Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s
by 
Onater 
My Top 20 songs of the 90s:
10. Mazzy Star - Fade Into You (So Tonight That I Might See, 1993)
9. Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space (Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, 1997)
8. Pavement - Gold Soundz (Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, 1992)
7. The Tragically Hip - Fiddler's Green (Road Apples, 1991)
6. Sonic Youth - The Diamond Sea (Washing Machine, 1995)
5. R.E.M. - Find The River (Automatic For The People, 1992)
4. R.E.M. - Nightswimming (Automatic For The People, 1992)
3. The Tragically Hip - Escape Is At Hand For The Travellin' Man (Phantom Power, 1998)
2. The Tragically Hip - Bobcaygeon (Phantom Power, 1998)
1. The Tragically Hip - Ahead By A Century (Trouble At The Henhouse, 1996)
- Chart updated: 03/27/2019 09:15
- (Created: 10/25/2016 00:34).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
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"Pick up here and chase the ride, the river empties to the tide. All of this is coming your way."
This is not the greatest album of all time. Far from it. However, it is my favourite.
Favourite Tracks: Nightswimming, Find The River, The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite, Man On The Moon [First added to this chart: 10/24/2016]
This is not the greatest album of all time. Far from it. However, it is my favourite.
Favourite Tracks: Nightswimming, Find The River, The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite, Man On The Moon [First added to this chart: 10/24/2016]
Year of Release:
1992
Appears in:
Rank Score:
19,148
Rank in 1992:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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"Can't believe how strange it is to be anything at all."
I know, I know, it's a meme and "entry-level" and whatever else you'd like to call it, but there's a reason that this album has the reputation that it does. Some of the most disturbingly surreal yet beautiful lyrics ever written that seem to contain a hidden story beneath them, yet nobody can really agree on what exactly that story is. I'd like to say that the story it tells is whatever story you decide to hear in it.
Favourite Tracks: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Two-Headed Boy Part 2, Holland 1945, Two-Headed Boy, Oh Comely [First added to this chart: 10/24/2016]
I know, I know, it's a meme and "entry-level" and whatever else you'd like to call it, but there's a reason that this album has the reputation that it does. Some of the most disturbingly surreal yet beautiful lyrics ever written that seem to contain a hidden story beneath them, yet nobody can really agree on what exactly that story is. I'd like to say that the story it tells is whatever story you decide to hear in it.
Favourite Tracks: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, Two-Headed Boy Part 2, Holland 1945, Two-Headed Boy, Oh Comely [First added to this chart: 10/24/2016]
Year of Release:
1998
Appears in:
Rank Score:
32,925
Rank in 1998:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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"Our love lines grew hopelessly tangled, and the bells in the chapel went jingle... jangle..."
I have a theory that this is secretly a concept album, with the theme being of a protagonist searching for love from various sources, and never truly finding it. Starting out with Do You Love Me, Cave tells the story of falling in love with a girl though he knew from the start it wouldn't work out. Nobody's Baby Now is about his pain after the breakup, and him turning to religion in search of acceptance there. Loverman seems to be a deranged attempt at seducing and possibly raping a woman. Jangling Jack seems detached from the rest of the album, but note the similarity between the title and the "jingle jangle" line from both versions of Do You Love Me. God only knows what Red Right Hand is actually about, whether the "tall handsome man" is a drug dealer, the media, the government, a priest, god himself, or just some abstract force of temptation. What matters is that the song ends with an obsession, even love for this figure, as "you'll see him in your nightmares, you'll see him in your dreams," even though they were in control the whole time: "You're one microscopic cog in his catastrophic plan, designed and directed by his red right hand." The title track is perhaps the most obvious example of the theme in the album, as Cave tells of the pains he has went through in all his experiences with love. Thirsty Dog is Cave trying to find forgiveness his sins, maybe in an attempt to reacquire a lost love. It Ain't Gonna Rain Anymore is the realization that he is alone, and will never truly be able to find the love he seeks in his lifetime... and so, in Lay Me Low, he completely snaps and commits suicide, convincing himself that people will only appreciate him for who he was when he is gone: "They'll bang a big old gong, the motorcade will be ten miles long, the world will join together for a farewell song, when they put me down below." The finale, a dark reprise of the opening track, begins with what seems to be Cave entering the afterlife: "I'm grazing with the dinosaurs and the dear old horses." Eventually, the focus shifts to a memory of Cave's childhood, putting a sinister twist on the album: when he was raped in a theatre as a boy. As he repeats the question he has asked throughout the album, "do you love me, like I love you," you hear the voice of who is presumably his rapist answering "I love you, handsome." The only time that he ever finds the love he seeks on the album is here, in this horrible memory, which was probably the cause of all of the self-doubt and need for acceptance that is behind the lyrics of this whole thing. So it's pretty much a masterpiece and one of the greatest albums ever.
Favourite Tracks: Red Right Hand, Law Me Low, Do You Love Me? (Part 2), Do You Love Me?, Loverman [First added to this chart: 06/02/2017]
I have a theory that this is secretly a concept album, with the theme being of a protagonist searching for love from various sources, and never truly finding it. Starting out with Do You Love Me, Cave tells the story of falling in love with a girl though he knew from the start it wouldn't work out. Nobody's Baby Now is about his pain after the breakup, and him turning to religion in search of acceptance there. Loverman seems to be a deranged attempt at seducing and possibly raping a woman. Jangling Jack seems detached from the rest of the album, but note the similarity between the title and the "jingle jangle" line from both versions of Do You Love Me. God only knows what Red Right Hand is actually about, whether the "tall handsome man" is a drug dealer, the media, the government, a priest, god himself, or just some abstract force of temptation. What matters is that the song ends with an obsession, even love for this figure, as "you'll see him in your nightmares, you'll see him in your dreams," even though they were in control the whole time: "You're one microscopic cog in his catastrophic plan, designed and directed by his red right hand." The title track is perhaps the most obvious example of the theme in the album, as Cave tells of the pains he has went through in all his experiences with love. Thirsty Dog is Cave trying to find forgiveness his sins, maybe in an attempt to reacquire a lost love. It Ain't Gonna Rain Anymore is the realization that he is alone, and will never truly be able to find the love he seeks in his lifetime... and so, in Lay Me Low, he completely snaps and commits suicide, convincing himself that people will only appreciate him for who he was when he is gone: "They'll bang a big old gong, the motorcade will be ten miles long, the world will join together for a farewell song, when they put me down below." The finale, a dark reprise of the opening track, begins with what seems to be Cave entering the afterlife: "I'm grazing with the dinosaurs and the dear old horses." Eventually, the focus shifts to a memory of Cave's childhood, putting a sinister twist on the album: when he was raped in a theatre as a boy. As he repeats the question he has asked throughout the album, "do you love me, like I love you," you hear the voice of who is presumably his rapist answering "I love you, handsome." The only time that he ever finds the love he seeks on the album is here, in this horrible memory, which was probably the cause of all of the self-doubt and need for acceptance that is behind the lyrics of this whole thing. So it's pretty much a masterpiece and one of the greatest albums ever.
Favourite Tracks: Red Right Hand, Law Me Low, Do You Love Me? (Part 2), Do You Love Me?, Loverman [First added to this chart: 06/02/2017]
Year of Release:
1994
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,387
Rank in 1994:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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"Where you gonna be? Where will you spend eternity? I'm gonna be perfect from now on. I'm gonna be perfect, starting now."
Favourite Tracks: Randy Described Eternity, Untrustable/Part 2 (About Someone Else), Velvet Waltz, I Would Hurt A Fly [First added to this chart: 05/08/2017]
Favourite Tracks: Randy Described Eternity, Untrustable/Part 2 (About Someone Else), Velvet Waltz, I Would Hurt A Fly [First added to this chart: 05/08/2017]
Year of Release:
1997
Appears in:
Rank Score:
5,994
Rank in 1997:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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"One day, I am going to grow wings, a chemical reaction, hysterical and useless, hysterical and..."
I've listened to this album at least a hundred times, and I swear, it just gets better every time. Every single track from it has been my favourite at some point (yes, even Fitter Happier).
Favourite Tracks: Let Down, No Surprises, Exit Music (For A Film), Paranoid Android, Airbag, The Tourist [First added to this chart: 10/24/2016]
I've listened to this album at least a hundred times, and I swear, it just gets better every time. Every single track from it has been my favourite at some point (yes, even Fitter Happier).
Favourite Tracks: Let Down, No Surprises, Exit Music (For A Film), Paranoid Android, Airbag, The Tourist [First added to this chart: 10/24/2016]
Year of Release:
1997
Appears in:
Rank Score:
63,592
Rank in 1997:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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"I've kissed your mother twice, and now I'm working on your dad."
Jarvis Cocker has got to be one the horniest guys in rock history. There's maybe one song on the album that doesn't mention sex in some way or another. He also happens to be a master a putting a climax to a song. There isn't a chorus here that can't be belted out like a lunatic.
Favourite Tracks: Disco 2000, Common People, I Spy, Bar Italia, Mis-Shapes [First added to this chart: 10/20/2017]
Jarvis Cocker has got to be one the horniest guys in rock history. There's maybe one song on the album that doesn't mention sex in some way or another. He also happens to be a master a putting a climax to a song. There isn't a chorus here that can't be belted out like a lunatic.
Favourite Tracks: Disco 2000, Common People, I Spy, Bar Italia, Mis-Shapes [First added to this chart: 10/20/2017]
Year of Release:
1995
Appears in:
Rank Score:
8,695
Rank in 1995:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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"Why can't we all just walk away."
I'm considering this as the entire Inmost Light trilogy cause you just can't separate them from each other.
Favourite Tracks: The Blood Bells Chime, Calling For Vanished Faces II, The Frolic, The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home, Patripassian
I'm considering this as the entire Inmost Light trilogy cause you just can't separate them from each other.
Favourite Tracks: The Blood Bells Chime, Calling For Vanished Faces II, The Frolic, The Starres Are Marching Sadly Home, Patripassian
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"She was into S&M and Bible studies, not everyone's cup of tea she would admit to me."
Favourite Tracks: Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying, The Stars Of Track And Field, Like Dylan In The Movies, Me And The Major, Seeing Other People, If You're Feeling Sinister [First added to this chart: 10/20/2017]
Favourite Tracks: Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying, The Stars Of Track And Field, Like Dylan In The Movies, Me And The Major, Seeing Other People, If You're Feeling Sinister [First added to this chart: 10/20/2017]
Year of Release:
1996
Appears in:
Rank Score:
10,293
Rank in 1996:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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"You have to listen to him groan and say disgusting things, but, I suppose those things are only disgusting if that's the way you're looking at it."
Favourite Tracks: Helpless Child, The Sound, I Was A Prisoner In Your Skull, The Final Sacrifice, Animus [First added to this chart: 03/01/2017]
Favourite Tracks: Helpless Child, The Sound, I Was A Prisoner In Your Skull, The Final Sacrifice, Animus [First added to this chart: 03/01/2017]
Year of Release:
1996
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,829
Rank in 1996:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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"GET OFF MY ASS, YA WEE BITTY FUCK. IF I PULL OUT THE CLAYMORE, YER SHIT OUTTA LUCK."
Don't do drugs kids.
Favourite Tracks: She Wanted To Leave, Mutilated Lips, Ocean Man, Waving My Dick In The Wind, The Blarney Stone, The Mollusk [First added to this chart: 06/27/2017]
Don't do drugs kids.
Favourite Tracks: She Wanted To Leave, Mutilated Lips, Ocean Man, Waving My Dick In The Wind, The Blarney Stone, The Mollusk [First added to this chart: 06/27/2017]
Year of Release:
1997
Appears in:
Rank Score:
3,125
Rank in 1997:
Rank in 1990s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Total albums: 100. Page 1 of 10
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Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s composition
| Year | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 4 | 4% | |
| 1991 | 7 | 7% | |
| 1992 | 9 | 9% | |
| 1993 | 7 | 7% | |
| 1994 | 16 | 16% | |
| 1995 | 11 | 11% | |
| 1996 | 14 | 14% | |
| 1997 | 10 | 10% | |
| 1998 | 10 | 10% | |
| 1999 | 12 | 12% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | 5 | 5% | |
| The Tragically Hip | 4 | 4% | |
| Elliott Smith | 4 | 4% | |
| Belle And Sebastian | 3 | 3% | |
| Aphex Twin | 3 | 3% | |
| Yo La Tengo | 3 | 3% | |
| Pulp | 2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||
| |
50 | 50% | |
 |
27 | 27% | |
| |
6 | 6% | |
 |
5 | 5% | |
 |
3 | 3% | |
 |
3 | 3% | |
 |
2 | 2% | |
| Show all | |||
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 40 from 79th to 39th Illmatic by Nas |
| Up 40 from 66th to 26th Selected Ambient Works 85-92 by Aphex Twin |
| Up 30 from 50th to 20th Dummy by Portishead |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 26 from 26th to 52nd Pinkerton by Weezer |
| Down 23 from 18th to 41st Laughing Stock by Talk Talk |
| Down 19 from 16th to 35th Road Apples by The Tragically Hip |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s similar charts
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Other decade charts by Onater
| Title | Source | Type | Published | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s | Onater | 2010s decade chart | 2019 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | Onater | 2000s decade chart | 2019 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | Onater | 1990s decade chart | 2019 | |
| Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s | Onater | 1980s decade chart | 2019 | |
Onater has created 4 other 1990s decade charts - click here to explore them all.
Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s ratings
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av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
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N.B. The average rating for this chart will not be reliable as it has been rated very few times.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this chart. | Show all 6 ratings for this chart.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 04/28/2025 09:38 |  Purplepash | 1,690 | 88/100 |
| ! | 10/18/2019 10:25 |  mickilennial | 715 | 77/100 |
| ! | 02/10/2018 03:19 |  kadupheming | 158 | 93/100 |
| ! | 01/02/2018 18:01 | PaperVinnie | 452 | 81/100 |
| ! | 09/15/2017 09:59 | TheSmiths82-87 | 1,831 | 83/100 |
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CharlieBarley 02/15/2017 02:03 | #185602
CharlieBarley 02/15/2017 02:03 | #185602
Great 90s chart with 20 in common with mine. Good to see REM's Automatic at number one. One of my very favourite 90s albums. Brings back good memories. And good to see Slint and plenty of Radiohead. Ace,
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