Because I was a teenager through the 1990s, my relationship with the decade’s music differs from other decades. I’d probably appreciate bands like Oasis and Nirvana more if I wasn’t saturated with them. I also think that mainstream rock largely ran out of steam, and the most interesting music is on the fringes or in other genres.
The advent of the compact disc was also problematic. CDs allowed longer running times, but often 40 minutes is the optimum running time for an album. Many albums in the early 1990s dragged on for over an hour.
Major acts that I enjoy and plan to review include Beck, Massive Attack, PJ Harvey, and The Flaming Lips.
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Born Myra Ellen Amos, in North Carolina, Tori Amos took her stage name when a friend’s boyfriend told her that…
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It’s not an overstatement that Jeff Buckley was one of the most singularly talented musicians of his generation; blessed with a…
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Counting Crows formed in the Bay Area. Vocalist Adam Duritz was formerly in The Himalayans, who recorded an album with…
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Sheryl Crow was already on the wrong side of 30 when she released her debut album. After attending the University…
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Faith No More’s origins go right back to 1979 when the rhythm section of Mike Bordin and Billy Gould formed…
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Ben Folds was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, also the birthplace of The dB’s and Let’s Active. He started playing…
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Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood met at Williams College in Massachusetts. They formed Fountains of Wayne, christening themselves after a…
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Richard X. Heyman started his career as a backing musician, drumming for Brian Wilson, Link Wray, and Jonathan Richman, and…
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Lauryn Hill was born and raised in New Jersey. She hit the big time, as a member of The Fugees…
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San Francisco’s Jellyfish were underappreciated during their existence in the early 1990s, but have since gained a devoted following. Their…
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Freedy Johnston seems destined to be remembered as a one-hit wonder for 1994’s ‘Bad Reputation’, a critically acclaimed but commercially…
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San Francisco quartet the Red House Painters (named after the Tennesseean painting crew, The International League Of Revolutionary House Painters)…
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This page was largely written by a guest reviewer – I wrote the introduction and the review of The Holy…
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Grant McLennan was taught to play and drafted into The Go-Betweens by Robert Forster. Because of this, he’d never played…
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Tired of making art by committee, Natalie Merchant left the 10,000 Maniacs in 1993. She wasn’t yet 30, but had…
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Pavement’s debut album Slanted and Enchanted was recorded in 1991 and swansong Terror Twilight was released in 1999. Because their…
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Pearl Jam grew from the remnants of Mother Love Bone, whose singer Andrew Wood overdosed. Rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard and…
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Not to be confused with the Sun Records boss of the same name, Sam Phillips started her career in 1980s…
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Portishead formed in the city of Bristol, where a vibrant, multi-cultural music scene spawned trip-hop in the early 1990s. Trip-hop…
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Named after a Talking Heads song, Radiohead are the most critically acclaimed band to emerge in the 1990s. They convened informally…
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Introduction Rage Against the Machine were surprisingly successful in the 1990. They twice topped the Billboard 200 twice with albums…
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Britt Walford and Brian McMahan met in their pre-teens, and joined the punk band Squirrel Bait while still in their…
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After leaving Hüsker Dü, Bob Mould released a pair of solo albums, before forming another power trio. Unlike Hüsker Dü,…
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1990s power-pop star Matthew Sweet was born in Nebraska – also the home of Josh Rouse, Conor Oberst, Randy Meisner,…
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It’s tempting to write Ween off as a novelty band – their biggest hit single, ‘Push th’ Little Daisies’, is…
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Rivers Cuomo moved to Los Angeles from Connecticut with his heavy metal band in 1989. When they split, he formed…
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Americana artist Gillian Welch was born in New York and adopted by a pair of comedy music entertainers. Welch later…
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His work in the 1980s with the beloved Replacements left leader Paul Westerberg with colossal expectations to meet with his…
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Jeff Tweedy was always the junior partner in the pioneering alt-country band Uncle Tupelo. When the group split into two…
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This page collects miscellaneous reviews for 1990s artists who I’ve just covered a handful of albums by: Eric Clapton Unplugged…
Read about the discographies of musical acts from the 1960s to the present day. Browse this site's review archives or enjoy these random selections:
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