the definitive 90s album

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What album, for you depicts the nineties as a decade? It's difficult to define ten years as a whole, considering the wide range of styles and genres pervading.

I think I'm gonna go for "The Great Escape" - maybe an obvious choice since it was released at the very peak of the Britpop boom, had songs about topics like Prozac, the National Lottery, pollution etc. etc. And it had this sense of yuppyism that even the 80s couldn't beat. And yet the whole thing is musically influenced by the 80s (ska, punk, cheap synths) so maybe it's the wrong album.

your thoughts?

― dog latin, Thursday, 20 February 2003 12:26 (twenty-three years ago)

although i dont really like them i think, for the UK, i would go with an album by Underworld (i dont know which one though, i dont have any!)

― gareth (gareth), Thursday, 20 February 2003 12:33 (twenty-three years ago)

it pisses me off the Blurasis always seem to be the 'definitive' bands of the decade. i was thinking earlier about whether the 90s are remembered more for albums that came out in the first part (Screamadelica, Nevermind, Blue Lines), the middle part (Jilted Generation, The Chronic, Maxinquaye, Definitely Maybe, Endtroducing) or the late part (OK Computer, Ladies & gentlemen..., Homework, Remedy) and i think really they all seem equally important releases in equally important phases

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 20 February 2003 12:35 (twenty-three years ago)

i was quite into Blur and Oasis but no more than i was into anything else non-dance throughout the decade (Nirvana, Manics, Radiohead, EMF...yipe!)

how much influence do you think Oasis and co had on bands outside the UK? more than the likes of Massive Attack and Tricky? more than Underworld and the Chemical Brothers? more than Air and Daft Punk? hard to tell...

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 20 February 2003 12:39 (twenty-three years ago)

is Tom's review of that new 'Live Forever' film in Sound On Sound up on the net yet?

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 20 February 2003 12:39 (twenty-three years ago)

yeh, obv you don't have to like the album for it to define the 90s.

― dog latin, Thursday, 20 February 2003 12:54 (twenty-three years ago)

Jilted Generation -- seemed to encompass everything that was good about the hardcore/darkside continuum up to then, set the trend for the massive dance act albums for the remainder of the decade, bridged the gap between early and mid 90's, and between dance indie and jungle etc. Not my fave but seems definitive of the decade now.

― David Gunnip, Thursday, 20 February 2003 13:31 (twenty-three years ago)

i'm not sure about one defining album, but a defining 90's trend was the darkening of the material by some of the Bripop acts (ie. the British nineties could be somewhat defined in the change from the jaunty pop of Parklife/Great Escape/Different Class to the darker stuff on Blur/13/this is hardcore. Blue lines to mezzanine, screamadelica to vanishing point. interesting to observe...

other records that come to mind (not necessarily my own faves) - nevermind, jilted generation, slim shady lp, ok computer. any one of these can be seen as a "snapshot of the times" album, i suppose.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Thursday, 20 February 2003 13:32 (twenty-three years ago)

i was going to say jilted generation as well
obviously no one album could define,as it were,a decade,but it possibly comes closest...

― robin (robin), Thursday, 20 February 2003 13:39 (twenty-three years ago)

The extended mix will be up at the weekend on FT Stevem.

Denim On Ice.

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 20 February 2003 13:45 (twenty-three years ago)

How you mean "Definitive" comrade?

Cuz I'm thinking Spice Girls or Right Said Fred, as much as I'd like for it to be ElectroPura.

― dave225 (Dave225), Thursday, 20 February 2003 13:58 (twenty-three years ago)

Unquestionably Blue Lines by Massive Attack.

It's what many other albums were measured by throughout this barren decade.

― russ t, Thursday, 20 February 2003 14:01 (twenty-three years ago)

the chronic

― Evan (Evan), Thursday, 20 February 2003 14:12 (twenty-three years ago)

russ how can you call the 90s barren? unless it some kind of pun pointing out how the decade was sadly devoid of material by the Barron Knights

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 20 February 2003 14:15 (twenty-three years ago)

too many 90s' for there to be one definitive album, but just for the hell of it I'll say the Ocean of Sound soundtrack, partly for its embrace/defining of how ambient drift works (a pretty big part of 90s music in a few categories), partly because there's stuff on it from other decades and the 90s were when reissues/lesser-known back catalog became a major part of the pop-etc. conversation

― M Matos (M Matos), Thursday, 20 February 2003 14:21 (twenty-three years ago)

Jagged Little Pill!

― Vic (Vic), Thursday, 20 February 2003 15:32 (twenty-three years ago)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000001FI7.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 20 February 2003 15:34 (twenty-three years ago)

To me, the nineties are summed up by Everclear's "So Much for the Afterglow." I'm not saying I'm happy about, mind you.

― My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Thursday, 20 February 2003 15:49 (twenty-three years ago)

― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Thursday, 20 February 2003 15:53 (twenty-three years ago)

...Stevem... maybe being a bit harsh - but I do think it was a stale time.... loads of great dance stuff from the likes of Platipus, React, Noom, TidyTrax, Hooj etc..... but the mainstream chart stuff was pretty shoddy throughout the 90s IMO.

The whole nonsense that was Britpop (made a great NME headline - meant absolutely nothing), the demise of Morrissey, the resurgence of bad pop music, the continuing publication of NME... all quite depressing for music lovers, I thought.

― russ t, Thursday, 20 February 2003 16:47 (twenty-three years ago)

Hooj is your idea of great dance stuff? ugh

― M Matos (M Matos), Thursday, 20 February 2003 16:54 (twenty-three years ago)

http://www.artistdirect.com/Images/Sources/AMGCOVERS/music/cover200/dre900/e988/e9882464337.jpg
Swygart's sucks. This is the real shiznit.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:06 (twenty-three years ago)

"the change from the jaunty pop of Parklife/Great Escape"

whaaaa? Great Escape is a very very dark and depressed album...

― stevie (stevie), Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:18 (twenty-three years ago)

"Yuko and Hiro" = funtime happy for everyone!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:20 (twenty-three years ago)

...Hooj released Marmion - schoneberg.
Around the time of its fourth (I believe) release.
They released a lot of shite, too, but to have released a record as utterly faultless asthis one - yes, they release good stuff. Absolutely.
Enough said.

Also, the Medway ep - fantastic.

Maybe you've been taking too much notice of the awful Hooj stuff that hits the charts, MMatos. Personally, I rarely look at the charts.

Thank you.

― russ t, Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:20 (twenty-three years ago)

The Chems' Dig Your Own Hole, surely?

But I'd accept Blue Lines as well.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:22 (twenty-three years ago)

i think there were a lot of great pop records in the 90s, including the late 90s (White Town, Moloko, Cardigans, LRD) - and as for the bad stuff, it was hardly a resurgence, more a constant (but people have got better at marketing of course)

Platipus, React, Noom, TidyTrax, Hooj - all known more for their shite hard-house/hard-trance output if you ask me - the real top Uk dance labels in the 90s for me were Warp, Soma, Ninja, XL, Production House, Moving Shadow, V, Full Cycle, Metalheadz, Junior Boys Own and Atlantic Jaxx - i agree with Russ that Marmion's 'Schoneberg' is quality tho

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:35 (twenty-three years ago)

add to late 90s good pop - 80s stalwarts Pet Shop Boys and Madonna

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:37 (twenty-three years ago)

For me, as a college radio DJ in the early 90s, Pavement's "Slanted and Enchanted" was one of the defining albums of the decade.
I also have a soft spot for Blue Lines; it left a lot in its wake.

― Bruce Urquhart (Bruce Urquhart), Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:46 (twenty-three years ago)

think the 90s produced the best Madonna and PSB records - Erotica and Ray of Lightfor Madge and Nightlife and Bilingual for the PSBs - seminal records all of them.

Surprised you hate Platipus etc.... as dated and unlistenable as the hard house stuff sounds now, it sounded f*cking excellent back in the early-mid 90s around the glory days of Trade, DTPM, The Tunnel, Club X etc.... and React - they still release some great tunes.

― russ t, Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:48 (twenty-three years ago)

well i liked some of it but was more into my hardstep as you can tell - have you got the 'Abduction' compilation on Solid State? its the best compilation ever for epic/progressive/trancey dance music in my book - features everything from 'Schoneberg' to 'Acperience' to 'Vicious Circles' to 'Ego Acid' to 'Orange Theme' to 'Domination' (Way Out West ruled) - sadly no 'Positive Education' or 'Cafe Del Mar' tho

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:52 (twenty-three years ago)

Never saw that compilation... but then, there were loads out round this time... but that one does sound like it was a cut above.

Way Out West..... I saw Mr Warren last weekend in the Bell in Bristol... seems to have taken a breather from all things music, more's the pity.

Last I heard of Jody he was DJing at some crappy venue in Bristol.

Kris Needs' mix of Domination - an inspiration to us all. Surely one of THE remixes of all time?

― russ t, Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:56 (twenty-three years ago)

not sure i've even heard a Kris Needs remix of it! the original is phenomenal enough as it is for me

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:58 (twenty-three years ago)

whatever happened to Slacker btw?

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 20 February 2003 17:59 (twenty-three years ago)

why does ego acid always get on these comps but never afghan acid or pollux, esp pollux which i cant even find on mp3:(

― gareth (gareth), Thursday, 20 February 2003 18:24 (twenty-three years ago)

Dinosaur Jr - Where You Been. I'm not into that sound of a generation thing, this is about beinga bit lazy with and guitars, which sort of sums up the nineties for me.

― jel -- (jel), Thursday, 20 February 2003 20:01 (twenty-three years ago)

"whaaaa? Great Escape is a very very dark and depressed album..."

You're actually right, but there was at least a veneer of jollity at that stage (even if the core was dark). Later releases were unashamedly self-absorbed and depressing.

Different Class has a dark heart too - "I Spy" in particular (possibly my favourite Pulp tune)

"He Thought of Cars" is the top dark number on "The great escape".

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Thursday, 20 February 2003 20:22 (twenty-three years ago)

the whole "defining the decade" thing can be looked at in different ways, i suppose. ie. you could say a record that made the most astute observations about 90's living "defined the nineties", regardless of whether it had much impact on people's lives. or you could think that the defining album of the 90's HAS TO BE one which had a big impact on a wide number of people's lives.

For example - Black Box Recorder's self-titled album could be one of the sharpest, funniest, 90's records. but (loosely speaking), nobody has heard it.

or else, you could choose the album that defined your own decade.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Thursday, 20 February 2003 20:35 (twenty-three years ago)

yep, and trying to define the decade for everyone always pisses more people off then it does satsify people. in media/zeitgeist terms then i think the albums that are regarded as defining the 90s are 'morning glory' and 'nevermind' because of the fuss the press generated about them, but ironically there aren't many individuals that would pick either as their favourite album of the 90s or the one that defined their decade

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 20 February 2003 20:41 (twenty-three years ago)

Defining album of the 90's: UNKLE's "Psyence Fiction". A great all-rounder. It has hip-hop, hipnotic guitars and Thom Yorke.

― JP Almeida (JP Almeida), Thursday, 20 February 2003 23:37 (twenty-three years ago)

In many ways I think the 90s were owned by Moving Shadow/Suburban Base/Production House, but my picks for definitive albums would include _Dummy_, _Blue Lines_, _The Low End Theory_ and _The Downward Spiral_. (Would nu-metal have happened without _The Downward Spiral_?)

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 20 February 2003 23:42 (twenty-three years ago)

And they were all in the Nediverse list, so I approve. ;-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 21 February 2003 00:07 (twenty-three years ago)

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