Matthew Yglesias (May 21, 2007) - The Ultimate Nineties Alt-Rock Playlist (Culture)

What, no Matthew Sweet?

Posted by Rob | May 21, 2007 11:23 AM

What, no Matthew Sweet?

Fuck. Good call.

Posted by Matthew Yglesias | May 21, 2007 11:25 AM

First thought: Man, there's some awful stuff on that list.

Second thought: Some of those songs must have been a regional thing. For example, I never heard "Siva" on the radio, and I would have been listening for it, since I was a huge Pumpkins fan back then.

Posted by Clark | May 21, 2007 11:27 AM

I tried a similar-but-derisive experiment, coming up with rough 90s analogues for the dubious hits including on the late 60s/early 70s Freedom Rock.

And if I heard Seven Mary Three at a party, I would go all early-LSD-experiment and jump out of the nearest window.

Posted by norbizness | May 21, 2007 11:29 AM

Dave Matthews Band?

Posted by JP | May 21, 2007 11:32 AM

No Beastie Boys? No Supergrass? No Liz Phair? No Ween? No PJ Harvey?

All the while Third Eye Blind gets three tracks?

"the task is inherently subjective and this was my party:"

No doubt. But that doesn't mean this list isn't evidence that something is drastically wrong with you...

Posted by Petey | May 21, 2007 11:32 AM

Is is just because I listened to WFNX in Boston in the early 90s that I think the Pixies should be on here somewhere? (I mean, if the Mighty Mighty Bosstones are...?)

Posted by Jonathan Taylor | May 21, 2007 11:33 AM

Also, HOOTIE!!!

Posted by JP | May 21, 2007 11:37 AM

NIN's "Head Like a Hole" is from 1989. True, it "broke" in 1991, but it's an 80s tune nevertheless. Replace it with "Wish".

Posted by thefax | May 21, 2007 11:38 AM

Counting Crows

Posted by JP | May 21, 2007 11:39 AM

The problem with this list is that, with a few exceptions, you chose songs that were "good" in preference to "quintessentially 90s." For example, R.E.M. should be represented by "Losing my Religion," because that was the R.E.M. song repeated ad-nauseum through the 90s. I realize that since it was a party-mix, you had to consider the issue of listenability, but there are a bunch of songs that aren't here that I would have expected.

Note, of course, that my perception of "the 90s" skews to "early 90s."

This also interests me because this is one of the few occurances of a "90s party" that I have heard of. 80s parties started being thrown very soon after the 90s started, but there has been comparatively little interest in 90s parties. This leads me to conclude that the best way to celebrate the 90s is to throw parties that recall the sorts of parties that were thrown in the 90s. Which is to say, 80s parties. Thus, a true "90s party" is actually an "80s nostalgia party that was thrown in the 90s"

Posted by Constantine | May 21, 2007 11:40 AM

"Is is just because I listened to WFNX in Boston in the early 90s that I think the Pixies should be on here somewhere?"

I actually think the Pixies absence is acceptable considering that their last album came in '91. I also think Frank Black's solo absence is acceptable on esoteric grounds.

But a 90's nostalgia party with no Stereolab strikes me as perverse to the maximum...

Posted by Petey | May 21, 2007 11:40 AM

311 "Down"?

Posted by loser | May 21, 2007 11:40 AM

"The problem with this list is that, with a few exceptions, you chose songs that were "good"

Hah!

Posted by Petey | May 21, 2007 11:41 AM

breeders.

Posted by alex | May 21, 2007 11:43 AM

Foo Fighters seems overrepresented. There shouldn't be more Foo Fighters than Pearl Jam if you're going for iconicness.

Where are the Chili Peppers?

Posted by JP | May 21, 2007 11:43 AM

Funny, no Liz Phair or TMBG. Nice to see the Breeders made it. And thanks for not adding the Cardigans' "Love Fool". I haven't heard it in years and I'm still sick of it.

Posted by Uncle MIke | May 21, 2007 11:44 AM

Beck "Jackass"
Veruca Salt "Levelor"

Wonder Wall - I would substitute "Chapmange Supernova"

Why not "Big me"?

Ah - who cares? I bet it was a good party. Any knife fighting?

Posted by mickslam | May 21, 2007 11:45 AM

JP: Matt loves the Foo Fighters, though, so it makes sense that they're overrepresented.

I also think the amount of Third Eye Blind is justified. People dislike the band because it got overexposed, its later output was disappointing, and its lead singer is by most accounts a huge dick. But that was an amazingly consistent and slickly-produced album. And of course it was *everywhere*.

Was Stereolab really well-represented on alt rock radio in the 90s?

Posted by tom | May 21, 2007 11:46 AM

"breeders."

alex needs to master the Find command in his browser...

----

"Where are the Chili Peppers?"

Similar to the Pixies in that they're pretty much done by '91...

Posted by Petey | May 21, 2007 11:46 AM

That's not quite the canonical '90s alt-rock playlist, but it's pretty damn close. I'd have picked different songs in some cases, but the bands are well represented.

The list could use a little more estrogen, though. Elastica is sorely missed. Supernova by Liz Phair should definitely be on there somewhere. Maybe some Melissa Etheridge, if she's alt enough for you.

Posted by LaFollette Progressive | May 21, 2007 11:49 AM

"Was Stereolab really well-represented on alt rock radio in the 90s?"

No. But it was incredibly well represented at parties of widely varying tastes during the 90's, which should be part of the criteria...

Posted by Petey | May 21, 2007 11:51 AM

If you Could Only See - Tonic

And as others said, no Dave Matthews Band, 311, or Counting Crows?

Posted by dave | May 21, 2007 11:53 AM

I'd add:

"Block Rocking Beats" The Chemical Brothers

"Pepper" Butthole Surfers

"Wynona's Big Brown Beaver" Primus

But, otherwise, great list.

Posted by badger | May 21, 2007 11:57 AM

Sarah McLachlan - Possession.

Fumbling Towards Ecstasy is a very underappreciated cd.

Posted by maruk | May 21, 2007 11:58 AM

"The list could use a little more estrogen"

Elastica
Bjork
Liz Phair
PJ Harvey
Stereolab
Belle and Sebastian
Mazzy Star
Aimee Mann

Posted by Petey | May 21, 2007 11:59 AM

I know, it's supposed to be mainstream or something, but if you want this party to be fun, toss in some Pavement, the Prodigy, and Neutral Milk Hotel.

Posted by Gary Sugar | May 21, 2007 12:00 PM

if you're going to rule out the chili peppers and pixies because they were largely done by the 90s, how can you include the song 'jane says' when it was released in 1987?

i mean, the chili peppers and pixies were still getting airplay in the 90s.

Posted by gorillagogo | May 21, 2007 12:01 PM

Just to be pedantic (after all, you're finding meaning in the alphabetical order), the title of the song is "Only Happy When It Rains".

No argument that "Hey Jealousy" is the bigger hit, but the really good Gin Blossoms song is "Alison Road".

I guess it doesn't qualify as alt-rock, but for a 90s party I'd have "Missing" by Everything But The Girl on their somewhere.

I'm willing to listen to other nominations, but I think the best alt-rock joke of the 90s would be Norm McDonald. "The #1 artist on the college charts this summer was Better Than Ezra. #2? Ezra."

God, I hate that New Radicals song.

Posted by Devin McCullen | May 21, 2007 12:03 PM

Petey, ok, I phrased that wrong. It's not that the songs he chose were mostly good ones. It's that when he had a choice between a "quintessentially 90s" song from a band and a song from that band that was more pleasant to listen to, he chose the latter.

For the record, I should note my personal bias-- I hated, hated, hated, the early 90s whiner-rock aesthetic that didn't go away until the very late 90s.

Posted by Constantine | May 21, 2007 12:04 PM

The Gin Blossoms are some terrible terrible dreck. Kind of surprised there's nothing from Blood Sugar Sex Magik.

Posted by Joe Strummer | May 21, 2007 12:05 PM

Under the Bridge was a '90s song, no?

Posted by JP | May 21, 2007 12:07 PM

Foul! Proclaimers "500 Miles" was released in 1988!

Posted by Uptown Topranking | May 21, 2007 12:09 PM

Really? Because 500 Miles was a hit in 1993. What accounts for the delay?

Posted by Mark | May 21, 2007 12:10 PM

Under the bridge is canonical. Must be included. I would add Sublime...

Posted by Al | May 21, 2007 12:11 PM

I think it was re-released on a soundtrack or something.

Posted by JP | May 21, 2007 12:11 PM

"Kind of surprised there's nothing from Blood Sugar Sex Magik."

It is an amazing album, with the exception of the execrable "Under the Bridge".

Posted by Petey | May 21, 2007 12:13 PM

Gotta run, but yeah. If you're looking for not just what you like, but what was big, for Smashing Pumpkins neither Cherub Rock nor Siva were as big as Bullet With Butterfly Wings and 1979.

Actually, that 1979 isn't on the list is a huge hole.

Posted by Karmakin | May 21, 2007 12:14 PM

The Proclaimers song was re-released on the Benny and Joon soundtrack, if I remember correctly.

Posted by CJH | May 21, 2007 12:19 PM

"500 Miles" was in the movie Benny & Joon in 1993.

Posted by croatoan | May 21, 2007 12:19 PM

If songs re-released on soundtracks are allowed, I'd also suggest "My Sharona."

Posted by JP | May 21, 2007 12:20 PM

"Knock on Wood," Mighty Mighty Bosstones

I believe this song is called "The Impression That I Get", unless the Bosstones did a cover of the Eddie Floyd Stax song that I'm not familiar with.

And thanks for not adding the Cardigans' "Love Fool". I haven't heard it in years and I'm still sick of it.

Aw man, that song kicks ass. Of course, I like disco a lot more than most people.

As for DMB, my guess is that Mr. Yglesias left them off the playlist because he wanted to be at a party where he didn't have listen to DMB.

Posted by Cain | May 21, 2007 12:21 PM

Shocking omissions:

Veruca Salt, "Seether"
Collective Soul, "Shine"

Posted by Christopher M | May 21, 2007 12:24 PM

And copied from another thread, here's Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme's cover of Black Hole Sun, just because if you haven't heard it, you should.

Isn't it ironic? Don't you think?

Posted by Petey | May 21, 2007 12:24 PM

I guess Del Amitri's "Roll to Me" didn't make the cut.

Posted by Chris | May 21, 2007 12:28 PM

"Brimful of Asha", Cornershop
"Super Bon Bon", Soul Coughing
"Circles", "Frank Sinatra", "The Distance", Cake

Mega props for "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" however.

Posted by mk | May 21, 2007 12:29 PM

"Stars", Hum

Posted by mk | May 21, 2007 12:32 PM

I'm sure it was a great party, but (in my limited experience as a DJ) people have stronger nostalgic reactions to good songs that *didn't* make it into the alt-rock canon.

Viewed from this persepctive, Filter and the Breeders were excellent choices, but I'd venture that more of your friends might've gotten laid had, say, "Feed The Tree" (Belly, 1993) and "Connected" (Stereo MCs, 1991) replaced "Just A Girl" and "Runaway Train" (both of which are currently in heavy rotation at my neighborhood supermarket.)

Posted by James Gary | May 21, 2007 12:32 PM

"Ready to Go" by Republica is about as '90s as it gets, and goes hand in hand with "Tubthumping."

Posted by Shrike58 | May 21, 2007 12:35 PM

"I'm sure it was a great party, but (in my limited experience as a DJ) people have stronger nostalgic reactions to good songs that *didn't* make it into the alt-rock canon."

Yup.

Posted by Petey | May 21, 2007 12:36 PM

Do your inclusion of "Bittersweet Symphony" and the absence of any songs credited to U2 mean that you also feel that "Bittersweet Symphony" was the best U2 song of the 90's, its attribution to The Verve notwithstanding?

Posted by Sam Penrose | May 21, 2007 12:37 PM

One thing this list demonstrates: Guided by Voices was criminally unrecognized by alt-rock radio. There are at least a dozen songs from Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes that deserved airplay. It's a damn shame.

Posted by Mr. Ziffel | May 21, 2007 12:40 PM

No Beastie Boys?

Feh!

WLIR how I miss you!

Posted by Mysterious Traveler | May 21, 2007 12:42 PM

"No Beastie Boys?"

I'm astonished he included Beck.

It would've required only a little fine tuning to make this list completely free of good 90's songs.

Posted by Petey | May 21, 2007 12:45 PM

Good list. But Blur's Song 2 was a glaring emission (and a fun party song.)

Posted by jerry | May 21, 2007 12:46 PM

I second "Ready to Go". I also think "Inside Out" by Eve 6 is another pretty glaring omission.

Posted by alex | May 21, 2007 12:48 PM

I take it Pulp didn't get much airplay in the US in the 90s.

Posted by Ginger Yellow | May 21, 2007 12:48 PM

I agree with Al. How can there be a list of 90's music without Sublime? Bradley Nowell's death was a huge loss, the end of a seminal 90's band.

Posted by beth | May 21, 2007 12:49 PM

I suppose alt-rock necessarily preculdes alt-country, so no "Chickamauga."

The '90s was a great decade for alt-country. Anything cross over that can make the list?

Posted by Gorgle Erf | May 21, 2007 12:50 PM

Sublime? What I Got. Sangaria. Date-Rape Song.

Brian Setzer?

And who did Zoot Suit Riot? And that Hell song? Squirrel Nut Zippers?

How about Los Banditos by the Refreshments? Teen Angst by Cracker?

I think those were all 90s tunes.

Some stuff on your list I really, really love. Some I really, really hate. That was the 90s for you...

Posted by CJ Scudworth | May 21, 2007 12:50 PM

Sublime? What I Got. Sangaria. Date-Rape Song.

Brian Setzer?

And who did Zoot Suit Riot? And that Hell song? Squirrel Nut Zippers?

How about Los Banditos by the Refreshments? Teen Angst by Cracker?

I think those were all 90s tunes.

Some stuff on your list I really, really love. Some I really, really hate. I guess that was the 90s for you...

Posted by clonehighfan | May 21, 2007 12:51 PM

While it's good song (by an even greater band)what "average "modern rock" radio station" played the Mr. T Experience? I believe the Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba video was on MTV once or twice, on 120 Minutes during the Matt Pinfield era.

Posted by Josh | May 21, 2007 12:56 PM

And where is Spacehog's In the Meantime, dammit?

Posted by PapaJijo | May 21, 2007 12:56 PM

I find your lack of U2 disturbing.

Posted by Darth Vader | May 21, 2007 12:58 PM

Too much late 90's for my taste. Hard for the youngsters to believe, but waaay back in the early 90s, alt-rock and top 40 were two different genres. Nirvana were shocking not just because Nevermind was great, but because the album it displaced was by Michael Jackson. There's simply nothing interesting to say about Third Eye Blind, because theres no real difference between them and Michael Jackson.

And yeah, much of my 90s listening was PJ, Liz, and (my pop fave) Juliana Hatfield. Ooo, and Mary Lou Lord.

Posted by MikeJ | May 21, 2007 12:58 PM

Much agreement with those arguing for Matthew Sweet and Cornershop.

May I also suggest "Nearly Lost You", by Screaming Trees, "Love Spreads" by the Stone Roses and "Bandidos" by the Refreshments.

Posted by gogiggs | May 21, 2007 12:59 PM

Nothing from Tori Amos's Little Earthquakes?!? Criminal. No tipsy, maudlin, 90's late-night alterna-college girls' whining session would have been complete without it... I speak from experience.

The omission of Portishead is also distressing.

Posted by annelina | May 21, 2007 12:59 PM

I take it Pulp didn't get much airplay in the US in the 90s.

Sadly, no. We got Bush over here, but no Pulp. That's the story of American alt-rock radio in a nutshell.

More omissions that occur to me:
"Low," Cracker
"Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon," Urge Overkill
ANYTHING by The Lemonheads

Posted by LaFollette Progressive | May 21, 2007 1:05 PM

This is an effort to recreate the experience of listening to your average "modern rock" radio station during the decade in question.

and you did a great job of that. overplayed, every single one of them. but, there are still stations out there sticking tightly to that play list. blech.

similarly, i once did a list of records you'd need in order to run a classic rock radio station. it's depressing.

Posted by cleek | May 21, 2007 1:09 PM

'steal my sunshine" by len was 1999. wasn't exactly neutral milk hotel, but if we're calling third eye blind 'alt-rock' then len definitely falls into the category. tune was fun, infectious, and utterly inescapable upon release.

'pepper' by the butthole surfers should've gotten a shout-out as well.

and where da wilco at, yo?

Posted by speedy0314 | May 21, 2007 1:12 PM

I'm very glad I wasn't at your party.
With the exception of "21st Century Digital Boy", these songs all suck, as dot he bands that produced them. And that includes Nirvana, any of whose songs were done better in 1985 during the hardcore movement.

Posted by brendan | May 21, 2007 1:12 PM

"Good" by Better Than Ezra?
"Here And Now" by Letters To Cleo?
And I second the Spacehog motion a couple of comments above...

Posted by straleno | May 21, 2007 1:12 PM

Tori Amos- Conrflake Girl
Filter- Hey Man, Nice shot
RHCP- Under the Bridge
Helmet- In the Meantime
Sunday Day Real Estate- Seven
Jennifer Trynin- Better than nothing
Temple of the Dog- Hunger Strike
Tool- Prison Sex
Quicksand- Landmine Spring
Todd Snider- My Generation (Part 2)

Just to name a few.

Posted by patrick | May 21, 2007 1:17 PM

Re: alt-country,

Then only song I can think of that got much radio airplay was Son Volt's "Drown."

Posted by Azelie | May 21, 2007 1:17 PM

mk,

Get out of my head. I was going to suggest 2 of the 3 bands you listed (and I wholly agree with cornershop, too).

Posted by Crusty Dem | May 21, 2007 1:18 PM

This is great. I've been looking to put together a '90s Alternative playlist for the User Track radio station in Grand Theft Audio: San Andreas. Radio X doesn't really reflect what I think of as '90s Alternative. I think I'll revise history so that Stone Temple Pilots never existed, though.

Posted by superdude | May 21, 2007 1:21 PM

What we totally need is, instead of a single comments thread, a comments wiki area where we can collectively make our own list. Or a comments voting area, where we can vote on it. This would rule all blegs until the end of time.

Posted by mk | May 21, 2007 1:21 PM

Excluding Jeff Buckley from a 90s "best" list is a damn shame.

Posted by mat | May 21, 2007 1:23 PM

"Too much late 90's for my taste. Hard for the youngsters to believe, but waaay back in the early 90s, alt-rock and top 40 were two different genres. Nirvana were shocking not just because Nevermind was great, but because the album it displaced was by Michael Jackson. There's simply nothing interesting to say about Third Eye Blind, because theres no real difference between them and Michael Jackson."

lol exactly. I was at a party in the 90s, and with people I do not consider to be music aware at all. These are people who listened to Journey or something like that. Somebody brought out Nevermind, and people at the party just started screaming and loving it. They asked to play it over - the entire thing, and then again. Completely out of character shocking behaviour for this crowd. They listened to the record 3 times that night. You can't overestimate how big this record was, how different it was, how good it was in real time. It was like the Beatles vs Perry Como or something.

There is this sense by the younger crowd that all of this stuff is of the same pedigree. However, at the time, there was for about 2 years this confluence of indie, alt-rock and pop that was just incredible. It was a magic time.

It faded quickly when Bush and "Everything Zen" first hit the radio - when I heard that band, I knew the record execs had decided on a sound, figured out how to market it and was going to destroy the things I loved on the radio.

I am almost 40. In general, people just a few years older than me like Boston, and that is what Nirvana was killing.

Posted by mickslam | May 21, 2007 1:28 PM

Flood by They Might Be Giants was a pretty big deal in the dorms in 1990-91 if I remember correctly, so..."Birdhouse In Your Soul"?

Posted by mh | May 21, 2007 1:30 PM

‘Kool Thing’, Sonic Youth
‘Pretend We’re Dead’, L7
‘1979’, Smashing Pumkins
‘Bring the Noise’, Anthrax/Public Enemy
‘Personal Jesus’, Depeche Mode
‘Praise You’, Fatboy Slim

Posted by RC | May 21, 2007 1:30 PM

And where is the elastica?

"Connection" or "Stutter"

Posted by mickslam | May 21, 2007 1:36 PM

There is this sense by the younger crowd that all of this stuff is of the same pedigree. However, at the time, there was for about 2 years this confluence of indie, alt-rock and pop that was just incredible. It was a magic time.

yep. and everything on MY's list is the stuff that killed that feeling. when Nirvana made it, and brought all these diverse underground bands to the mainstream (Flaming Lips on 90120, Mudhoney on a major label, RHCP become popular?), something had changed for the better. then a thousand identical, scripted, "Modern Rock" radio stations appeared and the whole thing became nothing more than Top 40 For Non-Dancers.

Posted by cleek | May 21, 2007 1:40 PM

No Southern Culture on the Skids? Juliana Hatfield? Johnny Cash?

Posted by Spud1 | May 21, 2007 1:40 PM

It's a sign that li'l Master Yglesias was on the Lookout! mailing list as a lad. High fives for shared adolescent experiences (even if Dr. Frank did lead you to support the war)!

Posted by aeroman | May 21, 2007 1:41 PM

Thanks for reminding me about Third Eye Blind. Listening to them now, you get a sense of just how prophetic they were -- they had a keen presentiment of the role that fear plays within the moral psyche of the American people, and what an Age of Terror might look like. Great foresight, great band.

Posted by Juan | May 21, 2007 1:41 PM

Dude, RC, Depeche Mode and Fatboy Slim aren't rock. I must admit, I was terribly tempted to suggest stuff like

"Your Woman," White Town
"Lovefool," The Cardigans

but I restrained myself.

That said, I submit:

"Radiation Vibe," Fountains of Wayne
"You're One," Imperial Teen

Posted by scarshapedstar | May 21, 2007 1:41 PM

This list?

Seriously ickford park.

Nostalgia for Third Eye Blind and Everclear? Count me the fuck out.

Posted by ethan | May 21, 2007 1:44 PM

Oh, and you totally left out:

"I Got A Girl," Tripping Daisy
"Jenny Says," Cowboy Mouth

Posted by scarshapedstar | May 21, 2007 1:45 PM

"Thanks for reminding me about Third Eye Blind. Listening to them now, you get a sense of just how prophetic they were -- they had a keen presentiment of the role that fear plays within the moral psyche of the American people, and what an Age of Terror might look like. Great foresight, great band."

Wow.

(I'm not sure why I'm always so surprised when commenters here confirm Sturgeon's Law. I mean, it's not like there's a bouncer or a guest list...)

Posted by Petey | May 21, 2007 1:46 PM

Where's Smash Mouth? All Star was 99 and Walking on the Sun was 1997.

Also, I like Hook better than Runaround for Blues Traveler.

Posted by Random Dude | May 21, 2007 1:46 PM

"yep. and everything on MY's list is the stuff that killed that feeling. when Nirvana made it, and brought all these diverse underground bands to the mainstream (Flaming Lips on 90120, Mudhoney on a major label, RHCP become popular?), something had changed for the better. then a thousand identical, scripted, "Modern Rock" radio stations appeared and the whole thing became nothing more than Top 40 For Non-Dancers. "

lol again - Not all, just lots of it.

Posted by mickslam | May 21, 2007 1:46 PM

(but i guess you could call my previous post "late-80's nostalgia")

Posted by cleek | May 21, 2007 1:47 PM

No Giant Sand? Howe Gelb? Band of Blacky Ranchette? Lisa Germano?

???

Posted by Stephen M.H. Braitman | May 21, 2007 1:47 PM

"The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead" - XTC
"Hear" - Moonpools and Caterpillars
"Here" - Luscious Jackson
"Twisterella" - Ride
"Boys and Girls" - Blur
"Bad Reputation" - Freedy Johnston
"Underground" - Ben Folds Five
"Candy Everybody Wants" - 10,000 Maniacs
"Enjoy the Silence" - Depeche Mode
"She Don't Use Jelly" - Flaming Lips

I'll fourth or fifth deploring the lack of Sublime...you'd think 1990-1993 never happened, more or less, from this list...

Posted by tom | May 21, 2007 1:48 PM

"Nostalgia for Third Eye Blind and Everclear? Count me the fuck out."

Sparkle and Fade is a perfectly listenable album, if not all that special...

Posted by Petey | May 21, 2007 1:49 PM

To cut Matthew some slack re the lack of early 90s stuff - the kid WAS like 10 at the time... Some of us were actually in college listening college radio then.

Meanwhile, this is making me nostalgic for the days of cranking BRU and hearing somethg new and exciting all the time. Sadly, hearing like Artic Monkeys for the first time ain't the same. Goddamn getting old.

Posted by Al | May 21, 2007 1:49 PM

I am almost 40. In general, people just a few years older than me like Boston, and that is what Nirvana was killing.

Nirvana wasn't killing Boston (which was pretty much dead by then), but all those hair bands (Whitesnake, Ratt, Poison, etc) that were destroying rock one crappy ballad/anthem at a time. While purists might complain that "Nevermind" wasn't their best album, it deserves its status as a taste changer. Even geezers like me who grew up listening to Boston in a reefer induced haze in someone's basement could see how important they were.

Posted by Col Bat Guano | May 21, 2007 1:51 PM

"To cut Matthew some slack re the lack of early 90s stuff - the kid WAS like 10 at the time"

It's really no excuse.

I have a decent knowledge of music from before I came of age, much as I do with cinema.

I worry about folks who never go through enough of a music obsessive phase to develop tastes from before their time.

Posted by Petey | May 21, 2007 1:53 PM

I'm about the same age as Matt, give or take a year, and his list looks spot on to me.

Overlooked, IMO (many seconded from the comments above):

"Under the Bridge" Red Hot Chili Peppers
"Give it Away" Red Hot Chili Peppers
"What I Got" Sublime
"Wrong Way" Sublime
"Sabotage" Beastie Boys (a glaring lacuna, Matt's no-hip-hop rule notwithstanding)
"In the Meantime" Spacehog
"Mother" Danzig
"Epic" Faith No More
"Killing in the Name" Rage Against the Machine
"Sober" Tool
"Fall Down" Toad the Wet Sprocket
"Popular" Nada Surf
"Connection" Elastica
"Birdhouse in Your Soul" They Might Be Giants
"Pepper" Butthole Surfers
"Teen Angst" Cracker
"Spoonman" Soundgarden
"Seether" Veruca Salt
"Feed the Tree" Belly
"Friends of P" The Rentals
"Pets" Porno for Pyros

... plus some unfortunate-but-necessary Hall of Shamers:

"Everything Zen" Bush
"Tomorrow" Silverchair
"Shine" Collective Soul
"Far Behind" Candlebox

Posted by Dan | May 21, 2007 1:58 PM

However, at the time, there was for about 2 years this confluence of indie, alt-rock and pop that was just incredible. It was a magic time.

I'll agree with this, too -- I always thought that girl-group/grunge sound of "Cannonball" and "Seether" would take off, but alas it didn't last. Like in the early '80s, though, there was a year or two when the industry didn't know what the rules were, and some really inventive pop music snuck through.

Speaking of which...

"I'll Be There For You," The Rembrandts

This applies to the "selling out" conversation, I suppose, but the two guys in the Rembrandts were the guitarists in an early '80s band called Great Buildings that released one excellent album ("Apart From the Crowd") before breaking up after it failed to sell. So while the "Friends" theme (which they didn't write) was no great shakes artistically, I was glad that they finally made some money.

Posted by Swopa | May 21, 2007 1:58 PM

That's a pretty faithful rendition. I would have picked "Brick", which I think was more popularthan "Battle of Who Could Care Less". And either "I'm only Happy When It Rains" or "Stupid Girl". And you missed the Friends theme song, which I think got play on alternative stations. And I think I would have put Landslide, Bullet with Butterfly Wings, or 1979 for my third Smashing Pumpkins song. Obviously everyone has their own

I think the alt-ska and alt-swing subgenres are little underrepresented. You've got Might Mighty Bostones and No Doubt, but no Sublime, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Cherry Poppin Daddies, or Brian Setzer Orchestra?

Others have pointed out that the lack of any Red Hot Chili Peppers is a serious oversight.

Must have been fun, lots of "oh my god I remember this, I can't believe I thought it was good" moments.

Posted by Nicholas Beaudrot | May 21, 2007 2:00 PM

Depeche Mode and Fatboy Slim aren't rock

That's arguable, but they were played on alt-rock radio stations in the 90's, which was MY's criteria.

Posted by RC | May 21, 2007 2:03 PM

"Must have been fun, lots of "oh my god I remember this, I can't believe I thought it was good" moments."

We have different definitions of fun, apparently...

An evening of "oh my god I remember this, I can't believe I thought it was good" doesn't work for me. You're listening to bad music, which gets tired quick.

Posted by Petey | May 21, 2007 2:03 PM

Ugh.

In most places, that list is slit-my-wrists-to-end-the-pain bad. Breakfast at Tiffany's, Semi-Charmed, Life, and Closing Time... how much vomit can I produce?

I would have paid not to have been at that party.

Gonna see Tool tonight, though. Woo Hoo!

Posted by Zarate | May 21, 2007 2:05 PM

The lack of any Counting Crows song is the biggest omission. I don't think any band more represented the "I'm slightly disaffected and depressed but I don't know why" ethos of the nineties better than Counting Crows.

U2 released music in the nineties, but they weren't a nineties band.

"Stay" by Lisa Loeb would have been appropriate. It was catchy when first heard on the commercials for Reality Bites and inescapable for the rest of 1994.

"Longview" or "Basket Case" would have been a better choice from Green Day.

And the nineties ended in 1997.

Posted by bill | May 21, 2007 2:07 PM

"Also, I like Hook better than Runaround for Blues Traveler."

I think "But Anyway" might be a better "party mix" Blues Traveler song than the two above

Posted by mh | May 21, 2007 2:09 PM

Helmet - Unsung?
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis?
Rollins Band - Liar??

Posted by MikeDV | May 21, 2007 2:10 PM

Among many others, I would add:

Stereo MCs, "Connected"

And something from Moby's 1999 album "Play," probably either "Porcelain" or "Natural Blues."

Posted by J R Hand | May 21, 2007 2:14 PM

Helmet - Unsung?
Uh...

Faith No More - Midlife Crisis?
Uh...

Rollins Band - Liar??

Totally.

Posted by mk | May 21, 2007 2:19 PM

Mick is totally right. There is a lot of baby food on this list. No Mudhoney? Supersuckers? Helmet? Rollins Band? Ministry? NIN-Closer? Huge hit, huge crowds of college girls singing the refrain. No black music at all? 24-7 Spyz, Living Colour, PM Dawn? Let alone Public Enemy/Anthrax, etc...

Milquetoast, anyone?

Posted by Biff Spaceman | May 21, 2007 2:25 PM

U2's best work is Achtung Baby, released in 1991. If the "most '90s" song by '80s holdover R.E.M. is represented, it's a crime that The Fly or One or Zoo Station is not on the list.

Also, if you search this post for the word 'Tupelo' you'll see that the best band of the '90s hasn't even been mentioned yet.

Posted by Woody Bombay | May 21, 2007 2:26 PM

"Rollins Band - Liar??"

It is an amazingly great song.

Posted by Petey | May 21, 2007 2:27 PM

I didn't read all the comments, so maybe someone already suggested this, but you should do an iMix at the Apple Store.

Posted by jay | May 21, 2007 2:27 PM

The only song I can think of that got much radio airplay was Son Volt's "Drown."

I was actually just thinking of that.

I don't think MY had any Wilco on his list, but if so, it's probably not from their first couple albums. Also, I have no idea whether Wilco has ever received any airplay.

Posted by Gorgle Erf | May 21, 2007 2:27 PM

"I didn't read all the comments, so maybe someone already suggested this, but you should do an iMix at the Apple Store."

That would be a much better suggestion if Matthew had, y'know, good taste in 90's music...

Posted by Petey | May 21, 2007 2:30 PM

Petey,

You are really negative. What about how awesome THIRD EYE BLIND was?

Posted by not juan | May 21, 2007 2:32 PM

Petey,

You are really negative. What about how awesome THIRD EYE BLIND was?

Posted by not juan | May 21, 2007 2:32 PM

I like a lot of that stuff. Counting crows and a little more everclear and hole would have been good.

Check out slacker.com's 90's alterno channel if you like this stuff. I listen to it a couple times a week, it's kinda fun to revisit those times if only due to missing all the easy VC money floating around back then...

mikey

Posted by mikey | May 21, 2007 2:33 PM

It's OK to diss Everclear. I recognize now that my love for Sparkle and Fade was generally due to immature taste and post-breakup angst.

But comparing them to freaking Third-Eye Blind?! Them's fightin' words!

Posted by LaFollette Progressive | May 21, 2007 2:42 PM

Well, this morning on my jog, River of Deceit by Mad Season came on. Hadn't heard that in a while that was one I remember hearing a lot on the radio in high school.

So, I started high school in 1991, and had pretty much stopped listening to the radio by 1997, and some of the stuff that stands out as being the (sometimes crappy) soundtrack of my youth that I don't see on this list was a lot of Pearl Jam and Red Hot Chili Peppers in the high school years, a lot of counting crows the summer before college (I think because they were from Berkeley and that was where I was going to school so they are linked in my mind), then the last Alice in Chains album my freshman year of college (the album I fell in love with my husband to, nothing like songs about heroin addiction to make you feel romantic), and I remember hearing a lot of Dave Matthews, Green Day, and Offspring too (I remember drunkenly rocking out to Bad Habit). Also, for some reason the iconic songs I associate with my freshman year (1995): Come back down from this cloud (Bush) and Possum Kingdom (the Toadies).

Posted by J.B. | May 21, 2007 2:42 PM

Your taste in music is as lily white as Augusta National.

Posted by Steven Smith | May 21, 2007 2:43 PM

Sugar - Copper Blue

There were definitely some alt rock staples from this disc.

Posted by K-man | May 21, 2007 2:44 PM

"I recognize now that my love for Sparkle and Fade was generally due to immature taste and post-breakup angst."

Sparkle and Fade isn't a great album, but it's certainly not objectionably bad like some of the stuff on MY's list.

Posted by Petey | May 21, 2007 2:52 PM

Yes, Petey, we get the message, your musical taste is just SOOO much better than Matt's.

You're so fucking cool it's unbelievable.

Will you please shut up now?

Posted by enough already | May 21, 2007 3:08 PM

How about Morphine, Sebadoh, Sweet Water (That song Superstar played forever in Urbana/Champaign, IL), The Toadies, Bob Mould/Sugar (I cannot believe Bob has not been mentioned yet!), Archers of Loaf,

Andy

PS - I liked Chavez, too, but you did not hear them very much on the alt-rock stations (at least the ones I listened to).

Posted by APS | May 21, 2007 3:10 PM

Black Crowes? Does that count as alt-rock? One of the great 90's bands in my humble opinion.

Posted by Kid Charles | May 21, 2007 3:12 PM

Ok, I had to jump to the end, so excuse me if some of these have been included.

Sabotage - Beastie Boys
Nearly Lost You - Screaming Trees
Steal My Sunshine - Len
Battle Flag - Lo Fidelity Allstars
Natural One - Folk Implosion
White Zombie - More Human than Human
(hey, if your alt rock station played NIN, they played WZ)

Like somebody else said, where's Cracker? The list of bands who -should- be on this list is longer than the list itself.

Posted by Auntie Occident | May 21, 2007 3:13 PM

"Ready To Go" by Republica and "The Connection" by Elastica were goodies.

Chumbawumba's "Tubthumping" was great as were all the 8 bazillion albums they've put out that were never heard of.

In my former college radio DJ yahoo opinion Concrete Blonde's "Mexican Moon" was incredible.

Posted by Dr Snott | May 21, 2007 3:19 PM

The case against Third Eye Blind is overstated. Poppy and superficial, yes. But those guys knew how to write big, dramatic songs.

I still have a big soft spot for Sparkle & Fade. A lot of it is much better than what made it to the radio.

Posted by tom | May 21, 2007 3:20 PM

To defend Matt here, his goal was to make a 90's mix he could enjoy at his birthday party, not to create an all-encompassing and truly representative playlist of 90's popular music. So chill the fuck out, everyone.

Also, he already has 90 songs on this list. How long did you expect everyone to stay at this party, because the additions here would definitely drive this party into the wee hours of the AM?

Posted by Cain | May 21, 2007 3:21 PM

The Colonel beat me to it, but I remember when "Nevermind" came out and it was the hammer that crushed the skull of hair metal. It's hilarious to watch those specials on VH1 ("When Metal Ruled the Earth" I think is one) and see Janey Laine or Brett Michaels whining about how their hedonistic lifestyle evaporated almost overnight because some dour kids with flannel shirts put out a record.

Also, "Nevermind" was good, but Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, and Mother Love Bone had been doing better stuff for several years prior to its release.

Matthew's list is amusing only insomuch as it points out the utter vapidity of the majority of 90's music.

Posted by Singularity | May 21, 2007 3:22 PM

Black Crowes? Does that count as alt-rock? One of the great 90's bands in my humble opinion.

*gulp*... On second thought, let's hear some more from Petey.

Posted by enough already | May 21, 2007 3:24 PM

Honestly, Breakfast at Tiffany's should be outlawed by the Geneva Convention. That song was painful to listen to.

Posted by Steve | May 21, 2007 3:31 PM

Somebody seems to have confused a party playlist with an iPod playlist.

If everyone is standing around silently appreciating the Extra Fine music, they aren't partying.

I'd say that a party with only one sour face alone in the corner is a pretty successful party.

Posted by Ottnott | May 21, 2007 3:34 PM

No Blur?
No Ministry?
No Soul Asylum?
No Offspring?
No SOUNDGARDEN???
No FOO FIGHTERS?!?!?!?!?!?

Posted by Foobarski | May 21, 2007 3:34 PM

What amazes me is how much of this list I know and like, even though I'm 20 years too old for it. Must be something they put in the Emerson water fountain.

Posted by lovable liberal | May 21, 2007 3:38 PM

Additions:

"You Woke Up My Neighborhood" - Billy Bragg
"Grey Cell Green" - Neds Atomic Dustbin
"Only Living Boy in New Cross" Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine
"New Boy" The Connells
"Fall Semester" The Get up Kids
"Airport Song" Guster
"Mayonaise" Smashing Pumpkins

Posted by Greg Hanigan | May 21, 2007 3:40 PM

No Blur?
No Ministry?
No Soul Asylum?
No Offspring?
No SOUNDGARDEN???
No FOO FIGHTERS?!?!?!?!?!?

Posted by Foobarski | May 21, 2007 3:34 PM

Erm?...

"Runaway Train," Soul Asylum
"Come Out and Play," The Offspring
"Black Hole Sun," Soundgarden
"Everlong," Foo Fighters
"Monkey Wrench," Foo Fighters
"My Hero," Foo Fighters

Try again, Foobarski.

Posted by Dan | May 21, 2007 3:42 PM

Hey Foobarski,

Those letters to the right of the song names are the names of the bands... just saying in case you were confused.

Posted by JP Stormcrow | May 21, 2007 3:42 PM

"Your taste in music is as lily white as Augusta National"

I thought we were talking music that would play on 90's alternative stations. Even the real radio friendly pop-rap like Arrested Development or Digable Planets were not in those station's rotations, nevermind NWA, Public Enemy or Dr. Dre. Sabatoge got some play...did Jump Around by House Of Pain get play? LL Cool J? I remember Onyx/Biohazzard...

Posted by mh | May 21, 2007 3:47 PM

What, no Black Crows?

How about Remedy, or She Talks To Angels?

Also, as much as I hate to admit it, you have to include Lenny Kravitz's Are You Gonna Go My Way.

Posted by akt4pay | May 21, 2007 3:51 PM

Another addition:

The La's, "There she goes"

Posted by red | May 21, 2007 3:51 PM

I'd add these names to the '90s playlist:

Dandy Warhols
Brian Jonestown Massacre
Guided By Voices
Luna
Magnetic Fields
Cornershop
Crowded House
Sasha and Digweed
Fatboy Slim
Godfathers
Mazzy Star
Jesus and Mary Chain
Paul Westerberg, and
Wilco
Teenage Fanclub
Yo La Tengo

Posted by Ken from Ken's Kitchen | May 21, 2007 4:03 PM

All of this reminds me of a theory I developed a while ago. I believe that the difference between rock on the charts in 2007 and 1997 is significantly less than the differences in chart rock in 1997 and 1987, 1987 and 1977, 1977 and 1967, 1967 and 1957, etc. You could throw Nickelback right into that '90s mix and never spot the shift. This is where I give hip-hop some cred, since 2007 hip-hop production is fairly distinguishable from that in 1997.

We all know the reason, of course, because it's not like rock hasn't been innovating in the past decade. It's just that those innovations have been kept out by the MBA's running the major label checkbooks. Not predictable, not gonna make it. We're lucky that Nirvana, et al squeezed through the cracks before the clamp came down in earnest.

And actually, it was not Bush who first alerted me that the suits had found the magic radio grunge formula. Stone Temple Pilots' Plush heralded that sorry day, as I and everyone I knew honestly thought it was the new Pearl Jam single. What's surprising is how quickly they moved in, showcasing the kind of business acumen that has derailed musical development on the charts since then. And no, STP's later efforts do not in the slightest negate their horrific beginnings. Just because they decided to start aping XTC rather than PJ doesn't give them an once of legitimacy.

Posted by the matthew show | May 21, 2007 4:09 PM

The omission of Portishead is also distressing.

No kidding. Lots of other stuff missing, and lots of marginal stuff included, but that omission is huge.

It's a nice attempt, Matt, but it's a failure; I spent the whole of the '90s listening to a (maybe slightly above-average) 'modern rock' station, and this is nothing like that. It may well be the impression of '90s alt rock that someone would have if they were too young to actually be there at the time, and were trying to reconstruct it after the fact.

Posted by Tom Hilton | May 21, 2007 4:10 PM

Col,

I have to respectfully disagree, ask any hair band fan if they like Boston. Yes, that hair band crap was on the radio, but the roots of those wigs are pure 70s rock. Hair bands are the natural result of listening to Boston and Kiss when you are 7 and thinking they are cool.

Posted by mickslam | May 21, 2007 4:23 PM

Most suggestions that come to mind have already been added, but I'd still like to say that any party mix claiming to represent '90s "Alt-Rock" really should have some "electronica" in there. Along with "grunge," that was a Quintessentially Nineties trend. At least play something from Massive Attack's Mezzanine album, like "Risingson" or "Teardrop." Or Bjork offers several good choices.

And some hip-hop did cross over to "modern rock" playlists, particularly if it had a jazzy flavor. Digable Planets, Us3, The Roots, and G Love & Special Sauce are a few examples. Of course, "Sabotage" should be a mandatory inclusion, too.

Posted by frightwig | May 21, 2007 4:37 PM

> "The omission of Portishead is also distressing." No kidding. Lots of other stuff missing, and lots of marginal stuff included, but that omission is huge... It may well be the impression of '90s alt rock that someone would have if they were too young to actually be there at the time, and were trying to reconstruct it after the fact.

Or perhaps just that of someone who spent their formative, taste-defining, corporate radio-listening years (junior high and high school) right in the very belly of the Alternative Nation (for myself, c. 1991-1998).

And, really... what mainstream alt rock radio station played Portishead?

Posted by Dan | May 21, 2007 5:04 PM

I lost my "Alternative Classics" music in the great laptop crash of 2006, so thanks.

Here are some off the top of my head that should be on here (not for their awesomeness, but for their 90s Alt-Rock radio ubiquity)

Porno for Pyros - Pets
Jane's Addiction - Been Caught Stealing
Massive Attack - Protection
Nada Surf - Popular
Tracy Bonham - Mother, Mother
Blur - Song 2
Alice in Chains - No Excuses
Live - Lightning Crashes
Our Lady Peace - Clumsy
Dinosaur Jr. - Feel the Pain
Sugar/Bob Mould
Replacements/Paul Westerberg
Peter Murphy - Cuts You Up
Psychodelic Furs - Love My Way
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Kiss Them For Me
SoHo - Hippychick/The Smiths - How Soon is Now (why do these songs have the same beginning?)
Soup Dragons - Divine Thing
Smithereens - A Girl Like You
The Call - I Still Believe
Dada - Dizz-Nee-Land
Sponge - 16 Candles

Posted by Chris_ | May 21, 2007 5:08 PM

and The Flys - Got You Where I Want You ... a very, very bad song.

Posted by Chris_ | May 21, 2007 5:12 PM

I think you should have included 'Hum' by the Sheila Divine (now-defunct Boston band)...actually their whole 'New Parade' disc is phenomenal!

Posted by beantown | May 21, 2007 5:20 PM

If you want to blame any artist for killing hair metal, I would pick Dr. Dre. Between Straight Outta Compton and The Chronic, Dre appropriated nearly every motif of hair metal. The oversexed, misogynistic image, the drug use and partying, the unbridled celebration of the adolescent ego, the streetwise undercurrent of violence . . . after Dre, David Lee Roth or Axl Rose just aren't credible spokespeople for those issues. Check the videos . . . drinking, goofing off, hanging out with strippers . . . there's a pretty straight line when you stop and think about it. Garth Brooks stole the whole cowboy thing.

Subtracting those topics the only thing hair metal had left was something existential like "Rock On" . . . but divorced from the whole "party hard" thing, hair metal's claim to be the music that rocked out depended on it actually rocking out. And increasingly it didn't. Many of the biggest hair metal bands imploded over personal issues and had a substantial reduction in the quality and quantity of output. Fans of other metal bands like Megadeth and Metallica *loathed* hair metal. Zeppelin re-released a lot of their stuff. And of course the explosion of alt-rock in the early 90s was another factor. But while (for example) Guns and Roses continued to sell competatively against the Seattle bands . . . after The Chronic the game was up.

I think if Dr. Dre were a white person with long hair this would be obvious.

Posted by William | May 21, 2007 5:25 PM

Fact - Pavement was the only important American band to come from the 1990s.

Posted by Grant Miller, Esq. | May 21, 2007 5:26 PM

What about How Do You Talk To An Angel by The Heights? With that kid from 90210 as the lead singer? I know you all remember it.

Posted by Random Dude | May 21, 2007 5:33 PM

Great additions. Another missing not mentioned is Social Distortion, particularly "I Was Wrong or "Bad Luck".

Posted by ThinkerT | May 21, 2007 5:36 PM

Only dickfaces listened to The Rembrants.

Posted by Grant Miller, Esq. | May 21, 2007 5:37 PM

I'm way too old to comment... but (echoing Dan) I was surprised not to find Rage. Their politics were repellent, but wow. Hearing the first album for the first time was like nothing since (in the early 70s) hearing Marley for the first time.

Posted by Bill Gardner | May 21, 2007 5:38 PM

Sorry, but the last good alt-rock song was released on vinyl in 1985.

Posted by FS | May 21, 2007 5:39 PM

And, really... what mainstream alt rock radio station played Portishead?

I spent much of the 90s in Chattanooga, Tennessee -- hardly a hipster mecca -- and I heard plenty of Portishead. Just by the by ...

Posted by annelina | May 21, 2007 5:43 PM

Some possible additions (with some canadian bands ftw):
24 gone - girl of colours

311 - Beautiful disaster

Alice in Chains - No excuses, would

Age of Electric - I don't mind , cranky, remote control

Big Wreck - That song , the oaf , blown wide open

Bloodhound gang - Fire water burn

Breeders - cannonball

Butthole surfers - Pepper

Cake - The distance

Counting Crows - Mr Jones , Round here

Collective soul - december, shine, where the river flows

Cracker - low

Dave matthews band - crash into me, don't drink the water

Deftones - be quiet and drive

Doughboys - shine

Econoline crush - sparkle and shine

Edwin - And you, Trippin'

Elastica - connection

Ghandarvas - downtime

Gob - soda, beauville

I Mother Earth - One More Astronaut, Used to be alright, Raspberry

Incubus - Stellar

Jane's Addiction - Been caught stealing, Jane says

Korn - shoots and ladders, blind

Live - I alone , Iris , selling the drama

Marcy Playground - poppies , saint joe on the schoolbus , sex and candy

Marilyn Manson - the beautiful people, rock is dead

Matchbox 20 - push

Matthew Good Band - Alabama Motel Room, Giant, Everything is automatic , apparitions , indestructible (i can go on and on)

Meat puppets - Backwater

Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Rascal king, Royal Oil, The impression that I get

Monster Magnet - powertrip , spacelord

Nirvana - All apologies , On a plain, Silver

Oasis - Whats the story morning glory

Offspring - Pretty fly, why don't you get a job, self esteem

Our Lady Peace - The birdman, carnival, superman's dead, automatic flowers

Pearl Jam - Wishlist, given to fly, do the evolution

Primus - jerry was a racecar driver

Rage Against The Machine - No shelter, down rodeo , Killing in the name of, people of the sun

Red hot chili peppers - aeroplane, around the world

Seven Mary Three - Faster, Margaret, My My, Favorite Dog

Silverchair - Tommorow , Freak , The Door

Smashing Pumpkins - Drown, silverfuck, hummer, zero, jellybelly

Soundgarden - Fell on black days, Never the machine forever , outshined, spoonman, (can go on forever)

Sponge - Plowed, molly, Neenah Menasha, Dandelions roar

Stone Temple Pilots - Plush, Unglued, Dead and bloated, big bang baby, down, wicked garden

Sublime - wrong way, what I got

The Tea Party - Temptation, Save me, The river, The halcyon days, Sister awake (I can go on forever)

The Tragically Hip - Little bones, something on, New orleans is sinking, Nautical Distaster, Gift shop, at the hundredth meridian (theres more)

The verve pipe - The freshmen , hero, photograph

Tool - stinkfist, part of me,46 and 2, Intolerance

Treble Charger - Red, Friend of mine , Morale

U2 - Numb, Every song from Achtung Baby

The Wallflowers - One Headlight, 3 Marlenas, Heroes, The Difference

Weezer - El Scorcho, Sweater song , Say it aint so

White zombie - Thunderkiss 65

Widemouth Mason - My old self

Yo La Tengo - Sugarcube

Posted by santonel | May 21, 2007 5:44 PM

"All of this reminds me of a theory I developed a while ago. I believe that the difference between rock on the charts in 2007 and 1997 is significantly less than the differences in chart rock in 1997 and 1987, 1987 and 1977, 1977 and 1967, 1967 and 1957, etc. You could throw Nickelback right into that '90s mix and never spot the shift. This is where I give hip-hop some cred, since 2007 hip-hop production is fairly distinguishable from that in 1997."

I agree with all the above. I had this exact conversation with a friend just last week. Musically, the '00s are just an extension of the late '90s. Glad to see I'm not the only one making this observation.

As for songs for the list, you can't get too obscure with the album tracks, even if they were better than the radio hits. Here's some additions (apologize if these were mentioned already):

RHCP, "Suck My Kiss"
Soundgarden, "Outshined"
U2, "Until the End of the World"
Toadies, "Possum Kingdom"
Jane's Addiction, "Stop!"
Matthew Sweet, "Sick of Myself"
Pearl Jam, anything from Ten: "Alive", "Black", "Evenflow", etc.
Toad the Wet Sprocket, "Walk On the Ocean"
Alice in Chains, "No Excuses"
Soul Asylum, "Somebody to Shove" or "Can't Even Tell"
STP, "Creep", "Plush" or "Vasoline"
Belly, "Gepetto"
Cracker, "Low"
James, "Laid"
Lenny Kravitz, "Are You Gonna Go My Way"
Mazzy Star, "Fade Into You"
Smashing Pumpkins, "Rhinoceros"
Bad Religion, "Infected"
G. Love and Special Sauce, "Cold Beverage"
Live, "Lightning Crashes"
Liz Phair, "Supernova"
Oasis, "Supersonic" or "What's the Story Morning Glory"
Offspring, "Gotta Get Away"
Boingo, "Insanity"
Tori Amos, "Cornflake Girl"
Urge Overkill, "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon"
311, "All Mixed Up"
Sneaker Pimps, "6 Underground"
Cake, "Going the Distance"
Weezer, "My Name is Jonas"
Social Distortion, "Bad Luck"

Better stop there, I could keep going on and on with these.

Posted by DL | May 21, 2007 5:44 PM

XTC - Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead
The Wonder Stuff - On the Ropes
Wilco - Outtasite (Outta Mind) (or I Must Be High)
Portishead - Only You
Flaming Lips - Race for the Prize
Eels - Novocaine for the Soul
School of Fish - 3 Strange Days
They Might Be Giants - Snail Shell
Live - I Alone
Afghan Wigs - Gentlemen
Happy Mondays - Hallelujah
Consolidated - Brutal Equation
Superdrag - Sucked Out
The Sundays - Here's Where the Story Ends
Ben Folds Five - Brick (or Battle of Who Could Care Less)
Semisonic - Closing Time

Posted by kevodrums | May 21, 2007 5:49 PM

gawd, i'm glad i came of age in the seventies. 90s music sucked big time.

Posted by somegirl | May 21, 2007 5:51 PM

frankly, I'm really glad I wasn't at that party. What a lame ass collection of music, and cerainly not representative of MY experience of the 1990s - Stereolab, Miranda Sex Garden, Tori Amos, Bjork, Tool, jeepers - it's a long long list of stuff from the 90s that i would rather hear than ANY of the junk Matt listed. Sorry, Matt, but your sense of music really bites. If you were a roommate, I'd ban you from the stereo...

Posted by King Jebus | May 21, 2007 5:58 PM

Jesus-- 90's Music Sucks.

I'd take one scratchy Kinks or Booker T and the M.G's 45 from 1966 over that entire list.

Posted by Fatherflot | May 21, 2007 6:05 PM

Hi,

Here's a few more groups/songs played on alternative stations:

KMFDM: How about Juke Joint Jezebel, A Drug Against War, and Meglomanical.

The Cure: How about Mint Car, Friday I'm in Love, High, World in My Eyes.

Siouxsie and the Banshee: How about Kiss Them For Me, Cry, and Face to Face.

Depressed Mood, oops, I mean Depeche Mode: Personal Jesus, Enjoy the Silence, I Feel You, Barrel of the Gun.

Sugarcubes and Bjork: Human Behaviour, There's more to life then this, Isobel, Bachelorette, Deus, Happy Birthday, Gold, Delicious Demon.

Posted by Charles | May 21, 2007 6:16 PM

"Feeling Love" by Paula Cole
"Angel" by Sarah McLachlan

Geez, don't you want to laid after your party?

Posted by algebraowl | May 21, 2007 6:17 PM

nothing from GREENDAY???? i have hazy recollections from college of seeing the video for "when i come around" and "basket case" playing over and over and over on mtv. hell, i even remember buying Dookie.

that was early in my college career -- c. '95-'96. not two years later, i remember talking to a guy who worked in a used CD store who said that Dookie was the single most resold album he encountered. sure enough, i had unloaded mine within a year of purchasing it.

i also remember Greenday spawning a shitload of wannabe Billie Joes in the local music scene. a lot of lead singers with bleach-blond hair who would get the crazy-eye-look while simultaneously screaming and inhaling the mic during the chorus.

Posted by loser | May 21, 2007 6:18 PM

> Another missing not mentioned is Social Distortion, particularly "I Was Wrong or "Bad Luck".

... or "Ball and Chain".

Also also to add:

"Laid" James
"Sex and Candy" Marcy Playground
"Possum Kingdom" Toadies
"Plowed" Sponge
"Detachable Penis" King Missile
"I Kissed a Girl" Jill Sobule
"Cantaloop" Us3
"Tennessee" Arrested Development
"Mary Jane's Last Dance" Tom Petty (yeah, I said it)

And more from the annals of the Ignoble '90s Hall of Shame:

"What's Up" 4 Non Blondes
"Counting Blue Cars" Dishwalla
"Mr. Jones" and "Round Here" Counting Crows
"Two Princes" Spin Doctors

Posted by Dan | May 21, 2007 6:18 PM

and matt has no excuse for forgetting them, as they are still putting out albums -- albeit shitty ones.

Posted by loser | May 21, 2007 6:19 PM

whoops.

damn reading comprehension skills...

Posted by loser | May 21, 2007 6:22 PM

"Sorry, Matt, but your sense of music really bites. If you were a roommate, I'd ban you from the stereo."

Dude, it's a party mix. It was what was on the radio at that time, not some My Bloody Valentine, Guided By Voices, Radiohead stuff. (That party would be really, really boring)

Posted by Chris_ | May 21, 2007 6:24 PM

> KMFDM: How about Juke Joint Jezebel, A Drug Against War, and Meglomanical.

Yes. "Juke Joint Jezebel".

Stabbing Westward, too. Throw in "Enter Sandman" for good measure. And didn't Killing Joke have some '90s hit? "Millenium"?

Posted by Dan | May 21, 2007 6:28 PM

Although I found much of the music of the 90's lacking, I did have a great alt. radio station to listen to while at the U. of MD. (WHFS)

Here are a few songs I did not see posted.

"Walking Down Madison" Kirsty MacColl (R.I.P.)

"Life Is A Highway" Tom Cochrane
(Yes it was a popular cross over hit.)

For my Brother:
"Stay" or anything else by Shakespeare's Sister and anything by Everything But The Girl

"Always The Last To Know" Del Amitri
Scotland's second greatest band after The Bay City Rollers (At that time ;-) )

"Chorus" Erasure

"Short Skirt Long Jacket" Cake

"Love U More" Sunscreem

"It's All Been Done" Barenaked Ladies

Posted by William | May 21, 2007 6:38 PM

Does it really matter who or what killed hair metal? The important thing is it's dead.

I'd have had more REM on the list, but then, I lived in Athens, Georgia at the time, and it probably just seemed like the 1990s were saturated with their music. I remember the 40-something UPS driver who delivered to my job telling us he'd heard a couple of pre-release tracks from "Monster," and "they're good again." ("Losing my religion" had a real "Stand" vibe in Athens.)

Posted by theresa | May 21, 2007 6:42 PM

Here's a few more from my '90s party list:

That Petrol Emotion - Hey Venus, Sensitize
Guadalcanal Diary - Always Saturday, Pretty Is as Pretty Does
Better Than Ezra - Good
The Farm - All Together Now
Charlatans UK - The Only One I Know
Francis Dunnery - My Own Reality, Good Life, Too Much Saturn
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Weeping Song
The Verve Pipe - The Freshmen, Photograph
King's X - It's Love, Black Flag, Dogman
The Levellers - One Way
Havana 3 A.M. - Blue Motorcycle Eyes
Kitchens of Distinction - Drive That Fast, Railwayed, Polaroids
Cast - Alright
Primus - My Name is Mud
The Reivers - Keep Me Guessing
Jellyfish - New Mistake, That is Why
World Party - Way Down Now, Is it Too Late?, Is it Like Today?

Posted by kevodrums | May 21, 2007 6:53 PM

A previous poster had mentioned adding some "estrogen" into the playlist...then proceeded to add almost all Lilith Fair acts, ugh.

What about the riot grrl wave?

L7, Bikini Kill, 7 Year Bitch, Lunachicks, and Babes In Toyland (didn't care for Hole...Courtney Love just annoyed me to death!)

Even if some of the above would grate some ears, L7 had songs that were loud but catchy enough to be a hit with a party crowd (Ex: 'Andres', 'Pretend We're Dead', 'Shitlist')

Yeah, and more Matthew Sweet, he played incredible live performances! (saw a show he did where he did 4-5 encores!)

Posted by Mike A | May 21, 2007 6:58 PM

I'm astounded that Supergrass has no following.

They ruled the scene for a brief moment in the late 90's.

Posted by Petey | May 21, 2007 6:58 PM

Hmmmm...no Rocket From The Crypt - fie on your list.

Posted by currahee | May 21, 2007 7:02 PM

I think Guns 'N Roses helped kill hair metal, even though they were kind a hair-metal band themselves. Once Appetite for Destruction came out, you couldn't look at Poison or Warrant or something with a straight face again. It just raised the bar. Yes, it took a few years for the market to accept this, but I think it's an important factor.

Posted by too many steves | May 21, 2007 7:15 PM

"I think Guns 'N Roses helped kill hair metal ... I think it's an important factor."

Yup. Guns 'N Roses is John the Baptist to Nirvana's Jesus.

Posted by Petey | May 21, 2007 7:17 PM

And, really... what mainstream alt rock radio station played Portishead?

KITS in San Francisco played the hell out of (at least) Sour Times and All Mine.

Next question?

Posted by Tom Hilton | May 21, 2007 7:19 PM

Too much late 90's for my taste. Hard for the youngsters to believe, but waaay back in the early 90s, alt-rock and top 40 were two different genres.

That's actually a good summation of (much of) what's wrong with this list, and it's consistent with Matt being too young to really understand the '90s.

Posted by Tom Hilton | May 21, 2007 7:24 PM

Red Hot Chili Peppers
Liz Phair
Guided By Voices (for fucksake!)

and since it is a party mix - you have to have "Groove is in the Heart" by Deelite - Bootsy Collins afterall is from outerspace

Posted by Syd B | May 21, 2007 7:28 PM

fyi William,

Short Skirt Long Jacket is from 2001. I know it's hard to tell, because Cake has sounded essentially the same for over a decade. Still like 'em, though.

Posted by the matthew show | May 21, 2007 7:46 PM

> ...and it's consistent with Matt being too young to really understand the '90s.

Pipe down, old man.

Posted by Dan | May 21, 2007 7:49 PM

3 Foo Fighters songs? Bleech.

Gotta say, the '80s kicked the '90s ass up, down and sideways for alternative music. You know when Soundgarden is considered near the pinacle that you're hurting for quality. Seems like the list is a lot of 'same shit, different band' stuff which is why the calls for Sublime or They Might Be Giants should be heeded.

Posted by Sigh | May 21, 2007 8:32 PM

Some less-rocking but still quintisentially Nineties choices:

-- Sixpence None the Richer, "Kiss Me"

-- Merril Bainbridge, "Mouth"

-- Jewel, "You Were Meant for Me"

-- 4 Non-Blondes, "What's Up"

-- Rednex, "Cotton Eye Joe"

-- Sophie B. Hawkins, "As I Lay Me Down"

-- Natalie Merchant, "Wonder"

-- Paula Cole, "I Don't Want to Wait"

Posted by Gaijin Biker | May 21, 2007 8:41 PM

Divinyls - I Touch Myself? Lifehouse? PM Dawn? Not that I necessarily admit to liking all this music, but it ought to be there.

Posted by Matt | May 21, 2007 9:14 PM

I can't believe no has mentioned:

Fat Boy Slim
Hooverphonic
Kruder Dorfmeister
Jeff Buckley
Cat Power
Future Sound of London
Aphex Twin
Ride
Suede
Luscious Jackson

Posted by MGJ | May 21, 2007 9:20 PM

Everyone's a critic.

Posted by sangfroid826 | May 21, 2007 9:35 PM

numerous large gaps... pixies, sonic youth, pavement, dinosaur jr, wilco, superchunk, matthew sweet, moby, guided by voices, liz phair, everything but the girl, muhdhoney, my bloody valentine, beastie boys, etc.

Posted by dukane | May 21, 2007 10:21 PM

"The Ice of Boston" : Dismemberment Plan

(this was kinda big in the DC area, but it figures since they're from DC)

Also I second Eels -- Novocaine for the Soul

Posted by mk | May 21, 2007 11:56 PM

Finally post 200 and somebody mentions My Bloody Valentine, who released Loveless in the 90's which is one of the top five albums of the era.

How about "Black Metallic" by Catherine Wheel. That got plenty of play back in the day.

Also, I definately agree with the people who said James. They had some great songs (Laid, Born of Frustration) and even headlined lolapalooza(sp?)

Posted by Bum | May 22, 2007 12:09 AM

santonel, thanks for mentioning the Canadian bands, but no Moist? You have to add at least one Moist song: "Push", "Silver", "Leave it Alone" or "Resurrection".

I think 90s rock started getting crappy about 1994-95. Kurt shot himself; Layne Staley was in and out of rehab; Pearl Jam basically boycotted Ticketmaster and MTV so they were mostly off the radar, and all the crappy "post-grunge" bands came along: Bush, Silverchair, Everclear, Days of the New. I gave up on alt-rock and listened mostly to metal, goth and industrial.

I agree that gangsta rap stole a lot of hair-metal's thunder. Gangsta from the late 90s to the present is mostly superficial crap that embraces materialism, misogyny, machismo and violence. Once in a while you get a Tupac who rises above the genre but mostly it's crap. I'm thinking gangsta's on the verge of collapsing like hair-metal did and more worthwhile styles of rap will be noticed by the mainstream again.

Posted by False Prophet | May 22, 2007 12:54 AM

I'm almost depressed that I have at least 95 percent of that list but have no idea who's on the current Top 40 list. I'm dated.

Posted by carpeicthus | May 22, 2007 1:33 AM

May I add:

Face to Face - Disconnected
Phish - Down With Disease
MC 900 Foot Jesus - If I Only Had A Brain
Goldfinger - Here in Your Bedroom
Jimmies Chicken Shack - High
Todd Snider - Alright Guy

Posted by JZer0 | May 22, 2007 2:32 AM

Here's my own personal list. I got into alt-rock in 1993 at the age of 12, thanks to some great friends who played Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Collective Soul for me. I feel for Matt in that it's so damn hard to include EVERYTHING on there that you'd think about, but here's my best shot.

"State of Love and Trust", "Jeremy", "Alive", "Go", "Animal", "Daughter", "Dissident", "Even Flow", "Garden", "Glorified G" - Pearl Jam

"Today", "Drown" - Smashing Pumpkins

"Backwater" - Meat Puppets

"Heart-Shaped Box", "Sliver", "In Bloom", "Breed" - Nirvana

"Spoonman", "Kickstand", "Outshined" - Soundgarden

"Rain King", "Round Here" - Counting Crows

"Far Behind", "You", "Cover Me" - Candlebox

"Head Like A Hole", "Sin", "Closer" - Nine Inch Nails

"Tubthumping" - Chumbawumba (just because it was on our football highlight video that year and it fit with the clips really well)

"Runaway Train", "Somebody To Shove", "Black Gold", "Misery" - Soul Asylum

"Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns" - Mother Love Bone (hell, maybe I should just include the whole Singles soundtrack in here, since that movie and that soundtrack were one of the best ever.)

"Mysterious Ways", "One" - U2

"Man In The Box", "No Excuses", "Down In A Hole", "Would?" - Alice in Chains

"Shine", "Gel", "December", "Smashing Young Man", "The World I Know", "Heavy", "Run" - Collective Soul

"Rainin'", "Plowed", "Molly", "Wax Estatic" - Sponge (I was present for both of their hell-raising record launch parties at the old Farmington Hills Harmony House, got autographs, and witnessed destruction of property....not surprising, given how badly we were packed in.)

"Basket Case" - Green Day

Posted by Thad | May 22, 2007 4:19 AM

Granted, this probably got ZERO radio play in the States when it came out, and it may not fit everyone's idea of "alternative", but is anyone else familiar with Pet Shop Boys' "Behaviour" album? It seems like "Being Boring" should be on a "definitive" list (if not played at this party). I agree with the earlier comments on adding Charlatans UK, and Kitchens of Distinction's "What Happens Now?" would have been nice, too.

(If PSB doesn't count, what do we collectively feel about The Dead Milkmen, hmmmm? Should they be here with "Punk Rock Girl"?)

But "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" by Crash Test Dummies? I think I just threw up a bit in my mouth....

Posted by The Oh, Riley! Factor | May 22, 2007 4:46 AM

if 80's produced the best love songs, i firmly believed that 90's is the year of rock bands. I love Nirvana's songs...really!!!

oh and how can I forget the Crash Test Dummies song.. "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" lolz

This is really a great post, buddy!

Posted by your wiki guide | May 22, 2007 9:22 AM

"Tonight, Tonight" or any of the other singles from 'Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness"

Posted by Aimee | May 22, 2007 9:23 AM

How could we forget?

Common People, Pulp
Alright, Supergrass
Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover, Sophie B. Hawkins

Posted by Jimmm | May 22, 2007 9:40 AM

What about DDT? Am I the only one who spent the 90s in Russia? It seemed like half of the Ivy League was there at the time.

Posted by vanya | May 22, 2007 9:44 AM

Wow, finally an article that I have extensive expertise in.

1) "Today" is by far the most 90s song by the Smashing Pumpkins. "Siva" never got play on my radio stations.

2) Cake albums are not "all alike." I'll give you that Fashion Nuggett and Prolonging the Magic are similar but before and after, not a chance. Can you even name the albums before and after these two?

3) How is "Closer" by NIN not their definitive song? The video catapulted the song to a new level (back when MTV still played videos).

4) Don't forget Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend". Haven't seen that listed yet.

5) Beastie Boys "Sabotage" is about the only song that fits the 90s alt-rock stereotype. The rest of their stuff is a mix of rock/rap/hip hop.

6) The Chili Peppers were not "done by '91". Really? You may not like One Hot Minute because of Dave Navarro, but each of those singles "X Girlfriend and Aeroplane" were still big songs in the '94 and '95.

7) Oasis' "Wonderwall" had more mainstream appeal than "Champange Supernova."

8) Please don't ever include Bjork in a 90s list. It's an insult to the rest of the bands on here.

9) Petey says he's astonished Beck was included. Apparently "Loser" or "Where it's at" weren't big enough hits.

10) I don't think we should include anything from the Swing Craze in this list. Big Band type music should be in the same breath as Nirvana or Smashing Pumpkins.

11) "I got a girl" by Tripping Daisy. Good lord I forgot about that. What about "Butterfly" by Crazytown? Haven't seen that one. "You're my butterfly, sugar.. baby"

12) Everclear is the 90s, at least representing the SoCal set, which yes, had a different sound than the Seattle inspired groups. Sparkle and Fade is still one of my favorites

13) I don't know if you can include the "Techno" craze as alt-rock songs even though Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, and Prodigy made it on to al-rock radio stations. They are prime examples, along with the Beastie Boys, whose sound crossed over to alt-rock stations.

14) I'm guessing that "The matthew show" doesn't like any STP after "Tiny songs..." That is still one of their best albums (4 radio singles).

I could go on but I'm looking forward to some feedback. I love the 90s!!!!

Posted by Dave Knows Alt Rock | May 22, 2007 10:13 AM

Dave Knows,

Cake's sound has changed in very small ways over the years, but the main thrust is largely unchanging, with the possible exception of Motorcade of Generosity, which differed mostly because they were still figuring out how to sound like they eventually sounded. And I do know the names of all their records, because I own them. As I said, I'm a fan of what they do, but I'm willing to admit their repetitive nature.

I don't like any STP period. They were ripoff artists from the get-go, they just changed who they were ripping off. Their apologists continue to baffle me.

Posted by the matthew show | May 22, 2007 11:33 AM

Holy crap that's an awful list.

No Afghan Whigs. No Pavement. No Guided By Voices. No PJ Harvey. No Elastica. No Matthew Sweet. No Girls Against Boys.

But you manage to include the Spin Doctors as "alt-rock." That Proclaimers song is from 1988, though it did had a second life in 1993 through the "Benny And Joon" soundtrack.

And I concur about the Smashing Pumpkins' "Today."

That's pretty pathetic.

Posted by Vic Arpeggio | May 22, 2007 12:25 PM

> What about "Butterfly" by Crazytown? Haven't seen that one. "You're my butterfly, sugar.. baby"

"Fierce nipple pierce/You got me sprung with your tongue ring"?

2001.

So, no on both counts.

I don't think any late-90s nu metal qualifies for this list, though, anyways.

> No Afghan Whigs. No Pavement. No Guided By Voices. No PJ Harvey. No Elastica. No Matthew Sweet. No Girls Against Boys.

Please review Matt's criteria:

Most important of all, before looking at the list you need to understand what it is and what it is not. This is an effort to recreate the experience of listening to your average "modern rock" radio station during the decade in question.

Note that he didn't write "college radio."

So, sorry. No Afghan Whigs. No Guided By Voices. No Girls Against Boys. Pavement? Maybe, with "Cut Your Hair".

Posted by Dan | May 22, 2007 1:44 PM

The absence of the Chili Peppers and U2 is pretty glaring. I assume they're being punished for their mainstream success, but their roots are firmly in alt-rock, and they've never betrayed that. Everyone's talking about Blood Sugar Sex Majik, and they should, but Californication has some awesome stuff too. U2's Achtung Baby should also be represented.

Posted by beckya57 | May 22, 2007 2:09 PM

Never cared for Moist so I totally forgot about them. Canada had some really good alt rock bands in the 90s and they never got much airplay in the US. Damn shame.

This stuff takes me back. I grew up with alt rock. I remember when there was good music on the radio and Muchmusic didn't suck. That said I have an equal respect for 80s rock. There's lots of great tunes and bands from the 80s , Motley Crue included, that get less respect than they deserve. But at the end it got worn out and it became nothing but pablum which is exactly what is happening with post grunge now except post grunge sucks worse.

Even the most hardcore grunger would beg to listen to Warrant after listening to Nickelback's musical abominations.

Posted by santonel | May 22, 2007 2:58 PM

My high school and college years were the 80s, which has plenty of crimes to confess to, but, damn, the 90s was such a mixed bag!

I stopped keeping up with new stuff in the late 80s thanks to hair metal, and spent most of the 90s catching up with 70s reggae and world music (Brazil, Cuba!!!!) But I have spent a little time catching up with the 90s recently, so I have an appreciation for what it brought.

But I did go to a lot of pubs in the 90s where I was cruelly tortured by the likes of (bands and songs...) Breakfast at Tiffany's (Make It STOP, oh the dreck!!!!), Hootie and the Bloated Fish, Hey Jealousy, and, God help me, some places still kept playing the Bronski Beat from the 80s. Oh, and if had a dollar for everytime I heard that "I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more..." song I could by the poor guy a new car and save him the trouble. And that Paula Cole song Where Have All the Cowboys Gone still brings up the sick. There were others, but I can't, fortunately, recall them all right now.

When I first moved to Boston in '92, the local pub (Brendan Behan's!) pretty much played only U2, the Waterboys and Bob Marley - I felt at home there.

Posted by mroberts | May 22, 2007 3:53 PM

I have to respectfully disagree, ask any hair band fan if they like Boston. Yes, that hair band crap was on the radio, but the roots of those wigs are pure 70s rock. Hair bands are the natural result of listening to Boston and Kiss when you are 7 and thinking they are cool.

I agree that the hair metal bands were the next step in the descent of rock from Boston, Kiss and Foreigner, but the fans of hair metal were really too young to be fans of those earlier bands. As you point out, they were 7 when they heard them. All the Boston fans I know thought hair metal was the end of civilization. Of course we didn't recognize our hand in the destruction.

Posted by Col Bat Guano | May 22, 2007 5:59 PM

"Petey says he's astonished Beck was included. Apparently "Loser" or "Where it's at" weren't big enough hits."

I'm astonished because those are both good songs while the rest of Matthew's list is comprised of crap.

Beck seems out of place.

Posted by Petey | May 22, 2007 6:07 PM

A couple i didn't see mentioned above.

Live - Pain lies on the riverside
Geggy Tah - Whoever you are
Loud Lucy - Ticking

Posted by Matthew Benjamin | May 22, 2007 7:49 PM

ok got some more...

Kids In America - Fourth Grade Nothing
Don't Wanna Behave - Dance Hall Crashers
Adirectional - Fourth Grade Nothing

Posted by Matthew Benjamin | May 22, 2007 8:01 PM

I submit that 90's rock is the sound of bored teenagers pissed off at waiting for the Internet to be invented. The high point of the decade was 1994-95.

Once the Internet started catching on in about 1995, 90's music lost its raison d'etre and hence turned to crap.

Posted by Gaijin Biker | May 22, 2007 8:07 PM

the 90's was about albums, not singles.

pavement - Slanted and Enchanted, Crooked Crooked Rain.
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless

Posted by jeff scott | May 22, 2007 9:56 PM

Meanwhile, interesting music was still being created in the UK and elsewhere.

Posted by Teaflax | May 23, 2007 4:58 AM

ok even though i was born in 1991 i still remember alot of the nineties rock music, and you didnt even hit them all. wheres eve 6 , semisonic,the other greenday hits, matchbox 20, foo fighters had more hits. come on there are better than that.

Posted by deidra | June 11, 2007 7:30 PM

ok even though i was born in 1991 i still remember alot of the nineties rock music, and you didnt even hit them all. wheres eve 6 , semisonic,the other greenday hits, matchbox 20, foo fighters had more hits. come on there are better than that.

Posted by deidra | June 11, 2007 7:30 PM

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Posted by fswgukt lvsqiyknx | June 11, 2007 10:01 PM

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Posted by fswgukt lvsqiyknx | June 11, 2007 10:03 PM

The Ultimate Nineties Alt-Rock Playlist

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