f13.net

Phildo and I were in a diner at 2am listening to 90s music and reminiscing on how utterly shitty it is. We came to conclusion that Smashing Pumpkin's Tonight, Tonight is the best song of the 90s bar none in every category. Music, Lyrics, Production, Video, everything. Mostly because we couldn't come up with something better. Can someone help us find something better? Please?

And if you say anything from Nirvana, you're not only wrong, but you're an asshole.

Other contenders:
Crossroads - Bone Thugs
Glycerine - Bush
Virtual Insanity - Jamiroquai
Everlong - Foo Fighters
Regulators - Warren G
Changes - Tupac
That Thing You Do - The Oneders
Kiss from a Rose - Seal
Losing My Religion - REM
One Headlight - Wallflowers
Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden (stipulations: Was recorded 5 years later, not in Seattle, and not by amateurs, and had more Kim Thayil)

Help us. Surely the 90s isn't as horrible as we're remembering. Or is it?

Out of personal masturbatory interests, I'll add Once in a Lifetime - Wolfsheim.

The 90's are a tricky thing to gauge. Plus, much of it has been ruined by being overplayed in bars for many, many years.

However, when you get down to it, it's infinitely better than the shit that's being put out now.

Smashing Pumpkins is fairly solid. You also have RATM. Tupac has a million good songs, so it's hard to just list one and leave it there.

Plus, there are some hilariously bad songs from the 90's. How could a Jackass movie ever be made without the 90's.

I hope you didn't just list Seal, though. You know, unless there are strewn rosepetals and gay sex going on in a room.

No no, we're not talking about artists.

Single songs.

We're looking for a single song better than Tonight, Tonight. Something where the total package is better.

OIC.

What the fuck is your problem with Seal anyway?  He's the fucking man.

If you happen to be fucking a man.

Look, I get not liking Seal. I get not liking pop/R&B - I don't. But Kiss from a Rose is a pretty great song. That said, why are you fixating on that INSTEAD OF OFFERING SUGGESTIONS, THX.

Well, I'll be honest. A lot of 90's music makes me want to stab myself in the fucking face after spending many, many years in cheap bars getting far too drunk. I could probably suggest a lot of things, but since I have a somewhat irrational hate for much of it, it might be difficult.

Long story short would be that I stopped being useful in this thread somewhere before "OIC".

This is where we started actually. Trying to find actual decent music in the 90s.

90's movies would be easier.

Adam Sandler.

Which one?

Who cares. They're all the exact same movie. But they're GREAT.

I'd pick Bullet With Butterfly Wings or 1979 before Tonight, Tonight. Closer from NIN beats them all. Awesome song, badass vid.

Also, O.P.P. from Naughty By Nature. I still get a kick out of that song.

So what decade sets the bar?

Hm strange. I like 90s music, for instance:

Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Californication
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Scar Tissue
Oasis - Wonderwall
Goo Goo Dolls - Iris
Rage Against the Machine - Wake Up
Marilyn Manson - Rock is Dead
Green Day - Basket Case
Rammstein - Du Hast
Metallica - Nothing Else Matters
Metallica('s version of) - Whiskey in the Jar
Rob Zombie - Dragula
Also, any Nirvana song.  :grin:

Then again, I like most 80s music as well. And most 70s music. And most 60s music. And most 50s music. And so forth. My taste in music is so bland and shitty I pretty much enjoy everything you can throw at me.

Alice in Chains - I Stay Away

Greatness on all levels.

Prodigy: Breathe
            Smack my Bitch Up
Fatboy Slim: Rockafeller Skank
                  Praise You
Michael Jackson: Black or White :drill:

Easily Sabotage by Beastie Boys (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sbqIyeed4g).

Yes.

Faithless - Insomnia
Death in Vegas - Aisha
Underworld - King of Snake
Fields of the Nephilim - Sumerland (What Dreams May Come)
Doctor Jeep - Sisters of Mercy
One Way - The Levellers
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Megadeth - Symphony of Destruction

There was loads of ace music in the 90s. Get tae fuck.

When you say "single songs" are you referring to singles that had mainstream airplay (as your list would seem to suggest)?

The most awesome, timeless thing I have heard this week is Daddy's Gone - Glasvegas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uSdQxKaBfU).

As for the 1990s, it was a decade that US and UK musical tastes headed in different directions. Schild's list to me seems very US centric. I would have to include some stuff like this:

There She Goes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX9TDQcCyVE) - The La's
A Design For Life (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz00_3LbdmM) - Manic Street Preachers (won't play unless you click through to YouTube)
Everybody in the place (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGPibfYnB5c) - The Prodigy (because you can't have the 1990s without the rave scene, and this was what 1992 sounded like for me)

Eric Clapton - Layla (acoustic) - 1992
Duran Duran - Ordinary World - 1993
Aerosmith - Don't Want to Miss a Thing - 1998
Bilnd Melon - No Rain - 1993
Cranberries - Zombie - 1994
The Cure - Friday I'm in Love - 1992
Queen - The Show Must Go On - 1991

Pick your favorite song from Garbage, Green Day, No Doubt, Offspring

I could go on for a long time but it feels somewhat pointless.

I want to vomit every time I hear that song.

It really depends on whether you're talking about what got radio play or everything. A lot of good stuff got ignored by the radio (or my town's radio, anyway). Great singles off the top of my head:

Cake - The Distance
Bjork - Bachelorette
Radiohead - really anything off OK Computer
anything from Massive Attack's Mezzanine

Hum, Black hole sun is absolutely terrible.  It's the first song I deleted from my winamp list back in the days.

From the suggestions I would have gone with :
Losing My Religion - REM

Then Chengiz reminded me Ok computer is from the 90s... (I guess I'm officially old now)
After some research, Creep is not even from Ok computer.

My pic :
Creep - Radionhead (Pablo Honey, 1992)

More suggestions:
Bittersweet Symphony (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx3m4e45bTo) - The Verve
Paranoid Android (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szdWPWnnNls) - Radiohead
Fake Plastic Trees (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeowFbvpu0U) - Radiohead
Killing In The Name Of (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkuOAY-S6OY) - Rage Against The Machine
Groove Is In The Heart (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKTCW4oxS6I) - Dee Lite
Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC1xuVCBl4o) - De La Soul
Justified & Ancient (Stand By The JAMS) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPjggN-KByI) - The KLF

Australians might pick: No Aphrodisiac (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15eH6roFWgU) - The Whitlams. Personally of Aussie music in the 1990s I would pick this: Heavy Heart (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aG789_n_HQ) - You Am I

OK I've decided. My nomination for song of the 1990s is: Lightning Crashes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsOculxtdX8) - Live

Dude, you started well, and then... ugh. Turn in your heavy metal fanclub membership card.

I may be an asshole, but I'm not wrong: Come as you are (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOL5cpwTkes) - Nirvana.

Or...
Vasoline (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq5FeHzKtqw) - Stone temple pilots
Zero (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJOGq5XTojo) - Smashing pumpkins
Give it away now (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o66j2qtliz8) - Red hot chili peppers

My list would have been closer to IainC's with a few Tale thrown in. Prodigy and Radiohead would have made it, too.  Nothing much from the original list would have made it.  Sorry. There wouldn't have been any Smashing Pumpkins on it at all.  Not that I don't like them, I do, just not enough to include any of their songs as one of my tops on any short song list.  They would have maybe made it on a really, really long song list though!   :grin:

Ittu and IainC are stoners.  So naughty.  

A lot of good stuff here.  For a specific song with a great video, I'll go with Radiohead - Just (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5X7HKxpiQA)

Sorry Schild, first thing that came to mind was:

 - Smells like Teen Spirit

I'll add a few of my faves:
 - Losing my Religion, REM
 - You oughta Know, Alanis Morissette
 - I think I'm Paranoid, Garbage
 - Love Me, the Cardigans
 - Thunder Kiss '65, White Zombie
 - Seether, Veruca Salt

Every time I play the following song, somebody says "I like this, is it a new REM album?" It's from 1996.

How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQg5G8tXe8U) - REM


edit - Falconeer's triphop mention (Portishead) reminded me of Tricky.

Black Steel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu8LpalUelY) - Tricky (Public Enemy cover, but very different from the original).

I think too much stuff up there is just "personal favourite" material. Some don't even have a proper videoclip, or a terrible one anyway.

My personal faves list would be huge and obscure, I guess. Still, I feel like adding a couple more songs that are definitely suitable for the award.

Where the Wild Roses Grow - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds feat. Kylie Minogue (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRMe5H9WKpM)
Glory Box - Portishead (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF-GvT8Clnk)

Finally, Wonderwall - Oasis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAPtTS0TYtU). I hated it, and the video sucks. But boy that was huge, wasn't it in the US too?

I got nothing of real use here - I grew up without MTV (lived in the sticks without cable), so can't comment on total packages.  During the 90's though, I was mostly listening to The Connells, R.E.M, The Cranberries, Belly, and Velocity Girl,  which is to say jangly guitars and chick bands.

Wonderwall is like fingernails on a chalkboard.  It's just a hideous song.

There are tons of songs from the 90s that I love but most didn't make it very high up the charts.  I love Portishead (first two albums, the 3rd is putrid), but I don't believe Glory Box was even released as a single in the US.  While popularity by no means automatically = good, to reach a consensus 'best' the song should at least be moderately popular, imo.  By the way, you linked to Numb, not Glory Box.

Bittersweet Symphony.

uh, fixed the link. And of course, no idea about popularity oversea. Glory Box was immense in my part of Europe.
I didn't like Wonderwall but I recognize qualities in it.

People should listen to the Ryan Adams version of Wonderwall. Just to see if they can appreciate the lyrics executed in a different way.

Same goes for his version of Down in a Hole. That shit made WEEP the first time I heard it (granted, I was actually in a hole at the time).

I  :heart: :heart: :heart: Portishead.  Hate Oasis - Unexceptionally talented John Lennon stalking wankers producing ripped off from anywhere nonsense.

Fuck yes.

Also, I heard Lightning Crashes thrown around.

Also:

He would do anything for love.

But he won't do that.



Reading everyone's lists though, I realize, I fucking love 90's music.

Different use of the same sample:
Glory Box (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF-GvT8Clnk) - Portishead
Hell Is Around The Corner (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woRtoRiVMcA) - Tricky

When you play in the f13 pop-up window they say "no longer available" but if you click through to YouTube, they are playable.

Lots of great metal in the 90s. Metallica was not playing it.

Tool, Kyuss, Melvins, Slipknot, just off the top of my head. Patton was doing great stuff with FNM. Tool.

There was tons of great music in the 90s. Just like every decade ever. One of my favorite albums, Just Won't Burn by Susan Tedeschi came out in 98. It Hurts So Bad is a phenomenal song, the modern Janis (which is actually an insult to Susan imo). I'm seeing a lot of Clear Channel push in this thread.

You and I have agreements on music, but calling people's tastes clear channel push is a bit unfair imo. They can still like the songs in their own right.

Lightning Crashes is a great song.  I also really like the Sam Sever remix of White, Discussion (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQGL5zp6y2I).

I have a sneaking suspicion that anyone moaning about the 90s did not live as a teen in the 80s. We're talking about stuff that got radio air play in the 80s, not the indie scene which did have quite a bit of good music, and was the birthing place for most of the 90s good music. The Cure, Sonic Youth, Pixies, REM, Husker Du, Alice in Chains, Megadeth, Souxie and the Banshees (although to be fair she had her shit going on since the 70s)...all these are the groundwork for what you listened to on the radio in the 90s. Pior to the Nirvana outbreak in the early 90s, it was a barren wasteland where if you heard Prince on the radio, it was a GOOD day.

Love Tricky and love that song.  And I'm NOT as heroin addict, either.  Just sayin'....

If we're talking about Smashing Pumpkins songs, 1979 was a better song than Tonight, Tonight. Much better.

As for Portishead, I'd say "It's a Fire" is on par with "Glory Box."

I think Nirvana's acoustic version of "All Apologies" has got to be up there for most gut-wrenching song of the '90's.

Tool's "Sober" is just one of many that could win the title, especially if we're considering the video. But I can't really speak much to the video thing, since videos starting to disappear from the airwaves in the '90's.

I was perfect game for 90's rock and hip hop. Born in 77. Starting playing guitar in middle school, hated a lot of 80's music though, but got into the underground of it early on, started highschool in 91, all angry and depressed and shit. A damn 'Gen X'" cliche  :roll: :-)

I dig drugs, attempted suicide, and even participated in drive-bys. lol. Kurt Cobain and Cypress Hill were awesome.

I don't have one. I don't like music-styles, I like individual songs.

Great metal?  Why didn't you mention Tool.

Your avatar might be.


I didn't find it barren in the 1980s. I've been struggling in this thread not to mention The Stone Roses, whose first album defined the 1990s for me even though I bought it in 1989: Fool's Gold (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4bHMVAKDao) - The Stone Roses.

Also been looking up stuff from the thriving Sydney band scene in the late 1980s like Heironymus (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBOPLqI7ZeE) - Clouds, Dancing in the Storm (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75sMesBwW_w) - Boom Crash Opera, and Lock it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVKAcj8stkU) - Falling Joys.

I was going to mention it with The Stone Roses, but apparently Step On (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xKaq-SNeEc) - Happy Mondays qualifies as 1990s. It's a cover of a 1971 song released in early 1990.

I should have clarified that when I said that 80s radio sucked, I was limiting my scope to the US, since I have no idea what it was like in the rest of the world.

There were some decent 'non-underground' bands in the 80s.  Tears for Fears, Eurythmics, New Order, the Police to name a few.  My two favorite bands started in the 80s (Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance) but both of those are solidly underground.

Ooh, a fellow positive gothy type, eh?  :grin:

I am jamming Faith and the Muse atm. ;)

90's iconic music?

Psha, easy.  Under the Bridge, by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The best songs of the 1990s included:

The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWMIXgCaJPQ)
Pearl Jam - Jeremy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMRTOZExfJA)
Moodswings - State of Independence Pt II (Spiritual High) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pywkt4aTgXk)
The Prodigy - Out of Space (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7edztkuz5o)
Primal Scream - Loaded (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB6gH_vqs4w)
Salt Tank - Eugina (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j315NpcKzKcl)
Mansun - Wide Open Space (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj7aNPWbvgo)
Massive Attack - Teardrop (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG8eQBSp9Ao)
Radiohead - Paranoid Android (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szdWPWnnNls)
Underworld - NUXX (Born Slippy) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWv2juM01T0)
Faithless - Insomnia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOy5LOsV6Vs)
Portishead - Glory Box (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF-GvT8Clnk)
Propellerheads & Shirley Bassey - History Repeating (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UMpjpuVors)
Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm7ddqkgzFw)
Ben Folds Five - Army (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu0b4S2h0ac)
Pulp - Common People (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSXWWrIxSB4)

Okay, I'll stop.

my fave:

William Orbit - Water From A Vine Leaf (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEBLy9OM8_M) (not an official video, but there's the music anyhow)

Best thing Beth Orton ever did. Just like the best things Madonna ever did were with William Orbit.

They're underground? Everybody I knew was into them. I must have been living under ground. Pretty much everything on 4AD (during the 80s at least) was excellent. Cocteau Twins were what drew me to the label. I saw most of their bands live a few times. Wolfgang Press were faves too.

Have you got the recent album Lisa Gerrard did with electronic music maestro Klaus Schulze (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg2tIIHdp3I)? Great stuff - two and a half hours of bliss.

Anything 4AD would not have been underground in the States.. Even with Gerrard's high profile in films these days, she's still underground!

Y'know I was going to mention the Stone Roses. I didn't actually hear them till the late 90's and would have posted them had I not had a quick check on Wiki to see they were technically 80's. Resurrection beats any Oasis song for drunken sing alongs, as well as just generally I think.

Forgot to mention the mighty Rev Horton Heat. And Brian Setzer got his orchestra going in the 90s.

Oh man, there goes my afternoon, Righ!

Hmm, it looks like I may have misguaged what was underground and what wasn't in the 80s. I had assumed, aparently incorrectly, that the radio stations in Chapel Hill, NC, would have been a fairly progressive reflection of what was available nationwide in moderately civilized areas.

4AD stuff was NEVER on any mainstream radio station in my area. Tears for Fears was as radical as we got. Eurythmics, New Order and the Police? Not a chance in hell that went out over commercial radio in Norf Cackalacky. Even on WXYC, the UNC Chapel Hill college radio station, you only got a smattering of some talent, amidst the charter-mandated requirement to play Yak Yodeling of the Mongolian Steppes and the like.

Am I still the only one to mention Alice in Chains?

Man in the Box - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFWkPVHKwCY
I Stay Away - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMOU7qZVwJs

I prefer 'I Stay Away' overall. Has a good video and well, it's got nice production value too. It's a winner.

My choices:

Goo Goo Dolls "Long Way Down"

Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

U2 "One"

Jamiroquai "Virtual Insanity"

Matchbox Twenty "3 AM"

Red Hot Chili Peppers "Give it Away"

Blues Traveler "The Hook"

Bare Naked Ladies "It's All Been Done"

Fuck, this thread has shown me that my iphone is starving for some retro.

This thread is an awesome troll.

Smashing Pumpkins as best song of the 90's?????  :ye_gods:

I proclaim Billy Corgan as one of the best guitar players of his era. Both in how he recorded, and what he recorded.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_4Ok35HEJQ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_4Ok35HEJQ)

I don't really agree with schild with the best song thing, but Corgan doesn't get much credit outside of the Uncle Fester/Charlie Brown comparisons. So it's cool to see.

This thread definitely confirms that I  :heart: 90s music.

All I know is that it’s largely true that “Grunge was just bad Neil Young”.

Thanks, I haven't heard that one yet.  :inluv:  Sadly, since I left working at Borders a few years ago I've been depressingly out of touch with what's new.

As for what's considered 'underground', I was just going by what you could hear on the radio.  That's subjective by where you live, I suppose.  Though I can't believe anyplace didn't play any Police.  Seriously?  Not even 'Every Breath You Take'? (That last to Engels)

Neil Young kicks ass. Whattya talking about.

It would be no coincidence though.. Most of the rockers that kicked off the "grunge" sound loved him. J Mascis particularly.

Liz Phair- Supernova.  Mainly because I still want to do dirty, dirty things to her.

I think a lot of you are missing the point. Tonight, Tonight isn't my PERSONAL FAVORITE song of the 90s. It's just sort of the unchallenged best song. Of course, coming up with a song that's better than Tonight, Tonight isn't hard. But coming up with a song that has an incredible video, incredible production values, super instrumentation, an important place on a very important album, the obvious opus of an incredibly popular band, blah blah blah - Tonight, Tonight is pretty much the best song of the 90s.

Personally? Wouldn't even be in my top 25. I love the song, but I'd put the entire track list of Losing Streak, And Out Came the Wolves, and Dookie before I'd even put a Smashing Pumpkins song anywhere near it.

Also, man, some of you all listened to some shit. Oh, and Nirvana still sucks balls no matter how many times you (the universal you), VH1, or some other asshole brings it up. ^_^ My hate for Nirvana runs really, really deep. I blame them for a number of things including but not limited to - shitty musicians becoming popular, emo music, shitty incoherent singing to hide the fact you can't sing, etc. etc. The list is long and makes me angry - and they weren't even remotely the best grunge had to offer, they were simply the most popular.

tl;dr: Best doesn't mean favorite. All the people that second Virtual Insanity should know that that was the closest one we could think of in terms of total package. Oh, and had I thought about it, I'd probably thrown Nada Surf's Popular on the list. Another song I didn't really "life" but deserves a place somewhere up there. Production was largely shit on that whole album though.

Fake Edit: Righ, you're fined 5 points for referencing Pulp's Common People instead of including a link to Shatner doing Common People, which is so vastly superior it's not even funny.

I agree with Rage Against the Machine's Killing in the Name Of.

I also nominate:

Loser by Beck (perfectly summarizes up the generation)
Kiss Them for Me - Siouxsie and the Banshees
Nuthin' But a G-Thang - Snoop Dogg
So Watchu Want - Beasties (you cannot dispute that beat)


Tonight, Tonight is the gheyest and worst song of the 90s

You'd be wrong too, I can't think of a more popular band with more shitty videos than Rage, except maybe Pearl Jam. Also, production values were poooooooooooooooooooop.


Yea, if you like metaphorical gibberish.


Missing the point itt.

Put the point in the title I think.

I didn't have MTV really in the 90's so I can't say much re: music videos.

That's why I picked Just.  It fits the criteria you originally laid out, with the possible exception of being 'the obvious opus'.

I would agree with Smashing Pumpkins is being the definitive 90's band with high production in everything they did...unfortunately they went a little too "electronic" and over-produced.

When I think of 90's music, I always think of "No Rain" by Blind Melon. 

Just as an aside, in Canada, the 90's were wtfpwnd by the Tragically Hip.  The band had no success whatsoever in America, but across Canada they ruled the airwaves, music videos, and huge concert productions.  I think most Canadians on the board can agree with that.

It's why I picked Symphony. It's not like I personally jam to the Verve all the time or anything. It's just a damn good song, not genre specific, sums up a lot of sentiments, etc.. If I were to list personal favorites, it'd get ridiculously extensive. I was 13-23 in the 90's. Which is basically the best age range for anyone to define their music tastes.

This thread took a serious turn for stupid.

I'll just make this one last post to say that Dimebag is going to give a ghost kick to Stray's nuts for that comment.

True.

See, No Rain (The Ripped Away) version off Change would be my favorite 90's song.  But as far as iconic, high production 90's music?  Nah, Blind Melon aint in it, it would almost have to be something off of Blood Sugar Sex Magic, Mellon Collie or Use Your Illusion.

If not Under the Bridge, I would have to say November Rain.  Retarded high production values, major super airplay, stupidly expensive video, etc... etc...

Please explain?  Compared to what? The songs that were posted contradict your opinion.

What comment? That I like.. umm.. Bittersweet Symphony?  :uhrr:

I like Dimebag too. Never said a bad thing about him.

I think a lot of us are intentionally avoiding the point of trying to designate some song "best song of the '90s", and instead are focusing on the 90's music is utterly shit part.

Edit:  Also, everybody knows Baby Got Back, and Detachable Penis were the greatest songs of the 90's.

Bittersweet Symphony can't possibly count.  The Rolling Stones took it back!

North Carolina in the 80s was really just that bad. We had 'classic rock' station, 106.1, and 'pop' 105.something. Sometime around 1998 they turned around, and 'classic rock' turned into 'grunge/metal/classic' and 105.1 turned into 'alternative pop', but before the late 90s, it was terribly bleak. I swear if I hear Susudio ONE MORE TIME EVER I will murder.

Best 90's song the Stones ever did!

Or only good 90's song, for that matter.

Grace, Too (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfOwrj3Gi-g)

Isn't the obvious opus of the '90s November Rain?  I don't particularly like or dislike Guns N Roses (or whatever their shitty spelling is) but.....  Really.

The early '90's the Unplugged programming was great.


One of my favorite nights of the '90's was a party/softball game (rented a lighted field) while cranking a feed from Woodstock of Rage (mediocre performance) -> Limp Biskit (dislike them,  but it was good) -> Metallica (fucking A).  The Ecstasy of Gold came on just when we were hitting the real hardcore drinking.

I like the Hip.  I also really liked Tea Party's first 3 albums.

Fair point. My new nomination for song of the 90's therefore:

New Orleans is Sinking, The Tragically Hip


Schild - my memory of Smells like Teen Spirit is nothing to do with radio play, MTV or mediocre videos. It's about going nuts in a downtown nightclub moshpit (that 5 minutes before had not been a moshpit) in my early 20s to that song.

Based on the criteria laid down by schild, I'd probably actually go with Clo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uxTpyCdriY)ser (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLq_wie8CRc) by nine inch nails as a contender for the top spot.  If I was going to pick Smashing Pumpkins for the spot, it would probably be 1979 over Tonight, Tonight.

Either that, or one of my personal favorites:
Everlong (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H0BMfqFP9c) by the Foo Fighters
Nuthin' But a G Thang (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gK1e2TCFAA) by Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg
Stinkfist (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07pLGIgyfjw) by Tool
Virtual Insanity (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMMQqE9x6i4) by Jamiroquai

my memory of Teen Spirit was me at 14, chugging away at my guitar in the living room, with my brother sitting there (who was older and about bunk's age), and that came on the tv. me and my brother practically despise each other.. but that was a bonding moment, and i remember it clearly. when it was over, we just looked at each other with bulging eyes.. neither one of us need anybody telling us what punk bands were around already. fuck punk credibility. especially coming from anyone younger than me. fuck that shit. fuck. that. besides, he wasn't completely derivative of punk anyways. more like an angrier Cheap Trick - but just as anthemic. had a metal voice, but punk riffs.. it was good.

anyways, i'll stop jerking off  8-)

I think Nuthin But a G Thang might top Tonight Tonight for all of schild's criteria, especially since he was still in Underroos in the 90s.

I really tried, because everybody around me liked Pearl Jam. But I hate the sound of Eddie Vedder's voice and I find their music bland. I still don't get the love for that band, it's weird.

By the way, throughout this whole thread I still haven't been able to hum "Tonight, Tonight" by Smashing Pumpkins. My mental music library delivers Tonight (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85BEdWBldvc) - Hard-Fi.

Not to doubt it's greatness, but I can't listen to it anymore.  :|

I will, however, still crank up Today was a Good Day (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4RY-eJgHHs)

lol, random youtube comment:

Finland4ever92 (1 day ago)
lol @ 30 year old guy livin with his mamma

really good sung & video tho

truesoldeirz (1 day ago)
Thats how G's role nigga! :\

Funnily enough, I was thinking of posting Today Was a Good Day as well, but was worried about seeming redundant.  Also, Today Was a Good Day stands the test of time better I think.

Hmmm, there is a glaring problem with a few statements in this thread that I absolutely have to clear up.

Smashing Pumpkins were are a mediocre band with much more in terms of hype than musical merit.
Billy Corrigan (sp) is an asshole.
The Pumpkins suck balls live.

I can listen to their songs and see how they could be good if handled by someone with some real chops; but as delivered it's just ho-hum. Videos do not make a band great, ever. If you add value to a song due to the video you are disqualified from talking about what makes a band good, or a song special. I lived in the Chicago area for something like seven years and Every Single Person I met who had ever seen the Pumpkins live regretted the ticket prices.

Best song of the 1990's? Stupid question. Impossible to answer.

That noted, Space Lord is better than anything the Pumpkins ever dropped.

On the flipside, he was an obsessive-compulsive engineer.. which may partly explain the underwhelming live performances. Siamese sounds sweet, but there are guitar parts of songs on there where he overdubbed something like 40 times. It would never sound as cool live.

My Bloody Valentine is another kickass album band that isn't quite the same live. Shouldn't take away from them though.

Nope, I think you nailed it.  Maybe Beck, though.

Can't believe how well that thing survived the test of time.

:ye_gods:
Really?

I saw them the day that Kurt Cobain was found dead.  They couldn't play their own songs properly, Corgan verbally insulted the audience between songs, they rushed the show and ended it early.  I loved Siamese Dream and still listen to it on occasion.  After that, it was craptaculous ballad after craptaculous double-album full of ballads.  Enough.  Just my O.

Artists I Loved in the 90's (naming individual songs seems too focused):

Lush
Cracker
Toad the Wet Sprocket
Blur
Cake
THE TOADIES
Fiona Apple
Nine Inch Nails
Soundgarden
Beck

Soundgarden remains my favorite band, although Jethro Tull and Rush still rock my casbah.  Superunknown just about blew my mind.

Now with more video action!

Faithless - Insomnia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOy5LOsV6Vs)
Death in Vegas - Aisha (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOsonaQMy-E)
Underworld - King of Snake (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUSZWwnoVj0)
Fields of the Nephilim - Sumerland (What Dreams May Come) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYaDek7LPvE)
Sisters of Mercy - Doctor Jeep (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKA1IZXOBoQ)
The Levellers - One Way (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XScq7NLRnYU)
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESjyB8EMw4w)
Megadeth - Symphony of Destruction (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bThSq3oB0NY)
Sisters of Mercy - Vision Thing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtD5nuaI0Go)
Tori Amos - Silent All These Years (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmGnEFu-1_0)
Suicidial Tendencies - Send Me Your Money (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVwto8Xk2o4)

Gots to love some Tori.

I'll throw Big Head Todd and the Monsters - Bittersweet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpVWoF57sZg) out there for consideration.

Trying to better follow Schild's rules, I give my vote to Bittersweet Symphony, The Verve (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx3m4e45bTo).

Iain, you need to sort out your Death in Vegas and Underworld links.  Noob.   :drillf:

Also, I really love Underworld!  Especially Born Slippy.  

I went on a Youtube 90's music safari.  No Big Game, but a few keepers:

Cracker - Low (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jywZEjSiCBM)
Dennis Leary - Asshole (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNzZzsvOClc)
Ugly Kid Joe - Busy Bee (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wns1K1_5ALw) (I'm sure most would prefer Cat's in the Cradle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3bht7S-3vI&feature=related).)
Tonic - Open Up Your Eyes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJxUdHmjs_U)
Filter - Hey Man, Nice Shot (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMJVpn4BM_Y)


Underworld - Born Slippy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlLWFa1b1Bc) - Hell yes.  I know it from the Trainspotting soundtrack.  I still listen to this regularly.

Do you know their pre-techno 1980s stuff? Underneath The Radar (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5vQP_RFccY) was a huge hit in Australia but apparently nowhere else.

The Verve's video for Bittersweet Symphony is a parody of Massive Attack's Unfinished Sympathy. I went to look that up after avoiding it because I thought it was from the late 1980s. But it was released in 1991.

So here's another nomination!  Unfinished Sympathy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS1YzUR3BYQ) - Massive Attack

Oh, so this is about music videos?

I'm going to cease giving a fuck.

It was just an off-topic comment. The reason I started linking to YouTube on every song was that it's the easiest way to let people hear the song. The thread has nothing whatsoever to do with the videos. I nominated Unfinished Sympathy because it's an amazing song.

No, it's part of Schild's criteria.

I'm not sure it matters.  The 90's mostly sucked for music.  Almost anything that was good wasn't popular enough to qualify for his ratings system.

Loser - Beck (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tiYP4zNMvg)

I thought we had established that you're both wrong? We've filled a thread with awesome popular music from the 1990s - it was definitely a golden era for British music. Unfortunately the USA didn't seem to "get" Madchester (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA71pIjphkY) or Britpop (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_e4PxtQ-Fw).

Not enough Bush in this thread.

(http://z.about.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/S/H/bush_turkey.jpg)

Being subjective, I Fixed It For Me.

I didn't like most of what counted as 'popular'.  I didn't say no good music came from the decade, I just don't consider most of what was good to have been popular.

British bands probably were better during this period.  For example, Shakespeare's Sister did hit the rankings with their single, but I heard it on the radio once.  Their videos and songs were far better than that Tonight, Tonight that we kicked the thread off with.  But it's an opinion, and not within Schild's criteria, so it's worth a few grains of salt.

90's music for me was a mix of Widespread Panic, Phish, Blues Traveler and a couple other bands of the same genre.

See, i read your first post in this thread and was like "yep yep, 8/10, solid troll".


Then i read the first paragraph of that and went into full (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v42/Kyohei/Laughing_elf_man.jpg) mode. An important place on a very important album? Opus? Incredible? Bahahahahahaa. Oh my.

They were produced by the same guy that produced Tonight, Tonight (Alan Moulder). In both cases the production was weak enough that it should disqualify either based on Schild's "best" criteria.

Tonight, Tonight isn't even close to the best Pumpkin's song, let alone 90's song. Like most of the stuff on Mellon Collie it's overblown shit compared to Siamese Dream. Important piece on an important album? Not really.

Seether and Hey Man, Nice Shot brought a smile to my face though. Also the Cranberries, "No Need to Argue" has got to be one of the best albums ever.


Pretty much. Why the hell does "best song of the 90's" factor in the video? It's basically "song that was played most on MTV." So yeah, Tonight, Tonight was sure played a bunch I guess. Yay.

I guess I'm old of those geezers that still listens to music for the music, not for Billy Corgan floating around in the clouds on angel wings playing a cardboard cello or some shit.

"One Headlight." Lol.

Good call.


Like I said, this isn't about fucking liking them.

Why do people keep thinking that? If this was about liking it, I probably would've said some Aphex Twin or Rancid or some other band, rambled of any number of songs and been on my way. Actually, if it was about just liking it, I wouldn't have made a thread.


Not as much as Smells Like Teen Spirit :awesome_for_real:, and people said that (but the production on it was lolllll). Also, the answer for the 80s is obviously Thriller, so I'm not sure what's so unreasonable about asking for the same thing from the 90s.

Nominee for the worst song of the 90s:

Jimmy Ray - Are You Jimmy Ray? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skoPxPZmySs

A couple of other good ones that don't really fit into my preferred genres, but still enjoyable:

Fugees - Killing Me Softly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ighu4gGlaUE
Outkast - Rosa Parks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z3niFJugp8

Millennium Prayer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA5QJS3paAo) - Cliff Richard
Achy Breaky Heart (http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=JgNB4ue0zQY) - Billy Ray Cyrus while spawning Miley

I can't believe you posted a link to a Cliff Richard song.  I don't care if it was for worst.  Might as well start rambling off songs from Grease and Hairspray!  Bleh.

Click the other link for a good time.

Here's what's unreasonable, considering that last statement. 

Michael Jackson is a hell of a singer and performer, and he owned the 80's. 

Billy Corgan couldn't make a non-offensive noise emanate from his encephalitis-ridden melon if he had a voice coach, an ear nose and throat doctor and a gun pointed at his temple.

People keep thinking that because you said:


That song is not "best" in any quantifiable way in any of those categories. So you clearly "like" it. It had a decent video, I'll give it that - I think it even won awards. But it wasn't the best video of the 90s by a fairly long shot. And the lyrics and production are such a fucking joke that it shouldn't even be rated as high as average. The string arrangement is decent. Whoopie. I assume that you got laid to it once.

To sum up this thread:

"Your opinion is WRONG!"  :awesome_for_real:

pretty much, anytime you place "best of" in front of something that is so subjective... it won't end up pretty.

I mean you can do "shipped the most units", won the most awards, etc. and smashing pumpkins might do pretty well.  but flat out "best" no way to pin the tail on that donkey.

with that said for me the "best song" is a no brainer.

Godflesh - Slateman  off of the Slavestate EP.

hmm in my book pretty much anything Godflesh trumps just about everthing else done in the 90s


these are decent

Pantera - Cowboys from hell or Cemetery Gates - 1990
Soundgarden - Rusty Cage 1991
Alice in Chains - Down in a Hole 1992
Britney Spears - Oops i did it again 1998   :drillf:  hey, it shipped a lot of units, had great production, and a sexy video
Emperor - The Loss and Curse of Reverence 1997
Dimmu Borgir -  Mourning Palace 1007 off of their only album you need to own, Enthrone Darkness Triumphant
Death - Individual Thought Patterns 1993

Here is one of the main reasons I didn't get into suggesting one song or another had the "BEST EVERYTHING!" of an entire decade.

Nobody will agree, names will be called, fistfights will break out.

Or Money for Nothing or A Kind of Magic or Rio or a host of others. Thriller would be in a shortlist but it isn't the automatic choice.

Because you made it a matter of personal taste from the first post with your Nirvana comments.

To be fair, Nrivana was overrated...  :awesome_for_real:

Tumble in the Rough by Stone Temple Pilots is a better song than Tonight Tonight. As is most of the stuff from Soundgarden (Black Hole Sun and Blow Up The Outside World for singles).

edit: Oh shit, yeah, "Hey Man, Nice Shot" is better as well.

edit edit: Also since we're talking about music I'd like to let everyone know that some artists are trying to make me hate rap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeQmBPz5Vv0

I hope they ironically used that sample

Small list of my fav's of the 90's, I don't give a shit about music videos.

Butthole Surfers - Pepper
Cracker - Low
Filter - Hey Man Nice Shot
King Missile - Detachable Penis
Monster Magnet - Space Lord
Presidents of the United States of America - Lump
Stone Temple Pilots - Vaseline
The Cardigans - My Favourite Game (I think this most likely due to the fact that it was on the soundtrack of the original Gran Turismo, I played that game like CRAZY.)
Toadies - Possum Kingdom

I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton, probably a bunch I like better than these.

Edit: Almost forgot one of my all time favourite songs, Stevie Ray Vaughan - Tick Tock.

A thread about 90s music is never complete without a flying MC Hammer.

MC Hammer - Too Legit to Quit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdk1gwWH-Cg

 :oh_i_see:

Music is alwyas going to be subjective, and similarly to what Stray said, the time when you're about 13-30 is your main time you're "picking up" on new music. I worked in music importing for a few years in the early 90s, and so that combined with me being 18 in '91 means that about 70% of my favourte music is from the 90's, despite what you chuckleheads think. What was good about the 90's? To fucking much to list, that's what.

There's still a ton of good stuff from before and a lot from since then of course, but that's my golden era.   :drill:

Mmmmm love that song but my Godflesh faves are Mothra (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPjt000MWBM) and Anything is Mine. In fact, I could give the title to the latter if only it had a video. Hell, talking about obscure, there's not even a sample on youtube.

I don't know that the 90's really had a Thriller.  There where some great clips to some great songs but I can't recall any that really went for the epic mini movie feel.

Radio head generally always had great production on their videos, Just stands out as the cleverest, Paranoid Android was loved at the time too and made that guys cartoon popular for a time (I can't remember it now and can't be arsed to look it up.)

Closer had the whole nudity controversy thing in the video and the song was hugely popular.

The Prodigy always had pretty good production in their video's as well.  Smack my Bitch Up had the controversy and really was a great video so it probably qualifies.

If I was to pick an Oasis song it would probably be Morning Glory.  The video was pretty well done, the song was popular and at the height of the whole Blur vs Oasis feud (The song is a rebuttal to the lyric "He's got morning glory but that's another story" in Country House by Blur) that added to the spectacle of the release.

Tool again had good production value on their videos, they had those holographic images on Aenima that had everyone spining it around to try to get different views.  I remember people loving the video to Stinkfist too.

As for Smashing Pumpkins I think Today the more defining song, it was popular, the video wasn't epic but I remember it was pretty well regarded.  Bullet with Butterfly wings had a pretty good video too

Trying to think out of stuff I liked I think Madonna had Erotica in the 90's with the controversial video pretty close to the time she made that sex book as well.  She had a pretty iconic and defining video with Vogue as well.

Frozen (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFEKKZIwhv0).

-Primus - My Name is Mud & Jerry Was A Race Car Driver

-Korn - Freak On A Leash
I greatly prefer other songs over this, but the video was great and

-Filter - Trip Like I Do
Even their remixes of this and Hey Man Nice Shot are fucking amazing

-Jane's Addiction - Been Caught Stealin'



On a side note:


^ This is so fucking true.

I absolutely agree and believe that Nirvana was given a lot of misplaced credit for booming alternative music. I'm not a huge fan of the following person, but I have to give much more credit to Perry Farrel and Lollapalooza for the 1990's explosion and the alternative scene compared to Nirvana.

Another great William Orbit song.

This or Grimwell's this is such an obvious troll post is the thread winner.  Schild is inventing some kind of special set of rediculous rules that nobody else can play by then asking why everyone insists on ignoring his criteria instead of just agreeing with him 100%.  Again.  He does this.  What's wrong with you people?

I'm saddened by how I only came up w/ 3 bands to go steal the music of after reading all 5 pages.

Also here are bands I remember listening to hella much in the 90's.  Fuck this did they have a good video shit but since I've been thinking about it I might as well post them.

RHCP
Green Day
Smashing Pumpkins
Offspring
Beck
Fugees
Cake
Weezer
Pixies
NIN
Sublime
NWA
Dr Dre
Tu Pac
E-40
Eazy-E

Look man, you have no idea.  Try being a high school senior in the Fall of 1987.  We had to listen to The Clash, The Sex Pistols and stuff like Joe Jackson because the only thing on TV was endless Hair Metal bands. We had NOTHING!!! NOTHING!!  Duran Duran, the Power Station and other Bullshit was the best we could do.  Thank god for Raves.

Then in 1991 Fucking Nirvana came out.  We got tatoos.  It kicked ass. What a great time to go to college.

Edit:  About the music.   in 1992 we went to LLollapalooza at Great Woods in Massachusettes.  6 of us crammed in a Pastel Sandstone Chevy Chevette with 5 cases of beer to hold us over on the trip down. What a day.  At the end, when Ministry came on, people tore down the wood fences in the back and made bonfires and danced around them while Al Jorgenson sings "So What"  (link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_yTCODyUCE&feature=related )

That was what the early 90s was all about.

I have nothing but appreciation for Nirvana.

I was a waver who liked some punk.  So, um, what's wrong with The Clash, Duran Duran, and the Sex Pistols? (Okie, I wasn't all that big on the Sex Pistols.)  :oops:

I'll agree about the endless metal bands, but I didn't watch music on my TV.  That's what radio and tapes were for.

New Order, Depeche Mode, the Cure, Siouxsie, and a plethora of others. :heart:

Yes, I admit I saw Depress Mode in concert a few times.  The point being that the "popular" music was 100% crap.  Nirvania changed all that (for a few years at least)

Don't hate on Depeche Mode!

I've seen Butthole Surfers seven times live.  hehe.  Only  three or four were while I was working.   :drillf:

lol

Yea, 1991 sure was tough whatwith REM, Pearl Jam, RHCP, Metallica and Massive attack - all at their peak.

/eyeroll

Edit: Not to mention Moby, GnR, Bad Religion, etc.

You didn't have it hard in 1991. You just didn't have emo shit-music yet, but hey, Nirvana filled the whiny teenager MY LIFE IS SO HARD angst-filled crevice.

I believe that you have missed the point of Nirvana.  I had a diatribe, but I'm too busy reliving the glory.

I believe the original complaint was of 1987, to which I can attest to being utter crap in the mainstream. Yes, I was listening to the best stuff the Cure, the Clash, the Sex Pistols, Husker Du and REM had to offer, but that was not on the radio, that was not on MTV. Schild, I'm glad you found the 2000's so much better than the 90's, but you really gotta trust us on this one, it was even worse before.

I wasn't a part of the crowd that worshiped Nirvana, and in fact didn't really care about them since at the time I was into stuff like Metallica, Pink Floyd, and Yanni.  However, as the years went by and I started listening to their stuff I found myself really enjoying it, to the point that I recognized how well their music captured that ever-present feeling of aimlessness and disappointment in life I had felt over and over.  I really doubt they themselves thought they were speaking to others about it, though: they were just making their music.

It's also really easy to look back at all the gems of the early nineties and forget that most of them were not easily found thanks to almost the entirety of radio and television drowning in over-commercialized, awful-pop bullshit.

heh.

One good thing about the 80's was that I got to see Jane's do a matinee in Boston with about 30 other people in the club. 

I never said that at all, not even a little. The 00s are fairly unbearable in terms of the most popular stuff (even though there were some weird periods of genre blurring with She Wants Revenge and Blue October [the last synth act I'd ever expect to get popular]). The 80s, especially the late 80s had it rough though, no doubt. But then, typically the music I favor most is underground shit so complaining about 'hair metal' and other poppy shit normally just makes my eyes roll back into my head.

Also, I was exposed to pretty weird shit thanks to my incredibly bad (and strange) father. In 1991 (which plants me as a firm 8 years old), I had both Lords of Acid's Lust and had Scumdogs of the Universe from GWAR - admittedly that latter one was due to them being from my hometown. /shrug There's always good music and bad music, it's always a matter of what you surround yourself with. Complaining about what the mainstream is exposed to seems like a fruitless activity to me.

I know we're pretty much arguing over the virtues of trolling at this point but I just want to say that Halcyon and on and on (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG1rQ9iXV5o) is a better song than Tonight Tonight as well IMO. I'm pretty sure it was released in the 90's...

Peter Murphy's Deep came out in 1990 and Cuts You Up, Marlene Dietrich's Favourite Poem, and A Strange Kind of Love were all better than Tonight, Tonight. Not really what I'm getting at though. >_<

I'm a Nirvana fan and I agree. Kurt Cobain agreed with you, too. He was a junkie musician getting more attention than he deserved, and he couldn't stand it.

I can't let that go. While the Black Album was thier first real radio play acceptance, it also was the start of a very fast slide down the slope of generic crappiness. Metallica peaked in 1985.

I forgot to add.

REM sucked. A lot.  Perl Jam was meh.  No idea who RHCP is.

(chilli peppers)

Everything after Freaky Styley (or whatever it was) sucked.

i disagree bigtime. i think hillel and flea had a cool synchronicity going on, but john frusciante is pretty much the shit. you've got to be an old fart to not recognize that.

I have to take exception to the Nirvana bashing.
Whether you liked or hated them, thought they were geniuses or just lucky shitty musicians the one thing you can't deny is that Smells Like Teen Spirit was an anthem for a massive group of people and a whole genre of music that nearly 20 years later we are still seeing the results of.
The other thing that nirvana did was inspire a new generation of kids to pick up a guitar and try to become musicians whether they had any talent or not (mostly not). (much like punk in the late 70's)This is no small feat.

You don't have to like a band to see their impact. God knows I hate Abba but I have to give credit where it is due and they did what they did better and more successfully than anyone else and their influence and impact is unquestioned.

For these reasons I would pick Smells Like Teen Spirit as *the* song of the 90's. The best, no. My favorite, no. An Iconic song that is instantly identified with the 90's like no other, absolutely.

...or too distracted by the douchesuckitude of Kiedis. Which is the major problem (maybe the only problem) with the chili peppers.

aww, he seems like a sweet guy to me  :-P

He probably makes great pancakes and gives the nicest hugs, but his singing is teh suck.

Smells Like gets too much air play.. hell, the whole Nevermind album gets too much attention.  I enjoyed In Utero much more, and Heart Shaped Box's video killed SLTS.

Anywho, I still enjoy Metallica, so phhbt.  St Anger sucked all kinds of balls, but fuck I'm not an angry angsty 18 year old anymore so they've moved on as much as I have. The new album, while sounding WAYYY over produced (yay compression) is pretty damn good.

 

i think kurt was trying to alienate and intentionally sound like shit for in utero. err, mostly. what's funny to me is that the song he was trying to throw it away with the most there -- scentless apprentice -- is probably the best one. i remember dave grohl made up the riff, and kurt used it because he thought it was "boneheaded" (said that in front of grohl...which visibly pissed grohl off). thing is, it's the grooviest thing they ever did.

but i like the poppy cheap trick ness of nevermind. i don't listen to the radio much, but i still dig the songs when my ipod shuffles there



OK, I can agree with that somewhat. I still like the newer songs where they're reverting back to freaky styley and funking it up, and keidis is just mc'ing basically (because when they do that, frusciante can pull out the funk better than hillel did)....instead of when he's trying to sing a lot. some of that is ok, but you're right, he's not a great singer.

on a sidenote, if you listen to frusciante's solo stuff, he's a better singer than keidis too. not great, but just a little more soulful (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjVfMBx3Ny0&feature=related)

Nirvana went to the heights they did due to extremely lucky timing with at least a little bit of talent. The early angsty 90's after the over the top pop culture and hair bands of the 80's. It was just plain perfect timing. It's one of the reasons (beyond just being a good album) that Metallica's Black made so much money. People were tired of pop metal and the 80's in general. Angst hit the mainstream and Nirvana was one of the bands that hit right at the perfect time.

But, Nirvana also spawned Dave Grohl and he's a damn good musician so I have to definitely credit them with that.

Also, I spent time off and on over the past few days thinking about schild's point with Tonight Tonight and I think he's right. It hits all the points he mentions and I can't think of anything else that did.

Beyond that, I really liked 90's music. Also liked 80's music. I pop in Depeche Mode's 101 if I'm in the mood. Of course, I've also been known to crank up Metallica or Big Daddy Kane, so my tastes are eclectic to say the least.

I disagree.  The video IS outstanding, but it makes up for a lot of shortcomings in the song.  If you listen to the song without the video, it's a VERY different experience.  The overproduction of the song smacks of a corrective measure for Corgan's voice.  It still reminds me of an updated Queen/ELO ripoff more than a unique work.  I like Tonight tonight as a song, but to say that it best represents the decade would be too much.  Nirvana, REM, U2, or RHCP do a better job, at least musically.

None of those bands fit under the "opus" bit he mentions later in the thread. And Tonight Tonight was pretty much an opus on the early 90's "alternative" if you include everything schild mentions about production, video, etc. So while I like the bands you mention it's only this one song that truly fits all the categories. The song even sounds like an ending.

Fair enough.  What about Losing my religion? 

One last thing, now that I think about it.. For me personally, the stuff that sticks with me the most about the 90's is how a few genres/styles all of the sudden got real catchy and groovy. And shit that was already groovy, like hip hop, started having an angry element to it. Not to say these were strictly 90's bands, but in metal for instance, White Zombie, Pantera, and Prong stick out to me. They hit their stride in the 90's. I don't want hear some fucking nitpicking about how Pantera started in the early 80's. Fuck you.  :grin: Welcome to Planet Motherfucker (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbwkDsmxJBo), Regular People (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jkfo61ONBsY), and Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl-5TrGakWY) were my favorite tracks from those bands. They were groovy.. Metal didn't really sound like that before them. Even Metallica had a groove going on in Sad But True.

Same goes for bands with punk and standard rock aesthetics. Nirvana just being one them. Soundgarden had groove, PJ did, RHCP had been doing it, RATM, etc, etc, etc

Trent Reznor emerged as the most popular industrial (and synth heavy) musician because he was both groovier and darker than everyone else.

On the flipside, hip hop already had the groove.. In the late 80's and 90's, they started adopting aggression. Probably starting with NWA. I was all about Cypress (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d12EI3xNiqE&feature=related) back then though.


This is probably way off the subject now, but that's what I dug about the 90's most.

Losing my religion was REM's break into the mainstream.

You may want to rethink that.  Document came YEARS earlier.

Except for November Rain.

It was their biggest hit on their biggest album capturing their biggest audience. How exactly was it not their break into the mainstream?

Yes and no. Yes it was for GnR but not for Metal. Where Tonight Tonight was it for "alternative".

Definition really.  I'd argue that they were already mainstream and this album merely widened their appeal. I guess we're just splitting hairs.   

No, Under the Bridge was it for 'alternative'.  Under the Bridge hit #2 on the Billboard 100 and Tonight, Tonight never even made the top 20.

November Rain sucks. Any song titled as such, or that sounds that way, really shouldn't have much relevance to people's lives.

That was a problem for bands like them in general. They sang about stupid, bombastic shit (to be fair, G'n'R was probably the least guilty of that out of LA/cockrock bands..).

I'd call what they had before it "popularity" and that it wasn't until after Losing My Religion's odd but catchy mandolin and interesting lyrics that they caught real mainstream attention. That and MTVs heavy rotation of the video.

But you're right. Hair splitting. I still don't call that an end but rather a beginning and I also think that REM is bigger than a genre (like U2) where Smashing Pumpkins were very much of their genre.

RHCP are hard to define. They're in their own category and don't represent the early 90's alternative, in my opinion. They also continue to make popular music. Besides, Under the Bridge was in the middle of that time period, not the end of it.

I fucking hate you people who are actually trying to play by Schild's rules, you must be new, retarded, or both.  It is making for a somewhat interesting read though thru 6 pgs so I forgive you.

Don't shit on me because you compulsively click on every thread. That's my job: Shitting on people because *I* have to click on every thread. :awesome_for_real:

Tonight, Tonight is a ridiculously bombastic piece of shit and I anxiously await schild's announcement that this thread was the result of a lost bet.

Now, I will actually go watch it again to confirm his sense of humor or lack of taste.

I'm just waiting for someone to suggest something else from an artist that actually refutes the Tonight, Tonight call. Neither me nor Phildo really have any care for that song in the long term, it's just sorta, well, what it is. November Rain is a good one but it's far from representative of the actual aimlessness of the 90s. Smells Like Teen Spirit is an obvious call that really didn't have great production, had a shit video and supported a drug habit for a disaster of a man - great, it influenced kids, what a great role model. Too bad it's about as much fun to listen to as putting bones in a blender.

Pixies - "All"

(I think it was the Pixies.)

@schild - football is on, damnit, I'm busy.

You cannot judge a piece of music based on a video.  Your requirements completely invalidate the experiment.

You also cannot submit a song that requires the band to hang up their instruments and rely almost entirely on an orchestra. 

Maybe I need to face up to the fact that people now judge music based on videos and post production.  This is fucking sad, and stop promoting it.


Or this was all a joke?  Plz?

Counterpoints:

Bjork - It's Oh So Quiet
Fatboy Slim - Weapon of Choice
Dirty Vegas - Days go By
Michael Jackson - Thriller

etc. etc.

If those videos didn't make decent songs fucking amazing, I don't know what did. Edit: Also, I'm not judging based on the video, as shown below. Those things merely increase their value to music as a cultural thing.

It wasn't. I'm not judging based on post production or video - I'm judging based on the total package. Most folks can't bring that package together, some can, like Bjork or Gnarls Barkley, or in this case, Smashing Pumpkins. Nirvana could never bring it all together even a little. Michael Jackson could. The proof is in the pudding. Or rather, in recordings.

Also, the band's instruments all play key roles in the song, they just had an incredibly excellent strings section accompanying them. Are you gonna knock Crazy because Gnarls Barkley decided to add a full orchestra? Really? Do you want to go down that route?

Pixies didn't do a song called "All', unless it was some obscure b-side.

For the record, schild has just admitted that Tonight, Tonight is possibly a mediocre song with a good video.  I deny both. 


I understand that, and it bothers me.  Five hundred years of music and barely three decades of 'videos' do not invalidate one in favor of the other.  What if we judged Beethoven's ninth symphony on the shit-ass video that Alan Smithee made for it?  Fuck, he did his best and Beethoven is now forgotten.  Thanks.

And Thriller is fucking great without the video!

I'll play by the rules.  Closer is not a good candidate because it is a mediocre song with a fantastic video.

I submit March of the Pigs. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCjpyPqwXNA)

The video and lyrics are pure control and contradiction.  With a right proper message.

That damn Alan Smithee. Procurator of shit. Didn't know he fucked up Ludwig too.

It was a b-side, whomever it was, and it was literally them shouting, "All".

The reason I think it was the Pixies is because my roomie played them so much I couldn't listen to one of their songs without cringing, and I associate it with that period.  I suppose I could ask him.  *shrug*

Yeah, I didn't quite realize what an emphasis there needed to be with the whole video thing.

In that case, Britney. Hands down. I swear.

For the record, I had already said before Tonight, Tonight should optimally be consumed in video form. Second, we're just talking about the 90s, not the 49 other decades you just mentioned. ;_;

God bless March of the Pigs, it's my favorite personal NIN song, but really, NIN? :awesome_for_real:

Can someone tell me why Beck's Loser doesn't meet the criteria (other than not having a strings section, which seems an entirely random requirement)

I asked Phil. Here's the conversation.

Me: "Hey, someone's asking why Beck's Loser doesn't fit the requirements."

Phildo: "I don't know, why doesn't it?"

Me: "We didn't think about it?"

Phildo: "Exactly."

Somehow this game feels a bit rigged  :headscratch:

Well, it's obviously not scientific. But it's a pretty solid argument. I mean, we reached pretty hard on that original list - That Thing You Do? Kiss From a Rose? Just saying, it's not like we purposefully left stuff out. Also, we started with the 80s, but it took all of about 6 seconds to come up with Thriller.

The second best I can think of, honestly at this point, is Madonna. But we sort of ruled her out as a lot of her stuff came out in the early 90s and had a distinctively 80s feel and was probably originally conceived in the late 80s. Vogue is a force to be reckoned with though and The Immaculate Collection would probably be in my top 25 albums ever.

The video for 'Loser' wasn't anything special.

Vogue probably is the one I would say, people still strike a pose.

If you want something with a bit of indie cred to feel good about it then Radiohead beats Smashing Pumpkins on any definable scale. 

All the other overhyped big songs I can think of had movie tie-ins which seemed to increase the whole spectacle, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, err 'All for love' by Sting and those other guys so I don't know whether they qualify, but they where huge and a had multimedia presence.

Schild said, "We didn't think about it" is a solid argument.  It is neither solid nor an argument.  This thread is like the Nuremberg trial for Bad Music. 


"And Dr. Goebbels, can you explain why you claimed that "Hit Me Baby, One More Time" was the greatest song produced in the 90s?"

"Vell, zere iz ze young lady, and ze catolic skool girl outifit and ze seductive lyrics... ze gyrating and groaning..."

"But, Dr. Goebbels, Ace of Base's "Don't Turn Around" is a demonstrably superior piece of music!  How can you deny this?!"

...

"Ve didn't think about it?"

6 pages to Godwin?

Good job all, someone hit the lights we're done here.  :why_so_serious:

Ooh. Two months into the 90s:

Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQtzOOz6Y6c

On all points, CLEARLY the winner is Meatloaf's I Would Do Anything For Love.  :why_so_serious:

Or how about a shirtless Iggy Pop?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4v4DXLqm48

Way to miss the point and go wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy off the grid. Sir, I do believe that right there, is why we're told never to go full retard.

The 00s has already been won, btw. Johnny Cash - Hurt.

For the 90s:

Cher - Believe
Elton John - Candle in the Wind 1997
Los Del Rio - Macarena
Coolio - Gangsta's Paradise
Seal - Kiss From A Rose
All 4 One - I Swear
Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You
Tag Team - Whoomp There It Is
Boyz 2 Men - End of the Road
Sir Mix-A-Lot - Baby Got Back
Bryan Adams - Everything I Do
Sinead - Nothing Compares 2 U
Britney - Hit Me Baby One More Time

I'd lean to Sir Mix-A-Lot or Boyz 2 Men.

While one of my favorite fucking things EVER, I disagree, sadly. As his opus was obviously When The Man Comes Around. ;)

Funny how Sky put Kiss from a Rose also.

Tag Team is a pretty decent call. Rap videos were such trash in the 90s (not counting California Love and Crossroads). Also, I think they were all way overly produced. Hell, they eventually led to Akon. >_>

You are high. I like March, but Closer is just a better song AND video on every conceivable level. Even the copious remixes Reznor did to Closer were better than March.

Tonight, Tonight is not a song good enough on any level to be called best song of the '90's. As I said before, 1979 was a better song and video, IMO, but really, Pumpkins were highly overrated as a band. November Rain embodies more of the late '80's last gasp of pomposity before Axl Rose went completely batshit. And early '90's is so much different than mid-to-late '90's in tone and character. Shit, I'd say that Green Day's "Longview" was a better representation or even "Basket Case" than anything the Pumpkins did. Those were the last gasp of well-produced (as in not overproduced to the point of death) albums before the corporate machines ate up music and shat back out the boy bands of the late '90's. Hell, for music and video of the decade, I'd say that Backstreet Boys "Larger than Life" was the perfect embodiment of what the decade became for music. Horribly overproduced with a video that had nothing to do with the song, but had incredible visuals.

:uhrr:

Why are people haolding up November Rain as the ne plus ultra of GnR ballads? Patience is a zillion times better in every respect.

Because like me, they don't want Tonight, Tonight to be the answer to the question.

Man, fuck a ballad. If anything, don't choose a ballad.

That's all I'll say from now on.

Stray is not in touch with his feminine side.

I'm touching my feminine side right now.

You're not winning the argument that it is. So far you've said that it has the best music, lyrics, production, video and everything else put together than all other songs in the 1990s. People have refuted that. You've simply restated that it is. It's the neo-con method of argument - ignore all evidence to the contrary and repeat the lie until enough people who are hard of thinking agree with you.

Tonight, Tonight is a mediocre song, with terrible terrible lyrics, gross and incompetent production and poor engineering married up to a decent video. To even suggest that its more than that is risible.

epic ballads need balls, yes.  8-)

along the lines of danzig's sistinas, jane's addiction - three days, or morrissey - you're the one for me, fatty. lol

All the while protesting that Smells Like Teen Spirit is not the correct choice. Grunge changed the face of pop rock music in the 90s, quite drastically and quickly. Most modern musicians cite that album as an influence, most people owned a copy.

Smashing Pumpkins? Barely a blip on the radar of influence on their genre or musicians. I have Gish but I still only know the names of the singer and guitarist, no idea who played drums or bass in the band. They were a passingly decent band that will has had little to no impact on rock in the 00s.

Which is reflection of what I think about '90's music - it all went to complete and utter shit. I can't think of a late '90's song that was worth two fucks that wasn't written by Trent Reznor.

Grunge changed the face of rock only for the 90s. Shit is fucking dead. Deader than James Brown. Speaking of...

Best song without a video is Don Was' "I Feel Better than James Brown."

:oh_i_see:

I forgot my #2 f13 rule, don't discuss music with schild. My #1 rule is don't discuss gaming with schild  :why_so_serious:

That's an interesting way to admit I'm right. Also, you know for a fact grunge existed before Nirvana. The whole Seattle scene existed before Nirvana, it's a shame they were the ones to get the most airtime though.

i can't help but think that jack white took some cues from kurt cobain, with the really hushed verses, and distorted anthemic choruses.. not that kurt was the only one to do that (john lennon was big on it.. robin zander too.. which, in turn, was one reason why some see lennon/zander-cobain similarities too).

anyhow, as big as they were, i don't see that much in influence with nirvana's sound per se. i think punk followed in the way of the descendants and green day -- except in whiny ways (blink 182, good charlotte, etc), i saw metal follow straight in the footsteps of prong -- everything metal sounded like prong for awhile there, by way of korn. hell, a lot of shit that was great didn't have much influence in later sound. gangsta rap, and just aggressive rap, flat out died. later on, you were either sounding like booty-calling-dirty south shit, or you were all positive bay area jurassic 5 like.

damn the last time i read that i thought you said "as bas AS neil young" - which pissed me off ;)

but yeah, you're very correct

Blues existed before SRV. SRV changed blues forever. Blues is dead.

You're being purposely difficult, which is why I haven't been posting in this thread more. My mistake.

YOU ARE SO CORRECT. There, feel better?

Later, thread.

Would make sense since Jack White constantly creates horrible sounding trash. He very easily wins the award for most overrated musician in the current decade. Though as far as bands go, I find the love for bands like TV on the Radio and Arcade Fire to be more annoying. Though, truly, White Stripes and Raconteur are shit shit shit.


Grunge was insular and didn't really evolve from where it started. Folks like Sky will never admit that, and that's cool. But it still sounds the exact fucking same. It diverged a bit and merged with metal on some sides and pop on the other, but a big influence? Nah. There's more important folks and bands out there doing more important things than recording melodically sloppy 3 minute ballads about how hard their life is in a monosyllabic grunting tone.

I feel better than James Brown.

best kind of music ever bud ;) especially when it's produced by guitars

speaking of which, here's some perfect 90's trash to add to the mix

Jesus Lizard (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX7FCfsPqR0)  :hulk_rock:

I've made up my own criteria which I refuse to explain but they prove beyond argument that 'We're Going to Ibiza' by The Vengaboys is the best song ever written. Just so you know. Should I start my own thread?

This dude wants to have a word with you and your "opinion." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTZ2CyEaNDI)

madness, utter delirium:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU2yt6wOoK0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU2yt6wOoK0)  (6 Flags commercial)

WHAT IN THE FUCK IS THAT SHIT??!?!?!?!1!!!!  :ye_gods:

I like March of the Pigs, but you are fucking bananas if you think it's better than Closer.  That song was everywhere and it's video is slick as hell.

I also like how so many keep mentioning Radiohead but don't even bother throwing a contender into the ring.  The obvious choice would be Karma Police (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uYWYWPc9HU).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampires_Are_Alive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampires_Are_Alive) for people too lazy to google.  Its the wrong decade.

Barbie girl by Aqua was the better party song  :grin:

And Grunge, especially Nirvana, was important because people think it is important, thats all the qualification you need in a subjective scale.  That it was the emo of the 90's is probably pretty apt but that doesn't change the influence it had and opinions still held today.

I was one of those britpop fags, umm sidenote checkout Phonogram (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonogram_(comic)) if you were a fan...
Oasis - Supersonic (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOTsS2mplA0)
Blur - The universal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGc2f2282NE)
Echobelly - Great things (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-2fNeIT5kU)
Elastica - Connection (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI2JxSSuahg)
Pulp - This is hardcore (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmP4_SC43-E)
I'm shocked at today's pop.

I listened to a lot of fun techno
Dj Shadow - Building steam with a grain of salt (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDNQktWjz1c)
Chemical Brothers - Life is sweet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7VDy-yT6RE) (where's my whistle)
Orbital - Halcyon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zUCSurFGCc) (Illuminate (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrzcgU-1rYk) came too late)
Dune - Can't stop raving (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KJ__06kyxs) fucking dune.. fucking happy hardcore...


You know what... best song I'd recommend from the 90's is Dr Octagon - Blue flowers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9VYzNUXGDA) that whole CD is full of win....

/bobs head

half shark alligator half man  :awesome_for_real:

The Dawn of the Dead titles montage to When the Man Comes Around is pure win.


I've always been partial to Johnny Cash's Rusty Cage.  I am a Soundgarden mark, though.

Johnny Cash's "Hurt" is on par with Shatner's "Common People".  Its all about the novelty

And yet, ironically, they're both so vastly superior to the originals it's not even funny.

You are wrong, their very appeal is based on the importance of the original songs.

Actually their very appeal was based on Johnny Cash doing a great cover on his death bed and the mere existence of William Shatner.

Songs only need exist to be covered. Are you saying Weird Al songs are only good if the song preceding it were good? Cuz he's made some good shit out of some pretty awful shit. A lot of bands have. The Pulp song was always nearly unlistenable to me and the importance and beauty of Hurt was circumstantial to Cash's life and current situation (current at that time at least).

Seriously the Cash version is no-where near the NIN one musically, and to most people it was 'old country singer does a NIN cover, thats kinda cool'.

Shatner's version is only win because his character is at direct odds with the spirit of the song, he is the daddy the girl will call when everything gets too much, he's an out of touch star with a quirky style that has the good grace to poke fun at him self.  That you personally didn't like Pulp's version doesn't change the fact it was an anthem at the time and a great song.

They are good covers, made good because they have a direct contrast to the original.  Though Shatner's humour reaches far they are generally only good covers to people that know the original.  A truly good cover is one where people have to remember that there was an original.

My mistake. I forgot something couldn't just be fun to listen and sing along to. I'll be sure to look for deeper meaning in my covers. :oh_i_see:

Maybe it was an anthem in Europe, but I don't think I heard it on the radio here even once. And I actually did listen to the radio back then.

Pulp's Different Class album got airplay like almost nothing else during that time. All the singles - Disco 2000, Common People, Sorted for Es and Whizz, etc were on rotation with all the main radio stations in amongst the Blur and Oasis tracks.

In Europe.

It was big in Australia too.

And everytime the Shatner versoin was played, it was always referenced as a cover, not left to stand on its own.  same with Cash and Hurt.

I just listened to a few Pulp tracks and ya, I can see why it didn't make it in the US. See, when an American calls someone a Eurofag, this is EXACTLY what they mean. Jesus wept.

Edit: Ok, I take that back, because it sounded meaner than I meant it. But good god people.

It's not so much Eurofag as it's just really terrible new wave that came long enough after new wave that people FORGOT. :grin:

Edit: Also, in the mid-late 90s, I went out of the way to get a lot of eurofag music. Pulp got one listen to and forgotten.

Apparently the European DJs never got your memo.

The Johnny Cash Hurt cover though? That one is hugely superior to the original, it happens.

Does rap count?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odq2Mvvw6XA

You're like my mum at any kind of Asian restaurant. Clueless about the food, so it's "weird" and she won't eat it. The rave scene, manc and other cultural movements of the 1990s went over your head, so you're looking at Pulp out of its cultural context and without a translator. Mum, billions of happy people eat, understand and enjoy this.

It's deliberately overblown English art school wankery by a pre-1990s band in a post-rave Britain. Jarvis Cocker had a sort of ironic cool about him in that context - see the song "Sorted for E's and wiz" and just the general sound of the album "Different Class". He's still around, retaining that cool niche within British culture, but his music suits a purpose, not the American pop charts.


What does "Eurofag" mean? It sounds like it might mean "we are a newbie nation without any understanding of other countries or irony or where our culture and words even came from, so let's call all the European shit we can't understand 'gay', so we can concentrate on missing the jaw-dropping campness of every branch of our military, Hollywood and local bands, to save us the embarrassment of acknowledging the sheer heterosexual sexiness of the French". D'accord?

Holy shit, I agree with you about something from 1990s music. I loved that Was Not Was album. I feel better than James Brown, I feel better now, how do you feel?

Given my current situation, I'm thinking of transferring to the moon. Worse pay, better hours.

Eh, I almost thought Daniel Ash made that one song about the Moon in the 90's. Then I'd link it.  :grin:

Suddenly, CIA men dressed in bikinis tried to stab us with fountain pens. Fidel blew mustard gas through his cigar and immobilised the lot of them.

edit - album also had the Was (Not Was) version of Papa Was a Rolling Stone (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa-UeX8ZczQ&fmt=18). Still sounds fresh today.

Nineteen tequilas later we had a deal.  Havana goes back to the mob and Fidel and I open a chain of Kentucky Fried Chicken shops.

Dad, I'm in Jail.
Dad, I'm calling you from jail.
Say hi to mom.

I'M IN JAIL.

Not quite. I'm like your mom at an Asian restaurant if your mother is Asian. I'm half german, spent ~18 years of my life in Europe. So not really, no. And before you go on about how I'm just too macho, or whatever, I'm a huge fan of the Cure, Bauhaus and Depeche Mode, so my metrosexual credentials are well in order, thank you very much.



Bingo.

Seriously. What? Also I am with Schild on this one.

Johnny Cash's Version of 'Hurt' is so much better than the original it's not even funny.

This list is a perfect example of why threads like this are pretty much pointless except for a general discussion. I find pretty much everything on Sky's list there excremental, but it's all just opinion and taste anyway - mine and his both.




This has always been schild's method of making an argument on the internet, at least for the past several years.





You're wrong of course. The correct answer is the Vengaboys "We like to Party". Part of the criteria is the hot brunette.  :why_so_serious:

This implies I make actual arguments on the internet rather than just get it right the first time. :why_so_serious:

You write stuff. Sometimes you're right. Sometimes it's opinion. Sometimes it's trolling for a good time (honey). Sometimes it's just bollocks.   :awesome_for_real:

I get it, he's a big american icon and could have sang "Baby got back" on his deathbed and it would have been praised as a poignant insight into the baser instincts that controlled his life. I'm sure there are plenty of Americans in his core demographic that didn't know it was a cover as well.  What the fuck ever, his voice in the song is shit, the acoustic is pretty good but doesn't hold up to the original.  Its a good song, especially if you care about him but I can't see many people who don't know the history picking it over the original.

To those of us elsewhere some american country singer was made cooler by the fact that he even knew about NIN let alone covered them.  That was all.

All this thread has proven, besides that Tonight Tonight is not the defining song of the 90's, is that cultural differences exist and subjective things are subjective.  Wow  :awesome_for_real:

If it's all about her then turn the sound off and watch the video to Boom Boom boom (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72g8p1XsvoU).

haha wow

The thing is, it's not a case of cultural differences or subjectivity in this instance.  Reznor himself has basically said that Cash took that song away from him and made it into something of his own.  Trent wrote down a piece of his soul and performed what was written, then Johnny Cash took those words and music and performed a piece of his own soul through it.

Also, you are way wrong about the voice.

He's wrong in the first sentence. Cash isn't really a big American with everybody. He's a respected country singer, for sure, but big? I only like 3 of his songs.

Not to mention Jeff is from Germany afaik. >_> And that's just the beginning.

Good point.

HAY!  TELL THE KAISER I SEZ HAI!

Everyone is wrong and everyone is right.

To plenty of people the song was a novelty and that was all.  To plenty of people it was great.  To everyone with a high opinion of themselves it was definitively one way or the other so much that it isn't even funny

A Novelty? Man, I only liked 2 other Cash songs before that. Thing really was no novelty - great, bad, indifferent, I can get.

But novelty? Novelty?

yes a fucking novelty, it like you've read nothing I've written so far, its was the first stupid comment that started this stupid arguement.

Man, just about everyone knows Johnny Cash. If not, you're pretty fucking stupid. Or an African Bushman.  :why_so_serious:

A novelty is Alvin and the Chipmunks, or the Jerky Boys.

What made Johnny Cash's version of Hurt superior to Trent's was the video. His shakey hand symbolically pouring out the wine over his life's regrets and accomplishments while his elderly voice rattled out the song. Scenes with June behind him which coincedentally was right before her death. It just added up to make his version the better one. Granted, if you took the song without the video, then ya, Trent's still wins out. But once you've seen the video I don't know how you can listen to the song without thinking of it. Trent's version is good, but Johnny's now breaks my heart.

That's a fair point, and I think could be used as an example of why sometimes a video is a really important part of a song.  The first time I heard Johnny Cash sing it was through the video, so I personally can't tell if it was the video that did it for me or not.  However, I was and remain a really big NIN fan.  Hurt was one of those songs I would repeat after hearing it once whenever it popped up.

From the moment onward that I heard Johnny Cash singing through my tv those lyrics, those words I knew so well, I've thought about his version whenever Hurt is mentioned anywhere.

I think another thing to mention is that Johnny's kind of a "grey area" man (despite being the man in black)... You expect this kind of thing from Trent. Johnny otoh humanizes it -- or at least, interprets pain in a more accessible way. Same deal with that Danzig song he covered. Johnny just comes across as more like a sad unlucky bastard in 13 than Glenn could.

Yeah, I probably sound a bit pretentious the way I'm putting it, but I think my point's clear enough.

Well I don't think Johnny Cash was very big internationally but yeah call me stupid.  I know who he is, haven't really heard much of his music but Its because everyone knows what Johnny Cash is (an American country music performer) that it is a novelty that he has covered a song from a band like NIN.

Do I have to give a dictionary meaning of novelty now?

All the points are valid it still doesn't change the fact the song was used in at least one arena more as a way of affirming how good Trent is (hey a country singer like Johnny Cash can recognise the value of work, so it extends beyond genre) and enjoyed mostly because of the novelty.

No, it isn't a novelty. I erred above in saying that he covered a Danzig song. Danzig wrote it for him first. Point being, this shit is right up his alley. He isn't just a country singer. He's Johnny Cash. Not fucking Tim McGraw.

Well I don't know who Tim McGraw is, and here Johnny Cash is just a country singer, is that so hard to accept?

Only about as hard to accept the notion that humans reproduce asexually.

The thing is, this was a dude that got his first hit by singing about shooting a man...just to watch him die. He's always been a dark guy. He was a speedhead... before they invented speed. His best album was taped at a fucking prison of all places. Just not really your garden variety country musician. Or garden variety anything.

Thats still acquired knowledge that you and many others have that have allowed you to get greater enjoyment out of the song and its context.  That information isn't as free internationally especially to those that don't care enough about the genre to investigate it.

Fair enough, man. Just not a novelty though.. he's too old and influential a musician to be that anyways. Like a Ray Charles or something. A fucking GIANT who influenced everyone else instead. I mean, bands everywhere from Social Distortion, Nick Cave, Blondie, to Alien Sex Fiend were covering Johnny Cash songs long before he decided to sing something from Trent Reznor.

So you're pleading ignorance. There's an argument that always works.

In the US he's robot jesus. in the EU, not so much. Reverse aparently is true with Pulp. We are, after all, at least two different cultures.

Want a great EU cover? The lion sleeps tonight (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsXNKGqLSWM) click on heartbeat (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9dyGDGQY-4) if you want to die inside as that whole album went #1 in Germany...

I'm helping...  This song def makes me think of the 90's, even if it did come out in 99.  All good rap is from the 90's imo, just some of it took longer to come out.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=tGoNfgXxD2g

Just about, ya. I'd add in some of the 80's rap artists as well, but rap was definitely at it's best in the 90's. You have some good artists today as well, but they're not nearly as skilled as the ones from that time period, imo. I mean, can you compare anyone today to Rakim? Honestly? I just can't think of anyone. Eminem is pretty damn good but if you put him against Rakim I just can't see it. If you're thinking "gangsta" rap, does anyone today beat or even compare to NWA? For "alternative" rap I'd say Outkast outshines a lot of their predecessors, though.

Meh, now I have to give this some real thought. Damn you internets.

I don't know, I sort of like Just (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5X7HKxpiQA) - the song's weaker, but the video is better (IMO, natch).

Are you fucking kidding? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Cash)

I didn't even break a nail finding that.
Yeah, just some random schlep that nobody outside of hick bars have ever heard of. If you are a fan of English speaking music, you know Johnny Cash even if you have not heard every song. The man touched so much... to claim not knowing of him as some kind of defense is just lazy.

 Look on a national radio station in Australia where the listeners know NIN and Johnny Cash is the outsider then knowledge of him other than he's that big american country music star that was influential in his country is limited.  There is some knowledge but not enough attachment to add the pathos to the song that others elsewhere experienced.

But yeah sorry to be lazy, I'll start researching everything I hear on the radio, would hate to miss out on any necessary extra context.  Heaven forbid you be allowed to judge a song based on how it sounds.

Even completely endogenous to the song, Cash's version is better. Reznor sounds like a whiny arm-cutter. Johnny sounds like someone who has lived real pain. I credit Rick Rubin for a lot of that, but Cash brings it home.

But you didn't, you based it on your exposure to NIN and that Cash was a "novelty." :(

It was a cool novelty, people liked the song, but yes it was a novelty to have Johnny Cash playing on the station.  I never said it was your dad in a clown suit sort of novelty, it was the novelty of something unexpected and different.

Edit: Yeah most people's dad in a clown suit is probably unexpected and different but I don't mean novelty in the way people seem to be taking it in that is was something silly.

You are wrong, and bad, and should feel bad, and should die feeling bad.

Also, I haven't read every post in this thread, or even most of them, but fuck anyone who doesn't like "Kiss From a Rose" or Seal in general. Right in the ear.

Guys, ignore him. He's obviously a younger guy (in his 20's?) who knows NIN and listens to Triple J ("the national Youth network") which, while it's the only radio station I listen to, it (or Wasted) doesn't exactly represent the whole of the country. The station is actually pretty good overall, but their focus is on "new music" and stuff that doesn't get played on mainstream radio. They don't even play stuff which they were playing a a couple of years ago with the "new music" focus, so unless they're having a retrospective night or something (Richard Kingsmill used to do that good show on Thursday nights). There's fuckall chance of hearing someone like Cash on that station, hence "novelty" for someone with more limited musical exposure.

Cash isn't as big here as he is in the US, of course, but those who know even a little of him would know he is to country what Ray Charles is to, say Rhythm and Blues.

It also depends on how musically cultured you are, to an extent. And while that's a terrible sounding term, it's meant that if you only listen to <genre x> and never ever listen to anything else in your entire life, you'll just know of him as "some American country singer" much like Billy Ray Cyrus. Or that Elvis is "that hound dog guy". And that's pretty much an international thing, I'd say. Ask your average white-boi-gangsta-wannabe Saints Row/GTA playa who Cash is and you'll probably get either "huh?" or a similar answer to "country singer guy."



Also, "all about the novelty" makes you look like a fucking idiot. Cash's version of Hurt, taken entirely on it's own, sans "novelty value" is a fucking amazing song.

As are his versions of The Mercy Seat and Rusty Cage.

Don't be age-ist. I'm in my 20s.

I'm not being ageist and I'm fully aware that you're in your 20s. My point is that younger guys are more likely to not have encountered, or are less likely to have decided to seek out a wide variety of musical tastes and genres. Even if their genre of choice is "alternative".

I'm aware that many of us here on f13 like yourself and Stray and many others have actively listened across many genres (as I did myself, at a young age) but not everyone is like that, and you're more lilkely to have encountered a wide variety of music and genres the older you are simply through additional life experience. Unless you avoid anything but your "safe zone" which I also mentioned.

In all fairness, Cash did make some spectacular crap too.

I'm not what you'd describe as a Cash fan. I like bits and pieces of his stuff, which includes the above covers. Still, with an output like his over so many years, you'd expect a good mix.

I'm 32 actually, at what age was I supposed to care about country music?  It's about the only genre I have never cared about, I know I am not alone and in people older than me.

No one fucking person represents the whole country and my whole point was that not everyone thinks Cash's version is better especially not enough to qualify it as better than the original so much that it is not funny which is the phrase used.  That just stupid.

And trying to say that triplej playing Johnny Cash isn't a novelty then you either don't know what the word fully means or you didn't listen around the time it was played.

I'm just reporting what happened, I didn't say it was a crap song, I personally don't like it as much. Yes I am a big NIN fan. I'm not telling people that liked it they are wrong, I just saying you haven't discovered a universal truth here.  People are being intentionally oblivious to the point in the normal stupid way.

I don't care about country either. Or rap. Or techno. Or.. etcetera. Yet there are bits of each of those genres that I like.

You're not alone? That's a non-argument. Noone "is alone" regardless of their opinion on anything. That's why we have NAMBLA and the KKK and Scientologists and Holocaust deniers.
Not that you are any of those, but the point is pretty much noone "is alone" on any opinion thay have, regardless of how great OR fucked up it is.

You were the one going on about how you don't think Cash was very big internationally. Now you're doing the "noone person represents the entire country" thing. Should I just call you stupid as you initially requested?  :why_so_serious:

First you claimed that the song was a novelty. Now you claim that it was this one radio station playing it that was the novelty. Make up your fucking mind and stop retconning your argument.

You didn't like it as much, that's fine. That's musical opinion/taste. I jumped down your throat based on all the other stupid shit you said. "All about the novelty" and such. :oh_i_see:

I don't think anyone truly cares whether you like him or not. No need to make yourself a victim of that. It's your reasoning that's lame. And your lack of understanding of what his legacy is...which sure as hell isn't some niche genre thing. This goes beyond Johnny, in fact.. Thinking that he isn't known internationally, like it's some American specific heehaw thing, is like saying Elvis isn't known worldwide, or Chuck Berry, or Ray Charles, or Sinatra, Muddy Waters, or Bob Dylan. He's a big looming face on the Mt. Rushmore of popular music.

Mt. Rushmore, just in case you didn't know, is an American thing. Like Johnny Cash. keke. I don't expect you to understand.  :grin:


Anyways, I'm 31. Not sure what age is supposed to indicate.

De La Soul's Three Feet High and Rising (1989) made me a fan. My favourite De La album is Art Official Intelligence vol 1 (Mosaic Thump) which was in 2000. So I couldn't nominate them properly for the '90s.

Say No Go (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ6GbOVEQAw) - De La Soul (1989)
Foolin' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jca1TQs-0ec) - De La Soul (2000)

Or all of the Native Tongues together: Doin' Our Own Dang (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUIgLZ0d5-U) - Jungle Brothers feat. A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and Queen Latifah.

Ah crap, now I've reminded myself of Teenage Fanclub. Great Scottish band from the 1990s.

Fallin' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2DoV4Gytto) - Teenage Fanclub collaboration with De La Soul
Sparky's Dream (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iuALpEXNlE) - Teenage Fanclub

Need a crystal ball to see her in the morning
And magic eyes to read between the lines.
I took a wrong direction
From a shooting star
In the love dimension
Fading fast from taking this too far.

AHHHHH GOD. I forgot this - anyone else remember it or even like it? Shoegazing wall-of-guitars mid-1990s stuff. For me, it's up there with my original nominations and I forgot it till now.

Vapour Trail (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5taDAbZU0Q) - Ride


And now I'm remembering more 1990s British stuff ... did this make it across the Atlantic?

Kill Your Television (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yan77UKYcg4) - Ned's Atomic Dustbin

Unbelievable (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb0cRq-DZE4) - EMF

I said it was a novelty, I was told it wasn't. I say yes it was a novelty here is the context that is was presented as a novelty.  I get told I am wrong.  I say ah yes it actually happened despite all your assertions that everyone is wrong.  I get called an idiot.  Everyone misses the point.

I know what Mt Rushmore is.  I have no emotional attachment to what it represents, that is the difference .  I knew who Johnny Cash was, I knew he was important, it didn't make me appreciate the song so much more that I would think it shits all over the original.  I didn't make me think that the cover was so much better than the original that it isn't funny.  That was the only point I wanted to make, I wasn't shitting on anyone's opinion or enjoyment of the song, just that to dismiss the strength of the original because of it was not right.

Actually before anyone else writes another condescending as fuck post to me I concede.  I can see people are ascribing this song far more value and representation of his whole career than what I thought.  I was just looking at the song, I could see that it had extra value to fans but I didn't think people where using it broadly to be the focus of their respect and appreciation for the man.  If people think I was being dismissive of him because I enjoyed the song as a novelty, well I was a bit, but not in a way intended to shit over everything he achieved.

You just don't love America, do you?

I may have missed something, but you must forgive me: I'm only one man and it is a mountain of shit.

If you're talking about country music as Dwight Yoakam and Dolly Parton (or pretty much anything played on country music stations), then I'm 100% with you. But country is a very broad genre, and there's more there than you might think. Did you know, for example, that Ray Charles considered himself a country singer? Or that the music in O Brother Where Art Thou is the original country music? Sure, Johnny Cash is country, but he's the good kind of country.

Don't remember the first one, but the year Unbelievable came out, it and Right here Right now by Jesus Jones were huge hits. I am willing to bet that 99.9% of America would not be able to name another single by either band however.

It's only really a novelty if it's a one off.  He put out five "American" albums,  and each one had at least a couple of songs that were just unreal.  He jumped around between country, bluesy tunes, reimaginings of traditional, rock, or whatever.

"Hurt"
"The Man Comes Around"
"God's Gonna Cut You Down" Great song,  great video.
"Rusty Cage"
"Personal Jesus"
"I've Been Everywhere"

etc.

Also, just calling him a Country artist is a huge misclassification.  He started out back before there was clear borders between rock, blues, and country;  and he had hits that could easily be classified as any of those.  Shit,  he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in '92.

I wouldn't throw Dwight Yoakam under the bus.  Guitars, Cadillacs... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w49kODK02Bw), Ain't That Lonely Yet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_cUFLmte28&feature=related) and Thousand Miles From Nowhere (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iG4zkdBba8&feature=related) are some good songs.  He reminds me of Roy Orbison, a la You Got It (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e3Wu8lP0WE).

yes, dwight's an "alt country" guy, much like Cash was.. not nearly the same wide appeal, of course.. but he isn't completely immersed in standard country. still in touch with rockabilly roots and shit (which good country musicians tend to be).

You may want to cut back on the Fosters so you can think all the way through a sentence and get the point at the end eh?

My point isn't that you should know Johnny Cash because you heard him on the radio and declared him Robot Jesus and needed to start an Australian chapter to knowing why he's fucking awesome. My point is that if you are going to wade into an internet thread and trade punches over the merit of any artist and their work with people who actually know that artist better than you, you should spend the thirty seconds it takes to search that artist out on the Internet and learn more about what you are trying to say.

Otherwise you do look like a lazy idiot who's more excited about the idea of his thoughts and defending them blindly than someone who's trying to discuss the point in a critical and productive manner.

You don't think Cash's version of Hurt is as good as Trent's? Great, I am good with that, just as I think that Schild was hitting a crack pipe laced with LSD and DMSO when he declared anything by the Smashing Pumpkin's as the greatest from the 90's... but if you want to pick a bone about it with people who know NiN and Cash as fans, you might want to bone up on your knowledge about the actual history of the artists before you start replying to everyone who tells you that you are wrong.

Then again, this is the Internet and a message board, I'm not sure why I'm actually expecting you to care about making useful posts. My bad.

FYI nobody ever drank Fosters since its brief popularity in the 1980s, after which the rest of the world was lied to about it. The 1990s beer was ... hmm ... Victoria Bitter?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ID_N7rv-iN8

that was from the 90's?  :ye_gods:

I think that guy was channeling this song straight from 1984 
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=T_WZP0LzC4Q

hmm Lisa Lisa

Nah, the Jermaine Stewart song was from 1986.

We have a thread about songs from the 90s and nobody mentioned Chumbawumba - Tubthumping (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fm4iU0yx9GY)?

Colour me disappointed.

Seemed like a novelty song to me. Now you've got me thinking of I'm Too Sexy (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ipZDG6__Zfc) - Right Said Fred (1992).

If you're going that route, there's that handsome duo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3tNylJr7Z4) to consider.

I know, that's why I chose it. Same for Vegemite right? Or calling the ladies Sheila? :)

Because Patience was released in 1988 and thus not a 90's song?

Odelay or Midnite Vultures, Beck. Pick any song more or less.

100 years from now, that will be what they're teaching you in music history class.

You're joking? Or not?

Most (civilised) Australians don't call women "sheila". But Vegemite is totally was, is and always will be :drill:

In fact, I'm going to have some on toast right after I finish this post. Thanks!

 :awesome_for_real:

 ;D

You know, I think we forget how huge Kissed By A Rose was.  On a long car ride to a Columbus Day soccer tournament in 6th grade, I discovered to my dismay the full extent of its popularity.  One of my buddies had a tape with nothing but endless back-to-back cycles of the song.  I'd say hearing Kissed By A Rose 200-300 times in a row on both legs of the journey could have had an impact on a young developing mind. 

We were all wrong until now. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bAN7Ts0xBo)

I think I generally dislike all love songs that refer to "Roses" or "November". I'm not incapable of being sappy, but that's just way too Hallmark for me.

And, by extension, this was the best song of the 80s. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbvP7dT3Dx0&NR=1)

Oh I see your Proclaimers and raise you a Deep Blue Something

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcmH1LdPNKA

Teardrop by Massive Attack. Nothing else comes close.

See, I love 'Group Four' from the same album even more.  I don't think it was released as a single, though.

No no, Dissolved Girl is the best track on that album  :awesome_for_real:   Although Inertia Creeps is pretty good too.

Mezzanine pales in comparison to 100th Window.

The only way you can possibly imagine saying that is if you missed the 80's. And god help you if you are comparing the 90's to Disco. Seriously. Get a lobotomy if that's the case, because you are very, very broken.

Come the fuck on. That should be in green.

This whole thread should be in green.

Really. That's like saying that Amnesiac is a better album than OK Computer - wrong.

This thread, and everybody who posted in it (including me now) needs to be simultaneously crucified and burned at the stake.  Green doesn't absolve anything.

JESUS

TAP DANCING

GODDAMN

MOTHERFUCKING

ROLLERSKATING

H.

CHRIST.

So does that mean you are nominating Mmmmbop, Teleku?

I'm totally helping (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwtTOxouD5Q)



Random decent to good rap songs off the top of my head, I bet they are all from the 90's:
Cormega - More Crime (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFlzpekDT_w)
Gangstarr - Militia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSh1dLlBaHw)
Geto Boys - G Code (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADvraf71s6o)

Teardrop's not bad, but not in the same league as Protection or Karma Coma, let alone the sublime beauty that is Unfinished Sympathy.

Tonight tonight blows.  If you have to choose some sort of sappy, pseudo "alternative" crap go for Chili Peppers' "Under the Bridge".

Other songs to consider:

1.  Gerardo-  "Rico Suave"
2.  Blackstreet-  "No Diggity"
3.  Snow-  "Informer"
4.  Sugar Ray-  "Fly"
5.  Spice Girls-  Anything, take yer pick
6.  Color me Badd-  "I wanna sex you up"
7.  Third Eye Blind-  "Semi-charmed life"
8.  Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch-  "Good Vibrations"
9.  Alannis Morisette- "You oughtta know"
10.  Ricky Martin-  "Livin la vida loca"

Seriously, there was some seriously bad shit put out in the 90s.

I, for one, would vote for Radiohead's "The Bends" as best song and album, but hey whatever.

Snow?  SNOW!?

The only time he was good was when someone beamed him with a beer bottle at a concert on campus.

Wasn't serious.  Should I green it for you? :ye_gods:

Props to whoever reminded me of "Seether." I picked up American Thighs and wow, what a great fucking album! Awesome from start to finish.

Unfortunately Eight Arms to Hold You is overproduced dreck.

Nah, it's okay.  Some of those had at least some value to them, even if they're not contenders, so I had to check.

Also I like to mention I saw him get pelted with a bottle.  It might give warm fuzzies to others like it does me.  (Protip:  Have someone to turn the machine off if you're going to stop lip synching in the middle of your act to cuss out the audience.)

God, why does everyone keep mentioning Under the Bridge? Good as it may be, no song about homeless junkies deserves to be a "song of the decade". Seriously.

Actually - I think the smashing pumpkins have aged remarkably well. Not saying the best song of the 90s but I don't get the hate.

Kindof what the nineties were about, eh?  The Decade of the Horse?

Why do you hate homeless junkies?  Seriously.

Actually ghost is probably right. Never steeped into heroin, but the 90's really weren't very pretty for me or others I knew. I'd like to think that the rest of the world wasn't shit at the time though.

You know what song hasn't been mentioned yet?  Spin Spin Sugar (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjBwe6IL10o).  It defines one aspect of the 90s I distinctly remember: excessive remixes.  How many different remixes of that song was there? 20? 30?  I mercifully linked one of the best versions.

Hah.. I've been jamming those Spin Spin Sugar remixes lately actually.  :grin:


Sneaker Pimps get a "Biggest Bitches in Music" award though, for kicking Kelly Ali out. Because one of the dudes wanted to sing more.  :roll: Gimme a break.. that chick was a vamp. I'd kill to have her as my lead singer.

Especially since her post-Pimps stuff was completely different (which can be good, to be different, but I liked BX an awful lot.. and still do.)

Well she never wrote any of the songs before, so yeah, her solo stuff is going to be different. All of them together had a good thing though, but some people like to sabotage themselves, I guess.

For some reason, this has happened numerous times with bands who found more success through a later added female lead. I don't get it.

Best: Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGYRvIOZfZ8).
Worst: No contest. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO_vFuzPJvc).

Not only musically, but aurally though. Just completely different but you're right - they had something special as a group and when they kicked her from the group they lost it and went straight into obscurity.

I'd like to just say that I've bought 3 Smashing Punpkins albums because of this thread, and there's likely to be more purchases from other bands when I get round to checking more of them out  :-)

My most recent buys were a Jr Walker & the All Stars disc and the new Derek Trucks Band disc. Nothing to do with this crappy thread, though.  :why_so_serious:

These are my albums I missed in 2008 purchases next time I get over to Ameoba, plus a ton of "aquired" stuff that I will purchase if available cheap.

Cloud Cult - Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes)
Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
The Magnetic Fields - Distortion
Lupe Fiasco - The Cool
M83 - Graveyard Girl
Rise Against - Appeal To Reason

I'm all for ressurecting this fugly beast of a thread.

Graveyard Girl is the name of a single from the album Saturdays=Youth. You should get the album, it's awesome.

It is pretty cool to know there is someone else out there that has heard of Jr Walker, et al.  Some good stuff.

Are you sure you didn't mean to post in that thread (http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=15447.0)? This thread was about trolling folks' 90s music tastes.

Missed this one, but I wanted to bump this one anyways so winwin.

Boo. How could I forget this rocker.. Love it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVI2m6cbYtI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVI2m6cbYtI)

I've also been listening to a lot of AIC lately (I'm sure it's hard to avoid if you listen to the radio, but I don't). I always liked them, but they weren't one of my favorites when I was younger.. almost too slow for my tastes then, if I can get away with calling it slow. But fuck, Layne Staley is a fucking god amongst men. A god living in a world of shit and piss and trapped in a box, but a god nonetheless. It's weird that he's been dead for so long already too. Time flies.

When I began seriously practicing vocals, Layne was my main influence. I had a video compilation of a bunch of early stuff. I love the booming parts of stuff like I Fade Away. Love, Hate, Love, Real Thing, so much great stuff. Every album was great imo. Jar of Flies would probably be my favorite if I had to pick one. But they all kicked ass.

I couldn't imitate him if my life depended on it. Most of those grunge guys are really talented baritones who can also hit high notes, especially when they yell. Always wished I could do that. It's the perfect rock voice imo (starting with Jim Morrison, or hell, even Elvis).. As far as 90's music goes, I'm sure I could do a mean karaoke Depeche Mode (I mean, I am a baritone too.. just not a well ranged one). Heh.

If you imitate anybody, make it anybody other than Layne Staley. Yes, he had a great natural voice, but every fucking American mainstream rock band of the late 90s that aped his simple nasal technique got signed. There are too many Staley wannabes around already and most of them don't have the natural tone that made him great. Use your lips more and find your own voice while practicing better technique. Bowie is a good baritone example - his range isn't crazy so he gets more variety from his technique.

Hmm.. I always thought Bowie had amazing range actually. I'm almost ashamed of myself for not mentioning him now. It's weird, I guess, because it's sort of rare to hear him exercise that range within the same songs, but career wise, you hear it.. starting out, he's a bit Lennon-esque, and later on (and I think Iggy Pop might have rubbed off on him.. yet another good bari) he could get very deep.

I didn't imitate Layne, couldn't really. Don't have the right timbre, his low nasally stuff (like Rooster) I really hated singing. Hell, I have an awful voice, I'm the first to admit it. That's why I kinda holler kinda growl my blues stuff. But I can hit his highs solidly, or at least I could when I was unloading trucks, I used to practice while unloading. Great for breath control. After Layne, my next favorite to practice to was Cornell on Audioslave's first disc, which was great for pitch control.

Now I throw all that out the window, because it gets in the way of singing the blues :) I'd say my main influences as a singer right now are Howlin Wolf and Tom Waits, and wishing for Leon Redbone and Muddy Waters.

How does that get in the way of blues? If I had the ability to choose Waits or Staley, it'd be Staley for sure. I'd sing in a barbershop quartet as Staley, if I could!