by J. Albert Barr
Here we are at Part 2 of my very own subjective list of the Top 100 Albums of the 90s, dear readers! As good as the first half is, this second half represents the pinnacle of what I find to be the absolute best albums of that very culturally volatile, but significant decade, when, in 1995, the world changed forever with the commercial release of Windows '95, thus bringing the internet (and cyber-space in general) into nearly every home by the time the millennium happened; and also brought with it a sudden deluge of what we all now have, constantly on our respective persons, the ever-present, and usually (pre)occupied, cell-phones! But it's all worked out for society and culture, right?...Anyway, let's finish off this bodacious list of great albums, shall we?:
50. Is This Desire? - PJ Harvey (1998)
Favorite tracks: "Catherine", "Angelene" and "The Wind".
49. Mellow Gold - Beck (1994)
Favorite tracks: "Loser", "Pay No Mind" and "Steal My Body Home".
48. Cold and Bouncy - The High Llamas (1998)
Favorite tracks: "Glide Time", "The Sun Beats Down" and "Tilting Windmills".
47. Split - Lush (1994)
Favorite tracks: "Desire Lines", "When I Die" and "Lit Up".
46. Achtung Baby - U2 (1991)
Favorite tracks: "Mysterious Ways", "Until the End of the World" and "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World".
45. Into the Labyrinth - Dead Can Dance (1993)
Favorite tracks: "Tell Me About the Forest (You Once Called Home)", "The Carnival is Over" and "The Wind That Shakes the Barley".
44. Dots and Loops - Stereolab (1997)
Favorite tracks: "Refractions in the Plastic Pulse", "Contronatura" and "The Flower Called Nowhere".
43. Violator - Depeche Mode (1990)
Favorite tracks: "Personal Jesus", "Enjoy the Silence" and "The Policy of Truth".
42. Bone Machine - Tom Waits (1992)
Favorite tracks: "Goin' Out West", "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" and "In the Colosseum".
41. Moon Safari - Air (1998)
Favorite tracks: "Sexy Boy", "All I Need" and "You Make It Easy".
40. Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumpkins (1993)
Favorite tracks: "Disarm", "Today" and "Soma".
39. Dig Me Out - Sleater-Kinney (1997)
Favorite tracks: "Words and Guitar", "Dig Me Out" and "Heart Factory".
38. Bee Thousand - Guided By Voices (1994)
Favorite tracks: "Echos Myron", "Tractor Rape Chain" and "Buzzards and Dreadful Crows".
37. Dry - PJ Harvey (1992)
Favorite tracks: "Plants and Rags","Sheela-Na-Gig" and "Victory".
36. Fully Completely - The Tragically Hip (1992)
Favorite tracks: "Courage", "Locked in the Trunk of a Car" and "Wheat Kings".
35. I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One - Yo La Tengo (1997)
Favorite tracks: "Moby Octopad", "Shadows" and "Deeper into Movies".
34. Copper Blue - Sugar (1992)
Favorite tracks: "Helpless", "The Act We Act" and "Hoover Dam".
33. Apple Venus Vol. 1 - XTC (1999)
Favorite tracks: "River of Orchids", "Easter Theatre" and "I Can't Own Her".
32. Hawaii - The High Llamas (1996)
Favorite tracks: "Sparkle Up", "Literature is Fluff" and "Dressing up the Old Dakota".
31. Bossanova - The Pixies (1990)
Favorite tracks: "Velouria", "Is She Weird" and "Ana".
30. Maxinquaye - Tricky (1995)
Favorite tracks: "Pumpkin", "Overcome" and "Black Steel".
29. Odelay - Beck (1996)
Favorite tracks: "New Pollution", "Where It's At" and "Jack-Ass".
28. Reading, Writing and Arithmetic - The Sundays (1990)
Favorite tracks : "Here's Where the Story Ends", "Can't Be Sure" and "I Kicked a Boy".
27. Post - Bjork (1995)
Favorite tracks: "Isobel", "Army of Me" and "It's Oh So Quiet".
26. Laughing Stock - Talk Talk (1991)
Favorite tracks: "After the Flood", "Myrrhman" and "Runeii".
25. Spiderland - Slint (1991)
Favorite tracks: "Breadcrumb Trail", "Nosferatu Man" and "Good Morning, Captain".
24. Bricolage - Amon Tobin (1997)
Favorite tracks: "Stoney Street", "Defocus" and "New York Editor".
23. Superunknown - Soundgarden (1994)
Favorite tracks: "Black Hole Sun", "The Day I Tried to Live" and "Fell on Black Days".
22. Slanted and Enchanted - Pavement (1992)
Favorite tracks: "Trigger Cut/Wounded-Kite at :17", "No Life Singed Her" and "Conduit for Sale!".
21. Good - Morphine (1992)
Favorite tracks: "You Look Like Rain", "Do Not Go Quietly Unto Your Grave" and "You Speak My Language".
20. Vitalogy - Pearl Jam (1994)
Favorite tracks: "Spin the Black Circle", "Tremor Christ" and "Corduroy".
19. Blue Lines - Massive Attack (1991)
Favorite tracks: "Unfinished Sympathy", "One Love" and "Be Thankful for What You Got".
18. Last Splash - The Breeders (1993)
Favorite tracks: "Cannonball", "Do You Love Me Now?" and "Invisible Man".
17. Emperor Tomato Ketchup - Stereolab (1996)
Favorite tracks: "Cybele's Reverie", "Les Yper-Sound" and "OLV 26".
16. Jordan: The Comeback - Prefab Sprout (1990)
Favorite tracks: "Looking for Atlantis", "The Ice Maiden" and "One of the Broken".
15. Grace - Jeff Buckley (1994)
Favorite tracks: "Grace", "Lilac Wine" and "So Real".
14. Portishead - Portishead (1997)
Favorite tracks: "All Mine", "Cowboys" and "Seven Months"
13. Woodface - Crowded House (1991)
Favorite tracks: "Four Seasons in One Day", "Weather with You" and "Fall at Your Feet".
12. To Bring You My Love - PJ Harvey (1995)
Favorite tracks: "To Bring You My Love", "Black Snake Moan" and "Send His Love To Me".
11. Out of Time - R.E.M. (1991)
Favorite tracks: "Losing My Religion", "Near Wild Heaven" and "Half a World Away".
10. Mezzanine - Massive Attack (1998)
Favorite tracks: "Teardrop", "Inertia Creeps" and "Man Next Door".
9. The Bends - Radiohead (1995)
Favorite tracks: "Just", "Fake Plastic Trees" and "Street Spirit (Fade Out)".
8. In Utero - Nirvana (1993)
Favorite tracks: "All Apologies", "Serving the Servants" and "Penny Royal Tea".
7. Work and Non Work - Broadcast (1997)
Favorite tracks: "The Book Lovers", "We've Got Time" and "The World Backwards".
6. Dummy - Portishead (1994)
Favorite tracks: "Sour Times", "Glory Box" and "It Could Be Sweet".
5. Exile in Guyville - Liz Phair (1993)
Favorite tracks: "6'1"", "Dance of the Seven Veils" and "Fuck and Run".
4. Loveless - My Bloody Valentine (1991)
Favorite tracks: "Only Shallow", "Sometimes" and "Soon".
3. Nevermind - Nirvana (1991)
Favorite tracks: "Lithium", "Come as You Are" and "Drain You".
2. OK Computer - Radiohead (1997)
Favorite tracks: "Paranoid Android", "Subterranean Homesick Alien" and "The Tourist".
1. Automatic for the People - R.E.M. (1992)
Favorite tracks: "Drive", "Man on the Moon" and "Find the River".
That wraps it up, dear readers and fellow music lovers! I hope you found my lists interesting and entertaining (either positively or negatively, as these types of lists usually provoke debate, of course). Take care! :-)
