What Were The 90's All About?: 1999

It can be argued...
It can be argued that White Ladder didn't get discovered until 2001...
It can be argued that The Man Who didn't get discovered until 2000...
It can be argued that Californication was derivative of previous RHCP releases...
It can be argued that Blue (specifically "Never Let You Go") killed the 3EB momentum...

All of these things can be argued, but when it comes down to it these are the albums that sifted out of the gold pan that was 1999.

1. White Ladder, David Gray
2. The Man Who, Travis
3. Summerteeth, Wilco
4. Everything You Want, Vertical Horizon
5. Californication, Red Hot Chili Peppers

Honorable Mentions: This Desert Life, Counting Crows; No Angel, Dido; Mezzamorphis, Delirious?; When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He'll Win the Whole Thing Fore He Enters the Ring There's No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights and If You Know Where You Stand, Then You'll Know Where to Land and If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You Know That You're Right., Fiona Apple; Blue, Third Eye Blind

Don't be afraid to admit you were listening to Britney, Ricky Martin, J-Lo, or Backstreet Boys, just be glad you moved on in the next millennium...all except the re-patrioting ReckenRoll...

What Were The 90's All About?: Behind The Music

I'm having a hard time bringing the 90's album series to a close, although 1999 is just around the corner. There are other posts I plan on creating revolving around the music of the 90's. One aspect I thought might be interesting would be how I've put these posts together to this point. Other than the many faces of Bono post, the others all entailed a particular structure. Going in order of year helped, because I knew exactly what the topic of my next post was going to be. Sometimes structure is a good thing in blogging...sometimes it's just what you need to push through a pretty uneventful month.

I have a smart playlist created in iTunes that sorts out albums by year released. I edit the smart playlist to the year I'm researching. I press play and shuffle the songs. Sometimes this has taken longer than other times either because of the amount of great music or the number of distractions. Listening to the music while I do other things really helps me get into the time machine and journey back to the 90's. The project that I started out to do was to look at the most influential albums of the 90's, so there are lots of great songs that didn't make the cut, so I'll put together a 90's songs list for the one, two and three hit wonders that came to fruition in the decade. Several albums got left out because they weren't influential until much later or they might have been great albums, but I don't consider them influential. In the same way the decade is hard to define, so is an influential album without an entire post per album to justify my opinion, so a lot of biting of the tongue occurred. I take a look through the albums released during that year that I might not have representation of in iTunes (I have 115+ gigs of music with 26+ gigs falling between 1990 and 1999, so it's fair to say there's lots of representation) via Wikipedia. I try to put the top 5 in some sort of order but feel a lot better when I think that they aren't necessarily in order otherwise I'll want to go back and change them back and forth all the time. The topic generated a lot of discussion on and off (mostly off) the blog, so it struck a chord somewhere.

What's the next series for MKinMotion.com? Whoever suggests the best topic wins the generous prize of thanks and recognition. And by the way, I've been listening to 1999 music for what seems like forever now, so the post will come along soon.

What Were the 90's All About?: 1998

1998...Madonna redefined herself, Shawn Mullins inadvertently invented a sub-genre, and again the music industry evolved a little.

1. Before the Crowded Streets, Dave Matthews Band (probably their one true masterpiece album)
2. Hello Nasty, Beastie Boys
3. Soul's Core, Shawn Mullins
4. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, Lucinda Williams
5. XO, Elliot Smith

Honorable Mentions: Feeling Strangely Fine, Semisonic; Dizzy Up The Girl, Goo Goo Dolls; Train, Train; Teatro, Willie Nelson; Ozomatli, Ozomatli; Ray of Light, Madonna; The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Lauryn Hill

What was going on with you in 1998?

What Were the 90's All About?: 1997

OK Computer might have been the masterpiece that defined the 90's (I've heard it compared to Sgt. Pepper's effect on culture in 1968). Matthew Ryan released his ambitious debut album with 6 songs that would show up on a greatest hits album if he made one. The tide turned in 1997 again with Sarah McLachlan becoming a household name and helping to bring her entire genre to the mainstream.

1. OK Computer, Radiohead
2. Surfacing, Sarah McLachlan
3. Pop, U2
4. Third Eye Blind, Third Eye Blind
5. Sound of Lies, The Jayhawks

Honorable Mention: The Colour and The Shape, Foo Fighters; Time Out of Mind, Bob Dylan; Urban Hymns, The Verve; So Much For the Afterglow, Everclear; Firecracker, Lisa Loeb; Mayday, Matthew Ryan

How do you remember 1997?

What Were the 90's All About?: 1996

It's not like 1996 was a thin year for music...because there are some epic albums, but in hindsight it feels more like a setting of the stage than an epic year.

1. Recovering the Satellites, Counting Crows
2. Being There, Wilco
3. Bringing Down the Horse, The Wallflowers
4. Yourself and Someone Like You, Matchbox 20 (if you don't trust me, give it a listen)
5. Fashion Nugget, Cake

Honorable Mentions: Crash, Dave Matthews Band; Tidal, Fiona Apple; Faithless Street, Whiskeytown; Odelay, Beck

What Were the 90's All About?: Bono

How can you define the 90's when there is such a variety? The 90's through the many faces phases of Bono.

1990 (Early Achtung sessions in Berlin)


1991 (Achtung Baby sessions)


1992 (ZooTV)


1993 (ZooTV/Zoomerang)


1994 (Remember the Sinatra duets/Grammy presentation?)

1995 (Warchild)



1996 (Yeah, he's wearing a Batman necklace)

1997 (PopMart)

1998 (Is that Bono or Elvis Costello?)


1999

What Were the 90's All About?: 1995

The 90's are littered with great soundtracks and 1995 is no exception with Empire Records, Clueless, and technically Original Soundtracks 1 from Passengers being released. In the soundtrack of my life I think there could be songs from all of these albums including the honorable mentions.

1. The Ghost of Tom Joad, Bruce Springsteen
2. Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette
3. Sparkle and Fade, Everclear
4. The Bends, Radiohead
5. Forever Blue, Chris Isaak

Honorable Mention: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Smashing Pumpkins; Garbage, Garbage; Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt; Jars of Clay, Jars of Clay; Presidents of the United States of America, Presidents of the United States of America; (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, Oasis

What Were the 90's All About?: 1994

In 1994 we got punched in the face with Kurt Cobain taking his life, but music continued, despite the Don McLean lyrics. Johnny Cash re-emerged from the ashes and won over a whole new audience, Weezer defined power pop rock and haven't apologized, and Jeff Buckley released what would ultimately be his only studio album that still brings chills.

1. Weezer (Blue Album), Weezer
2. Wildflowers, Tom Petty
3. American Recordings, Johnny Cash
4. Vitalogy, Pearl Jam
5. Grace, Jeff Buckley

Honorable Mention: Throwing Copper, Live; Definitely Maybe, Oasis; Dookie, Green Day; Mighty Joe Moon, Grant Lee Buffalo; Mellow Gold, Beck; Under the Table and Dreaming, Dave Matthews Band

What Were the 90's All About?: 1993

1993 marks the year I graduated. Yes, the same year Zach Morris graduated from Bayside High and Brandon Walsh graduated from West Beverly. So the year 1993 fills in the tale end of high school and the beginning of college. Very influential times. If you asked to list my top 5 influential albums of my life, August... would be on the list, so it's fitting it shows up in this series.

1. August and Everything After, Counting Crows
2. Gentlemen, Afghan Whigs
3. Songs From the Rain, Hothouse Flowers
4. Vs., Pearl Jam
5. Siamese Dream, Smashing Pumpkins

Honorable Mention: Pablo Honey, Radiohead; Ten Summoner's Tales, Sting; Laid, James; Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?, The Cranberries; For The Beauty of Wynona, Daniel Lanois; I'm Alive, Jackson Browne

What music was influential to you when you graduated from high school?

What Were the 90's All About?: 1992

1992 saw the Clinton win from out of nowhere, saw grunge make a big move with Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam and Nirvana all become mainstays, and Eric Clapton might have temporarily lost his balls cool. Great albums that continued the trend of redefinition and genre introduction came through in 1992.

1. Automatic for the People, R.E.M.
2. Wish, The Cure
3. Check Your Head, Beastie Boys
4. Rage Against The Machine, Rage Against The Machine
5. Grave Dancer's Union, Soul Asylum

Honorable mention: Hollywood Town Hall, The Jayhawks (I really didn't discover it until 93-94); Apollo 18, They Might Be Giants; Our Time in Eden, 10,000 Maniacs; Amused to Death, Roger Waters; The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, The Black Crowes

Funny this series has generated more traffic and emails than anything I've written in the last couple of months...maybe you all just like the 90's that much. I know I did.

What Were the 90's All About?: 1991

I still contend the music revolution started in 1989, but 1991 was probably the most significant movement towards where we are today. The five albums I list we epic, defining and told us that things were changing whether we were listening to pop radio or the newly debuted Alternative radio. I can still remember the first time I heard "The Fly," "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "Give it Away," "You Could Be Mine," and "Losing My Religion." I knew it was all changing. U2 redefined themselves, the Chili Peppers evolved their music, R.E.M. revealed beauty in the fringe, Nirvana kicked all of our asses and Guns 'n Roses broke all the rules. 1991 set the tone for grunge, alternative rock, the death of hair metal and did it all in our backyards. I have a feeling we might see some of these artists again as I progress through the 1990's.

1. Achtung Baby - U2
2. Blood Sugar Sex Magik - Red Hot Chili Peppers
3. Out of Time - R.E.M.
4. Nevermind - Nirvana
5. Use Your Illusion I & II - Guns 'n Roses

Honorable mention: Ten, Pearl Jam; Metallica (The Black Album), Metallica; Soul Cages, Sting; Fear, Toad the Wet Sprocket.

What do you think? Did I forget something you think changed the landscape?

What Were the 90's All About?: 1990

The 60's have been celebrated, the 70's have been celebrated, even the 80's are glorified...it will be interesting to see how history remembers the 1990's. There are certain images that come to mind when those decades are discussed with a musical context; the 90's are perhaps too recent to put into context, but there are some definitive albums from my experience of the 90's. I wanted to take a minute and remind you of some great albums from the 90's that definitely shaped my musical path.

In 1990, there were some really significant releases (Uncle Tupelo's No Depression, for one) but the albums that effected me the most were:

1. Shake Your Money Maker - The Black Crowes
2. Listen Without Prejudice - George Michael
3. Goodbye Jumbo - World Party
4. Flood - They Might Be Giants
5. Violator - Depeche Mode

Honorable mention for 1990: Time's Up, Living Colour; I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got, Sinead O'Connor; Ritual de lo Habitual, Jane's Addiction; Charmed Life, Billy Idol

Over the next few days, I will go through each year of the 90's highlighting great albums then and great albums that stand the test of time. What were your favorite albums from the 90's? Send your answers to matt[at]mkinmotion[dot]com.