The madness began when Spin magazine published its list of the 100 Greatest Albums produced between 1985 and 2005. The escalation of said madness occurred when Blogcritic and former Libertarian Senate candidate from Indiana Al Barger then published his own list.
But what got me off my proverbial ass and into my literal Captain’s Chair was Mr. Barger’s dismissal of bands like Rage Against the Machine and Pixies as “tuneless.”
Action had to be taken, and here you have it.
This is an insanely subjective list of my 100 favorite albums of the last 20 years, derived from my own personal experiences and tastes and biases. There are annotations for the first 50 with personal anecdotes and thoughts placed in italics from time-to-time.
I spent some time pondering inclusion of some bands, like Pavement, that I should be really into (as in, I thought, “I’m the type of person who should be into Pavement)… and I like Pavement, the stuff I’ve heard from them. But I just never, at some point, crossed over into becoming a person who happened to be a huge Pavement fan.
Then there’re bands that I’ve only been turned onto recently, like the brilliant Libertines. There’s that part of me that would like to rush a record or two onto the list to seem cutting edge… but who the hell would I really be kidding?
So I suppose what I’m saying is that I’m trying to be honest. Trying to keep it real. I honestly dig the hell out of bands like Rancid and Nirvana and REM, so you’ll see a good smattering of their respective albums on the list.
It turned out, for me at least, that it’s difficult to select an album simply on the basis of a good song or two. Mudhoney is a good example: I’m a fan of the band and even saw them live in San Francisco several years ago. But I just couldn’t find a Mudhoney album that was worthy of inclusion on this list (sorry fellas).
I’m personally surprised to see how many of these albums came out in the late 80s or early 90s, though I suppose I shouldn’t be – those were my high school years, a time when one's musical indoctrination takes root.
Finally, there’s an obvious bias on the list toward alternative rock, ska, and punk bands. My only defense is to say, “Hey baby, that’s where I live.”
Enjoy and please feel free to comment away on my mini-life’s work…
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1. Nevermind - Nirvana
For a certain generation, Nirvana was the bloody Beatles. My Ed Sullivan moment happened one day in 1991 when I arrived home from high school and flipped on MTV. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” blew my mind: an angst-ridden, almost vicious assault on what was then considered pop music, it literally wiped the remnants of hair spray-afflicted bands off the musical map. Nevermind reminds us that music matters, even when it hurts.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Aaman
Good list, EB - much hours' listening worth of some new bands (for me).
Are some of these bands indies? e.g. Caution: Social Prescriptions May Cause Side Effects - Yolk
2 - Eric Berlin
Thanks Aaman, and yes, several are indies hailing from Upstate / Western New York in the early to mid-90s. If you can get your hands on Yolk, Brother Meat, or Perfect Thyroid -- all definitely worth a listen.
3 - BRICKLAYER
No Hole's "Live through This"? No Slayer's "Reign in Blood"? No Replacements "Tim" or "Let it Be"? No Neutral Milk Hotel's "The Aeroplane over the sea"? No Archers of Loaf at all?!?!?!!?!? Still, way better than the square's list. Big ups on the abundance of Rancid, and the Buck-o-nine!
ps. I think you forgot to put on Cattle Decapitation's mecca opus "Humanure". It should be at #24, in place of Jamiroqui, that dude's a wanker.
4 - Eric Berlin
I considered Live Through This. I like that album... but I don't really love it. I think about half of Celebrity Skin is absolutely fantastic, which is why I included it.
Replacements fall into the category of "I'd probably really dig if I took the time to get into them."
I like bands that are at the top of their genre in quality -- and I consider Slayer and Pantera to fit that description. But as you can see from the list, I'm not really a metal guy, unless there's a serious groove or hook going on. (And if you're wondering, I like Metallica fine, but I've never been head-over-heels about them).
5 - Eric Berlin
Which "square" are you referring to, by the way -- Al or Spin?
6 - Al Barger
Glad to see a second on the Manu Chao, but BON JOVI?! Then again, I'd certainly pick the Bon Jovi before RATM. Bon Jovi's a little cheesy, but he did have some reasonably catchy tunes.
Plus, I'm glad to see a second on the Everlast.
Finally, note that JACK WHITE RULES!!!
7 - Eric Berlin
No argument on the Jack White ruling.
I met the bass player who played on Everlast's album at a North Hollywood bungalo in early 1997, I believe. Nice guy, very chill. He played some of the tracks for us on what must have been a very early version of an mp3 player.
8 - BRICKLAYER
Both.
9 - Eric Olsen
thanks EB, great list - this is our most direct refutation of Spin because it pretty well sticks to da modern rocks like they do.
I really love Al and Aaman's list too, though.
I guess I'm going to have to fucking do this - aargh
10 - Al Barger
That's right Boss, we need your guidance. Please enlighten us with the true and correct answers.
11 - Mark Saleski
me too. 100, though...iz lotta work.
12 - BRICKLAYER
TOP 10 SONGS I JUST LISTENED TO, IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
10. Damn Shame (live)-Jay Farrar
09. Words of Love-Beatles
08. Climate Controllers-Napalm Death
07. Bat Country-Avenged Sevenfold
06. Apex-Black Dahlia Murder
05. Let them Eat War-Bad Religion
04. Hit So Hard-Hole
03. Voodoo Candle-Jay Farrar
02. Stepping Stone-Minor Threat
01. Jet Pilot-System of a Down
TOP 5 THINGS I JUST DID
5. Rubbed my chin
4. Looked at back of The Esoteric’s cd case
3.Thought about putting some eye drops in
2. Scrunched up my nose
1. Typed this
TOP 5 THINGS I ATE TODAY
5. Orange Creamsavers yogurt with a bag of Brick Jr’s left over peanuts, pretzels, and organic chips mixed in
4. Plum
3. Peach
2. Fruit roll up-stole it from Brick Jr, along with the bag of snacks
1. Chicken breast with left over tomatoes, pickles and onions
13 - Randy Padilla
I like the list except Bon Jovi and U2 Rattle and Hum. Achtung Baby was a far superior album.
14 - Dave
Interesting - Both this list and Spin's could serve as my personal "100 albums that I don't own" list.
15 - BRICKLAYER
And this serves to tell us not to go to any parties at Dave's house.
16 - Eric Berlin
Thanks Randy. Bon Jovi was kind of a geographic choice for me and a historical retro-shout out to a lost time (age of the hair bands). I actually spent a lot of time as a kid watching Headbanger's Ball on MTV (anyone remember Ricky Rachman... or however you spell?).
U2 is another interesting one. I'm actually a bit ashamed that I didn't include The Joshua Tree as I do think it's a phenomenal album. Rattle & Hum perhaps made it though as it's much closer to my heart. For example, it's the first cassette tape that I ever listened to in a walkman (as weird as that sounds -- I remember buying it and listening to it while I biked to a high school football game). I also listened to R&H over and over on the Auto Train, heading from Virginia to Florida as a kid on the way to visit my ailing grandfather, whilst reading The Tommyknockers, by Stephen King.
17 - Eric Berlin
EO - I'm curious to know more specifically what you mean by "direct refutation." Do you mean that I (and others) offer up more eclectic / indie selections than Spin?
18 - JR
The Bon Jovi is the best one on the list, with the exception of Guns 'n' Roses.
19 - Eric Olsen
no, I meant you're covering the same modern rock/alt rock terrain as Spin and did a better job than they did
20 - Eric Berlin
I enjoy Slippery When Wet a lot more now than I did 15 years ago. Certainly, Bon Jovi is a cut above most of the music that came out of the strange cauldron of late 80s pop (i.e. not underground) music.
21 - Eric Berlin
Oh... thanks EO!
22 - Eric Olsen
Slippery When Wet is certainly one of the better hard rock/hair pop album of the '80s - do doubt about it
23 - BRICKLAYER
We used to make fun of my one friend for owning that album, but I would internally knod my head when he played it. It doesn't make me any less a man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
24 - JR
I own it, but I don't think it would make my top 50...
25 - Eric Berlin
I get the same nostalgic / euphporic feeling when songs from the likes of Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, and Twisted Sister (which dates back several more years) pop up on the radio, or more likely, the old iPod.