The Grahammy's 90/90
Volume 4, Number 4
Friday, December 24, 1999
"Kinda like MTV 1515 on Mad Dog
20/20 but not really"
Seeing the response to the Grahammy Decade Of Film Retrospective
both excited and petrified me. For while most can more or less
agree on what constitutes a successfully executed film, the same
cannot be said for music. Music is a far more integral part of
our daily lives; ergo, it commands a greater portion of both our
hearts and our heads. Hence, I am anticipating passionate
responses from the loyal subscribers about why one of their
favorite albums/singles did not make the list, as well as a
handful of "What the fuck Grambo, are you on crack?"
takes about things that did make the list. And while I originally
promised only five installments of the Grahammy's 90/90, I must
regretfully inform the public that I am extending the list to now
include one more installment. I was unhappy with my coverage of
the greatest singles of the `90s (so many classic songs it's hard
to recollect all of them), so I decided to reconsult the Oracle
and split my Musical Musings into two separate installments. Your
casbah will be rocked today by the Best Albums Of The `90s. So
sit back and prepare to be dazzled by 1.21 gigawatts of LOVE!
TOP 45 ALBUMS OF THE
NINETIES
45) "Screamadelica", Primal Scream (`91) - Madchester baby.
44) "Weezer", Weezer (`94) - Geeks can rock, too.
43) "Retreat
From The Sun", That Dog!
(`97) - Perfect for bouncing around your apartment on a Wednesday
night.
42) "Blue
Is The Colour",
Beautiful South (`97) - And the Sunday sun shines down on San
Francisco bay.
41) "Black
Eyed Man", Cowboy
Junkies (`92) - Margo has the voice of an angel.
40) "Penthouse", Luna (`95) - The only album to ever begin
and end with song titles based on Faye Dunaway movies ("Chinatown"
and "Bonnie & Clyde").
39) "Grace", Jeff Buckley (`94) - Stupid Mississippi
River.
38) "Brighten
The Corners", Pavement
(`97) - Pigs tend to wiggle when they walk.
37) "Nowhere", Ride (`90) - Classic shoegazing.
36) "Girlfriend", Matthew Sweet (`91) - Pop, pop, pop music.
35) "Better
Living Through Chemistry",
Fatboy Slim (`97) - Guaranteed to get this party started right.
34) "Among
My Swan", Mazzy Star (`96)
- Dreamy sonic bliss.
33) "Ghost
Of Tom Joad", Bruce
Springsteen (`95) - The Boss is The Boss, even when he's acoustic.
32) "Different
Class", Pulp (`96) -
Jarvis mooned Jacko.
31) "Entroducing...", DJ Shadow (`96) - The sound of Whitey on
turntables of gold.
30) "It's
A Shame About Ray",
Lemonheads (`92) - It's a shame about Evan.
29) "Live
Through This", Hole (`94)
- Go on, take everything, take everything, I dare you to.
28) "Achtung
Baby", U2 (`91) -
Before they slipped into pretentiousness.
27) "Fountains
Of Wayne", FOW (`96) -
Pure pop for now people.
26) "The
Predator", Ice Cube (`92)
- "Hey, you know you won G"... "Won what?"
... "The wet T-shirt contest, muthafucka!"
25) "Trailer
Park", Beth Orton (`96)
- Joni for the `90s.
24) "Little
Earthquakes", Tori Amos
(`92) - Absolutely riveting.
23) "Out
Of Time", REM (`91) -
Despite the appearance of KRS-One.
22) "Ladies
& Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space", Spiritualized (`97) - Depressing as all
get out.
21) "What's
The Story (Morning Glory)",
Oasis (`95) - Where were YOU when we were getting high?
20) "Car
Wheels On A Gravel Road",
Lucinda Williams (`98) - Alt-country's finest hour.
19) "Urban
Hymns", The Verve (`97)
- I need to hear some sounds that recognize the pain in me, yeah.
18) "Homogenic", Bjork (`97) - Her most mature and fully
accomplished work.
17) "Galaxie
500 Box Set", Galaxie
500 (`96) - Technically not a `90s release but it's so damn good
I couldn't let it slip.
16) "The
Great Escape", Blur (`95)
- Remember Brit-pop?
15) "Definitely
Maybe", Oasis (`94) - A
cocaine-fueled rawk epic.
14) "Your
Arsenal", Morrissey (`92)
- Morrissey goes rockabilly in a grand way.
13) "XO", Elliot Smith (`98) - The new Kurt?
12) "Everything
Is Wrong", Moby (`95) -
So much more than techno.
11) "Loveless", My Bloody Valentine (`91) - Set the bar
for what guitar music COULD be, and frankly, this high water mark
hasn't been reached since.
10) "Bewitched", Luna (`94) - Baaaaa baaaaa, bah b ba bah.
Dean is the coolest.
9) "The
Chronic", Dr. Dre (`92)
- Ain't nuthin' but a Dre thing. Set thousands of bodies (and
drop tops) bumpin' in the summer of `92.
8) "OK
Computer", Radiohead (`97)
- In an interstellar burst, they were back to save the universe.
Epic.
7) "Nevermind", Nirvana (`91) - What more can be said
about the album that forever changed the landscape of music?
6) "Automatic
For The People", REM (`92)
- If "Ignoreland" were a B-side, this would be a
perfect album. Try telling me that "Nightswimming" isn't
the most gorgeous song put to tape this decade...
5) "The
Bends", Radiohead (`95)
- Goudy's got the bends (an inside joke meant for only one of you
out there). From "Planet Telex" to "Street Song (Fade
Out)", you can't help but be swept up in the magical and
majestic reign of Radiohead. Who are my real friends?
4) "In
Utero", Nirvana (`93) -
How do you possibly top an album like "Nevermind"? Kurt
had all the answers. Angry and emotional and cathartic all at
once, he left it all on this album.
3) "Dummy", Portishead (`94) - Where Massive Attack's
"Blue Lines" was the Amerigo Vespucci of trip-hop,
Portishead was Christopher Columbus. They came, they saw, they
booted all the indigent peoples the hell outta Dodge and made the
genre their own.
2) "A
Northern Soul", The
Verve (`93) - I wanna die with Atabey. Props out to Wartinbee and
Stockwell (wherever he may be) for introducing me to the Best
Band Of The `90s. A grandiose work that aimed high and achieved
glory. Simultaneously raucous and breathtakingly melodic. Richard
+ Nick + Simon + Pete = genius.
1) "Exile
In Guyville", Liz Phair
(`93) - The definitive female voice of the `90s. This album,
aside from being an indie rock masterpiece, did nothing less than
clear the way for the Lilith takeover. Miss Phair broke down
every barrier about what "nice girls" could say on
record. And by standing toe to toe with the Stones' "Exile
On Main Street", she almost singlehandedly destroyed "cock
rock" forever. "6'1" was Girl Power before the
Spice Girls were even a glint in Simon Fullerton's eyes. "Divorce
Song" was pitch perfect in its description of a
disintegrating relationship. "Stratford-On-Guy",
fuggedaboutit. Epiphanous. And how can you go wrong with lyrics
like "I want all the stupid bullshit/like letters and soda...I
can feel it in my bones/I'm gonna spend my whole life alone/It's
fuck and run"...??? The answer is you can't. Deserves a spot
in every one of your CD collections. Best.
WEDNESDAY: Top 45 Singles of The `90s
See you then...
Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel.
-Mark
