Best Band/Artist Of The 90s

[luke]

adam said:

I voted Smashing Pumpkins. I didn't listen to every single band in the 90s (in fact, I'm still catching up) but they had the most impact for me. I bought Mellon Collie almost a year after it was released and then had to buy everything else as fast as I could. Their cds wouldn't leave my player or daily rotation for another 6-7 years. After that, I had to make room for everyone else but I always revisit them.

Well I listened to every single band from the 90s, Adam, and the Smashing Pumpkins were better than all of them.

[Thorngrub]

That is a reasonable assessement.

[Paul]

Guess who I voted for....

Oh, and welcome back Melon! You were missed around here.

[Galactus]

Now, I could've seen this going several different ways but a win for the Pumpkins was not one one of them. Not that I disagree I just didn't expect it. I voted for Nirvana but if you ask me again tomorrow it could just as easily be another vote for SP.

[luke]

Yeah, the Pumpkins cult lies pretty low these days, but always pops up for poll time.

[rockysigman]

I bet JLLM shows up just to vote in this, then disappears again.

[Kensterberg]

I haven't voted here yet, but I can guarantee that my ballot isn't going to the Pumpkins.

I'm thinking Nirvana now ... but PJ could come back before I cast my vote.

[Thorngrub]

The fact that korn isn't even on the list is so much compleat bullshit.

[Galactus]

...not so much...

[Mary]

I voted for Sleater-Kinney. The 90s don't excite me too much, despite being the decade in which I was in high school and college, and thus obviously the decade of music with which I ought to identify. So I'm not saying Sleater-Kinney is, like, one of the greatest bands of all time or anything, but they were every bit as good as any other band around in the 90s, and they fucking rocked harder than any of 'em, managed to be intellient without being pretentious, and also managed to have a unique and singular sound despite doing a pretty straight-up guitar-rock thing. Major kudos to them. Plus their live shows are (were...) always awesome.

Cheers,
M

[tuneschick]

luke said:

adam said:

I voted Smashing Pumpkins. I didn't listen to every single band in the 90s (in fact, I'm still catching up) but they had the most impact for me. I bought Mellon Collie almost a year after it was released and then had to buy everything else as fast as I could. Their cds wouldn't leave my player or daily rotation for another 6-7 years. After that, I had to make room for everyone else but I always revisit them.

Well I listened to every single band from the 90s, Adam, and the Smashing Pumpkins were better than all of them.

That's too distressing a statement to even comment on. How could a man who was so right about Matthew Sweet vs Jack White be so wrong about this?

[tuneschick]

Oh, and I voted for Pavement, but like others here said, that could probably change depending on the day...

[Thorngrub]

c'mon, koRn ruled the 90's - but as the Smashing Pumpkins simply destroyed the 90's, I'll easily go w/them. But from October of '94 until Dec of '99 - this 5-piece young band from Bakersfield erupted out of nowhere w/a vengeance on the grassroots/touring scene that was literally unprecedented. Personal opinions of the band or their music mean squat: Every show they put on was not only packed to the gills & Sold Out (the only band more difficult to get into was Pearl Jam, clearly) - but the moment the lights went out & the band literally eXploded w/a focused vitriol never before seen or heard at a rock show, 99% of the crowd went into instant mosh hysterics. If you were some innocent bystander who happened in to a korn show & didn't want to be anywhere near the pits - too fukking bad. The pits erupted around you & swallowed you whole, and there was nothing you could do about it except shove back & keep moving.

AFter their explosive debut (which literally took the world by storm), they quickly dropped a phat sick puppy called "Life Is Peachy", which the die hards embraced eagerly, and whose live tour continued the incendiant energy on high tilt boogie just as the first tour did. Then in '96 koRn's underground world exploded into a billion splintering fragments as "Follow The Leader" came out, and they hit radio & MTV bigtime, more often than not to the indignant cries of "Sellout!", meanwhile they kept delivering the live shows that put every other live show I ever saw to withering shame.

The '90s closed out w/ '99s massive quasi-concept smash hit iSsuEs, an album whose sonic conception & lyrical backlash still leave a red welt to this day.

KoRn, love em or hate em, were a force in popular rock music to be reckoned with. NOt only did they feature an evergrowing army of disenfranchised young fans, they kept it real by daring to merge hip-hop rhythms & creatively tweaked sounds, occasional excursions into rap (via some superstar guest vocalists), but managed to preserve their studio wizardry in a live setting - the hardline ethic of any decent band worth its salt.

KoRn were also pioneers, they built their reputation on it and continued push the envelope by staying on the cutting edge of pioneering various different things. Off the top of my head, they were the first rock band to perform at the Apollo theater in harlem (they played the entire album iSsuEs the night before it dropped); they put on the very first "Internet Variety Show", KornTV, where fans got to call in an 800 line and ask questions while the band members hung out with various guests and the occasional porn star. They were the first band to utilize expanded soundboards normally reserved for jazz & classical with their most experimental album to date, "Untouchables". The list of pioneering exploits is actually longer- oh yeah for instance they were the first band to film a concert of theirs and play it in movie theaters nationwide.

And to this day they've managed to retain an enormous underground army of fans, always managing to outgrow with new fans what they may have lost by alienating old ones because of their constant experimentation and creativity.

A flat out amazing band through and through, there's never been anyone like them and there never will be again.

I've been a die hard since Day 1, and I swear I'll never lose my love & devotion for this explosive force in underground alternative rock hip-hop. They can't even be categorized. That's why they're just KoRn!

[Paul]

most important band of the 90's = Nirvana

best band of the 90's is a tough call -- my tops would be Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Beastie Boys

[Paul]

mary said:

I voted for Sleater-Kinney. The 90s don't excite me too much, despite being the decade in which I was in high school and college, and thus obviously the decade of music with which I ought to identify. So I'm not saying Sleater-Kinney is, like, one of the greatest bands of all time or anything, but they were every bit as good as any other band around in the 90s, and they fucking rocked harder than any of 'em, managed to be intellient without being pretentious, and also managed to have a unique and singular sound despite doing a pretty straight-up guitar-rock thing. Major kudos to them. Plus their live shows are (were...) always awesome.

Cheers,
M

Mary, good call on SK! I've seen them live 4 times (twice opening for PJ, and twice at the 9:30 Club in DC) and they always impressed. Their last album, The Woods, rocked harder than anything I've heard in a long time. Janet Weiss proved she is one of rocks best modern drummers on that album. IMO, 'The Woods' is their best album and since it was released in 2004 (or 2005?) they were disqualified for best 90's bands. Plus they didn't have the impact of either Pearl Jam or Nirvana. But they are a helluva group. I was sad when they broke up.