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The best band in the 1990s


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Were Nirvana really all that big of a deal before Cobain died? I'm not denying that they were, it's just that I didn't hear of them until after the fact. I'm sincerely curious about this. Granted, I was in junior high and listening almost exclusively to rap/hippity-hop in the early nineties so there were a lot of musical things going on that I didn't notice. It may just be that I wasn't hanging out with "Nirvana fan type people" until after 1994.

 

Yup. They were critical darlings from the time Nevermind came out, if memory serves. And they got a shitload of airplay on radio and MTV, to a point of saturation. There was also a lot of competitiveness between the Seattle bands and their fans, especially Pearl Jam and Nirvana. Not much doubt PJ were always superior musicians, but Nirvana had such undeniable passion, the list of critics who lauded Cobain as having "saved rock 'n' roll" must be endless. And yes that started before his death.

 

My favourite bands/artists from the 1990's would probably be: Wilco, Uncle Tupelo, Rage Against The Machine, Nas, Fugees, Radiohead, Pearl Jam, Beck, Breeders, Garbage, Tracy Chapman, Lucinda Williams.

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So let me get this right ... their best stuff was from before they recorded their debut album?

 

The debut album came out in 1989. Late 1989, but 1989, nontheless.

 

And, still...

LOS LOBOS!

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As long as people are naming artists and not just bands, I offer up Beck. Mellow Gold, Odelay, Mutations, Midnight Vultures are all great, plus One Foot In The Grave is damn fine too (never have heard Stereopathetic Soulmanure).

Personally, the '90s will always be defined by the Beasties. Check Your Head & Ill Communication, and to a lesser extent Hello Nasty (and Paul's Boutique was released five months before the '90s began, plus it got no love before the '90s anyway).

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I saw the Breeders play this summer and was a bit bummed i didn't get to hear 'hellbound' or 'metal man.'

 

Bummer. Hopefully they at least played Limehouse.

 

I saw the Breeders a bunch of times during the Jim McPherson/Josephine Wiggs era. The best time was when they opened for Nirvana and, to my mind, wiped the stage with them. The were so powerful that night. That was the only time I saw them play Happiness is a Warm Gun.

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Super Furry Animals

 

Definitely.

 

Maybe Stereolab, too?

 

Oh, and...

LOS LOBOS!!!

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The debut album came out in 1989. Late 1989, but 1989, nontheless.

Interesting, considering that everything I've read says it was recorded in January 1990.

 

Unless you're counting their self-released cassette as their "debut album."

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As long as people are naming artists and not just bands, I offer up Beck. Mellow Gold, Odelay, Mutations, Midnight Vultures are all great, plus One Foot In The Grave is damn fine too (never have heard Stereopathetic Soulmanure).

Personally, the '90s will always be defined by the Beasties. Check Your Head & Ill Communication, and to a lesser extent Hello Nasty (and Paul's Boutique was released five months before the '90s began, plus it got no love before the '90s anyway).

 

 

Good call! Got One Foot paying right now on my ipod! :cheers

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The Chemical Brothers are worth mentioning for their one-two punch of Exit Planet Dust (the blindsider) and Dig Your Own Hole (the knockout).

(Okay, so 'electronic' music didn't turn out to be the next big thing that the drooling media was predicting in '97, but the movement gave us some damn good music.)

 

And: Nine Inch Nails

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Interesting, considering that everything I've read says it was recorded in January 1990.

 

That's kinda funny since I'm almost certain picked it up at Streetside Records in Columbia, MO in Dec., 1989. Of course, I was in college, so time was a pretty malleable thing at that time.

 

Oh, and, did I mention...

LOS LOBOS!!!

?

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I know this is straying but I can quickly throw out some unbelievable albums that changed my life (during my formative years in the 1990's)

 

in no order except for #1

 

1. Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne (my favorite record ever)

2. Black Crowes - Southern Harmony

3. Son Volt - Trace

4. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

5. Dinosaur Jr. - Where You Been

6. Wilco - Being There

7. Wilco - SummerTeeth

8. Flaming Lips - Soft Bulletin

9. Radiohead - The Bends (I will always prefer this over OK Computer)

10. Hayden - Everything I Long For

11. Whiskeytown - Strangers Almanac

12. Scud Mountain Boys - Massachusetts

13. Hum - You'd Prefer an Astronaut

 

I know I missing a ton but these were the foundation for me

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That's kinda funny since I'm almost certain picked it up at Streetside Records in Columbia, MO in Dec., 1989. Of course, I was in college, so time was a pretty malleable thing at that time.

The album was released in June 1990, if you believe Wikipedia. I graduated from college in 1990 and I swear someone gave me a cassette of that album before I graduated, but it might have been that fall when I went back to visit. Considering who gave it to me, though, it's possible that I had a cassette of the album before it was released (it came from an über-fan who went to school in St. Louis and had been following those guys for quite a while).

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What about Los Lobos?. I haven't looked through this thread but I seem to recall that they were pretty good in the nineties!!!!

 

You know... I think that you and I are on the same wavelength.

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I know this is straying but I can quickly throw out some unbelievable albums that changed my life (during my formative years in the 1990's)

 

in no order except for #1

 

1. Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne (my favorite record ever)

2. Black Crowes - Southern Harmony

3. Son Volt - Trace

4. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

5. Dinosaur Jr. - Where You Been

6. Wilco - Being There

7. Wilco - SummerTeeth

8. Flaming Lips - Soft Bulletin

9. Radiohead - The Bends (I will always prefer this over OK Computer)

10. Hayden - Everything I Long For

11. Whiskeytown - Strangers Almanac

12. Scud Mountain Boys - Massachusetts

13. Hum - You'd Prefer an Astronaut

 

I know I missing a ton but these were the foundation for me

Impecable taste you have. That list would mirror mine in many ways (Never heard of 'Hum' though). It gets overlooked these days but 'Southern Harmony And Musical Companium' is a bonafide classic album and should be in everyone's record collection. 'My Morning Song', 'Hotel illness' 'Remedy' its all good!!

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For me, it's some combination of:

 

Beck

Uncle Tupelo

Wilco

Radiohead

Pearl Jam

Pavement

My Bloody Valentine (one album does count, in my book)

Counting Crows

U2 (I think their 90s stuff is their strongest)

 

I would have to say that Beck is probably the most important 90s artist for me. Before I discovered him, I was lost in an abyss of slick country-pop. Beck pretty much opened the door to musical discovery for me.

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Impecable taste you have. That list would mirror mine in many ways (Never heard of 'Hum' though). It gets overlooked these days but 'Southern Harmony And Musical Companium' is a bonafide classic album and should be in everyone's record collection. 'My Morning Song', 'Hotel illness' 'Remedy' its all good!!

 

Southern Harmony is truly amazing, largely recorded live in the studio with few overdubs. Just an unbelievable raw album.

 

Hum was a band from Champagne IL. Think a much more indie sounding pumpkins. They were not great by any means, but their debut album is a very worthwhile listen in a 90's alternative way. They had a single called "Stars" that you probably heard, it got frequent airplay for awhile.

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Guest Runaway Jim

For me, this question is interesting because my favorite bands from the 90s, I didn't listen to in the 90s. So I'll say this...

 

Favorite 90s bands now: Phish, UT, Wilco, String Cheese, Radiohead.

Favorite 90s bands during the 90s: The Pumpkins, Weezer, Superdrag, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Chili Peppers, Sublime.

 

It really doesn't get any better than Phish though. I believe RS named them the best band of the 90s. Or maybe it was "most influential".

 

(Never heard of 'Hum' though)

 

Check them out. You'd Prefer An Astronaut is rad. You've probably heard Stars if you've seen a Cadillac commercial in the last few years...

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BUT...

did I miss it, or has anybody yet to mention

LOS LOBOS?

  • The Neighborhood
  • Kiko
  • Colossal Head
  • This Time

 

And, that's not even to mention The Latin Playboys material.

I didn't name them only because I think they're bigger than the 90s! Besides that, of the 4 albums they did in the 90s, I'd only put Kiko in their top 5 of all time. (The others being How Will The Wolf Survive, By the Light of the Moon, La Pistola Y El Corazon, (which were all released in the 80s) and The Town & The City (their most recent album)).

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Bummer. Hopefully they at least played Limehouse.

 

I saw the Breeders a bunch of times during the Jim McPherson/Josephine Wiggs era. The best time was when they opened for Nirvana and, to my mind, wiped the stage with them. The were so powerful that night. That was the only time I saw them play Happiness is a Warm Gun.

 

 

Jimmy Mac was a great drummer. i saw him play w/ GBV a couple of times.

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And I completely agree with

Teenage Fanclub

 

Bandwagonesque

Thirteen

Grand Prix

Songs From Northern Britain

 

Not too shabby.

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