Best Albums of 1999

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Explore the best albums of 1999, based on over 2 million album rankings across 60,000 charts. Last updated: 8 hours ago

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1999 year summaryThe best artists of 1999 were Sigur Rós, The Flaming Lips, Red Hot Chili Peppers, フィッシュマンズ [Fishmans], Fiona Apple, Blur, Built To Spill, Wilco, The Magnetic Fields and American Football.

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21.

I See A Darkness

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy

"I really dig this record. It's really dark and subtle. It's hard to think of an album in my collection that is better at communicating that deep deep dread and darkness in our hearts. Sounds depressing, and it is, but beautiful an gloriously well done as well." Reply

Mercury | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 2

Year of Release:

1999

Appears in:

322 charts

Rank Score:

1,850

Rank in 1999:

Rank in 1990s:

176

Overall Rank:

939

Average Rating:

79 (366 votes)

Comments:

22.

Mule Variations

Tom Waits

"Yeah, I really love this record. From start to finish I find it to be really engaging and interesting and really effective at all the moods and styles it tries to take on. The slow numbers are just really sad and romantic. And the louder and more abrasive numbers are equal parts funny and disturb...""Yeah, I really love this record. From start to finish I find it to be really engaging and interesting and really effective at all the moods and styles it tries to take on. The slow numbers are just really sad and romantic. And the louder and more abrasive numbers are equal parts funny and disturbing. Lyrically he is great here as well. I feel the lyrics on "Take It With Me" are stunning because they really carry the whole song as the musical accompaniment is very minimal, and the mood is very hushed and intimate. To me that song feels like a quiet conversation with Tom or whatever character he is playing, about his life and the love he's had and lost and his philosophy and his adentures. It's breathtaking! The opening lines of "The phone's off the hook. No one knows where we are. It's a long time since I drank champagne. The ocean is blue, as blue as your eyes." Just sets up the whole track beautifully. And this album has similar tender successes with the simple, blues style lyrics of "Picture In A frame" and the rambling songwriting gem "Hold On". As for the more wild and raucous side, everything from the opener "Big In Japan", and "Chocolate Jesus", "Eyeball Kid" (HAIL HAIL! THE EYEBALL KID!/... He doesn't have a body! Not even a brow!") and "Filipino Box Spring Hog" all work and are funny and enjoyable. There's also other aspects to this album. There's a whole folk side to it. But it's not a simple guitar and vocal rendition of folk and roots, it's a down and dirty rendition. Waits really knows how to get to the essence and spirit of old time music - folk, blues, work songs, etc. but he does it with his own stamp or style all over it. Great examples of this on this album are standouts like "Get Behind The mule", "Georgia Lee", "Cold Water" (especially love this song to its core) and the old time preacher gospel of "Come On Up To The house" which also happens to be a PERFECT and super uplifting closer to this master work. In closing, this thing just features almost everything I love about Mr. Waits. He's such a musical genius and such an important artist in my life. And I feel this is his best album and most well rounded and consistent, bar none. I think it's got a better sound and production than "Rain Dogs" and some of his earlier albums and it balances songs with experiments better here than on some of his other modern (last 30 years) classics. Yeah, this is honestly the best album of his. But there are so few bad ones it's wild. This album is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! If you love this, also check out "Alice" and "Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers an Bastards". He really hasn't released a whole lot of less than great stuff in the last, oh, 40+ years." Reply

Mercury | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 3

Year of Release:

1999

Appears in:

365 charts

Rank Score:

1,822

Rank in 1999:

Rank in 1990s:

178

Overall Rank:

955

Average Rating:

79 (410 votes)

Comments:

23.

2001

Dr. Dre

"Rife misogyny notwithstanding, Dr Dre's "2001" is a great album with tremendous production and some great features. I imagine it would've been the sound of the future back then, since all of these tracks hold up so well in 2017. Catchy and just really strong." Reply

- | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 1

Year of Release:

1999

Appears in:

339 charts

Rank Score:

1,783

Rank in 1999:

Rank in 1990s:

180

Overall Rank:

975

Average Rating:

76 (485 votes)

Comments:

24.

The Slim Shady LP

Eminem

"Gets a lot of love because of its shock value and Eminem bursting on the scene. A white rapper that could actually flow and rhyme with skill brought everybody together to name him rap king. The fact is this is pretty silly goofy stuff. What he writes about is trivial and his vocal delivery throug..." Reply

- Edwarda85 | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 2

Year of Release:

1999

Appears in:

439 charts

Rank Score:

1,777

Rank in 1999:

Rank in 1990s:

181

Overall Rank:

978

Average Rating:

77 (774 votes)

Comments:

25.

The Man Who

Travis

"The excellence of this album lies in it's melancholic basis and sense of desolation that pervades every track,but juxtaposed with the big tunes and singalong choruses...and that's why everyone loved it. But having gained that success, they went pop with other releases... like a brand that has for..." Reply

badfaith | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 1

Year of Release:

1999

Appears in:

320 charts

Rank Score:

1,712

Rank in 1999:

Rank in 1990s:

191

Overall Rank:

1,015

Average Rating:

75 (376 votes)

Comments:

26.

Midnite Vultures

Beck

"Incredibly underrated album. Was panned upon release, but time has been kind to this album. It's Beck's Prince album. Highlights are Mixed Bizness and Debra." Reply

- setalpgninnpseki | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 4

Year of Release:

1999

Appears in:

308 charts

Rank Score:

1,468

Rank in 1999:

Rank in 1990s:

221

Overall Rank:

1,188

Average Rating:

76 (451 votes)

Comments:

27.

Bocanada

Gustavo Cerati

"Simply one of the best albums I have heard in a long time. Like going around with a gentle giant who knows all the answers and has favorite star constellations. You feel you can say things to him even though he may not have had a saintly past. The music here works wonders. An album I could get in..." Reply

- | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 6

Year of Release:

1999

Appears in:

131 charts

Rank Score:

1,286

Rank in 1999:

Rank in 1990s:

239

Overall Rank:

1,337

Average Rating:

81 (131 votes)

Comments:

28.

California

Mr. Bungle

"This album takes all the hokey and uninspired elements found in popular music and intensifies them to the point that they become innovative and unpredictable. Take for example the cheesy ballad of Pink Cigarette. Where other bands might have done a non-committal rip on the genre, Mike Patton and ..." Reply

SquishypuffDave | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 3

Year of Release:

1999

Appears in:

192 charts

Rank Score:

1,220

Rank in 1999:

Rank in 1990s:

249

Overall Rank:

1,411

Average Rating:

79 (290 votes)

Comments:

29.

Still Life

Opeth

"Probably my favorite metal album of all time. There's a magical and medieval feel all across the album that's unlike any other metal album I've heard and it's GREAT" Reply

- incroyable | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 4

Year of Release:

1999

Appears in:

163 charts

Rank Score:

1,212

Rank in 1999:

Rank in 1990s:

251

Overall Rank:

1,418

Average Rating:

78 (232 votes)

Comments:

30.

Surrender

The Chemical Brothers

"You first have to bear through four annoying tracks and one bad Ian Curtis impersonator to get to a track that's actually good. Since their masterpiece Dig Your Own Hole they've been trying to put more melody, psychedelicness and positivity/quirkiness in their music, which I respect a lot, but a ..." Reply

Boltzmann | Helpful? (Log in to vote) · 0

Year of Release:

1999

Appears in:

220 charts

Rank Score:

1,138

Rank in 1999:

Rank in 1990s:

262

Overall Rank:

1,494

Average Rating:

76 (268 votes)

Comments:

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Total albums: 1,000. Page 3 of 100

Best Albums of 1999 composition

Artist	Albums	%

Various Artists	9	1%
Elvis Presley	3	0%
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band	3	0%
Coil	2	0%
Ani DiFranco	2	0%
Melvins	2	0%
The Pillows	2	0%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	445	45%
	201	20%
	39	4%
	34	3%
	33	3%
	29	3%
	23	2%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	926	93%
Yes	74	7%

Live?	Albums	%
No	960	96%
Yes	40	4%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	976	98%
Yes	24	2%

Best Albums of 1999 chart changes

Biggest climbers Biggest climbers in top 100 since last month
Up 5 from 105th to 100th Microchip Emozionale by Subsonica
Up 5 from 60th to 55th Liquid Skin by Gomez
Up 3 from 76th to 73rd The Writing's On The Wall by Destiny's Child

Biggest fallers Biggest fallers in top 100 since last month
Down 6 from 70th to 76th Significant Other by Limp Bizkit
Down 4 from 87th to 91st Hooray For Boobies by Bloodhound Gang
Down 2 from 9th to 11th Emergency & I by The Dismemberment Plan

New entries New entries in top 100 since last month
Up 5 from 105th to 100th Microchip Emozionale by Subsonica

Leavers Leavers from top 100 since last month
Down 1 from 100th to 101st MTV Unplugged by Alanis Morissette

« View best albums of 1998View best albums of 2000 »

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6. Transformer by Lou Reed

7. Machine Head by Deep Purple

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9. Thick As A Brick by Jethro Tull

10. Foxtrot by Genesis