Jonathan's 1990s; Part 2, 1991

My Bloody Valentine – Only Shallow

In all honesty, I expected a lot of songs to be here ahead of MBV, but here they are nonetheless. MBV are an Irish group almost solely responsible for creating shoegaze. I am not an avid MBV fan. And I’m certainly not one of those devout fans who headed out to rediscover the old days of shoegazing (a pastime now being perfected by emos so fucking depressed they can’t stare beyond their footwear – what is the footwear choice of the emo?) whilst still believing that MBV are the greatest band to grace this planet when they recently went back on tour. Their live performances are renowned for being ear-splitting and listening to some of the material from their two albums, that hardly requires a stretch of the imagination. There are only a few tracks I truly enjoy listening to by MBV and admittedly I bought the albums on the strength of what I had heard about MBV, rather than what I actually heard, musically speaking. However, I am still here with the aim to justify my decision, ahem. Underneath the layers of distortion and reverb you find some wonderfully ear-catching melodies, and no more than in Only Shallow, the opening track on Loveless. I love the Sonic Youth style overkill on the distortion, then adding masses of reverb to provide the layered soundscapes that makes MBV simultaneously suffocating and airy. This is the kind of track you would only hear at weird indie nights full (?) of people whose only friend is the Internet (back then comics or Dungeons and Dragons) or are seriously considering serial killing as a hobby, or both...hobbies are healthy. It’s not an immediate track, in fact, MBV through their choice of production seem to try to test the listener, alienate them and make it a difficult record to swallow. They are a bit of a ‘marmite’ band, but if you persist, there is a rough diamond to be polished. Perhaps the critic got the better of me. I really do like the song and I love the melodies and the driving rhythm, how the song hovers, swoons and dives, but in comparison to others here in my top 50, it’s one of the runts of the litter, but a classic runt of my litter.

Jonathan's 1990s; Part 1: 1990

Gun Club – Humanesque

I have decided to kick off my 90s with a track that truly harks back to the previous decade as so many early 90s tracks did. For me, Gun Club are and were one of the best bands of the 1980s, having had their most outstanding moments back then, but personally I feel they deserve to get a track in the 90s too. Jeffrey Lee Pierce is one of the greatest lyricists of all time and Humanesque is littered with great lines. JLP managed to churn these out like a great lyrics factory for around sixteen years, before his timely/untimely (delete where appropriate) death. JLP was already suffering from serious health problems, all of them pretty much of his own making, and therefore it was surprising he had made it to the 90s, dragging himself through the haze of sour whisky and cheap drugs like the true veteran of the music world that he was. Humanesque doesn’t have the ferociousness of early Gun Club albums, the grandeur of the Las Vegas Story nor the accomplished sound of Mother Juno; but it’s still a beautifully layered track and a great demonstration of JLP’s talent when his health was failing.

Jonathan's 1990s - The tracklist

My favourite 50 of the 90s

Jonathan's 90s

My 90s: A decade not only important for some damn good music, but the decade in which I, for all intents and purposes, “grew up”. Admittedly I’m still just a big kid but when you consider that I entered this decade as a Lego brick loving, subbuteo playing eleven year old, I did leave the decade somewhat different. This was the decade when I discovered the joys of...

Coleman's 1990's; Part two - 1991

Time to carry on the preview of the Nineties to keep the blog alive. You wouldn't believe that at this stage it has 4 (FOUR) contributing authors out of whom some didn't even bother to read what's been posted so far. Well, time (and blog) waits for no one. 1991 is here and it seems to have been a very brief year indeed.

Kuba's 1990's. The beginning. 1990

Konrad's brilliant ideas are always brilliant. So I've decided to explain my Nineties top 50 just the way he did. Call me a copycat if you want, I don't mind. So here we go, year by year, starting with the very beginning. And please be so kind and do not mock my English. Any corrections are welcomed though. 

Coleman's 1990's; Part one - 1990

There is no doubt that the Nineties were the busiest decade for me, music-wise. I've entered my Sturm und Drang teens and for the first time became properly music aware. Then, (seems today-) just as suddenly I've waved goodbye those teens and welcomed my twenties. Since I was blessed with a good handful of friends with original and eclectic musical tastes, something new and exciting was always just round the corner. We've had the classical one (aka Ciupi), the punk one (aka Adasiek), the Rush-and-everything-six-string-bass-else and me (aka Misiek), and a vampire for dummies (not known as anything particular to my frustration). It was the golden age of discovery, broadening horizons, the time of listening to albums (although on cassettes) late at night, with the headphones on. You know, those most fantastic years of your life, as you remember them :) And it all (chronologically) started like this:

Kuba's 1990s. The tracklist

It's the 90s that shaped my musical taste (good or bad, it doesn't really matter now). Earlier I used to listen to a few bands I liked, but music wasn't anything very, very special for me. In the beginning of the decade I got into punk and rock, started listening more and more. And then came late summer of 1991. And it really changed my whole life. Just check the list, you'll understand. 

It's absolutely impossible to choose 50 best songs of the 90s (of any decade, to be precise). I'm sure I forgot about songs so obvious, that someday I'll check this list again and just weep silently, begging for forgiveness. 

Almost all these songs represent also my favourite albums of the 90s. At least a very small part of my favourite albums of the 90s. And when you see, eg. Faith No More's 'Midlife Crisis' on the list, that really means something like that: Oh my god, I just love this album so fucking much that I didn't know which song to choose. More or less.

Coleman's 1990s - The tracklist

Let's kick off with a list of my favourites of the Nineties. As dates in brackets indicate, they're organised chronologically as putting them into worst-to-best (or other way round) order would simply be impossible. Even the whole selection, should I be doing it today, would most likely look a little bit different, let alone picking that best of the best. So, have a look at the running order, the detailed descriptions and explanations of choices will follow very shortly.


Find the full list after the break: