2:40 93' Til Infinity... That album has way more depth and a better best song than Tribe. PERIOD. So many people are lost on what the actual best hip-hop in the 90's was. SOM/HIEROGLYPHICS are the goat rap collective - yes better than Wu-Tang/Tribe/NWA, etc.. Hieroglyphics - 3rd Eye Vision... is the best rap album of the 90's. I dare anyone to listen to both 93' til Infinity and 3rd Eye Vision and say with a straight face that any rap group ever can match that.
@@Habeev07Organized Konfusion - Stress: the Extinction Agenda and The Roots - Things Fall Apart are most definitely better 90’s albums than the two you mentioned.
@@Habeev07I love me some Del, but he isn’t even close to being in the same league as JUGGERNAUTS like Black Though and Pharaohe Monch! Not to mention the superior production both albums have….
@@davidyounan5774 don’t care, it’s one of the most unique, groundbreaking, finely crafted, creative, influential and painstakingly made albums in all of recorded music
Loveless is the only album I can say it made me fall asleep but in a good way. Somehow the noise ends up being so relaxing and calming that I couldn’t help but feel relaxed listening to it.
2:40 93' Til Infinity... That album has way more depth and a better best song than Tribe. PERIOD. So many people are lost on what the actual best hip-hop in the 90's was. SOM/HIEROGLYPHICS are the goat rap collective - yes better than Wu-Tang/Tribe/NWA, etc.. Hieroglyphics - 3rd Eye Vision... is the best rap album of the 90's. I dare anyone to listen to both 93' til Infinity and 3rd Eye Vision and say with a straight face that any rap group ever can match that.
@@aarongarcia4381 Prime MJ, Duran Duran, Queen, Elton John, Prince, Bowie, The Police, Madonna, Eurythmics, U2, REM, Kate Bush, Wham/George Michael, Tears For Fears, Fleetwood Mac, Whitney? Cmon now
@@YesNo-yl6ws no it wasn’t. You didn’t have such a diverse group of music. Look at the rock, rap, R&B, and pop that came out during the 90’s. Everyone you mentioned were great but it’s all rock and rock pop.
As a top ten of the entire decade? There are already two Nirvana albums and two radiohead albums better to start with, let alone everyone else. There is no way it is top ten.
Idk, I don’t find that hard at all. Most overrated albums of the 90s maybe, but when Johnny Cash can take the best song on the record and make it better, it is hard for me to see it as a top 10 album.
@@chloemchll3774 I'm going to apologize for my english first since i'm italian. Johnny Cash didn't make it any better for me, but it's just my opinion. I don't think there is much i can say about that record that it doesn't say on it's own, but i will try. The writing is immense, Hurt is not the best song in TDS, it is close, but there isn't a single weak minute on that record. It spans in a wide range of emotions like a few other records have ever been able to do. It tells a story like no other record has ever been able to do (still, it's my humble opinion). There are other records from the 90s that i love, like Geek the Girl by Lisa Germano (another masterpiece imo), Nick Cave's Good Son, Morphine's Good and Soul Coughing's Ruby Vroom. But there's something special in The Downward Spiral, it reaches a place somewhere deep inside of me. And the way Trent Reznor arranged it, the percussion sounds he chose (some of the best in the whole history of industrial rock), the layered keyboards too, the way he put together some intense and powerful lyrics and delivered them perfectly by changing his way of singing multiple times throughout the record. This is, for me, one of the 40/50 best records in the history of rock music. Of course i respect your opinion, and i love that you were respectful too, it is not something to be taken from granted nowadays. I'm curious to hear your top 10!
@@ClaudioDiBiase16 I actually shared my top ten in a post on this video a couple days ago, and in rereading it today I want to edit it because I feel I left somethings off I’d like to include (assuming I can figure out what to cut). To be clear- I didn’t mean to sound quite as insulting as I probably came across toward The Downward Spiral; it is a terrific album. I happen to think Hurt is the best song on it, but there are a few others I can get why other people would put above it. Rather, and I should have made this much clearer, is that I think the 1990s was such a ripe decade when it comes to great albums. So my comment was really more just that no matter which great album from then you’re talking about, it being overlooked in preference of other great albums is always possible. It’s all subjective. My favorite album of the decade is OK Computer from Radiohead, and yours sounds like Downward Spiral, and those are both reasonable choices, among probably about 20-25 others.
@@ClaudioDiBiase16 as for Johnny Cash… what amazes me is that the entire meaning of the song changes, and to me, Cash’s version hits in a more universal way. As NIN did it, Hurt is about being so lost in your depression (the downward spiral) that hurting yourself just to feel anything else seems like a reasonable idea. As Cash did it, it is about an inability to deal with overwhelming grief/regret, and could really only come from an artist like Cash, looking back on his life as it is nearing its end. Both are great; I prefer Cash cause I feel it is more universal because while not everyone deals with the sort of depression Trent sings about, pretty much everyone does have to deal with a close loved one dying and not knowing how to process the grief after.
@@ClaudioDiBiase16 lastly, while I appreciate your letting me know about not being a native English speaker, I want you to know that you wrote English very effectively. I understood what you are trying to say and honestly, if you hadn’t given me that insight in advance I would not have guessed it from reading your response.
There’s so much stupid it in this comment it hurts, none of the wutang members are trying to look stereotypically Asian tho. Last time I checked traditional Chinese or Japanese Nina’s don’t wear hoodies and blank white masks. It’s not like they decided to wear yellow masks with slanted eyes or something or worse something really racist on their hoodies. Hell last time I checked ninjas aren’t just specific to Asian culture, snake eyes from gi joe, raven from tekken etc… it literally just sounds like your bitching because you’re a bjork fan and trying to imply he’s misogynistic or something.
Honestly, I would put Homogenic in the S tier. I know Fantano prefers Vespertine more (another fantastic record), but something about it makes me come back to that record more. Plus, the All is Full of Love closer is beautiful.
homogenic feels more epic, but vespertine has a unique feel i dont really know how to describe. vespertine feels a bit more ahead of its time, but not better. and of course homogenic is also ahead of its time. idk.
I think they’re both great for somewhat different reasons, but both S. Also I see what he’s saying with the racial cosplay but I’ve always loved the album cover
The entire premise that Live Through This was overlooked or critically panned at the time is complete bullshit. The album was ranked #1 for the year 1994 on the Pazz & Jop poll, which was the most widely accepted and credible critics list at the time.
The 90’s had a lot of garbage. A lot. We’re far enough from it now to recognize classics, and what stood the test of time. And we can recognize and appreciate the gems separated from the absolute cesspool of sewage that was also produced in the 90’s.
The 00's, the 80's, the 70's, the 60's, the 50's also had alot of all-time classics. I love when people make bold and vague claims like this. It is so brave and they should just win a Noble price for saying stuff like this.
@@Chris.4345You may be right, but I'm pretty familiar with many 90s songs, hits and not, from many genres, and I gotta say it IS my favorite decade for music. Possibly for entertainment in general. It's not nostalgia since I'm 29, I'm a 2000s kid if anything, and when I was 10 I discovered Nirvana and it was over for me. I dropped all my modern music and kept discovering and falling in love with the 90s bands. And even now, after going through many music phases, from country as a kid to rock and metal in my preteen-teen years to rap to nowadays where I'm more an underground country/folk fan than anything, I still get NO dopamine rush from anything like I do 90s entertainment in general. Maybe it just hits for me, or maybe since I wasn't actually really "there" for it I've been able to only catch the parts that stood the test of time. But we have access to every decade's entertainment and I gotta say, nothing comes close to the 90s for me. 60s is second. DON'T YOU WANT SOMEBODY TO LOVE
Nevermind: S Low End Theory: S Live Through This: A Velvet Rope: S Homogenic: A 36 Chambers: S Exile In Guyville: B Ok Computer: S Lauryn Hill: S Loveless: S
I miss the 1990s where you could have legitimately mainstream and popular artists ALSO make the best albums of the decade. It was also like that with movies, not every great movie was popular but you could actually go to the theater to see popular movies that could also be nominated for best picture Oscars. Now it feels so disconnected, 10/10 albums barely sell at all and "quality cinema" and blockbusters in no way in hell ever meet anymore.
That's why many people claim that good music is not made anymore. Yeah, saying something as "music was so good back then now it sucks" is such an ignorant ok Boomer le born in the wrong generation esque claim. But there's genuinely some truth behind it. back then you didn't have to "look out" for good music, it was relatively easy to find. Nowadays most mainstream music sucks and all the amazing groundbreaking mind-blowing albums are not even close to that level of popularity. It's indeed a rarity when a mainstream artist releases a "decade" worth album, that's not an oldhead thing to say, that's just true
@@nibyafternight1983100%, I’d add that at least in the case of movies, the landscape shifted to where prestige TV now fills the role of the 1999 mid budget art house adjacent film, so it’s not like all mainstream visual pop culture is superhero sequel trash, but the big screen itself is mostly dead (A24-core exists obvi but to way less broad public appeal). Idk how to draw this parallel with music, maybe niche indie intersecting with social media as a more accessible zine culture, or hyperpop, RUclips as MTV, etc etc
The best shoegaze album of all time in his mind is only A tier. God damn, fantano edit: as some one pointed out he might have put it in A tier because S tier was full. So I should add that here
As a kid born in 1990 it is hard to imagine a top ten list that doesn't include Rage Against The Machine (self titled) and Weezer (blue). I would also add Outkast Aquemini pretty easily to my top 10 list.
Both great albums but top 10 albums of the 90s is a really difficult list to break into. Rage's debut is one of my personal favorites of all time and I love the Blue Album but I'd put Pearl Jam's Ten, Soundgarden's Superunknown, and Alice in Chains Dirt above both of them in terms of my assessment of which are the best.
2:40 93' Til Infinity... That album has way more depth and a better best song than Tribe. PERIOD. So many people are lost on what the actual best hip-hop in the 90's was. SOM/HIEROGLYPHICS are the goat rap collective - yes better than Wu-Tang/Tribe/NWA, etc.. Hieroglyphics - 3rd Eye Vision... is the best rap album of the 90's. I dare anyone to listen to both 93' til Infinity and 3rd Eye Vision and say with a straight face that any rap group ever can match that.
I adore Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville, cool to see anyone talk about it, even if it's not your thing. Pitchfork using it as sort of a political move makes it look less like it's worth checking out, which is a shame, I think more people should give it a shake. It's not the best thing to come out of the 90s or w/e but I think it's very nice, chill, passionate indie rock from a woman who felt she wouldn't make a name for herself with this project and chose to do it anyway.
I would actually say it’s a super deserving spot. It’s easily my second favorite album of that decade, and Liz Phair’s economic songwriting is some of the best in indie rock.
It's interesting how - back before the internet was something everyone had - there were occasionally these local albums that dropped and were as big in your country (and therefore in your memory) as the more ubiquitous US charting examples in this video. Back in the 90s, right next to my copy of Ok Computer on the shelf, I had Australian band Spiderbait's 'Ivy and the Big Apples'. Absolute banger of an album that never really did numbers anywhere else. It'd be nice to find more of these from around the world.
2:40 BRO - 93' Til Infinity... That album has way more depth and a better best song than Tribe. PERIOD. So many people are lost. SOM/HIERO are the goat rap collective - yes better than Wu-Tang/Tribe/NWA, etc.. Hieroglyphics - 3rd Eye Vision... is the best rap album of the 90's. I dare anyone to listen to both 93' til Infinity and 3rd Eye Vision and say with a straight face that any rap group ever can match that.
@@nimrodery Nah, With Teeth is truly their worst album, though Year Zero with its cheesy lyrics and theme isn't great either lol. The Fragile is incredible (I do think a few songs could've been removed from the track list).
@@nimrodery this is one of the worst muiscal takes i've ever seen in my life lol the fragile is a masterpiece. everything after the fragile remix album falls off hard.
Homogenic is a CLASSIC. It's definitely S tier. I know you prefer vespertine (björk's best record obviously), but without homogenic there would be no vespertine. Homogenic was a changer for music; it's still, to this day, one of the most influential albums EVER regarding genre (just see how sza, frank ocean, charli xcx, FKA TWIGS, radiohead are all influenced by björk despite being very different). Homogenic not only deserved S, but also deserved a top 3 position on the list
I honestly prefer homogenic, but think vespertine is great as well. Joga, bachelorette, all neon like, unravel, make homogenic better imo. I don't really get pagan poetry, but love most of the album. Undo, aurora, and the one with the music video about the skeleton puppies are my faves. Solid for sure. I'd say both 10's.
Can't believe we now live in a time where you can't even show the cover of "Nevermind" without algorithms banning you. Fucking hell, soon we won't even be able to show images of nudity in classical art without getting censored or banned. This is what we get for relying on algorithms trying to do everything for us...
I wouldn’t worry about it so much. Its slipping out of the Top 10. 10 years from now it will be forgotten about completely and replaced by Celebrity Skin
there's something unique about that Homogenic's artwork. Hard to put into words but I remember as a kid my parents had it on cd and among all of the cds they had, this one had the most memorable artwork by far! I also remember thinking the music matched the artwork perfectly, it was weird, epic, larger than life... I wasn't too much into music at that time but that artwork really struck me
For me that album was purple by stone temple pilots. Could never figure out what the deal was with that baby on the dragon. I guess you could also count Tiny Music by stp as well, that one is weird af
Whilst I get the squeamishness about the cover art on Homogenic, when you look at Bjork's own features (e.g. her own eye shape) and consider what we she was doing in terms of bringing together so many styles and creating something futuristic, I think it's a stretch to claim it's overtly racist.
@@insome776 apparently it was styled by Alexander McQueen so there's also a high fashion context to consider... and unfortunately high fashion has regularly co-opted different cultures and groups since it began... I can see both sides on it, especially in our polarised times
Lush is so underrated, any of their 90s albums need to be on this list. Also give me Lisa Germano and Gang Starr, and maybe some Pavement. Last Splash by The Breeders also blows half of these away.
In no particular order the alternative 10 Siamese dream, Smashing Pumpkins Music for the jilted generation, the Prodigy The holy bible, Manic street preachers Grace, Jeff buckley Automatic for the people, REM Nia, Blackalicious Screamadelica, Primal scream Leftfism, Leftfield Last splash, the Breeders She hangs brightly, Mazzy star
“Live Through This” was NOT ignored critically when it came out. It was very highly praised. It was named AOTY by a lot of big sources (Spin, Pazz and Jop, Rolling Stone, amongst others).
I think The Smashing Pumpkins’ Mellon Collie… or Siamese Dream should be on this list. Also, Weezer (Blue), Green Day (Dookie), and TLC (Crazy, Sexy, Cool) are all really good albums and were quite influential.
Weezer's Blue Album definitely deserves a spot. There's no such thing as 'perfect art' obviously, but the Blue Album is flawless to me. I was really into all of their stuff as a kid and lost interest over time, but that one keeps me coming back. Their sound couldn't have been executed better!
Definitely. Blue Album and Mellon Collie / Siamese always come to mind when discusing the best of the 90s. I'd also add Oasis' Definitely Maybe, NIN's the downward spiral, Failure's Fantastic Planet and Alice in Chains' Dirt.
@@jyjjy7 I have no idea who that is, but while I was looking them up to see if they had any familiar songs, I found out they played a bar down the street from my house last year. I didn't hear any buzz about it, maybe if they had an album as good as Weezer's Blue Album...
Always stoked to see Liz Phair get a feature in any 'greatest 90s' discourse. I adore her music and have been obsessed since I was just 13 and I thought for ages she just seemed to be forgotten or overlooked over time. Nobody around me really seemed to know her or be familiar with her music, I thought I was discovering some untapped goldmine back when I was an angsty teenager with raging hormones. Her humour and dry wit always just spoke to me, but she also had some stunning, sparkling tunes like 'Nashville' and 'Shane' from my favourite of all her albums 'Whip-Smart', which I think is miles ahead of 'Exile in Guyville' in terms of her strengths musically. And also I have to say, for anyone who is a Liz Phair skeptic, but loves lo-fi bedroom indie stuff, then I would recommend listening to her three demo records under the name 'Girly-sound'. It's a fantastic foundation for her studio records and honestly I prefer them over any of her more heavily produced music. There is bound to be a Liz Phair track that speaks to you.
This!!! I was born in ‘98 and first heard her in 2003. I will genuinely never forget it, it was one of my first music experiences. Liz Phair is the reason my parents got me a CD player!
Hello Anthony, Just wanted to clarify a typo/error in the video, you did not place Homogenic in S tier, you can reupload and update us when you have corrected the mistake. Thanks
mostly egregious just for how transparently lazy it is as a ‘controversial’ decision. it doesnt even feel like it was put there to make a point just to combine things that would generate discourse.
@@curly_wyn Ridiculous take. Soft Bulletin is a beautifully composed album and one of the Lips' best. Also, the Spiderbite Song isn't even on the European release.
@@Benjlmao1996 90% of his career is being criticized for his opinion on albums, not just by the public but by A list artists themselves. You're thinking of yourself mate.
@@Benjlmao1996 Like you couldn't criticise a tier list like this as well. Here, I'll show you: Putting Velvet Rope in S and Homogenic in A is insane. Here, I did it.
Definitely needed a Pumpkins and Pavement inclusion in that list for me. And with my UK slant, blur and Oasis would get a shout in terms of cultural importance for the 90s.
@@lechon7980they’re my favorite band besides the Beatles and it’s madness that Americans write them off bc they don’t understand British working class culture. Oasis had some really interesting references from the acid house scene, 80s indie and alt and punk with Beatles melodic sensibility.
You can hate Courtney for being a terrible person, but pretending she killed Kurt Cobain is a level of delusion that makes me totally write off the sanity of anyone who genuinely believes that.
They just love to blame the “girlfriends” for everything 🙄 like how yoko ono “broke up” the Beatles. I don’t think one person can have that much power.
@@jadeblackwell6227don’t get me wrong I hate Courtney and Yoko, I just hate them for things they ACTUALLY did, not based on monkey brained conspiracy theories.
Idk if SHE killed him but if you look into the case no one gave Kurt his time in the sun, they solved the case in less than 24 hours and just went with "of course he killed himself". Again not saying Kurt didn't kill himself or saying Courtney did but there is alottttt of odd things around how they said he died and I wish the cops and investgators gave more of a shit but I digress.
@@cosmonauthal7651Perhaps they concluded he killed himself based on the extensive evidence they were able to gather when they attended the actual scene, rather than just reading some stuff on the Internet.
I really feel like Janet Jackson is robbed of the credit she should get for prototyping vaporwave on Velvet Rope. There are spots on that album that sound experimental even by modern standards and I’m insanely impressed by that fact every time I listen to it.
Live Through This was appraised pretty positively initially, I think people's hatred of Courtney just overshadowed that more as time went on, which is alluded to here. For me though, it is absolutely worthy of the top 10 placement. Her vocals were updating some of the stuff pretenders or Blondie were doing but adding in all these rem-isms and grunginess and blending all these influences intuitively while also being versatile and confident enough in that versatility to sound menacing and playful both. I think the first track is still a great pop song for that specifically And the band was making this heavier rem ish stuff (using courtneys framing from interviews) jittery and bright and tense in a way that still sounds exciting, also very reflective of the band minus Courtney being addicted to stimulants at the time. You listen to the instrumental on the second track and it sounds so casually manic, so bittersweet it still gets under my skin. I can understand being skeptical of this albums placement, but there have always been critics who champion the record even when speaking negatively about Courtney. Glad more people are listening to it now, regardless of whether it deserves it's placement, I think it's a great record worth listening to that's been semi ignored by a lot of newer music fans.
It's a very good record. I personally disagree with his take that there are bad performances anywhere on the album, and I love it just as much as Nevermind. I also disagree with the statement that Hole didn't approach the grunge scene with their own spin on that style/their own personality. It's so distinctive in my mind - but to each their own. I also don't think "Doll Parts" is the best song haha
@@devon_darko im fully with you, I was surprised when he made that comment about the performances, and equally surprised the lyrics were one of the saving graces of the album for him. I like the lyrics a lot, but the bands performances are always interesting and one of the things that make this record so good, the guitar on I think that I would Die, the way Asking for It opens, there are so many interesting segues and surprising but satisfying moments. And I like Doll Parts but also disagree on it being the best, personally the first two tracks, Jennifer's body, asking for it, I think that I would die are all perfect to me, but that's just off the top of my head, I genuinely love the whole album. I absolutely agree with you that they had a unique sound also, I love a lot of music adjacent to this but still can't think of a band that sounds quite like them
It’s not in my personal top ten but also I’m not gonna judge somebody if it is. It’s a killer album, and there’s so many amazing albums of the nineties that there’s never gonna be a canonical top ten.
S: Nevermind, Low End, homogenic, wu tang, radiohead, lauryn, and loveless A: Velvet Rope B: Exile C: Live Through This Other S Albums: Ready to Die - Biggie, Illmatic - Nas, Post - Björk, 98.12.28 男達の別れ (Live) - Fishmans, and In The Aeroplane Over The Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
As usual, love your thoughts. I totally agree with you about Liz Phair with the bloatedness and vocals not being that great, crappy production... But hot damn, I played that thing more than any other album in the '90s and acted out every single damn scenario. I think my true punk rock spirit came out with this album even though you wouldn't call it punk rock. It was a swirl. If you know you know. God tier
@@curly_wyn The opening two tracks are bloated so it definitely sets a tone for the rest of the album which is otherwise fantastic, which is in part due to the fact majority of the tracks on there were re-recorded songs of her amazing demos. I think her heavily produced tracks are the weakest.
Boys For Pele and Tori in general is always missing or underrated on these kinds of lists. Courtney might have been rightly railing against misogyny, but Tori had already identified that her female peers (Courtney chief amongst them) were just as likely to be trying to tear you down.
YES!!! Thank you for saying this! How “Live through this” is on Pitchfork’s list, and not “Pele” is beyond me… well, I understand it… commercial success. But Tori is a far better musician, writer, singer, wittier, more biting in the social criticism… superior in every way… and rocks that harpsichord harder than an overdriven guitar somehow! 🤘🏻
Symbolic Morningrise Onset of Putrefaction Superunknown Ten (or Vitalogy) Tiny Music…Songs of the Vatican (or Purple) Third Eye Blind (Self-titled) Midnight Marauders It Was Written Moment of Truth
Are you really slandering Homogenic’s album cover? One of the most iconic posmo techno graphic design works of all time? Nah, Melon, you are off by a mile.
My top ten albums of the '90s (in chronological order) 🖤 : UK and Björk: Fields of the Nephilim ~ Elizium ~ 1990 New Model Army ~ Impurity ~ 1990 Ride ~ Going Blank Again (original 10 track version) ~ 1992 Depeche Mode ~ Songs of Faith and Devotion ~ 1993 Suede ~ Suede ~ 1993 The Verve (back when they were psychedelic space rock) ~ A Storm in Heaven ~ 1993 James ~ Laid ~ 1993 The Prodigy ~ Music for the Jilted Generation ~ 1994 Björk ~ Homogenic ~ 1997 Massive Attack ~ Mezzanine ~ 1998 USA: Alice in Chains ~ Facelift ~ 1990 Pearl Jam ~ Ten ~ 1991 Red Hot Chili Peppers ~ Blood Sugar Sex Magik ~ 1991 The God Machine ~ Scenes from the Second Storey ~ 1992 Screaming Trees ~ Sweet Oblivion ~ 1992 Rage Against the Machine ~ Rage Against the Machine ~ 1992 Belly ~ Star ~ 1993 The Smashing Pumpkins ~ Siamese Dream ~ 1993 Mazzy Star ~ So Tonight That I Might See ~ 1993 Mark Lanegan ~ Whiskey for the Holy Ghost ~ 1994 Favourite EP of the '90s: Nine Inch Nails ~ Broken ~ 1992 🖤
Illmatic, Siamese Dream, Aenema, Downward Spiral, Rid Of Me, Betty, Ten... you get the gist. Also, to my stuck up 90s me reading this when time traveling: Velvet Rope is the Lemonade of its time so take your ears out of your butt and listen. And that Lemonade reference will make sense in time and yes it's about that cute girl on the swing in that music video.
Ready to die and illmatic in my opinion are both better than any hip hop record that is in the top ten but I understand the influence of the other albums.
Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space is the best album of the 90s imo. Orchestral and psychedelic music with a scale that just hooks you in from beginning to finish. The context behind it and the struggles that jason pierce was experiencing at the time really work well to further the album too.
Listening that one for the first time was legitimately one of the best album experiences I ever had. It's one of those "I never thought doing this was impossible, but it never ocurred to me that someone would actually do it" moments.
It's a decent list for sure. I think I'd have to have Endtroducing, Airplane Over the Sea and Different Class in my list. I think the Blue Album, Siamese Dream and Selected Ambient Works should be in the Convo too.
I think PF was just tired of just including NMH in every list. I think if they'd made this list in December 1999 Airplane would've cracked the top 5. NMH fatigue, if you will. Just a theory.
I was about 12 in Yorkshire in the mid-90s when one of my old schoolmates, Anup Chowdhury made me some mixtapes made up from his older brothers hip-hop/rap collection. I remember about 90% of it being G-funk, West Coast stuff... and then one tape had "Wu-Tang - Clan Enter the 36 Chambers" written on it. Loved it then, still love it now. I still listen to it a couple of times a month, and it always sounds fresh. No matter what the production and beats are, no matter the current trends in hip-hop/rap... it always seems to incomprehensibly sound relevant.
OK Computer is just easily one of the best albums EVER, pure magic. Lastly, as a professional creative director, I need you to never speak on that bjork album cover again because it is PERFECTION.
Everyone has their own opinions about lists like this. I had no idea what I'd pick personally for "best" because influence, innovation, etc. have to factor into the decision. Even though I have listened to all of the albums in this Top 10 numerous times, apparently this (per my Spotify stats) is what I ACTUALLY enjoy listening to the most... 1. Nirvana - Nevermind / In Utero / Unplugged (had to combine these otherwise they'd all be in the Top 10) 2. Radiohead - OK Computer 3. Garbage - Garbage / Version 2.0 (had to combine or both would be on here) 4. Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory 5. Dr. Dre - The Chronic 6. Depeche Mode - Violator 7. Madonna - Ray of Light 8. Nas - Illmatic 9. R.E.M. - Monster 10. Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals MBV is a respectable choice for a list like this due to the influence but, keeping it real, I don't enjoy listening to it all that much. I find the Liz Phair and Lauryn Hill albums to be massively overrated and neither would make my Top 100 for the 90s. The Bjork, Hole, Janet and WTC albums are all solid.
my submission for best album of the 90’s is the ‘91 release of Slint’s storied sophomore LP, an album that modern discussions of post-rock and even some tangents of goth and cerebral atmospheric looping drone instrumentals the likes of swans but stripped back and not quite as repetitive or methodically monotone, maybe closer to bauhaus if bauhaus was using guitar tones highly infused with that 90’s butt-rock distortion during the instrumental swells that occur in the various points of the tight tracklist. the album is so short and i feel like i’ve read a book by the time it’s over, and it is endlessly replayable, with nearly flawless and eccentric percussion, spoken word passages that bridge into beat poetry at points and then billow like puffs of smoke into sometimes screamed recitations of surreal metaphor doused with a level of followable storytelling that ties the tracks so perfectly together, even though each feels so significantly individual in its presentation. that isn’t to say that the presentation is all over the place, there is structure at work here… but if you listen closely to the drumwork especially, you will notice subtle variations and accents and nuances of the instrumentation that changes the musical composition of the or orchestration practically every bar, almost like jazz except played as previously described and using a much clearer definition of modern pop and rock aesthetics coming out of post-punk and other myriad facets of the rock landscape of the early 90’s, but this drives the clear vamp (a repeated loop in guitar work that is meant to act both as a percussive measure of a single bar of melody, and is structured to repeat itself every bar so that melodically it has symmetry) on tracks such as washer or the noodly opener or nosferatu man. the album is uniquely engaging track for track for track. legitimately the only album i give enough apparent credit (as this is the first time i’ve realized this) that i listen to the entirety of the record multiple times in one sitting. definitely imo should be in anybody’s top 3 of the 90’s, and it is my pick for numero uno.
Great albums, but they don't belong in the top 10 of the decade. Like which of the top 10 are you gonna push out by putting them there, and then if you are gonna push an album out, I think there are other albums that could fill those spots better
Rock/Metal wise: Nevermind Dirt Antichrist Superstar The Great Southern Trendkill Burzum/Aske KoRn Transylvanian Hunger None so Vile Rust in Peace The Sound of Perseverance or Symbolic Rap Wise: Ready to Die Illmatic Capital Punishment Slim Shady LP 2001 Enter the Wu-Tang Aquemini All Eyez on Me Doggystyle Flesh of my Flesh, Blood of my Blood
I would have put Post above Homogenic and think Live Through This is equal to Nevermind. Also, recognizing the amazing work of Courtney Love and Liz Phair is not being political at all, they were hugely influential and made amazing albums.
Nirvana is my favorite band, I love grunge, I live 70s hardcore punk, I love the edgy ugly abrasive sounds. Nevermind is the perfect album. There's nothing wrong with it. Kurt hated on it because he was a little insecure about making something so good and didn't really have experience doing good things for himself. Inside, I bet he knew he made a better album than any of his peers would.
![MISSING: SLIM SHADY [Expanded Mourner’s Edition Trailer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/xh8qgHrOO1g/mqdefault.jpg)
It's ok Anthony. We know you didn't have enough space to put My Bloody Valentine's Loveless above the S tier
2:40 93' Til Infinity... That album has way more depth and a better best song than Tribe. PERIOD. So many people are lost on what the actual best hip-hop in the 90's was. SOM/HIEROGLYPHICS are the goat rap collective - yes better than Wu-Tang/Tribe/NWA, etc..
Hieroglyphics - 3rd Eye Vision... is the best rap album of the 90's. I dare anyone to listen to both 93' til Infinity and 3rd Eye Vision and say with a straight face that any rap group ever can match that.
@@Habeev07Organized Konfusion - Stress: the Extinction Agenda and The Roots - Things Fall Apart are most definitely better 90’s albums than the two you mentioned.
@@Habeev07I love me some Del, but he isn’t even close to being in the same league as JUGGERNAUTS like Black Though and Pharaohe Monch!
Not to mention the superior production both albums have….
@@Habeev07 not better than three six mafia
The editor literally made that joke
Watching Fantano give out S-tier after S-tier is strangely fun lol
watching him talk about 36 chambers is always fun, definitely one of his top 5 albums
Loveless in the A tier and not S was completely unexpected
no more room in S
not rlly theres a couple misses on that record
@@davidyounan5774 don’t care, it’s one of the most unique, groundbreaking, finely crafted, creative, influential and painstakingly made albums in all of recorded music
@@rashotcake6945 yeah i agree that being said its not a perfect record on the same level as nevermind for example
Should’ve been an S tbh
Dummy by Portishead is my favourite album from the 90s. Masterpiece.
Didn’t know whole lotta red came out in the 90s
Truly a timeless classic
revolutionized the entire Hip-Hop scene
Carti been starving his fans of an album for decades actually
Trailblazing. Inflential. Groundbreaking.
@@aponly5470r/whoooooosh
Either/Or by Elliott Smith will always be #1 for me
Heaven or Las Vegas deserved a spot. Transcendent dream pop!
Frou frou foxes!
Yesss my personal favorite of the 90s potentially
Definitely!!!
DEFINITELY
@@wjlinceMy favorite song on the album!
Loveless is the only album I can say it made me fall asleep but in a good way. Somehow the noise ends up being so relaxing and calming that I couldn’t help but feel relaxed listening to it.
I used to take naps after work or school in a comfy chair while listening to this. Easily one of the best albums for mental relaxation.
I fell asleep to Unsilent Death once
I feel kinda the same about Mezzanine by Massive Attack
It's almost like they're shoegaze pioneers or somethin'
2:40 93' Til Infinity... That album has way more depth and a better best song than Tribe. PERIOD. So many people are lost on what the actual best hip-hop in the 90's was. SOM/HIEROGLYPHICS are the goat rap collective - yes better than Wu-Tang/Tribe/NWA, etc..
Hieroglyphics - 3rd Eye Vision... is the best rap album of the 90's. I dare anyone to listen to both 93' til Infinity and 3rd Eye Vision and say with a straight face that any rap group ever can match that.
The only decade that every genre was commercialized. Rap, rock, R&B, pop, and country were all mainstream. Such a diversity of talent and art.
True. 70s and 80s still better though
@@YesNo-yl6ws only 70s
@@aarongarcia4381 Prime MJ, Duran Duran, Queen, Elton John, Prince, Bowie, The Police, Madonna, Eurythmics, U2, REM, Kate Bush, Wham/George Michael, Tears For Fears, Fleetwood Mac, Whitney? Cmon now
Agreed!
@@YesNo-yl6ws no it wasn’t. You didn’t have such a diverse group of music. Look at the rock, rap, R&B, and pop that came out during the 90’s. Everyone you mentioned were great but it’s all rock and rock pop.
The Downward Spiral not making the list is criminal.
Found myself in the hotel room. I didn't want to self destruct
Perfect from Now On
Keep it Like a Secret
TRUE
As a top ten of the entire decade? There are already two Nirvana albums and two radiohead albums better to start with, let alone everyone else. There is no way it is top ten.
@@user-qk2rt1cn2s Did you just say The Bends is better than TDS?
Dirt by Alice In Chain deserves a spot in my opinion
100% man
Iiiiiiiii want you to SCRAPE MEEEEEEEE from the waaalllllls and go crazyyyyy like you've made me
Better than hole lol wtf is that doing here
Alice In Chains fans are so annoying
@@blondiemancojoe1066 maybe because you reply to them like this trying to instigate
Imagine a top 10 albums of the 90s without The Downward Spiral...
Idk, I don’t find that hard at all.
Most overrated albums of the 90s maybe, but when Johnny Cash can take the best song on the record and make it better, it is hard for me to see it as a top 10 album.
@@chloemchll3774 I'm going to apologize for my english first since i'm italian. Johnny Cash didn't make it any better for me, but it's just my opinion. I don't think there is much i can say about that record that it doesn't say on it's own, but i will try. The writing is immense, Hurt is not the best song in TDS, it is close, but there isn't a single weak minute on that record. It spans in a wide range of emotions like a few other records have ever been able to do. It tells a story like no other record has ever been able to do (still, it's my humble opinion). There are other records from the 90s that i love, like Geek the Girl by Lisa Germano (another masterpiece imo), Nick Cave's Good Son, Morphine's Good and Soul Coughing's Ruby Vroom. But there's something special in The Downward Spiral, it reaches a place somewhere deep inside of me. And the way Trent Reznor arranged it, the percussion sounds he chose (some of the best in the whole history of industrial rock), the layered keyboards too, the way he put together some intense and powerful lyrics and delivered them perfectly by changing his way of singing multiple times throughout the record. This is, for me, one of the 40/50 best records in the history of rock music. Of course i respect your opinion, and i love that you were respectful too, it is not something to be taken from granted nowadays. I'm curious to hear your top 10!
@@ClaudioDiBiase16 I actually shared my top ten in a post on this video a couple days ago, and in rereading it today I want to edit it because I feel I left somethings off I’d like to include (assuming I can figure out what to cut).
To be clear- I didn’t mean to sound quite as insulting as I probably came across toward The Downward Spiral; it is a terrific album. I happen to think Hurt is the best song on it, but there are a few others I can get why other people would put above it.
Rather, and I should have made this much clearer, is that I think the 1990s was such a ripe decade when it comes to great albums. So my comment was really more just that no matter which great album from then you’re talking about, it being overlooked in preference of other great albums is always possible.
It’s all subjective. My favorite album of the decade is OK Computer from Radiohead, and yours sounds like Downward Spiral, and those are both reasonable choices, among probably about 20-25 others.
@@ClaudioDiBiase16 as for Johnny Cash… what amazes me is that the entire meaning of the song changes, and to me, Cash’s version hits in a more universal way.
As NIN did it, Hurt is about being so lost in your depression (the downward spiral) that hurting yourself just to feel anything else seems like a reasonable idea.
As Cash did it, it is about an inability to deal with overwhelming grief/regret, and could really only come from an artist like Cash, looking back on his life as it is nearing its end.
Both are great; I prefer Cash cause I feel it is more universal because while not everyone deals with the sort of depression Trent sings about, pretty much everyone does have to deal with a close loved one dying and not knowing how to process the grief after.
@@ClaudioDiBiase16 lastly, while I appreciate your letting me know about not being a native English speaker, I want you to know that you wrote English very effectively. I understood what you are trying to say and honestly, if you hadn’t given me that insight in advance I would not have guessed it from reading your response.
Wu tang clan: dressed up as literal ninjas posing in a dojo
Anthony: complains about bjork "culturally cosplaying" as asian
Haha the willfully blind liberal hypocrisy. It's only "problematic" if the shoe (read "geta") is on a certain foot.
classic misogyny LOL
Didnt know ninjas wore black hoodies and white masks
@@fourtyseven47572 didn't know lava was so icy
There’s so much stupid it in this comment it hurts, none of the wutang members are trying to look stereotypically Asian tho. Last time I checked traditional Chinese or Japanese Nina’s don’t wear hoodies and blank white masks. It’s not like they decided to wear yellow masks with slanted eyes or something or worse something really racist on their hoodies. Hell last time I checked ninjas aren’t just specific to Asian culture, snake eyes from gi joe, raven from tekken etc… it literally just sounds like your bitching because you’re a bjork fan and trying to imply he’s misogynistic or something.
Honestly, I would put Homogenic in the S tier.
I know Fantano prefers Vespertine more (another fantastic record), but something about it makes me come back to that record more.
Plus, the All is Full of Love closer is beautiful.
homogenic feels more epic, but vespertine has a unique feel i dont really know how to describe. vespertine feels a bit more ahead of its time, but not better. and of course homogenic is also ahead of its time. idk.
my preference is homogenic, but only barely.
I prefer both. I think it's ok to have two 'S' tier albums.
I think they’re both great for somewhat different reasons, but both S. Also I see what he’s saying with the racial cosplay but I’ve always loved the album cover
Post is the best
The entire premise that Live Through This was overlooked or critically panned at the time is complete bullshit. The album was ranked #1 for the year 1994 on the Pazz & Jop poll, which was the most widely accepted and credible critics list at the time.
The 90s had a lot of all-time classics.
what does it feel like the 90s was just superior to any decade in memory
The 90’s had a lot of garbage. A lot. We’re far enough from it now to recognize classics, and what stood the test of time. And we can recognize and appreciate the gems separated from the absolute cesspool of sewage that was also produced in the 90’s.
The 00's, the 80's, the 70's, the 60's, the 50's also had alot of all-time classics.
I love when people make bold and vague claims like this. It is so brave and they should just win a Noble price for saying stuff like this.
Uh, yeah, I sure hope it does
@@Chris.4345You may be right, but I'm pretty familiar with many 90s songs, hits and not, from many genres, and I gotta say it IS my favorite decade for music. Possibly for entertainment in general. It's not nostalgia since I'm 29, I'm a 2000s kid if anything, and when I was 10 I discovered Nirvana and it was over for me. I dropped all my modern music and kept discovering and falling in love with the 90s bands. And even now, after going through many music phases, from country as a kid to rock and metal in my preteen-teen years to rap to nowadays where I'm more an underground country/folk fan than anything, I still get NO dopamine rush from anything like I do 90s entertainment in general. Maybe it just hits for me, or maybe since I wasn't actually really "there" for it I've been able to only catch the parts that stood the test of time. But we have access to every decade's entertainment and I gotta say, nothing comes close to the 90s for me. 60s is second. DON'T YOU WANT SOMEBODY TO LOVE
Nevermind: S
Low End Theory: S
Live Through This: A
Velvet Rope: S
Homogenic: A
36 Chambers: S
Exile In Guyville: B
Ok Computer: S
Lauryn Hill: S
Loveless: S
No Nas is crazy, I’m also surprised Rage’s debut album isn’t on here and of course Downward Spiral
Souvalki by Slowdive is definitely top 10 from 90's for me.
Me as well.
Totally agree
Gonna have to agree there as well 😂
better than loveless imo, but not as good as heaven or las vegas
I miss the 1990s where you could have legitimately mainstream and popular artists ALSO make the best albums of the decade. It was also like that with movies, not every great movie was popular but you could actually go to the theater to see popular movies that could also be nominated for best picture Oscars. Now it feels so disconnected, 10/10 albums barely sell at all and "quality cinema" and blockbusters in no way in hell ever meet anymore.
As oldhead as it may feel to say, I gotta agree entirely with that statement.
That's why many people claim that good music is not made anymore. Yeah, saying something as "music was so good back then now it sucks" is such an ignorant ok Boomer le born in the wrong generation esque claim. But there's genuinely some truth behind it. back then you didn't have to "look out" for good music, it was relatively easy to find. Nowadays most mainstream music sucks and all the amazing groundbreaking mind-blowing albums are not even close to that level of popularity. It's indeed a rarity when a mainstream artist releases a "decade" worth album, that's not an oldhead thing to say, that's just true
People have become dumbed down, that’s why
1960s The Beatles
70s Floyd and Led
80s and 90s all had that, its just last few decades
@@nibyafternight1983100%, I’d add that at least in the case of movies, the landscape shifted to where prestige TV now fills the role of the 1999 mid budget art house adjacent film, so it’s not like all mainstream visual pop culture is superhero sequel trash, but the big screen itself is mostly dead (A24-core exists obvi but to way less broad public appeal). Idk how to draw this parallel with music, maybe niche indie intersecting with social media as a more accessible zine culture, or hyperpop, RUclips as MTV, etc etc
WHERE IS ILLMATIC???
No clue.
Rank 22th out of 150 on their list
The best shoegaze album of all time in his mind is only A tier. God damn, fantano edit: as some one pointed out he might have put it in A tier because S tier was full. So I should add that here
Souvlaki>
God forbid A tier 😢
@103.5Heavener they're both great but no.
unfortunately ceres and calypso wipes
He reviewed it in one of his classic weeks way back in the day and we all know "classic week" are albums that he considers to be 10s
As a kid born in 1990 it is hard to imagine a top ten list that doesn't include Rage Against The Machine (self titled) and Weezer (blue). I would also add Outkast Aquemini pretty easily to my top 10 list.
Massive Attack's _Mezzanine_
Both great albums but top 10 albums of the 90s is a really difficult list to break into. Rage's debut is one of my personal favorites of all time and I love the Blue Album but I'd put Pearl Jam's Ten, Soundgarden's Superunknown, and Alice in Chains Dirt above both of them in terms of my assessment of which are the best.
2:40 93' Til Infinity... That album has way more depth and a better best song than Tribe. PERIOD. So many people are lost on what the actual best hip-hop in the 90's was. SOM/HIEROGLYPHICS are the goat rap collective - yes better than Wu-Tang/Tribe/NWA, etc..
Hieroglyphics - 3rd Eye Vision... is the best rap album of the 90's. I dare anyone to listen to both 93' til Infinity and 3rd Eye Vision and say with a straight face that any rap group ever can match that.
slint with spiderland deserves to be there
Was gonna say the same!
exactly, talk talk as well
That album sucks
@@Lol-mi2bfshut up
I adore Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville, cool to see anyone talk about it, even if it's not your thing. Pitchfork using it as sort of a political move makes it look less like it's worth checking out, which is a shame, I think more people should give it a shake. It's not the best thing to come out of the 90s or w/e but I think it's very nice, chill, passionate indie rock from a woman who felt she wouldn't make a name for herself with this project and chose to do it anyway.
I would actually say it’s a super deserving spot. It’s easily my second favorite album of that decade, and Liz Phair’s economic songwriting is some of the best in indie rock.
Her tapes the girlysound is amazing, she changed all the tracks (and kinda stripped them of their emotion) for exile
It's interesting how - back before the internet was something everyone had - there were occasionally these local albums that dropped and were as big in your country (and therefore in your memory) as the more ubiquitous US charting examples in this video. Back in the 90s, right next to my copy of Ok Computer on the shelf, I had Australian band Spiderbait's 'Ivy and the Big Apples'. Absolute banger of an album that never really did numbers anywhere else. It'd be nice to find more of these from around the world.
90s rock and hip hop was a revolutionary time, yet beautiful.
2:40 BRO - 93' Til Infinity... That album has way more depth and a better best song than Tribe. PERIOD.
So many people are lost. SOM/HIERO are the goat rap collective - yes better than Wu-Tang/Tribe/NWA, etc..
Hieroglyphics - 3rd Eye Vision... is the best rap album of the 90's. I dare anyone to listen to both 93' til Infinity and 3rd Eye Vision and say with a straight face that any rap group ever can match that.
Never ask Pitchfork what score they gave to NIN's The Fragile back when it came out
I'd say it's the worst one, though I like it.
That reviewer clearly HATED Reznor well before reviewing that album… which I think is his masterpiece.
@@nimrodery Nah, With Teeth is truly their worst album, though Year Zero with its cheesy lyrics and theme isn't great either lol. The Fragile is incredible (I do think a few songs could've been removed from the track list).
@@nimrodery this is one of the worst muiscal takes i've ever seen in my life lol the fragile is a masterpiece. everything after the fragile remix album falls off hard.
@@korndud I didn't say it was bad, just the worst NIN. Too long, some duds like Star[suckers]. One album would have been fine.
Homogenic is a CLASSIC. It's definitely S tier. I know you prefer vespertine (björk's best record obviously), but without homogenic there would be no vespertine. Homogenic was a changer for music; it's still, to this day, one of the most influential albums EVER regarding genre (just see how sza, frank ocean, charli xcx, FKA TWIGS, radiohead are all influenced by björk despite being very different). Homogenic not only deserved S, but also deserved a top 3 position on the list
prefer Homogenic myself yes! Vespertine is too weird
I honestly prefer homogenic, but think vespertine is great as well. Joga, bachelorette, all neon like, unravel, make homogenic better imo.
I don't really get pagan poetry, but love most of the album. Undo, aurora, and the one with the music video about the skeleton puppies are my faves. Solid for sure. I'd say both 10's.
Superunknown, Blue album, the score, RATM, downward spiral, Ill communication and Odelay are…well it is a top ten.
It’s a crime that Jeff Buckley - Grace isn’t in the top 10
one of my favorite albums of all time! textbook example of "all killer, no filler."
Lover you should have come over is so fucking good
That’s number 1 for me!
So glad Jeff continues to get so much love to this day. This was the album that got me into music towards the end of high school
Eh I think its a good record but I would not put in a top 100 best 90s album list, let alone top 10 but that's just me
Can't believe we now live in a time where you can't even show the cover of "Nevermind" without algorithms banning you. Fucking hell, soon we won't even be able to show images of nudity in classical art without getting censored or banned. This is what we get for relying on algorithms trying to do everything for us...
I wouldn’t worry about it so much. Its slipping out of the Top 10. 10 years from now it will be forgotten about completely and replaced by Celebrity Skin
@@waz3128tf?
@@waz3128Nice joke
It's the sensitivity of the people that the algorithms follow. The loud minority that is offended by this and that.
I don't think its the algorithm, i think its the 5027272 lawsuits filled against nirvana by the baby lmaooo
there's something unique about that Homogenic's artwork. Hard to put into words but I remember as a kid my parents had it on cd and among all of the cds they had, this one had the most memorable artwork by far! I also remember thinking the music matched the artwork perfectly, it was weird, epic, larger than life... I wasn't too much into music at that time but that artwork really struck me
There's nothing wrong with it. People like to make up problems because they have no meaning in life thanks to Capitalism.
For me that album was purple by stone temple pilots. Could never figure out what the deal was with that baby on the dragon. I guess you could also count Tiny Music by stp as well, that one is weird af
Whilst I get the squeamishness about the cover art on Homogenic, when you look at Bjork's own features (e.g. her own eye shape) and consider what we she was doing in terms of bringing together so many styles and creating something futuristic, I think it's a stretch to claim it's overtly racist.
@@chimpana agreed - a pretty reductive and revisionist perspective by the melon.
@@insome776 apparently it was styled by Alexander McQueen so there's also a high fashion context to consider... and unfortunately high fashion has regularly co-opted different cultures and groups since it began... I can see both sides on it, especially in our polarised times
Lush is so underrated, any of their 90s albums need to be on this list. Also give me Lisa Germano and Gang Starr, and maybe some Pavement. Last Splash by The Breeders also blows half of these away.
Lmk
Pavement W
CR, CR by Pavement would probably be the pick here.
Split is an all-time favorite album of mine. Top 20 for sure!
Upvoted just for mentioning Lisa Germano. Geek The Girl is a very good album.
In no particular order the alternative 10
Siamese dream, Smashing Pumpkins
Music for the jilted generation, the Prodigy
The holy bible, Manic street preachers
Grace, Jeff buckley
Automatic for the people, REM
Nia, Blackalicious
Screamadelica, Primal scream
Leftfism, Leftfield
Last splash, the Breeders
She hangs brightly, Mazzy star
"The Holy Bible" is one of the most underrated 90s classics, just like the band Codeine.
Imagine not putting Loveless AND Homogenic on the S tier.
Nice pfp 😎
Homogenic can be forgiven
@@all-caps3927 No Way. "My bloody Valentine" on the other hand need not even be talked about.
@@Hardcastle83Controversial
Vespertine (while not 90s) is better than Homogenic, and with Loveless, I’d honestly put Swervedriver’s Raise in its place at S-Tier.
I would definitely put Fugazi - Repeater and Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
Laughing Stock is top 10 material for sure
Smashing Pumpkins absolutely needed a spot on here, either Gish or Siamese Dream
Siamese Dream, for sure.
Nothing from Massive attack? Blue lines, Protection, Mezzanine could all make this list.
I'd have to agree with you on that. Major influences of the 90's
“Live Through This” was NOT ignored critically when it came out. It was very highly praised. It was named AOTY by a lot of big sources (Spin, Pazz and Jop, Rolling Stone, amongst others).
I think The Smashing Pumpkins’ Mellon Collie… or Siamese Dream should be on this list. Also, Weezer (Blue), Green Day (Dookie), and TLC (Crazy, Sexy, Cool) are all really good albums and were quite influential.
Weezer's Blue Album definitely deserves a spot. There's no such thing as 'perfect art' obviously, but the Blue Album is flawless to me. I was really into all of their stuff as a kid and lost interest over time, but that one keeps me coming back. Their sound couldn't have been executed better!
Definitely. Blue Album and Mellon Collie / Siamese always come to mind when discusing the best of the 90s. I'd also add Oasis' Definitely Maybe, NIN's the downward spiral, Failure's Fantastic Planet and Alice in Chains' Dirt.
Arguing for Weezer in a 90s top 10 that has no Pavement... I'm sorry that's basic as fuck yo
@@jyjjy7 I have no idea who that is, but while I was looking them up to see if they had any familiar songs, I found out they played a bar down the street from my house last year. I didn't hear any buzz about it, maybe if they had an album as good as Weezer's Blue Album...
@@benpasko You are kidding... I hope
I thought Alanis Morrisette and Trent Reznor would make this list.
Same
They should've. The lack of Jeff Buckley and Tori Amos is also criminal
Always stoked to see Liz Phair get a feature in any 'greatest 90s' discourse. I adore her music and have been obsessed since I was just 13 and I thought for ages she just seemed to be forgotten or overlooked over time. Nobody around me really seemed to know her or be familiar with her music, I thought I was discovering some untapped goldmine back when I was an angsty teenager with raging hormones. Her humour and dry wit always just spoke to me, but she also had some stunning, sparkling tunes like 'Nashville' and 'Shane' from my favourite of all her albums 'Whip-Smart', which I think is miles ahead of 'Exile in Guyville' in terms of her strengths musically. And also I have to say, for anyone who is a Liz Phair skeptic, but loves lo-fi bedroom indie stuff, then I would recommend listening to her three demo records under the name 'Girly-sound'. It's a fantastic foundation for her studio records and honestly I prefer them over any of her more heavily produced music. There is bound to be a Liz Phair track that speaks to you.
Thank you so much queen, we need more people to talk about her!
This!!! I was born in ‘98 and first heard her in 2003. I will genuinely never forget it, it was one of my first music experiences. Liz Phair is the reason my parents got me a CD player!
thanks for writing this ya'll, just introduced me to her music :)
When The Pawn is better than a few that made the list in my opinion, but I think the 90s were loaded with great albums.
For my own musical biases, I can't not rep Siamese Dream in the comments. Nothing sounds quite like it before or after
The Downward Spiral
Gish, Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie are S tier.
@@Podus81 Hell yeah they are. And the amount of quality B-side material at that time into the Adore era is just insane.
Siamese Dream is my favorite album of all time. Everything about it is just... perfect in a way that no other album really matches up with for me.
@@stonecrestmovies corgan was just pure magic during those albums. His voice was just beautiful.
Hello Anthony,
Just wanted to clarify a typo/error in the video, you did not place Homogenic in S tier, you can reupload and update us when you have corrected the mistake.
Thanks
Putting Courtney Love's album ahead of Nevermind is truly egregious.
mostly egregious just for how transparently lazy it is as a ‘controversial’ decision. it doesnt even feel like it was put there to make a point just to combine things that would generate discourse.
based on the criteria a point could be made, but including hole and liz phair in leu of rid of me is the real crime
the literal inventors of the term "girl power" were _right fucking there_ (bikini kill)
The Soft Bulletin deserves a spot on this list for sure
No. One of the most overrated bands of all time. I hate The Spiderbite Song soooooo much.
Yes
@@curly_wynno
@@curly_wyn Ridiculous take. Soft Bulletin is a beautifully composed album and one of the Lips' best. Also, the Spiderbite Song isn't even on the European release.
@@waddafugg3072 yes
RATM self titled and Superunknown are GOATed
So much disrespect to Alice In Chains, the most underrated grunge band of the 90s by far
In addition to radiohead and co: Ava Adore (Smashing Pumpkins), Grace (Jeff Buckley), Ten (Pearl Jam), Facts and Fictions (Asian Dub Foundation)
Make a counterpart to Pfork's list. Give us one alternative album for each listing that you find similar in some way
He needs to do that
he wont, he hates being criticised
@@Benjlmao1996 90% of his career is being criticized for his opinion on albums, not just by the public but by A list artists themselves. You're thinking of yourself mate.
@@Benjlmao1996he always makes his yearly list... Decades list... What's the difference in doing this.
@@Benjlmao1996 Like you couldn't criticise a tier list like this as well. Here, I'll show you: Putting Velvet Rope in S and Homogenic in A is insane. Here, I did it.
OK Computer, the Bends, and the Colour and the Shape are my top three 90s albums.
Definitely needed a Pumpkins and Pavement inclusion in that list for me. And with my UK slant, blur and Oasis would get a shout in terms of cultural importance for the 90s.
The disrespect to Oasis is actually insane
@@lechon7980nah...perfectly valid.
@@lechon7980they’re my favorite band besides the Beatles and it’s madness that Americans write them off bc they don’t understand British working class culture. Oasis had some really interesting references from the acid house scene, 80s indie and alt and punk with Beatles melodic sensibility.
@@Mikeevanko967I'm American, they are my favorite band
@@Mikeevanko967if the British working class is anything like those prick brothers then I'd rather not understand it
Agree with most of your takes here but... Homogenic sounds like 'a product of its time?' Bro this album always sounds like the future.
You can hate Courtney for being a terrible person, but pretending she killed Kurt Cobain is a level of delusion that makes me totally write off the sanity of anyone who genuinely believes that.
They just love to blame the “girlfriends” for everything 🙄 like how yoko ono “broke up” the Beatles. I don’t think one person can have that much power.
@@jadeblackwell6227don’t get me wrong I hate Courtney and Yoko, I just hate them for things they ACTUALLY did, not based on monkey brained conspiracy theories.
Fr. She’s not a good person but she’s not a murderer.
Idk if SHE killed him but if you look into the case no one gave Kurt his time in the sun, they solved the case in less than 24 hours and just went with "of course he killed himself". Again not saying Kurt didn't kill himself or saying Courtney did but there is alottttt of odd things around how they said he died and I wish the cops and investgators gave more of a shit but I digress.
@@cosmonauthal7651Perhaps they concluded he killed himself based on the extensive evidence they were able to gather when they attended the actual scene, rather than just reading some stuff on the Internet.
Rarely does such a mainstream pop record universally get as much love as Janet's The Velvet Rope.
I really feel Homogenic not landing an S is due to the fact the he likes vespertine more (another S) .
I really feel like Janet Jackson is robbed of the credit she should get for prototyping vaporwave on Velvet Rope. There are spots on that album that sound experimental even by modern standards and I’m insanely impressed by that fact every time I listen to it.
I’m glad most people are appreciating Janet Jackson more. But it seems some of the people in the comments don’t understand that.
100%. It's sad that Janet isn't getting more love here
Live Through This was appraised pretty positively initially, I think people's hatred of Courtney just overshadowed that more as time went on, which is alluded to here. For me though, it is absolutely worthy of the top 10 placement. Her vocals were updating some of the stuff pretenders or Blondie were doing but adding in all these rem-isms and grunginess and blending all these influences intuitively while also being versatile and confident enough in that versatility to sound menacing and playful both. I think the first track is still a great pop song for that specifically
And the band was making this heavier rem ish stuff (using courtneys framing from interviews) jittery and bright and tense in a way that still sounds exciting, also very reflective of the band minus Courtney being addicted to stimulants at the time. You listen to the instrumental on the second track and it sounds so casually manic, so bittersweet it still gets under my skin. I can understand being skeptical of this albums placement, but there have always been critics who champion the record even when speaking negatively about Courtney. Glad more people are listening to it now, regardless of whether it deserves it's placement, I think it's a great record worth listening to that's been semi ignored by a lot of newer music fans.
Not top 10
It's a very good record. I personally disagree with his take that there are bad performances anywhere on the album, and I love it just as much as Nevermind. I also disagree with the statement that Hole didn't approach the grunge scene with their own spin on that style/their own personality. It's so distinctive in my mind - but to each their own. I also don't think "Doll Parts" is the best song haha
@@devon_darko im fully with you, I was surprised when he made that comment about the performances, and equally surprised the lyrics were one of the saving graces of the album for him. I like the lyrics a lot, but the bands performances are always interesting and one of the things that make this record so good, the guitar on I think that I would Die, the way Asking for It opens, there are so many interesting segues and surprising but satisfying moments. And I like Doll Parts but also disagree on it being the best, personally the first two tracks, Jennifer's body, asking for it, I think that I would die are all perfect to me, but that's just off the top of my head, I genuinely love the whole album. I absolutely agree with you that they had a unique sound also, I love a lot of music adjacent to this but still can't think of a band that sounds quite like them
It’s not in my personal top ten but also I’m not gonna judge somebody if it is. It’s a killer album, and there’s so many amazing albums of the nineties that there’s never gonna be a canonical top ten.
S: Nevermind, Low End, homogenic, wu tang, radiohead, lauryn, and loveless
A: Velvet Rope
B: Exile
C: Live Through This
Other S Albums:
Ready to Die - Biggie, Illmatic - Nas, Post - Björk, 98.12.28 男達の別れ (Live) - Fishmans, and In The Aeroplane Over The Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
bjorks homogenic absolutely deserves to be there
Yeah, homophobic is the shit!
Facts
yeah I like Kourtney but Bjork is 100 times better than her
As usual, love your thoughts. I totally agree with you about Liz Phair with the bloatedness and vocals not being that great, crappy production... But hot damn, I played that thing more than any other album in the '90s and acted out every single damn scenario. I think my true punk rock spirit came out with this album even though you wouldn't call it punk rock. It was a swirl. If you know you know. God tier
Yes!!!
It’s not bloated, the production is raw and lo-fi and awesome, and her vocals and performance are great.
@@curly_wyn The opening two tracks are bloated so it definitely sets a tone for the rest of the album which is otherwise fantastic, which is in part due to the fact majority of the tracks on there were re-recorded songs of her amazing demos. I think her heavily produced tracks are the weakest.
@@smellylorenny the opening two tracks are great lol
Ik, I’ll be here all day :)
it's ironic to praise wu-tang's shitty production but judge liz's.
Boys For Pele and Tori in general is always missing or underrated on these kinds of lists. Courtney might have been rightly railing against misogyny, but Tori had already identified that her female peers (Courtney chief amongst them) were just as likely to be trying to tear you down.
i agree. along with any pj harvey album. courtney once said that she wrote the best album of the 90s and she was the one and only true riot grrrl.
Hole is only in the top 10 so they could place it ahead of Nevermind. This had nothing to do with music but rather making a big fat statement
YES!!! Thank you for saying this! How “Live through this” is on Pitchfork’s list, and not “Pele” is beyond me… well, I understand it… commercial success. But Tori is a far better musician, writer, singer, wittier, more biting in the social criticism… superior in every way… and rocks that harpsichord harder than an overdriven guitar somehow! 🤘🏻
Homogenic not being S tier is some wild sh*t.
Cant believe loveless isnt in S. Probably the GOAT album imo
Yes! I was shocked!
boring ass album
he ran out of room
@@ictogon copium
@@ictogon Did you hear what he said about the album? That it was 'boring'?!?! The albums at level S were all praise, not Loveless!
Symbolic
Morningrise
Onset of Putrefaction
Superunknown
Ten (or Vitalogy)
Tiny Music…Songs of the Vatican (or Purple)
Third Eye Blind (Self-titled)
Midnight Marauders
It Was Written
Moment of Truth
still life better
@@haidynlatocha4262 still life best
yesss 3EB and Superunknown are S tier rock records
Morningrise absolutely
Are you really slandering Homogenic’s album cover? One of the most iconic posmo techno graphic design works of all time? Nah, Melon, you are off by a mile.
My top ten albums of the '90s (in chronological order) 🖤 :
UK and Björk:
Fields of the Nephilim ~ Elizium ~ 1990
New Model Army ~ Impurity ~ 1990
Ride ~ Going Blank Again (original 10 track version) ~ 1992
Depeche Mode ~ Songs of Faith and Devotion ~ 1993
Suede ~ Suede ~ 1993
The Verve (back when they were psychedelic space rock) ~ A Storm in Heaven ~ 1993
James ~ Laid ~ 1993
The Prodigy ~ Music for the Jilted Generation ~ 1994
Björk ~ Homogenic ~ 1997
Massive Attack ~ Mezzanine ~ 1998
USA:
Alice in Chains ~ Facelift ~ 1990
Pearl Jam ~ Ten ~ 1991
Red Hot Chili Peppers ~ Blood Sugar Sex Magik ~ 1991
The God Machine ~ Scenes from the Second Storey ~ 1992
Screaming Trees ~ Sweet Oblivion ~ 1992
Rage Against the Machine ~ Rage Against the Machine ~ 1992
Belly ~ Star ~ 1993
The Smashing Pumpkins ~ Siamese Dream ~ 1993
Mazzy Star ~ So Tonight That I Might See ~ 1993
Mark Lanegan ~ Whiskey for the Holy Ghost ~ 1994
Favourite EP of the '90s:
Nine Inch Nails ~ Broken ~ 1992
🖤
Illmatic, Siamese Dream, Aenema, Downward Spiral, Rid Of Me, Betty, Ten... you get the gist. Also, to my stuck up 90s me reading this when time traveling: Velvet Rope is the Lemonade of its time so take your ears out of your butt and listen. And that Lemonade reference will make sense in time and yes it's about that cute girl on the swing in that music video.
Ready to die and illmatic in my opinion are both better than any hip hop record that is in the top ten but I understand the influence of the other albums.
And the infamous/hell on earth
Ready To Die is disqualified from the top 10 purely for the 'Fuck Me' skit
Siamese dream / Mellon collie deserved a place
I like Fantano a lot, been watching him for many years. That being said, he did Hole and Liz Phair dirty here.
Hehe you said dirty hole
@@justaddfire4418ha get it?
hole are just so much more musically interesting than bikini kill it was annoying to even hear them offered up as an alternative
I think he was actually quite generous with that Liz Phair album :\ it's so meh
I think “Homogenic has aged badly” maybe Fantano’s worst take yet.
I'd switch Homegenic for Post, doubles down for Massive Attack and trip hop sounds. I'm also thinking.... Ma Bell, got the Ill Communication.
Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space is the best album of the 90s imo. Orchestral and psychedelic music with a scale that just hooks you in from beginning to finish. The context behind it and the struggles that jason pierce was experiencing at the time really work well to further the album too.
I Think I'm In Love is one of my favorite songs. My god that album is beautiful
Listening that one for the first time was legitimately one of the best album experiences I ever had. It's one of those "I never thought doing this was impossible, but it never ocurred to me that someone would actually do it" moments.
Incredible album and a very therapeutic listen
Completely underrated album
@@guin705 Probably just hungry...
I would love to know what race he thinks bjork is “cosplaying” as bc that outfit is straight cultural gibberish
It's a decent list for sure. I think I'd have to have Endtroducing, Airplane Over the Sea and Different Class in my list. I think the Blue Album, Siamese Dream and Selected Ambient Works should be in the Convo too.
I think PF was just tired of just including NMH in every list. I think if they'd made this list in December 1999 Airplane would've cracked the top 5. NMH fatigue, if you will. Just a theory.
I was about 12 in Yorkshire in the mid-90s when one of my old schoolmates, Anup Chowdhury made me some mixtapes made up from his older brothers hip-hop/rap collection. I remember about 90% of it being G-funk, West Coast stuff... and then one tape had "Wu-Tang - Clan Enter the 36 Chambers" written on it. Loved it then, still love it now.
I still listen to it a couple of times a month, and it always sounds fresh. No matter what the production and beats are, no matter the current trends in hip-hop/rap... it always seems to incomprehensibly sound relevant.
"Out Come the Wolves". The only 90s album I still listen to on a weekly basis.
yeah this list lacks Punk albums, the 90s was the last greatest era for Punk and IMO "Out Come the Wolves" is top 10 best punk albums of all time
No AIC, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam or NIN on here is sad. But as The Onion once said, “Pitchfork gives music a a whole a 6.8”
I'd find room for Dummy and A Different Class.
Soundgarden Superunknown
I know he prefers Vespertine but it doesn't mean Homogenic isn't also S tier. I can't have a preference between these two perfect albums.
Not having Talk Talk Laughing Stock is criminal frankly
OK Computer is just easily one of the best albums EVER, pure magic. Lastly, as a professional creative director, I need you to never speak on that bjork album cover again because it is PERFECTION.
Everyone has their own opinions about lists like this. I had no idea what I'd pick personally for "best" because influence, innovation, etc. have to factor into the decision. Even though I have listened to all of the albums in this Top 10 numerous times, apparently this (per my Spotify stats) is what I ACTUALLY enjoy listening to the most...
1. Nirvana - Nevermind / In Utero / Unplugged (had to combine these otherwise they'd all be in the Top 10)
2. Radiohead - OK Computer
3. Garbage - Garbage / Version 2.0 (had to combine or both would be on here)
4. Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory
5. Dr. Dre - The Chronic
6. Depeche Mode - Violator
7. Madonna - Ray of Light
8. Nas - Illmatic
9. R.E.M. - Monster
10. Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals
MBV is a respectable choice for a list like this due to the influence but, keeping it real, I don't enjoy listening to it all that much. I find the Liz Phair and Lauryn Hill albums to be massively overrated and neither would make my Top 100 for the 90s. The Bjork, Hole, Janet and WTC albums are all solid.
Bjork and MBV deserve S tier
Homogenic sounds like a record that could have been made today. It is absolutely her best work.
my submission for best album of the 90’s is the ‘91 release of Slint’s storied sophomore LP, an album that modern discussions of post-rock and even some tangents of goth and cerebral atmospheric looping drone instrumentals the likes of swans but stripped back and not quite as repetitive or methodically monotone, maybe closer to bauhaus if bauhaus was using guitar tones highly infused with that 90’s butt-rock distortion during the instrumental swells that occur in the various points of the tight tracklist. the album is so short and i feel like i’ve read a book by the time it’s over, and it is endlessly replayable, with nearly flawless and eccentric percussion, spoken word passages that bridge into beat poetry at points and then billow like puffs of smoke into sometimes screamed recitations of surreal metaphor doused with a level of followable storytelling that ties the tracks so perfectly together, even though each feels so significantly individual in its presentation. that isn’t to say that the presentation is all over the place, there is structure at work here… but if you listen closely to the drumwork especially, you will notice subtle variations and accents and nuances of the instrumentation that changes the musical composition of the or orchestration practically every bar, almost like jazz except played as previously described and using a much clearer definition of modern pop and rock aesthetics coming out of post-punk and other myriad facets of the rock landscape of the early 90’s, but this drives the clear vamp (a repeated loop in guitar work that is meant to act both as a percussive measure of a single bar of melody, and is structured to repeat itself every bar so that melodically it has symmetry) on tracks such as washer or the noodly opener or nosferatu man.
the album is uniquely engaging track for track for track.
legitimately the only album i give enough apparent credit (as this is the first time i’ve realized this) that i listen to the entirety of the record multiple times in one sitting. definitely imo should be in anybody’s top 3 of the 90’s, and it is my pick for numero uno.
Not having Spiderland and Siamese Dream makes this list an automatic L. Pitchfork blows
I was just about to say...SD by SP...Nevermind may be a greater album...but I could argue that Siamese Dream is better
They had Spiderland at 83 and Siamese Dream at 98
@@utm0st ...lame
@@utm0stboth deserve to be in the top 10
Great albums, but they don't belong in the top 10 of the decade. Like which of the top 10 are you gonna push out by putting them there, and then if you are gonna push an album out, I think there are other albums that could fill those spots better
Rock/Metal wise:
Nevermind
Dirt
Antichrist Superstar
The Great Southern Trendkill
Burzum/Aske
KoRn
Transylvanian Hunger
None so Vile
Rust in Peace
The Sound of Perseverance or Symbolic
Rap Wise:
Ready to Die
Illmatic
Capital Punishment
Slim Shady LP
2001
Enter the Wu-Tang
Aquemini
All Eyez on Me
Doggystyle
Flesh of my Flesh, Blood of my Blood
What about pop?
@@MaxJernigan-km8si not sure, I don't listen to a ton of pop music
@@owl509 I was just curious of any suggestions
You missed alot of other death metal and hip hop releases but you threw out some bangers on there
I would have put Post above Homogenic and think Live Through This is equal to Nevermind. Also, recognizing the amazing work of Courtney Love and Liz Phair is not being political at all, they were hugely influential and made amazing albums.
Yesssssss
No downward spiral by them is absolute sacrilege
"Dirt" is a million times better than that freaking Hole album!
So is Ten and Superunknown.
The cover of Homogenic is awesome.
Nirvana is my favorite band, I love grunge, I live 70s hardcore punk, I love the edgy ugly abrasive sounds. Nevermind is the perfect album. There's nothing wrong with it. Kurt hated on it because he was a little insecure about making something so good and didn't really have experience doing good things for himself. Inside, I bet he knew he made a better album than any of his peers would.
what the actual fuck, where is the Mezzanine and Violator, are you kidding me
No Marilyn Manson or Nine Inch Nails?
Antichrist Superstar and The Downward Spiral should’ve been on here.. Mellon Collie and Aenima too