ROCK SOLID
IN THE TWILIGHT DAYS OF THE '90S, HERE ARE 50 REASONS WHY IT HAS BEEN
A GREAT DECADE FOR MUSIC
Greg Kot
* 02/21/99
Chicago Tribune
(Copyright 1999 by the Chicago Tribune)
1. Nirvana, "Nevermind" (Geffen)
The underground finally rocks the shopping malls and signals an
end to the '80s, big hair, spandex and Bon Jovi. "Smells Like Teen
Spirit" defines its time every bit as emphatically as the Stones'
"Satisfaction," Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" and Prince's "Purple
Rain" did theirs.
2. Liz Phair, "Exile in Guyville" (Matador)
Phair talks to the guy who done her wrong by adopting the voice
and attitude of the Stones' "Exile on Main Street" and paves the way
for Alanis Morissette and countless others.
3. Public Enemy, "Fear of a Black Planet" (Def Jam)
Hip-hop that outrocks any rock band, and the end of an era: the
last great album of rap's first golden age.
4. Sinead O'Connor, "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got"
(Ensign/Chrysalis)
One of the few albums to match the naked-truth intensity of John
Lennon's "Plastic Ono Band."
5. Tricky, "Maxinquaye" (Island)
A spooky, claustrophobic masterpiece from a ghetto visionary.
6. My Bloody Valentine, "Loveless" (Warner Brothers)
Kevin Shields' guitar builds a new bridge between noise and pop.
7. R.E.M., "Automatic for the People" (Warner Brothers)
A low-key, deeply moving meditation
on the AIDS era.
8. A Tribe Called Quest, "The Low End Theory" (Jive)
Building on the great East Coast rap tradition, the Tribe brings
jazzier textures, slinkier beats, deeper rhymes.
9. The Orb, "The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld" (Big
Life/Mercury)
The final frontier of Pink Floydian psychedelia and Ground Zero
for the electronica nation.
10. Beck, "Odelay" (Geffen)
Like the Mad Hatter with a channel changer, Beck flips through the
past and connects seemingly random moments into a grab bag of groove.
11. P.J. Harvey, "To Bring You My Love" (Island)
Deep blues as scripted by Tennessee Williams.
12. Lauryn Hill, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" (Ruffhouse)
The Tribune's Maureen Ryan said it best: This is hip-hop's answer
to Liz Phair's "Exile in Guyville."
13. Smashing Pumpkins, "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness"
(Virgin)
Billy Corgan -- in the role of alternative rock's Phil Spector --
makes his "symphony for the kids."
14. Ice Cube, "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted" (Priority)
Though it set the tone for much of the shallow, money-grubbing
gangsta rap that followed, Cube's chilling portrait of ghetto culture
is a sonic masterpiece done in conjunction with Public Enemy's Bomb
Squad.
15. Pavement, "Slanted and Enchanted" (Matador)
Indie-rock's most rewardingly cerebral pop band.
16. Radiohead, "OK Computer" (Capitol)
Psychedelic arias for the machine age.
17. Moby, "Everything is Wrong" (Elektra)
Techno maverick juggles rock, reggae, gospel, disco, blues and
classical minimalism without fumbling.
18. Bjork, "Post" (Elektra)
Quirky little earthquakes of the human heart.
19. Cornershop, "When I Was Born for the 7th Time" (Luaka Bop)
Bollywood rock, raga rap and a "Brimful of Asha"- the heady sound
of the new Asian underground.
20. DJ Shadow, "Endtroducing . . ." (Mo Wax/ffrr)
The art of the deejay-mixer taken to new heights.
21. P.M. Dawn, "Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The
Utopian
Experience" (Gee Street/Island)
Hip-hop's most blissful album.
22. Portishead, "Dummy" (Go! Discs/London)
The cinematic sound of one heart breaking.
23. Goldie, "Timeless" (Metalheadz/ffrr)
Groundbreaking drums 'n' bass dance music that sounds great in the
club, even better on headphones.
24. Flaming Lips, "Transmissions From the Satellite Heart"
(Warner Brothers)
An acid-rock "Fantasia."
25. Wilco, "Summerteeth" (Reprise)
Young roots-rock band makes its own version of the Beach Boys'
"Pet Sounds" (to be released March 9).
26. Los Lobos, "Kiko" (Slash/Warner Brothers)
Veteran roots-rock band makes its own version of The Beatles'
"Revolver."
27. U2, "Achtung Baby" (Island)
Like Bowie in the '70s, the earnest Irish rock band reinvents
itself -- and nearly finds a sense of humor -- by making a spiky,
intoxicating album in Berlin.
28. Pearl Jam, "Ten" (Epic)
"Can ya see the real me?" The Gen X "Quadrophenia."
29. Bob Dylan, "Time Out of Mind" (Columbia)
One more masterpiece, from the brink of middle age.
30. Iris DeMent, "My Life" (Warner Brothers)
The Voice sings timeless folk-country songs about God, death and
the transforming power of music itself.
31. Bloque, "Bloque" (Luaka Bop)
A new era of Hispanic rock begins.
32. Pet Shop Boys, "Very" (EMI)
Sly, witty, bittersweet disco anthems.
33. Tupac Shakur, "Me Against the World" (Out da
Gutta/Interscope)
Unlike Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and other gangsta rappers who dominated
hip-hop in the mid-'90s, Shakur dared to present both sides of the
"thug life" and to suggest that even in this harsh world tenderness
still has a place.
34. Johnny Cash, "American Recordings" (American)
Grand Canyon voice, six acoustic guitar strings and a batch of
great songs.
35. Ani DiFranco, "Living in Clip" (Righteous Babe)
* Folk music with a Doberman's bite.
36. Sleater-Kinney, "Dig Me Out" (Kill Rock Stars)
The "Sgt. Pepper" of riot grrrl rock.
37. Lucinda Williams,
"Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" (Mercury)
Timeless songs, exquisite singing, turmoil redeemed by beauty.
38. Tony! Toni! Tone!, "Sons of Soul" (Wing)
The last great soul group.
39. Yo La Tengo, "Painful" (Matador)
One of rock's best, longest-lived bands explores the sad-eyed
beauty of drones, moans and murmurs.
40. Meshuggah, "Destroy Erase Improve" (Nuclear Blast)
Virtuoso metal that pushes extremes on all fronts: not just
faster, louder and harder, but defter, denser and more agile.
41. Jimmie Dale Gilmore, "After Awhile" (Elektra)
The zen cowboy with the high, lonesome voice takes country into
the realm of Dylan, Sondheim and Leonard Cohen.
42. Wu Tang Clan, "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" (Loud/RCA)
A coming-out party for one of hip-hop's greatest sonic architects,
producer RZA.
43. Beastie Boys, "Check Your Head" (Grand Royal)
Started an onslaught of rap-rock-funk bands, most of which
couldn't match the inventiveness of this release.
44. Belle and Sebastian, "If You're Feeling Sinister" (The
Enclave)
Seductive, sharp-tongued guitar pop not heard since the heyday of
the Smiths.
45. Common, "Some Day It'll All Make Sense" (Relativity)
A lost hip-hop classic from a master wordsmith and enlightened
thinker.
46. Matthew Sweet, "Girlfriend" (Zoo)
Power pop as agony, ecstasy, exorcism.
47. Arrested Development, "3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life
Of . . ." (Chrysalis/EMI)
Earthy, soulful hip-hop conceals tough-minded lyrics.
48. Sepultura, "Roots" (Attic/MCA)
Thrash metal goes to Brazil.
49. Paul K, "Love is a Gas" (Alias)
The great lost songwriter of our time.
50. Nirvana, "MTV Unplugged"(Geffen)
The flip side of grunge, with Kurt Cobain's cover of Leadbelly's
"Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" serving as a haunting epitaph.
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