Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s
by 
buzzdainer 
The nineties were an adventure-filled, geographically complicated decade for me. I began the decade in college, where I hosted a weekly alternative rock show on the campus radio station and worked part-time at an independent record store. After that I worked in various jobs--high school social studies teacher, naturalist, ESL instructor, food service flunkie, wilderness trip leader, outdoor program director, and (believe it or not) children's television game show host. During the nineties I lived in places as far-flung as Maine, Vermont, New York, Western Australia, Alaska, North Carolina, and South Korea. Songs about travel and displacement were especially meaningful to me.
My musical tastes from the nineties reflect what I was doing at the time. Toward the beginning of the decade I can see the way my involvement in disc jockeying and selling records affected my taste, as there's a lot of alternative rock and underground rock in my collection from that period. Once I moved to North Carolina, I started listening a lot to WNCW, a great community station out of Spindale, which plays a ton of folk, bluegrass, and Americana. A lot of the music I listened to then, and since, is a product of my love for WNCW. As a result, I didn't pay very much attention to developments in boom bap, gangsta rap, shoegaze, post-rock, math rock, metal, or TV soundtracks. I'm retrospectively expanding my tastes into some of those areas. As always, I'd love to receive your feedback on this chart, and I'd appreciate any musical recommendations you might have.
- Chart updated: 07/07/2024 03:45
- (Created: 02/16/2016 18:46).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
There are 20 comments for this chart from BestEverAlbums.com members and Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s has an average rating of 92 out of 100 (from 18 votes). Please log in or register to leave a comment or assign a rating.
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This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from Emmylou Harris. (Remove this filter)
Wrecking Ball is both the title of this album and an apt description of the approach Daniel Lanois brings with him into the recording studio and producer's booth, a style that makes every artist he works with sound vaguely like U2. Heavy-handed though Lanois may be, on this album he successfully transforms Emmylou from an aging Nashville star into an ethereal, haunting cry in the night. “Deeper Well," co-penned by Lanois and Harris, works so well because it doesn’t try to paint over Harris’s aging voice with fuzzy pastels but instead draws the listener right to the heart of the song's dirgy meaning with spooky echo reverb and gritty vocals.
[First added to this chart: 02/16/2016]
Year of Release:
1995
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,116
Rank in 1995:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
[First added to this chart: 02/17/2016]
Total albums: 2. Page 1 of 1
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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 7 | 7% | |
| 1991 | 6 | 6% | |
| 1992 | 10 | 10% | |
| 1993 | 8 | 8% | |
| 1994 | 11 | 11% | |
| 1995 | 10 | 10% | |
| 1996 | 11 | 11% | |
| 1997 | 13 | 13% | |
| 1998 | 9 | 9% | |
| 1999 | 15 | 15% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Uncle Tupelo | 4 | 4% | |
| Greg Brown | 4 | 4% | |
| Beastie Boys | 3 | 3% | |
| Blue Mountain | 3 | 3% | |
| Wilco | 3 | 3% | |
| Whiskeytown | 2 | 2% | |
| Indigo Girls | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 1 from 8th to 7thIt Had To Happen by James McMurtry |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s similar charts
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | weston | 1990s decade chart | 2024 |  |
| The 90 Best Albums of the 1990s | Paste | 1990s decade chart | 2012 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s |  samistake2ice | 1990s decade chart | 2016 | |
| Top Alt-Country Albums | henrygreen0203 | Custom chart | 2016 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s |  imimesis | 1990s decade chart | 2025 | |
| Top 87 Music Albums of the 1990s | EveryCheapHood | 1990s decade chart | 2014 | |
| Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | buzzdainer | Overall chart | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s |  Romanelli | 1990s decade chart | 2026 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s |  jwammo12 | 1990s decade chart | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | Ashmark | 1990s decade chart | 2018 | |
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Other decade charts by buzzdainer
buzzdainer has shared 6 more decade charts with the community. Browse them all here.| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2020s | buzzdainer | 2020s decade chart | 2025 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s | buzzdainer | 2010s decade chart | 2024 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | buzzdainer | 2000s decade chart | 2024 | |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 18 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05/26/2023 09:09 | Johnnyo | 2,584 | 80/100 | |
| 10/17/2020 06:48 | leniad | 669 | 85/100 | |
| 08/29/2020 03:28 | areminder | 52 | 79/100 | |
| 08/28/2020 23:52 | Lgk21 | 141 | 95/100 | |
| 08/28/2020 13:25 |  LedZep | 1,103 | 84/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some charts can have several thousand ratings)
This chart is rated in the top 1% of all charts on BestEverAlbums.com. This chart has a Bayesian average rating of 92.4/100, a mean average of 96.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 96.1/100. The standard deviation for this chart is 5.4.
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s favourites
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s comments
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From Johnnyo 05/26/2023 09:09 | #297234
Outstanding chart. One of the best ‘90’s charts on the site
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From buzzdainer 07/28/2021 23:08 | #272024
buzzdainer 07/28/2021 23:08 | #272024
Thanks for those great suggestions, Larcx13! For some reason Blowout Comb never quite clicked for me, but I also haven't spent anywhere near as much time with it as I did with Reachin'. I agree that A Tribe Called Quest has made a bunch of great albums, and I probably need to find room for more of them in my decade charts. Phife Dawg (RIP) and I are both Type 1 diabetics, so I feel a kinship with that band that I might not feel so strongly otherwise.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
Larcx13 12/05/2020 15:41 | #262058
Larcx13 12/05/2020 15:41 | #262058
Nice to see Digable Planets all the way up there, though I prefer Blowout Comb. Of course A Tribe Called Quest! Id say check out more releases from Tribe in the 90s as well The Pharcyde, maybe even The Roots. There's also Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, Guru from Gang Starr's Jazzmatazz vol. 1, as well as De La Soul for similar music.
Cheers!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From areminder 08/29/2020 03:31 | #257555
What a interesting journey you had. Great chart and wonderful taste, really enjoyed the genuine stories and comments on the albums. Look forward to revisiting some of these albums.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Lgk21 08/28/2020 23:52 | #257554
This is a killer chart.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From Larcx13 08/28/2020 11:17 | #257524
Larcx13 08/28/2020 11:17 | #257524
Great effort on here.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From buzzdainer 11/29/2016 17:42 | #179345
buzzdainer 11/29/2016 17:42 | #179345
Thanks for that kind comment, Stover75! I really enjoyed viewing your nineties chart, as well. I definitely can't disagree with OK Computer at #1, as it's such a fantastic document of everything that went right in the nineties. A lot of people think it was the last--or at least most recent--truly great, transformative, landmark album. I can't quite agree with that (because I love lots of things that have come out since), but I do think it's deserving of the accolades it gets. Thanks for taking the time to have a look at my chart!
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
CharlieBarley 11/25/2016 23:07 | #179124
CharlieBarley 11/25/2016 23:07 | #179124
Good 90s chart. Like you said 11 in common. Loads of albums for me to check out. Good notes too.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From buzzdainer 09/09/2016 16:46 | #174616
buzzdainer 09/09/2016 16:46 | #174616
Thanks for that nice comment, sethmadsen! That's funny that you mention the skits on The Carnival. I have found the skits on a number of nineties hip hop albums to be really annoying (and unfunny). Take, for example, Fugees' breakthrough album The Score: an interesting album musically, but the Chinese restaurant skit in "The Beast" is so insipid and offensive it's enough to knock it out of my nineties decade chart (though it did make my 1996 year chart). I gravitate to hip hop artists who seem to be all about the music, hence my love of Digable Planets, A Tribe Called Quest, and others.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 
RoundTheBend 09/09/2016 04:43 | #174587
RoundTheBend 09/09/2016 04:43 | #174587
Your love of music shows well in your memories with it. Fantastic chart and thanks for letting us peak into your experiences with these albums. Oh and The Carnival- skip the skits your first listen - just get into the music.
Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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