best albums of the 90s?

[replika]

mine are
1. my bloody valentine - loveless
2. type o negative - world coming down
3. nirvana - in utero
4. Fear Factory - Demanufacture

[Greg]

I think I got the best album.

[ℭycaleo]

Originally posted by Greg:

I think I got the best album.

Thinking is not allowed in OT

[Greg]

Originally posted by Synburn:

Originally posted by Greg:

I think I got the best album.

Thinking is not allowed in OT

[Holografix]

Originally posted by MistyMountainHop:

Originally posted by Holografix:

The 'Beastie' sound is definitively 80s hiphop and although they might have released 'critically acclaimed' albums their signature sound did not evolve past what they released in the 80s. 90s hiphop is of a different sound than 80s hiphop. Think WuTang, Dre, Snoop, etc.

Not "might have". They did.
Claiming that the band didn't evolve past their 80s sound just tells me that you haven't listened to their albums.

Originally posted by Holografix:

Calling a band "one of the most unique rock bands of their era" is hyperbole.

Calling them "derivative" is dumb. Derivative of who?

Originally posted by Holografix:

Grunge is a rock style that emerged from and defined the 1990s.

It emerged from the 80s. Ever listen to stuff like Melvins or Mother Love Bone? Even Nirvana dropped a record in the 80s.

1.
If you listen to the Beastie Boys' rap cadence it's the same as in the 80s. The same staccato, verve punctuated accented words over a beat. The same style in 'Intergalactic' as in 'Paul Revere.' The Beastie's are an 80s hiphop group that established a fan base who kept them commercially viable in the 90s. I'm not saying they're a mediocre group, just that there was better hiphop/rap in the 90s that was genre defining as well.

2.
Derivative of that metal rock sound that evolved into 90s grunge.

3.
Grunge defined the 90s rock sound. It was the decade that rock died, and Grunge was it's eulogy. Of course you can trace the origins of the style through various bands that came before, but we're discussing decade defining sounds not "where did grunge come from." And certainly, the 80s was not a grunge decade by any measure.

*
To put my commentary into perspective, I'm a trainspotter for electronic and techno music. If you glance at my list of "best" 90s albums (comment #6) I don't have much techno even though techno was emerging in the 90s with The Prodigy, Ritchie Hawkins and Drexciya. I didn't include my favorite genre because although it is my FAVORITE there aren't many genre defining techno albums in the 90s. I included Goldie's Timeless because Goldie created A BRAND NEW SOUND with that album. Sure there were jungle tracks and drum and bass, but nothing quite coalesced into a genre defining sound like 'Timeless.'

So you might be a rock music trainspotter but at least have the sense to recognize that some bands/groups, however much you like them, aren't going to be considered the "best."

[MistyMountainHop]

Originally posted by Holografix:

If you listen to the Beastie Boys' rap cadence it's the same as in the 80s. The same staccato, verve punctuated accented words over a beat. The same style in 'Intergalactic' as in 'Paul Revere.' The Beastie's are an 80s hiphop group that established a fan base who kept them commercially viable in the 90s. I'm not saying they're a mediocre group, just that there was better hiphop/rap in the 90s that was genre defining as well.

The Beastie Boys' vocals are an evolution from their early days as a punk band. It's their style. Why should they have abandoned it? It was their own thing, and it helped them curate a very large fanbase that continues to persist long after the band's dissolution. It also helped that the band's musical style evolved and they kept making interesting records. If they hadn't, we would only be talking about them as that band with that one hit in the 80s. If you like other stuff better, that's fine, but they were very relevant throughout the 90s, and for good reason.

Originally posted by Holografix:

Derivative of that metal rock sound that evolved into 90s grunge.

This is vague and doesn't answer the question. I think you just dislike Alice in Chains and refuse to accept that they did anything noteworthy.

Originally posted by Holografix:

Grunge defined the 90s rock sound. It was the decade that rock died, and Grunge was it's eulogy. Of course you can trace the origins of the style through various bands that came before, but we're discussing decade defining sounds not "where did grunge come from." And certainly, the 80s was not a grunge decade by any measure.

Point is, grunge rock existed in the 80s. Grunge bands were a thing, they released albums, and even the term "grunge rock" itself was a thing. It just wasn't mainstream.

Originally posted by Holografix:

So you might be a rock music trainspotter but at least have the sense to recognize that some bands/groups, however much you like them, aren't going to be considered the "best."

I suggest you take your own advice, considering that you decided it was necessary to complain about other people's picks not being up to your standards, rather than simply let your picks speak for themselves.

[Holografix]

Originally posted by MistyMountainHop:

The Beastie Boys' vocals are an evolution from their early days as a punk band. It's their style. Why should they have abandoned it?

Thank you for conceding the point.

Originally posted by MistyMountainHop:

Originally posted by Holografix:

Derivative of that metal rock sound that evolved into 90s grunge.

This is vague and doesn't answer the question. I think you just dislike Alice in Chains and refuse to accept that they did anything noteworthy.

There is a thing called 'generic band sound.' This is what Alice in Chains had in spades. It was like an in-between sound, like metal becoming grunge. AiC was not sui generis, and i don't think it's helpful to pretend it was. If you like it, so be it. But don't let your feelings for the music get in the way of proper analysis.

Originally posted by MistyMountainHop:

Originally posted by Holografix:

Grunge defined the 90s rock sound. It was the decade that rock died, and Grunge was it's eulogy. Of course you can trace the origins of the style through various bands that came before, but we're discussing decade defining sounds not "where did grunge come from." And certainly, the 80s was not a grunge decade by any measure.

Point is, grunge rock existed in the 80s. Grunge bands were a thing, they released albums, and even the term "grunge rock" itself was a thing. It just wasn't mainstream.

We're talking about tide marks, not about the individual grains of sand on the beach. There was a point in music history where the 90s was grunge, and where that sound style defined the decade. Of course, the sound comes from somewhere, but that's not relevant to the main point here.