Last Updated on April 1, 2026 by Black Sunshine Media
Like many comparable types of rock music, alternative rock music went through phases or waves of emergence, peak saturation, and ultimate decline. Our task is to parse and evaluate the best albums from the period, which isn’t easy. It begs a bigger question: What is alternative rock? Modern rock bands are still making what we call “alternative rock,” but the genre itself never gelled as a unified sound. There’s a little bit of everything from hardcore and post-punk to folk and hard rock.
For these purposes, alternative rock covers a broad spectrum of music that rejected the machismo of hard rock and the performative posing of punk, but still using electric guitars as the primary mode of expression. Alternative wasn’t too experimental or avant-garde for the average listener, but just edgy enough for the cool kids.
Terms and Conditions
All BSM listicles have a set of terms and conditions that guide the selection process.
- One album per band per wave (honorable mentions excluded)
Limitations force me to be more selective.
- Avoid favoritism
Aim for objectivity, i.e. recognize a good record even if I don’t like it.
- Must fall squarely within the alternative genre
We have separate listicles for relative genres like post-punk and alternative metal.
Top Alternative Rock Albums (1983–1987)
The first wave of alternative rock emerged from “college rock” and “new music” as post-punk and new wave were on the decline. [Clears throat] In the 1980s, it was still common for record labels to give new bands a couple of albums to get established, so many of these artists were putting out an album every year.
R.E.M. – Reckoning (1984)
The first five R.E.M. albums plus the Chronic Town EP (1981) and half of Green (1988) are the absolute pinnacle of alternative guitar rock. R.E.M. was the best American rock band of the 1980s. Many bands vie for runner-up, but I saw R.E.M. three times between 1985 and 1989, and they had an undeniable aura of greatness. It’s hard to explain but Jane’s Addiction was another band that made me say: “These guys are fuckin’ good.” In contrast, I saw Hüsker Dü during the same period and my thought was: These guys aren’t gonna make it through the end of the year. The aura of dysfunction almost overpowered the music, and sure enough, they broke up shortly thereafter.
Anyway, I took five minutes to weigh the options and what I consider “alternative rock” versus the broader definition. Reckoning doesn’t have a weak spot, and it sounded like nothing else on the radio at the time. Peter Buck had a brand new guitar style, and Michael Stipe would beat Morrissey in arm wrestling, no question.
Murmur (1983) is the album everybody expects to see in the #1 slot because it was the first big “college rock” album, i.e., the first alternative album to reach the lower levels of mainstream radio and MTV. Murmur is an important milestone in pop music with a timeless quality, but “We Walk” is fuckin’ weak, and “Radio Free Europe” doesn’t sound like it belongs on the album. Otherwise, Murmur is a great debut album, but they could and would do much better. Reckoning crushes it like a grape.
Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes (1983)
Here’s where the definition of alternative gains credibility. I don’t even know how to categorize their sound. Folk punk? Busker pop? Either way, it’s a fantastic, utterly original album from start to finish.
The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead (1986)
I begrudgingly acknowledge this album as a masterpiece. My beef with the band is the pretense of earnest ambition, or the sense of “seriousness,” when, aside from Johnny Marr‘s guitar work, the frontman is a droll stand-up comedian who “cannot sing,” but that’s nothing. You should hear him play piano.
The title track is a contender for best alternative rock song of all time, and make no mistake, I despise Morrissey. However, he kills it on “Big Mouth Strikes Again” with a few hilarious bits of British humor like “I was only joking when I said / by rights you should be bludgeoned in your head.”
Hüsker Dü – New Day Rising (1985)
It’s their finest work and track-by-track, one of the best alternative rock records ever made. An exceedingly tuneful blend of hardcore punk aggression and bubblegum pop melody, New Day Rising was an eerie foreshadow of the pop punk revival that emerged in the 1990s. But you’re gonna love every jam. [Chef’s kiss].
The Cure – The Head on the Door (1985)
The Cure was one of the most interesting and unpredictable, perhaps schizophrenic bands of the 1980s, and Robert Smith seemed to reinvent himself every three years. But beneath the smeared lipstick and acid flashbacks, Smith has always been a brilliant, eclectic, pop rock songwriter, and he finally put a bunch of those songs on one album. And it’s nearly a perfect record—though not a personal favorite. Hard to believe this is the same guy who made Pornography (1982) and The Top (1984), but then again, we should have seen it coming with “Lovecats” and “Let’s Go to Bed”. Either way, The Head on the Door (co-produced by David M. Allen) probably the best alternative rock album of 1985.
XTC – Skylarking (1986)
We’re talking “the best” albums here. Not my favorites, not most influential, and not the best-selling. Produced by Todd Rundgren, Skylarking is a captivating work of psychedelic pop rock with nothing but hot cuts. The reissue contains “Dear God”, which was left off the original pressing.
Meat Puppets – Up on the Sun (1985)
A beguiling yet endearing weirdo blend of The Fall and the Grateful Dead. Every cut on this record is fantastic.
The Replacements – Let It Be (1984)
Their brand of sloppy charisma didn’t move the needle for me back in the day, but I still listen to Let It Be occasionally. What a great record. Paul Westerberg was our generation’s Alex Chilton, kinda.
U2 – War (1983)
Hats off to the best Irish rock band since Thin Lizzy. Produced by Steve Lillywhite, War is the last alternative rock album they’d make because it sent them directly into the mainstream. The drum intro on “Sunday Bloody Sunday” is forever ingrained in my psyche.
Tom Waits – Rain Dogs (1985)
An out-of-the-box selection, but experimental rock + Americana will never achieve the dazzling, carnivalesque avant-garde sound of Rain Dogs, and it might be the best work of Waits’ career.1 Plus, I was there in 1985, boots on the ground, a junior in high school, and this was probably the #1 record among the cool kids, back when “alternative” meant something more.
The guy who’s going to make one of the best alternative rock albums of all time in 1997, Thom Yorke of Radiohead, said this about Rain Dogs:
This record has never got tired for me, though I have played it over and over throughout my life, as did my kids growing up.
Tears For Fears – The Hurting (1983)
An overlooked gem. If you can get past Roland Orzabal’s goofy vocal delivery, there’s an album’s worth of instantly memorable and hummable jams like “Pale Shelter”, “Mad World”, “Change”, and my favorite, “The Hurting”. Highly recommended listening. Forget all that “Shout, shout, let it all out” bullshit that would come later. This is the TFF album for the ages.
Minutemen – Double Nickels on the Dime (1984)
A double album containing 45 songs, combining elements of country, funk, jazz, punk, and spoken word. Double Nickels marks the spot where punk rock stopped caring about the stylistic parameters of the American hardcore scene and started thinking for themselves. It’s also an excellent album for long road trips across the U.S.
The Jesus & Mary Chain – Psychocandy (1985)
It’s not my jam, but I must acknowledge the effort. Forty years of occasional listening has eventually exposed the genius of fuzz. They have a vibe that’s like the first Suicide album (1977), which is cool, considering that most of the world was still listening to Duran Duran.
Depeche Mode – Music for the Masses (1987)
Representing the electronic delegation of rock, this is the album where people started to take Depeche Mode seriously. I’ll be straight with you: I fuckin’ hate this kind of music. However, people will be listening to “Never Let Me Down Again” a hundred years from now.
Echo & The Bunnymen – Ocean Rain (1984)
They should have been as big or bigger than The Cure but held back by the one quality that defined their music: consistency. ETB didn’t take many chances, stuck to what they did best: crafting moody, atmospheric post-post-punk mid-tempo rock that resonated with the goths and just about nobody else. Worst of all, they took themselves too seriously. It’s unfortunate because Ocean Rain is a fuckin’ solid album.
Honorable Mentions
Bad Brains – I Against I (1986)
Big Black – Atomizer (1986)
Big Country – Steeltown (1984)
Butthole Surfers – Locust Abortion Technician (1987)
Dinosaur Jr – You’re Living All Over Me (1987)
Husker Du – Warehouse: Songs And Stories (1987)
Hüsker Dü – Zen Arcade (1985)
R.E.M. – Document (1987)
R.E.M. – Murmur (1983)
Sonic Youth – Sister (1987)
Talk Talk – The Colour Of Spring (1987)
The Alarm – Declaration (1983)
The Fall – This Nation’s Saving Grace (1985)
The Pogues – Rum, Sodomy And The Lash (1985)
The Smiths – Meat Is Murder (1985)
The Smiths – The Smiths (1984)
Violent Femmes – Hallowed Ground (1985)
XTC – Black Sea (1983)
Top Alternative Rock Albums (1988–1992)
Jane’s Addiction – Nothing’s Shocking (1988)
The first album to successfully marry the hard rock bombast of Led Zeppelin with the post-punk sensitivities of The Cure, which is the final boss definition of alternative rock. Nothing’s Shocking is easily—by a mile—the best and most important second wave alternative guitar rock album.
Pixies – Doolittle (1989)
Nobody: [hands on hips] Excuse me, have you heard Surfer Rosa?
Me: [shrugging slightly] It’s got a few bangers like “Bone Machine”, “Gigantic”, and “Where Is My Mind?” but Doolittle has more killer tracks. It’s a matter of numbers, really.
Beastie Boys – Check Your Head (1992)
Nobody made a better alternative rock record in 1992.
Nirvana – Nevermind (1991)
Even the staunchest anti-Nirvana critic has to admit that Kurt Cobain knew how to write a catchy tune. Now and again, in moments of weakness, I’ll find myself with a Nevermind earworm like “In Bloom”:
He’s the one
Who likes all our pretty songs
And he likes to sing along
And he likes to shoot his gun
But he knows not what it means
Nevermind is practically a flawless record whether I like it or not, and honestly, I miss Kurt Cobain. What a shame.
PJ Harvey – Rid of Me (1993)
Tougher, leaner, sexier, and smarter than anything Nirvana and the grunge kids could dream. It’s not often that I get to use the word “ferocious” when talking about rock music.
Rage Against The Machine – Rage Against The Machine (1992)
Just to reiterate the terms and conditions outlined above, I’m trying to avoid favoritism here. RATM is a stunning record…if you like this kind of music. I’m still incredulous they pulled it off. Here’s the sign of a great album: You wouldn’t catch me listening to this type of music on purpose, but my toes start tapping whenever I hear “Killing in the Name Of”, and that’s a huge part of our selection criteria.
On the other hand, I remember when this album was released, I thought, Oh boy. Here we go…
Rage Against The Machine is directly responsible for the travesty of nu metal and rap rock, so nobody can say we didn’t see Limp Bizkit and Korn coming.
My Bloody Valentine – Loveless (1991)
It’s hard to measure or assess the influence of an album like Loveless because people are still chasing its elusive alchemy of melody and noise. The true test of purity comes in the listening, and nothing released in any decade that I’m aware of is quite as captivating. Kevin Shields inadvertently sent an army of aspiring guitar players on a snipe hunt to recreate his sound, and nobody, not even Shields, has come close to finding it again. Shoegaze starts somewhere around here.
Ween – Pure Guava (1992)
Ween fans, hear me out. The Pod (1991) is down there in the Honorable Mentions. It’s a wonderful record. However, Pure Guava is just better. As their major label debut (produced by Andrew Weiss), it’s more polished and efficient than their previous work. More importantly, Pure Guava and “Push the Lil’ Daisies” was a much-needed shot of levity in a genre that often took itself too seriously (see: The Smiths and Echo & the Bunnymen).
Dinosaur Jr. – Bug (1988)
If you listen past the sludgy post-hardcore guitar noise rock, J Mascis had some really nice melodies.
Pearl Jam – Ten (1991)
This album is only here so nobody’s gonna call me out for leaving it off the list—like I don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about kinda-thing. But people come to hear my opinions, so Ten gives me, metaphorically, an open shot from the three-point line, and I’ve been working on my jumper.
There’s no question that Pearl Jam was a major player in alternative rock, nor am I in denial about their musicianship or songwriting. They’re a good band. I saw them in 1992 and shrugged. It makes sense. I see why they’re so popular. But it’s classic rock. And check out the Wikipedia page for Ten, it says, in the second paragraph:
Despite its reputation as a quintessential grunge album, Ten is often noted for displaying a stronger classic rock influence than other contemporary grunge releases, drawing comparisons to the work of Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. The album is also characterized as having an anthemic, rich sound.2
Don’t Front on Wikipedia, Man
People talk shit about Wikipedia pages and dismiss them with a ppffft, but I’ve worked personally and professionally with Wikipedia editors and I’m telling you, those fuckers aren’t playing. Do you have any idea how hard it is to—first of all—get a Wikipedia page? Yeah, maybe somebody can dip into a page and prank an edit to make somebody look bad, but it’s like graffiti. Somebody comes around and cleans it up—real quick.
Anyway, back to Pearl Jam. There’s nothing “alternative” about Ten. It’s radio-ready new classic rock with all the fixins including the first alternative power ballad (“Black”). Released on Epic Records, the album’s trajectory was sink or swim in the ocean of mass appeal, aka the American heartland. It had to resonate with the average AC/DC fan from Nebraska who found Nirvana a little too edgy for their liking. “Evenflow” wouldn’t sound out of place in a Ford F-150 commercial, would it? Pearl Jam is basically the new Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band.
Nothing but net, if you ask me. And bonus points if you get the basketball references.
Primal Scream – Screamadelica (1991)
You wouldn’t have caught me listening to this in 1991, but I’ve since come around to some of the early Madchester bands. This is a great album.
The Breeders – Pod (1990)
I wonder how things would have played out if Black Francis would have let Kim Deal contribute to the Pixies’ songwriting.
Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation (1988)
For the last 13 years, my family has occupied three condo units spread across multiple buildings of a gated complex in Metro Manila. The structures are 90 percent concrete with metal and glass ornamentation. My office is a studio on the second floor of Building C, facing east, which has historically been one of the quietest spots on the entire block.
We’re finally moving to a new location next week, so things are sort of chaotic right now. I’ve got boxes, books, and guitar flight cases stacked willy-nilly. The cats are freaking out because they think we’re leaving them behind. Coincidentally, several units in Building C are under renovation, so the noise levels are uncharacteristically harsh.
I like things quiet, so I’m not used to the disturbance. Per municipal noise ordinance, the jackhammers kick off at 8:00 a.m. sharp, and these fuckers are conveniently on the clock. There’s no “Filipino Time” in the construction racket, apparently. It’s not my first rodeo with these guys, so I know better than to start blasting Mötley Crüe. I know because I learned the hard way. They gave me thumbs up and called me “paré (dude).”
Fight Fire With Fire
Fighting fire with fire is a tired cliché but there’s nuance in the types of fire involved. If you’ve got a Bic lighter and I’ve got a blow torch, the fight is over before it began. As I crossed the parking lot from Building B to Building C at 7:45 a.m., I met the crew working in the unit one floor below, and said, “Got something special for you this morning, boys.”
It was 10:06 a.m. and we just wrapped our second start-to-finish broadcast of Daydream Nation at jet-engine volume. My wife called, furious, and said she could hear my music from the third floor of Building B. There was a break in the jackhammering, so I moseyed downstairs to the unit below and poked my head in the door. “Sup, fellas?”
Slint – Spiderland (1991)
There’s a line in my book, Year of the Rat (2024), about sitting in a bar in Taipei on my third day in town, while Spiderland played over the PA as I drank by myself in silence, and thought, Jesus, I hope it isn’t always like this.
I get why people like this album. It’s pretty remarkable for the era, perhaps a few years ahead of its time. Spiderland + Moving Pictures = math rock.
The Cure – Disintegration (1990)
South Park really fucked things up when they declared this “the greatest album ever” because impressionable kids took them at face value. And now, everybody talks about Disintegration with the reverence of Sgt. Pepper’s or Pet Sounds. But let me burst the bubble. It’s not even the best Cure album, let alone the best album ever made. Is it good? Yes. Among the best second wave alternative albums? Definitely. Is it kinda boring? Sometimes.
Teenage Fanclub – Bandwagonesque (1991)
I don’t know why, but every time I see this record appear on a playlist, I think, Hey hey! We’re the Monkees! It’s weird and uncalled for, because Bandwagonesque is a solid serving of power pop that’s got little to do with “Last Train to Clarksville”, at least, on a superficial level. There might be a spiritual connection, I dunno. Life is strange, in’it?
Honorable Mentions
Alice In Chains – Dirt (1992)
American Music Club – California (1988)
Camper Van Beethoven – Key Lime Pie (1989)
Cowboy Junkies – Trinity Session (1988)
Depeche Mode – Violator (1990)
Faith No More – The Real Thing (1989)
Firehose – Fromohio (1989)
Fugazi – Repeater (1990)
Jane’s Addiction – Ritual De Lo Habitual (1990)
Lemonheads – It’s A Shame About Ray (1992)
Ministry – Psalm 69 (1992)
Mudhoney – Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge (1991)
Mudhoney – Superfuzz Bigmuff (1988)
My Bloody Valentine – Isn’t Anything (1988)
Pixies – Bossanova (1990)
Pixies – Surfer Rosa (1988)
R.E.M. – Green (1989)
Screaming Trees – Sweet Oblivion (1992)
Sloan – Smeared (1992)
Sonic Youth – Goo (1990)
Sonic Youth – Dirty (1992)
The Go-Betweens – 16 Lovers Lane (1988)
The Jesus Lizard – Goat (1991)
The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses (1989)
Walt Mink – Miss Happiness (1992)
Top Alternative Rock Albums (1993–1999)
Third wave alternative bands seemed slightly more attuned to the album experience, so all these choices are “set ‘em and forget ‘em.” However, the genre lost its leverage and market dominance to hip-hop and rap music, and by 1999, alternative rock was basically over. Back to the indie rock trenches.
You’ll notice that most of the entries have sparse commentary—one or two sentences. That’s just because I’m running out of gas on this thing and it’s already way too long. Meanwhile, the list of Honorable Mentions is almost out of control.
Radiohead – OK Computer (1997)
It’s among the top 5 best alternative rock records. Period.
Soundgarden – Superunknown (1994)
The best alternative hard rock not-quite metal album ever made.
Producer Michael Beinhorn pushed the band to their limits and beyond.
Mr. Bungle – California (1999)
Tangential to the importance and beauty of this tilt-a-whirl-on-ketamine funhouse of an album, what initially forced me to re-visit Mr. Bungle was learning that Anthony Kiedis and his shitty band of urinal pirates hated Mr. Bungle—and vice versa—and Kiedis went out of his way to make things difficult for the band. That’s when I said, “I’m gonna buy every Mr. Bungle record on the shelf until they stop pressing ’em.”
Cheated and Stupid
There are only two things I hate more than music associated with Anthony Kiedis: paying taxes and eating food from Styrofoam plates. All three make me feel the same way: Cheated and stupid.
Coincidentally, I moved to San Francisco in 1999, right around the time California was released. My previous exposure to Mr. Bungle was a five-minute spin through their 1991 hardcore jazz funk circus metal debut album, Mr. Bungle (on Warner Bros. Records). Not my thing and easily ignored. I still liked Mike Patton in Faith No More, so whatever.
That summer of ’99, a friend in the music industry told me some hot gossip that Kiedis had Mr. Bungle removed from a bunch of festival shows in Europe. Kiedis had already gone public with accusations that Patton “stole his style,” which is ridiculous because Patton can sing. Producer Bruce Beinhorn recently confirmed what most of us knew all along: Kiedis is fuckin’ tone deaf. Anyway, my friend and I agreed that an enemy of Anthony Kiedis is an ally of ours. Mr. Bungle, here I come!
Maybe a week later, I read a review of California, so I bought a copy during my first visit to Amoeba Records on Haight Street. Unlike anything released on a major label since early Zappa albums, California is Mr. Bungle’s most “accessible” work, relatively speaking. It’s been called a “lush, technicolor masterpiece” and “grotesque construction of pop” that trades the chaotic, rapid-fire genre-switching of their previous efforts for more focused and traditional song structures.
Mike Patton is the Answer
Name another alternative rock album that navigates an incredibly expansive palette—including lounge jazz, spaghetti western themes, Middle Eastern scales, and Balinese gamelan—all while maintaining a hauntingly polished production. While it may appear “tame” compared to their debut, it’s deeply creative songwriting and Mike Patton’s most versatile vocal performance takes progressive and avant-garde to new levels of charming absurdity.
Jeff Buckley – Grace (1995)
Is Jeff Buckley the best alternative singer-songwriter album of all time? I dunno. I got eviscerated the last time I gave my opinion about his work. It’s just a little too “squirrelly” for me sometimes.
Weezer – Weezer (1994)
Rivers Cuomo, man. It’s a hot take, I know, but The Blue Album is more sophisticated than Nevermind. And Cuomo is one of the best alternative guitar players of all time. I’ll put “Buddy Holly” in a top 10 alternative songs of all time, too.
Beck – Mutations (1998)
I didn’t start listening to Beck until this album fell into my lap, and now it’s one of the greatest albums I’ve ever heard, produced by Nigel Godrich, fresh from producing OK Computer.
Guided By Voices – Alien Lanes (1995)
You could pick any GBV record from the ‘90s and slap it on the list.
Built to Spill – Perfect From Now On (1997)
It’s one of those things that continues to riddle me how Built to Spill wasn’t the biggest alternative guitar band of the 1990s. Doug Martsch was nearly untouchable. Maybe the trucker hats turned people off, I dunno.
Afghan Whigs – Gentlemen (1993)
Gritty, greasy, good fun. I feel like I need a shower after listening to this record.
Manic Street Preachers – The Holy Bible (1994)
Exceptional and under appreciated album from a band that was more influenced by Guns N’ Roses than The Kinks, which is unusual for a band from Wales. Manic Street Preachers were one of the most unsung bands of the 1990s. Highly recommended.
Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral (1994)
Fuckin’ disco joker actually made something I might listen to while cleaning the litter box. Might being the operative modal verb.
Olivia Tremor Control – Dusk at Cubist Castle (1996)
The most creative people are also the most resourceful. These neo-psychedelic kids from Athens, Georgia, were like, “Well, we don’t have the money for a professional recording studio, but we do have a couple of 4-track machines and cool ideas for a modern concept album” and Olivia Tremor Control just fuckin’ did it.
Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin (1999)
Fans may rightfully argue in favor of Clouds Taste Metallic (1995) or another earlier album, but The Soft Bulletin is where the experimental pop and psychedelic rock find a solid foundation in electronic music, and it’s amazing.
Blur – Parklife (1994)
In the hypothetical Britpop battle between Oasis and Blur, the Gallagher brothers may have moved more units and got more airplay, but Damon Albarn wrote infinitely better songs, and Graham Coxon, unlike Noel Gallagher, can actually play guitar above “intermediate campfire.”
Pavement – Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994)
Pavement reminds me of R.E.M. in the sense that it took me a while to “get” them, but when I did…I fell head over heels for the band. I didn’t really love Murmur when it came out. Same with Crooked Rain. Nowadays, I frequently find myself quoting lines from “Cut Your Hair”, “Gold Soundz”, and “Range Life”, especially this one that got them kicked off the 1994 Lollapalooza tour:
Out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins
Nature kids, they don’t have no function
I don’t understand what they mean
And I could really give a fuck
Green Day – Dookie (1994)
I mean, it’s not terrible. They’ve got some catchy stuff, and I honestly dig the whole Clash and Buzzcocks vibe. Chock full o’ hits, too. Good for them.
Stone Temple Pilots – Purple (1994)
At the time, STP were considered alternative hard rock, and this album dominated both classic rock and alternative radio formats. You couldn’t go anywhere without hearing “Interstate Love Song”, “Vaseline”, or “Big Empty”.
Some people have retroactively embraced STP’s next album, the ambitious Tiny Music…From the Vatican Gift Shop (1996), but Purple delivers the hits more consistently.
Honorable Mentions
Apples in Stereo – Tone Soul Evolution (1997)
Bonnie Prince Billy – I See A Darkness (1998)
Chavez – Ride the Fader (1996)
Drive Like Jehu – Yank Crime (1994)
Eels – Beautiful Freak (1996)
Elliott Smith – Either/Or (1997)
Failure – Fantastic Planet (1996)
Flaming Lips – Transmissions From the Satellite Heart (1993)
Grifters – Ain’t My Lookout (1996)
Grifters – Crappin’ You Negative (1994)
Liz Phair – Exile In Guyville (1994)
Mercury Rev – Deserter’s Songs (1998)
Mr. Bungle – Disco Volante (1995)
Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1998)
Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York (1994)
Oasis – Definitely Maybe (1994)
Pavement – Slanted and Enchanted (1993)
PJ Harvey – Rid Of Me (1993)
Portishead – Dummy (1994)
Pulp – Different Class (1995)
Queens Of The Stone Age – Queens Of The Stone Age (1998)
Radiohead – The Bends (1995)
Screaming Trees – Dust (1996)
Sebadoh – Bubble And Scrape (1993)
Shudder to Think – Pony Express Record (1994)
Sleater-Kinney – Dig Me Out (1997)
Spiritualized – Ladies And Gentlemen, We Are Floating In Space (1997)
Supergrass – I Should Coco (1995)
Supergrass – In It For The Money (1997)
Swervedriver – Mezcal Head (1995)
System Of A Down – System Of A Down (1998)
The Fall – Infotainment Scan (1993)
The Minders – Hooray for Tuesday (1998)
The Offspring – Smash (1994)
The Prodigy – Music For The Jilted Generation (1994)
The Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream (1993)
Tortoise – Millions Now Living Will Never Die (1996)
Turbonegro – Apocalypse Dudes (1998)
Wilco – Being There (1996)
XTC – Apple Venus Volume 1 (1999)
Yo Lo Tengo – I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One (1997)
Special Honorable Mention
Le Tigre – Le Tigre (1999)
My personal favorite album of the late 1990s, and the most enjoyable album since The B-52s 1979 debut album. Le Tigre was also named to 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
