Best Band of the 90s?

I think it has to be Nirvana. I know there are lots of subtle and not so subtle influences of the 90’s sound, but Nirvana is #1.
Smells Like Teen Spirit killed hair bands and Nirvana ruled til Kurt’s death. And the momentum they created was still driving popular music at least until ‘97 (I got on the Dead bus at that point, and lived in a Psychedelic bubble for many years after that).
 
I know Zen called Nirvana overrated, which I don’t get. But I can’t imagine putting REM that high on my list, so shows we all have unique tastes, I guess.
 
lawtig02 said:
I know Zen called Nirvana overrated, which I don’t get. But I can’t imagine putting REM that high on my list, so shows we all have unique tastes, I guess.
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REM of the 1980s would be on the list. REM of the 1990s would not. I'm quite surprised that nycfan listed Sonic Youth, who would be my #1 pick, although some of their best work preceded and followed the 1990s.
 
nycfan said:
Radiohead
The Cranberries
REM
Nirvana
Smashing Pumpkins
Blur
Sonic Youth
Soundgarden
Pixies/The Breeders
Pearl Jam
Pavement
Tool
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Pixies were only 1980s. I mean they had an album in the 90s but it wasn't considered very good and I agree. The Breeders only had one member in common with the Pixies so I'm not sure those two bands are joinable.

Badmotorfinger is an all-time great LP. Too bad they sold out and sucked thereafter. Kim Thayil was the heart of the band and when they nerfed him, they took out most of the energy.

Smashing Pumpkins could have been something but for Billy Corgan's Jupiter-sized ego. He could give Trump a run for his money in that department. Tool -- I interviewed them for college radio. They offered to share their heroin with me, lol. I did not accept. I think they were good at first, but they sort of got lost in their progressive meanderings, in my view. Pavement's Slanted and Enchanted was an excellent LP and they had a few good tracks after that, but I think they ran out of ideas pretty quickly.
 
superrific said:
REM of the 1980s would be on the list. REM of the 1990s would not. I'm quite surprised that nycfan listed Sonic Youth, who would be my #1 pick, although some of their best work preceded and followed the 1990s.
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Fair. I still find them whiny and annoying, but definitely much better early.
 
ChileG said:
Archers is one of my favorite bands ever. I am wearing one of their T-shirts right now.
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I know there are probably some people here who know the band members. I interviewed them on the air for college radio when they were in town for a show. Holy shit, the bassist was a complete moron. It might just have been his persona. Or maybe they get tired of doing interviews. But it was one of the most painful interviews I ever did. The worst was Hope Sandoval, who interviewed how you'd fucking expect.
 
Pearl Jam
Radiohead
Pavement
Neutral Milk Hotel

Rage or Weezer for the last spot

Morphine and Super Furry Animals get an honorable mention
 
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Icky Mettle said:
Nirvana was great IMO, but they putout only two proper albums in 1990s, along with a compilation of b-sides and unreleased tracks. Bleach came out in 1989. But Nevermind was an amazing album and also a phenomenon that revolutionized popular music of the time. And the fact that an album as abrasive as In Utero was no. 1 on the charts and sold over a million copies in just a couple months is crazy to think about.

I never cared for the Foo Fighters. I always found their music bland and uninteresting. But I did see them perform at the Cat’s Cradle in 1995 before their debut album came out. They opened for Mike Watt, who was touring with Eddie Vedder on guitar and Dave Grohl on drums. I do think it was cool to have had that experience. Interestingly, the feeling people seemed to have after leaving that show was that the Foo Fighters weren’t really going to make it.
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In my view, Nirvana was the most influential band. As someone else mentioned. Smells Like Teen Spirit just cleansed rock and roll of years of detritus. And their sound became foundational.

But I think they haven't aged that well because they didn't have a real drummer. Dave Grohl was not it, and I listen to some of those tracks and grimace at some of the drum fills. Ugh.
 
bassydude77 said:
www.liveabout.com

The Most Successful Rock Albums of the '90s

Alanis Morissette, Metallica and Nirvana are among the biggest-selling rock acts of the 1990s. Who else made history? Read our list.
www.liveabout.com www.liveabout.com

Interesting list in context of the conversation. Alanis with the biggest selling album. I wouldn’t have guessed that.
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This is one criteria with which to gauge "best band" of the 90's hard to argue with the stats
 
REM had one all time great album in 1991 (Out of Time) and the followup Automatic for the People was not elite but still top notch. Those two albums alone put them on my list, and Monster was solid, if not as good as their best work. I pretend they had no albums after that. And that still puts them on my personal list for the 90s (they are also at or near the top of my 80s list).

I’ve always associated the Pixies and the Breeders, though neither standing alone would make my list and I’m just crediting Doolittle as the 1990s even though it’s an ‘89 album, but I totally get that being an iffy call based entirely on how I’ve listened to their music as if the Pixies were replaced by the Breeders.

Dirty by Sonic Youth alone is good enough to make a 90s list, IMO.
 
There is an entire "music" thread called "The Music Thread" on which this discussion could took place.... and perhaps this thread should be merged there.... or not.
Billboard weighs in: Mariah Carey named "Artist of the Decade"
Nirvana is most likely given the nod for "best band" of the decade.
Carry on...
 
nycfan said:
REM had one all time great album in 1991 (Out of Time) and the followup Automatic for the People was not elite but still top notch. Those two albums alone put them on my list, and Monster was solid, if not as good as their best work. I pretend they had no albums after that. And that still puts them on my personal list for the 90s (they are also at or near the top of my 80s list).

I’ve always associated the Pixies and the Breeders, though neither standing alone would make my list and I’m just crediting Doolittle as the 1990s even though it’s an ‘89 album, but I totally get that being an iffy call based entirely on how I’ve listened to their music as if the Pixies were replaced by the Breeders.

Dirty by Sonic Youth alone is good enough to make a 90s list, IMO.
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I pretend they had no albums after Out of Time -- which is good but not all-time great in my view.

The thing about Sonic Youth is that Dirty is an amazing LP and yet arguably only their third best of the decade (behind Goo and Thousand Leaves). Arguably. And that was despite them getting their guitars stolen mid-decade, which was a calamity because they were fixed tuned instruments that were created in the 1980s and not really replaceable.
 
ZenMode said:
I have a thing for female songs that have what I call a "haunting" sound.

Sour Times is probably at the top of the list. Others include Criminal by Fiona Apple. Possession by Sarah McLachlan. Bad Liar by Selena Gomez.
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I'd add Joni Mitchell's Woodstock to that list.
 
ZenMode said:
I have a thing for female songs that have what I call a "haunting" sound.

Sour Times is probably at the top of the list. Others include Criminal by Fiona Apple. Possession by Sarah McLachlan. Bad Liar by Selena Gomez.
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I liked Sky Edwards a lot.

 
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