Pitchfork's 150 Best Albums of the 1990s - Music

Hayden

Location: CDMX

Just gave Sade's Love Deluxe a spin. Great stuff. No one quite vibes like her.

Quote:

Have you listened to Janet Jackson albums? Is it good, interesting, or is it just Pitchforks trying to be smart?

Diving into my first Janet Jackson album (Velvet Rope) as I type this. First two tracks are nothing like how I thought they would be. Bit like industrial/experimental/soul/trip-hop soup. That's as far as I've gotten so far.

EDIT: This is so odd. Don't think I've ever 'stumbled' upon a record this big Laughing

It's triple platinum, in RYM's top 500, and has slews of awards. Don't even remember seeing the album art before.

craola
crayon master

Location: pdx

Hayden wrote:

Just gave Sade's Love Deluxe a spin. Great stuff. No one quite vibes like her.

Quote:

Have you listened to Janet Jackson albums? Is it good, interesting, or is it just Pitchforks trying to be smart?

Diving into my first Janet Jackson album (Velvet Rope) as I type this. First two tracks are nothing like how I thought they would be. Bit like industrial/experimental/soul/trip-hop soup. That's as far as I've gotten so far.

EDIT: This is so odd. Don't think I've ever 'stumbled' upon a record this big Laughing

It's triple platinum, in RYM's top 500, and has slews of awards. Don't even remember seeing the album art before.

i listened to it for the first time earlier today as well and feel similarly stupefied. it's a good record too.
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theblueboy

Hayden wrote:

Just gave Sade's Love Deluxe a spin. Great stuff. No one quite vibes like her.

Quote:

Have you listened to Janet Jackson albums? Is it good, interesting, or is it just Pitchforks trying to be smart?

Diving into my first Janet Jackson album (Velvet Rope) as I type this. First two tracks are nothing like how I thought they would be. Bit like industrial/experimental/soul/trip-hop soup. That's as far as I've gotten so far.

EDIT: This is so odd. Don't think I've ever 'stumbled' upon a record this big Laughing

It's triple platinum, in RYM's top 500, and has slews of awards. Don't even remember seeing the album art before.

Janet. is a really good 90s pop blockbuster. It’s from a time when popstars wanted to outdo each other by making the most explicit record possible. I guess Janet Jackson won this game. I liked Velvet Rope but didn’t get into it quite so much and it left my 90s chart. Will give it another shot.

Also gonna give Love Deluxe a listen today.

theblueboy

RockyRaccoon wrote:

A decent number of notable absences from the list. The fact that Pinkerton isn't on there is bizarre. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is missing too, as is any Alice in Chains.

And the lack of metal representation is pretty sad (though unsurprising for Pitchfork). Loads of metal classics were released in the 90s and basically none of them are here (not even Metallica's Black Album)

Yep, noticed no Pinkerton. Also, there is no Blur or Oasis album (yet they include Elastica and Garbage. Also Pulp, more justifiably).

Not much electronic/dance music. No Leftfield, Chemical Brothers, Prodigy or Moby as I recall.

The Cranberries not a great inclusion.

Hayden

Location: CDMX

theblueboy wrote:

RockyRaccoon wrote:

A decent number of notable absences from the list. The fact that Pinkerton isn't on there is bizarre. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness is missing too, as is any Alice in Chains.

And the lack of metal representation is pretty sad (though unsurprising for Pitchfork). Loads of metal classics were released in the 90s and basically none of them are here (not even Metallica's Black Album)

Yep, noticed no Pinkerton. Also, there is no Blur or Oasis album (yet they include Elastica and Garbage. Also Pulp, more justifiably).

Not much electronic/dance music. No Leftfield, Chemical Brothers, Prodigy or Moby as I recall.

The Cranberries not a great inclusion.

Pitchfork has always been this way, but they have an American bias. (Non-Radiohead) British praise is harder to come by.

Pinkerton may fall in-and-out of fashion. I think even Cuomo has kinda disowned it (at some point or another). Even I flip-flop on it.

craola wrote:

i listened to it for the first time earlier today as well and feel similarly stupefied. it's a good record too.

I thought it was fairly good too. I'm still lost as to how I'd never even heard of it (and, truly, I don't think I'd ever heard a single song from it). I'm surprised "Got 'til It's Gone" was a major single (apparently?). It's borderline a beat with a Q-Tip verse. There's a really nice run at the end of the record (last quarter or so) that makes it though. Good stuff. Somehow didn't feel overlong despite being a lengthy record.

RockyRaccoon
Is it solipsistic in here or is it just me?

Gender: Male
Age: 33
Location: Maryland

Moderator

Hayden wrote:

EDIT: This is so odd. Don't think I've ever 'stumbled' upon a record this big Laughing

It's triple platinum, in RYM's top 500, and has slews of awards. Don't even remember seeing the album art before.

Hilarious. I'm the exact same way lol. Obviously I'm familiar with who Janet Jackson is and I've heard a handful of her songs, but never heard of this album before (though, if there's a decade I'm very weak on in my music knowledge, it's the 90s). Guess I'll have to give the album a listen
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RockyRaccoon
Is it solipsistic in here or is it just me?

Gender: Male
Age: 33
Location: Maryland

Moderator

Also, I wasn't necessarily anticipating it being on the list, but I am still sorta kinda surprised Mule Variations isn't on here. It's a brilliant album, and Pitchfork even gave it a 9.5 back when it came out.
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Tha1ChiefRocka
Yeah, well hey, I'm really sorry.

Location: Kansas

According to pitchfork, Metal didn't exist in the 90s.

RockyRaccoon
Is it solipsistic in here or is it just me?

Gender: Male
Age: 33
Location: Maryland

Moderator

Tha1ChiefRocka wrote:

According to pitchfork, Metal didn't exist in the 90s.

I know, that bothered me too. Symbolic, Unquestionable Presence, Nightfall in Middle Earth, At the Heart of Winter, Cowboys from Hell, Dopesick, so so so many great metal albums released in the 90s
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Tha1ChiefRocka
Yeah, well hey, I'm really sorry.

Location: Kansas

RockyRaccoon wrote:

I know, that bothered me too. Symbolic, Unquestionable Presence, Nightfall in Middle Earth, At the Heart of Winter, Cowboys from Hell, Dopesick, so so so many great metal albums released in the 90s

Yeah, they could've have found some room for a few of those for sure.

I'm surprised they didn't even have something like Korn or Slipknot's self-titled to at least mention Nu-Metal as a genre.