Spiderland
Slint
1991
Over the years, Spiderland’s legacy has been co-opted into the founding mythology of all kinds of ridiculous genres, with massively unwieldy names like “post-rock” and “math-core.” While it’s true that Spiderland’s edgy, jagged dynamics have proven very influential, the album is more than just a Rosetta stone for every type of “difficult” music that came after it. It’s a genuinely compelling listen, rocketing wildly from highs to the lowest of lows, all with a spectacular grasp on how to balance the album’s disparate elements to create something compelling.
#39
Superunknown
Soundgarden
1994
After a solid decade of playing loud, thrashing music around the Pacific Northwest, Soundgarden capitalized on grunge’s wave of popularity with Superunknown. Polishing just enough grit off and throwing in a handful of moving ballads, this was the album that finally revealed the Seattle’s scene’s huge debt to Led Zeppelin and the rest of those monolithic bands of yore. Without falling into any dangerous, bluesy indulgences or pitfalls, Superunknown was one of the key players in making alternative music ready for mainstream consumption.
#38
The Lonesome Crowded West
Modest Mouse
1997
There’s no way around it: the success of Modest Mouse’s “Float On” in 2004 was surprisingly. Much of this stemmed from the fact that the Pacific Northwest band had spent much of the previous ten years playing incredibly rough, slicing indie rock, so utterly at odds with the dreamy melodies of “Float On”. The Lonesome Crowded West is the best example of this other side of Modest Mouse, full of sharp guitar licks and Isaac Brock’s strangled, desperate yelping. Even the dirge-paced “Cowboy Dan” has teeth, just waiting to sink them ever so slowly into the unsuspecting victims the band’s inexplicable pop success has reeled in.
#37
Different Class
Pulp
1995
Pulp were another band that languished in obscurity for years and years until they suddenly shot mainstream awareness, at least in their native England. Ninety-percent of that success can be traced back to Different Class and its world-burning single “Common People”, a song so anthemic that even William Shatner had to cover it. However, the rest of the album is just as poisonous and impressive, with Jarvis Cocker working his lyrical magic throughout these twelve songs. Blending sexual desperation with disturbingly accurate social perceptions, the ensuing mess of sarcastic, warped party music took this misanthropic band to a place they never expected: the top of the charts.
#36
Automatic For The People
R.E.M.
1992
Automatic For The People couldn’t have shown up at a better time in R.E.M.’s career. While the mandolin-driven seriousness of “Losing My Religion” and the rest of their late 80s output had made them one of the most famous bands in the world, there was no way around the fact that they were starting to…well…suck. Along came Automatic and with that one album, faith was restored to the long-time fans. While still polished and accessible (as the its six singles can attest to), this album found the band diving into very dark waters, from crushed opening track “Drive” to the aching beauty of “Nightswimming”. Despite being essentially a huge downer from beginning to end, it was an album that restored R.E.M. to their rightful place atop the sprawling alt-rock heap.
#35
69 Love Songs
The Magnetic Fields
1999
One of the most dementedly ambitious albums of all time, 69 Love Songs delivers exactly what its title promises: sixty-nine songs, spread across three separate CDs, all dealing with the complexities and facets of love. Shockingly, this gargantuan collection of music yields few duds, as bandleader Stephin Merritt establishes himself as one the most underappreciated songwriters running around today. While some songs are little more that sketches of ideas held together by a melody, Merritt’s wit, wordplay and sheer dedication to his concept give this impossibly sized album a real, cohesive sense of unity. With this much material, listening to the whole thing from end to end is virtually out of the question. All you can do is listen to a few songs here or there and see which ones appeal to you the most.
#34
Dirt
Alice In Chains
1992
Few albums wear as much emotion on their sleeves as Dirt, Alice In Chains’ gripping testament to drug addiction. Without ever sliding into emo-ish indulgence, the band churn through thirteen terrifying songs, led by Layne Staley’s tormented, howling voice. Even through this onslaught of misery, however, the band found a way to imbue this songs with just a bit of pop songwriting magic, seen on the triumphant “Down In The Hole” and guitarist Jerry Cantrell’s moving tribute to his Vietnam vet father, “Rooster”. Therein lies the power of Dirt: it takes a very personal struggle (Staley’s heroin dependency) and expands it to represent every personal struggle a person could have. This is music for anyone who feels beaten by life.
#33
Murder Ballads
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
1996
Murder Ballads is the album Nick Cave should have made from Day One. There simply is no other genre so well-suited to his ragged, bloody, yet occasionally romantic voice. Yet, he didn’t make the album until 1996, right when the Bad Seeds were starting to get recognized, which makes this hilariously over-the-top album all the more delicious. Just what exactly were Nick’s new fans supposed to do with “Stagger Lee”, a ridiculously gratuitous take on a classic ballad? There’s even a duet with Kylie Minogue, just to keep everyone on their toes for the rest of time. Yet, through all these antics, Murder Ballads emerges as Nick’s most mature album up that point, representing a clear turning point for his career.
#32
The Soft Bulletin
The Flaming Lips
1999
After years and years (and years) of psychedelic mindfuckery (their previous album was supposed to be played on four different players simultaneously), the Flaming Lips emerged with an honest-to-god pop album, full of bright melodies, verses, choruses and all those other fancy things people expect from traditional music. Now, of course, “pop” in this context includes the queasy keyboards on “Race For The Prize” and a surreal horror show about a spiderbite, but progress is progress. Amazingly, this would turn out to be the model for the Flaming Lips’ albums for the next decade, but The Soft Bulletin is still one of those amazing albums that find a band doing something totally new for the first time and knocking it completely out of the park.
#31
Vauxhall And I
Morrissey
1994
With the Smiths almost completely out of sight in his metaphorical rear view mirror, Morrissey unleashed Vauxhall And I in 1994, an album which might as well be his mission statement to the world. “The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get” is one of the most iconic, most purely Morrissey-ish songs the Mozfather has ever recorded, while he explores some fascinating strains of English music through the detached “Spring-Heeled Jim” and “The Lazy Sunbathers”. Of course, he’s got to go and top the whole thing off with “Speedway”, fueled by so bile and rebellion that nothing can follow it. How can you compete with the lyrical chainsaw Moz is wielding against everyone who ever doubted him?
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