Thursday, May 14, 2009

SCQ's Top Twenty Albums of the 1990s



What the hell is this… a 90s Best-Of list? Why now? I thought it up last month at work while quietly seething over the radio station’s obsession with 90s grunge-rock. Really now, if these “modern” rock stations are going to wax retrospective on us every day, why not play the best the 90s had to offer? That very question tossed me down the rabbit hole of what my list would comprise of… where I encountered many questions: (1) Should I remain true to my actual favourites of the 90s… most of which I never listen to now? (2) What about excellent 90s records I only discovered in the 2000s? (3) Should I pay lip-service to universally-renowned albums or stick by those with personal significance?

For those interested: answers panned out as follows: (1) only if you still love them, (2) valid, and (3) Loveless by My Bloody Valentine. Done.

Most albums receive some sort of write-up, although several left me speechless or feeling lazy... so I let a video do the explaining. This seemingly random list is a warm-up for my Top Twenty Albums of the 00s; a feature that’ll arrive this November just ahead of my 2009 year-end lists. God help me.

3 comments:

cgreen said...

Great Job Ry! What an idea ... but i was suprised to see pinkerton not the blue album and this desert life over august and everything after, but i like that an album such as this desert life gets some props. i always felt like the casual counting crows fan overlooked this album.
Amazing topic ry... see ya around brosive!

SCQ said...

Yo CG,

You just articulated both issues I had with this top 90s list. Weezer and Counting Crows deserve props for those albums and while I still question my choices, I always end up recognizing that Pinkerton and This Desert Life had a greater personal impact for me. Of course, if you play either Blue Album or August... for me, I'll likely get confused all over again.

We gotta hook up at some point through the Spring!

cgreen said...

Well Said!

I guess in the end, all albums were great and you gotta come down to a decision.

Anytime you wanna get together is good, we got a lot to cover as far as albums go, did you buy conor oberst yet? I must admit my reluctance towards a purchase, must I question my "fan" status?