Best Albums of the 1990s

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73.

The Boatman's Call 

 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

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"I remember when Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds toured this album. Theyopened with Into My Arms and Cave had a terrible time with the first line "I don' t believe in an interventionist god" it took him 4 or 5 gos to get through it and ages to complete the song. Had seen him live a number of times but...""I remember when Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds toured this album. Theyopened with Into My Arms and Cave had a terrible time with the first line "I don' t believe in an interventionist god" it took him 4 or 5 gos to get through it and ages to complete the song. Had seen him live a number of times but never struggle like this. Eventually the gig went well. Anyway this was the night Michael Hutchence did away with himself in the hotel room with Nick being the godfather of his child. Sad but true."  [+]  Reply

- stangetzaway | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful) A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.

Year of Release:

1997

Appears in:

586 charts

Rank Score:

4,023

Rank in 1997:

10

Rank in 1990s:

73

Overall Rank:

416

Average Rating:

 81 (704 votes)

Comments:

31

91.

Let Love In 

 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

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"A deranged maniac is hitting on you at the bar. His words sound profound, but also sinister. What’s your next move?"  Reply

- meccalecca | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +8 votes (9 helpful | 1 unhelpful) A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.

Year of Release:

1994

Appears in:

490 charts

Rank Score:

3,340

Rank in 1994:

15

Rank in 1990s:

91

Overall Rank:

524

Average Rating:

 82 (546 votes)

Comments:

21

141.

The Good Son 

 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

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"This was the most accessible Nick Cave album to date when it was released in 1990. It's still a dark record, but the music is now approaching a beauty you certainly wouldn't have expected a few years before. Opener, foi na cruz, is lovely, as is, the weeping song. The most beautiful track though ...""This was the most accessible Nick Cave album to date when it was released in 1990. It's still a dark record, but the music is now approaching a beauty you certainly wouldn't have expected a few years before. Opener, foi na cruz, is lovely, as is, the weeping song. The most beautiful track though is the brilliant, the ship song, one of Cave's greatest ballads. There's no weak songs here, and, Lucy, is a great closing track. It's amazing how Nick Cave can effortlessly move from one extreme to another, from, the tender prey, to this. A true genius, one of the greatest songwriters ever. "  [+]  Reply

- garycottier | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +9 votes (9 helpful | 0 unhelpful) A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.

Year of Release:

1990

Appears in:

302 charts

Rank Score:

2,143

Rank in 1990:

11

Rank in 1990s:

141

Overall Rank:

813

Average Rating:

 79 (407 votes)

Comments:

15

147.

Murder Ballads 

 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

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"So I'm currently working at an Applebees as a server. They have one of those TouchTunes jukeboxes and I just downloaded the app for it. That way I can play music without being judged by others for my superior taste. Around 11 PM I played "Stagger Lee" and followed it up with "O'Malley's Bar." It ...""So I'm currently working at an Applebees as a server. They have one of those TouchTunes jukeboxes and I just downloaded the app for it. That way I can play music without being judged by others for my superior taste. Around 11 PM I played "Stagger Lee" and followed it up with "O'Malley's Bar." It was fun watching the reactions of the forty or so customers in the building. When Cave exclaims that his "dick felt long and hard" there was an uproar of laughter (incidentally most rap music is banned on there due to the lyrics but most other explicit music is still available). The only person that seemed to be having a cow about it was the bartender. She's such a lamestain. But the best part is they had no idea it was me, I'm off work today, and it's April Fools Day. And it's Easter so there's gonna be a lot of churchgoing families eating out. I'm probably gonna drive up there and to a couple other places with the jukebox, without even getting out of the car, just to hit them with some unexpected savagery. "  [+]  Reply

- badseed | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +8 votes (8 helpful | 0 unhelpful) A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.

Year of Release:

1996

Appears in:

403 charts

Rank Score:

2,119

Rank in 1996:

13

Rank in 1990s:

147

Overall Rank:

823

Average Rating:

 79 (500 votes)

Comments:

19

266.

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Ocean Songs 

 Dirty Three

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"I feel like I am on a small boat and I get carried away by the waves. Great atmosphere."  Reply

- donsleep94 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful) A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.

Year of Release:

1998

Appears in:

176 charts

Rank Score:

1,142

Rank in 1998:

25

Rank in 1990s:

266

Overall Rank:

1,498

Average Rating:

 75 (194 votes)

Comments:

25

333.

Henry's Dream 

 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

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"Despite Cave and company's thoughts that this album's sound was too tampered with post-recording, I find it to be one of his most fun, rocking albums. "Straight to You" is arguably his best song ever. Favorite tracks: "Straight to You", "Jack the Ripper", "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry""  Reply

- badseed | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful) A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.

Year of Release:

1992

Appears in:

229 charts

Rank Score:

886

Rank in 1992:

30

Rank in 1990s:

333

Overall Rank:

1,900

Average Rating:

 77 (294 votes)

Comments:

8

363.

Blue Sky Mining 

 Midnight Oil

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"Blue sky mine and King of the mountain are great singles."  Reply

- | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful) A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.

Year of Release:

1990

Appears in:

133 charts

Rank Score:

793

Rank in 1990:

28

Rank in 1990s:

363

Overall Rank:

2,101

Average Rating:

 74 (172 votes)

Comments:

11

441.

The Razors Edge 

 AC/DC

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"The first 4 tracks would make a fine EP the rest is pretty ordinary."  Reply

- Garyf1972 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful) A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.

Year of Release:

1990

Appears in:

170 charts

Rank Score:

613

Rank in 1990:

36

Rank in 1990s:

441

Overall Rank:

2,588

Average Rating:

 70 (301 votes)

Comments:

17

487.

Into The Labyrinth 

 Dead Can Dance

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""The Wind That Shakes the Barley" (a newly arranged Irish ballad from the 18th century) is beautiful because of the self-assured but modest performance of Lisa Gerrard. It is particularly deserving that music that deviates strongly from contemporary time and culture, thereby losing its popularity..."""The Wind That Shakes the Barley" (a newly arranged Irish ballad from the 18th century) is beautiful because of the self-assured but modest performance of Lisa Gerrard. It is particularly deserving that music that deviates strongly from contemporary time and culture, thereby losing its popularity and threatening to disappear forever in the past, is brought to the attention again. But at the same time DCD also challenges its listeners. This song is again very fatalistic and seen from the complete album yet another story about saying goodbye and about the sour taste of sadness about what is irrevocably lost. It is hard to argue about the beauty and symbolic emotion of the text, but the a cappella performance does oblige the listener to empathize with a ballad that originated during the earliest history of the Irish struggle for independence, and with that much is demanded of the listener. "Yulunga" (Spirit Dance) reminds me a lot of the songs from "The Serpent’s Egg": the music is repetitive and pure, the framework for the vocal line minimal, but unfortunately here the track tends to be boring. The venous edge is no longer present. The mysterious and flawlessly performed vocals cannot save the song. The percussion that gives color to the second part of the track is rather corny. Fortunately that cannot be said of the fantastic “The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove”. This song has lyrics that are about a conflict that can hardly be disentangled and an inevitable farewell, but the song is floating on a very catchy "groove" and a peculiar sound atmosphere. Of all the vocal parts on the album, that of "Mr. Lovegrove" is by far the most convincing. The narrator gives the listener a subjective insight into a relationship that has gone wrong. He places the blame on the counterparty and does not shy away from the harsh words and accusations. I have no idea if Perry refers to the broken relationship with Gerrard (or the quarrel with Peter Murphy?). There is a strong pop sensibility to the song (the track was released as a single by the way) but there is also a hard to define dark pulse to it. The choice of exotic instruments is particularly successful and ensures a wonderful, transparent balance. I think this is the song that saves the record. It abstains from sadness and fatalism and remains entertaining. "Tell Me About The Forest" unfortunately fails despite the good vocals of Perry. This song has neither the identity nor the charm that many other earlier DCD songs do have. The track “The Spider’s Stratagem” also doesn't appeal to me. The formula with repetitive percussion lines shows wear and the arrangements are skilled, but can no longer surprise. It's a shame to have to determine this, but the magic is gone and the song also lasts way too long. "Emmeleia" is a gem that strongly relies on multilayer vocals and bears witness to technical mastery, but the emotion and powerful rendition of the similar "Echolalia" on "The Serpent's Egg" are completely absent and only a cool, even uninterested kind of detachment remains. The unexpected and the sense of the experiment seem to be gone completely. "How Fortunate the Man With None" doesn't convince me either. Admittedly: the lyrics have a certain charm, but again the song falls prey to the success formula that made DCD such a wonderfully adventurous band. "The Carnival Is Over" doesn't interest me either. Perry has already composed several similar songs, but this track does not reach the high level of the previous albums. What intrigues me is the fact that Perry literally quotes Joy Division in his lyrics ("The procession moves on ..." from the song "The Eternal"). Is it a tribute or theft? No. Brendan Perry is a very honest musician and it is certainly not theft. But you never really know for sure, do you? "Saldek" is an excursion from Lisa Gerrard, but she too makes too much use of mannierist interventions that conceal a lack of originality. Again: for a fan it is painful to find out how this album only contains a few good songs. "Towards the Within" is good. Not that this track is full of inspiration and originality, because here too DCD falls back on a formula that has been used too often, but all components have a clear identity here and can convince this time. I dare not say for sure, but it is as if the record is suffering from the break between two lovers (Gerrard - Perry) who experience that it is difficult to keep everything professional and to work together as usual. However, the record company still believes in the band and although production is not really nagging, it seems that the momentum is gone."  [+]  Reply

- leMonk | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful) A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.

Year of Release:

1993

Appears in:

84 charts

Rank Score:

541

Rank in 1993:

44

Rank in 1990s:

487

Overall Rank:

2,869

Average Rating:

 78 (119 votes)

Comments:

4

580.

Horse Stories 

 Dirty Three

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Share your opinion and help others discover this album. The top-voted comments are showcased in our aggregate charts!

Year of Release:

1996

Appears in:

80 charts

Rank Score:

422

Rank in 1996:

71

Rank in 1990s:

580

Overall Rank:

3,535

Average Rating:

 76 (76 votes)

Comments:

0

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Total albums: 24. Page 1 of 3

Best Albums of the 1990s composition

Year	Albums	%
1990	85	9%
1991	86	9%
1992	106	11%
1993	105	11%
1994	126	13%
1995	103	10%
1996	109	11%
1997	99	10%
1998	100	10%
1999	83	8%

Artist	Albums	%
Blur	6	1%
The Flaming Lips	6	1%
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds	5	0%
Beck	5	0%
Suede	5	0%
Autechre	5	0%
Tori Amos	5	0%
Show all

Country	Albums	%
	530	53%
	270	27%
	42	4%
	29	3%
	24	2%
	15	1%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	987	99%
Yes	15	1%

Live?	Albums	%
No	983	98%
Yes	19	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	994	99%
Yes	8	1%