so well that virtually no other rap group (Wu-Tang excepted) can compete with their level of chemistry. Aquemini was the first album that really revealed the extent of the duo’s ambition, however. With the groovy stomp of “Rosa Parks” leading the charge, Aquemini is a fascinatingly experimental record, representing a alternative universe of rap where the thuggish “Return Of The ‘G’” can sit next to the truly bizarre “Synthesizer” without any ill effects.

#45
Strap It On
Helmet
1990

Taking the lessons taught by both metal and hardcore punk bands throughout the 80s as a starting point, Helmet distilled all that aggression, noise and fury into one amazingly lean, efficient hard rock juggernaut. With Page Hamilton’s incoherent barking the closest thing you’ll get to vocals, the overall effect is still pretty jaw-dropping, even after years of death metal have made us listeners a bit desensitized. What separates Helmet from the rest of the slavering metal pack is the simplicity of their unadorned riffs and the surprising grooves hidden away in all the yelling and shredding.

#44
The Low End Theory
A Tribe Called Quest
1991

Never as cutting or politically vicious as contemporaries like Public Enemy or N.W.A., A Tribe Called Quest succeeded on the backs of their sensuous, slinking loops of jazz drums and even, steady bass. With three equally deft voices wrapping smart, inventive lyrics around those smooth sounds, The Low End Theory shows a path rap didn’t take. In the end, the more direct, anger-driven material would win over the charts, but Tribe’s artistic triumphs are still impressive years later.

#43
Liar
The Jesus Lizard
1992

I’ve written a lot of praise for the Jesus Lizard in the last few months, mostly due to the fact that I was privileged enough to see this peerless band in person on their reunion tour. However, with albums as strong and viscerally pleasing as Liar, I still feel the need to throw more accolades in their direction. Few bands can be simultaneously terrifying and full of shit at the same time and virtually none of those few can still be as cool as the Jesus Lizard (GWAR, I’m looking at you). Razor-edged and dirty, Liar is an addictively brutal album, keeping you coming back for more even after you know it’s not all that good for you.

#42
Odelay
Beck
1996

Proving that the laidback shenanigans of “Loser” weren’t going to be a one-time pleasure, Odelay expanded upon everything Beck’s early music promised. Working with the Dust Brothers, who produced the Beastie Boys’ legendary Paul’s Boutique, Odelay has a similar, “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it” ménage of samples, flying every which way and dragging in as many genres as they can in the process. Beck, for his part, delivers a set of songs that lift him out of the detached persona he’d been saddled with by the media, casting him once and for all in the light of a quirky, unpredictable artist.

#41
Blue Lines
Massive Attack
1991

Thank god that three mismatched DJs in Bristol, England, got a hold of hip-hop music. Without them, Blue Lines would never have happened and the world would be denied the sweeping, cinematic pleasures of trip-hop. With unstoppable singles like the smoky “Daydreaming” and utterly peerless “Unfinished Sympathy”, Blue Lines shone a light onto a new path, quickly picked up by peers Portishead and Tricky (who is featured throughout this album). Both those artists (and others) would continue the genre’s evolution, but Blue Lines deserves a lot of credit for putting the whole thing in motion.