Best Albums of the 1990s (90-81)

90. Live - Throwing Copper (1994). In high school the lyric "her placenta falls to the floor" was more than enough to make teenage boys snicker. Great song though. Essential track: Lightning Crashes




89. Enya - Shepherd Moons (1991). New age queen Enya's third album, followed the massive success of her second album, sounding pretty much the same. Essential track: Book of Days







88. Pearl Jam - Ten (1991). This, along with Nirvana's Nevermind, launched the '90s most important musical movement: grunge. Coming as it did from Seattle (and the northwest generally), it was everywhere, particularly by senior year in high school, where at the end of the year we actually had a "prep to grunge" award for those who had made the best transition. Essential track: Jeremy

87. Radiohead - The Bends (1995). This ranks low mostly because I didn't start listening to Radiohead until this decade, so I can't really justify ranking this very high. This was the band's conventional high point. Essential track: Bend and Break.

86. Paula Abdul - Spellbound (1991). Paula's second album, not as good as the first. In an unusual twist, despite building her career as a dance-pop artist, it's the ballads that shine here, notably "Rush Rush," which was her biggest hit. Essential track: Rush Rush

85. Mariah Carey - Butterfly (1997). Mariah Carey's fifth album was born during the troubled time near the end of her marriage to Sony records exec Tommy Mottola. It furthers the transition of her sound from being mostly pop/adult to being more rhythmic. A drop from her last two albums, but still decent, especially when she's not singing through her nose. Essential track: Honey

84. Prince - (The Love Symbol Album)(1992). Diamonds and Pearls was Prince's last big commercial album, but this one that followed was actually better, despite not scoring as many hits. And it's credited as being the source of the coolest symbol of the decade. Essential track: 7

83. Pet Shop Boys - Nightlife (1999). Lots of great stuff on this album, in fact, all of the Pet Shop Boys' albums of the '90s were fantastic (two more forthcoming). Several of these songs were part of a Pet Shop Boys musical, there's a duet with Kylie ("In Denial") and some great dance tracks. Great opening track too "For Your Own Good." Essential track: New York City Boy

82. R.E.M. - Out of Time (1991). Uneven compared to their next album, but a worthy effort, if only because it gave the band their biggest hit ever. Essential track: Losing My Religion

81. U2 - Zooropa (1993). Achtung Baby was U2's second career highpoint, so the follow-up was inevitably less impressive, but there's still some great songs here. Essential track: Numb