Pitchfork's "Top 100 Albums of the '90s [1999 version]"

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From the original introduction of Pitchfork’s original "Top 100 Albums of the ‘90s" list:

Our list was totaled in the fairest way I could think of—I would send an e-mail out to all our reviewers and ask them to turn in a list of their personal Top 100 albums of the 1990s, ranked in order from #100 to #1. I specified that the list should not concern what the writers felt was the "most important," "best" or "most influential" recordings of the decade, instead that it should be their favorite albums—the albums they most enjoyed listening to. All writers were encouraged to participate, but creating a list of 100 albums of any kind is not an easy thing to do. In the end, more than half of us got involved and worked our asses off until our lists were exactly (or as close as possible to) how we wanted them. (That’s how cool we are.) Brent DiCrescenzo did us all a great favor by figuring out a fair points system and compiling all our lists into a singular Top 100 that would represent the participants’ favorite albums of the decade. And here it finally is.

Note: Pitchfork updated this list in 2003 ("see the updated version":http://www.listsofbests.com/list/5365).

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Pages: 1

  1. 1.
    Loveless
    by My Bloody Valentine

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  2. 2.
    OK Computer
    by Radiohead

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  3. 3.
    Slanted & Enchanted
    by Pavement

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  4. 4.
    Bee Thousand
    by Guided by Voices

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  5. 5.
    Exile in Guyville
    by Liz Phair

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  6. 6.
    Nevermind
    by Nirvana

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  7. 7.
    Endtroducing...
    by DJ Shadow

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  8. 8.
    Little Earthquakes
    by Tori Amos

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  9. 9.
    Odelay
    by Beck

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  10. 10.
    Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
    by Pavement

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  11. 11.
    There's Nothing Wrong With Love
    by Built to Spill

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  12. 12.
    Trompe le Monde
    by Pixies

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  13. 13.
    The Bends
    by Radiohead

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  14. 14.
    Weezer (Blue Album)
    by Weezer

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  15. 15.
    How It Feels to Be Something On
    by Sunny Day Real Estate

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  16. 16.
    Check Your Head
    by Beastie Boys

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  17. 17.
    El Producto
    by Walt Mink

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  18. 18.
    Homogenic
    by Björk

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  19. 19.
    For Your Own Special Sweetheart
    by Jawbox

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  20. 20.
    Grace
    by Jeff Buckley

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  21. 21.
    Mellow Gold
    by Beck

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  22. 22.
    I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One
    by Yo La Tengo

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  23. 23.
    XO
    by Elliott Smith

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  24. 24.
    In on the Kill Taker
    by Fugazi

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  25. 25.
    Flood
    by They Might Be Giants

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  26. 26.
    Bonsai Superstar
    by Brainiac

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  27. 27.
    TNT
    by Tortoise

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  28. 28.
    Secaucus
    by The Wrens

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  29. 29.
    Pony Express Record
    by Shudder to Think

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  30. 30.
    Emperor Tomato Ketchup
    by Stereolab

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  31. 31.
    Last Splash
    by The Breeders

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  32. 32.
    Icky Mettle
    by Archers of Loaf

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  33. 33.
    Alien Lanes
    by Guided by Voices

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  34. 34.
    Spiderland
    by Slint

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  35. 35.
    Post
    by Björk

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  36. 36.
    Everclear
    by American Music Club

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  37. 37.
    Teenager of the Year
    by Frank Black

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  38. 38.
    Ride the Fader
    by Chavez

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  39. 39.
    Perfect From Now On
    by Built to Spill

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  40. 40.
    Hips and Makers
    by Kristin Hersh

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  41. 41.
    Keep It Like a Secret
    by Built to Spill

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  42. 42.
    Emergency & I
    by The Dismemberment Plan

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  43. 43.
    Frank Black
    by Frank Black

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  44. 44.
    Bakesale
    by Sebadoh

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  45. 45.
    Bossanova
    by Pixies

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  46. 46.
    Either/Or
    by Elliott Smith

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  47. 47.
    Bricolage
    by Amon Tobin

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  48. 48.
    Mic City Sons
    by Heatmiser

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  49. 49.
    I Could Live in Hope
    by Low

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  50. 50.
    Siamese Dream
    by Smashing Pumpkins

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Pages: 1

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Created by Robot Co-op on Nov 30, 2005.
 

Comments

OK — 5 weeks ago

I think Nevermind (Nirvana) should be #1 but everyone has his own opinion.
I really hate when people say horrible things about Pop music. Pop is the most influential musical genre ever and of course there were so many great pop albums in the 90’s:

Sigh (1993) – Ace of Base
Ray of Light (1998) – Madonna
Secrets (1996) – Toni Braxton
The Bodyguard (1992) – Whitney Houston
Come On Over (1997) – Shania Twain
Older (1996) – George Michael
Millenium (1999) – Backstreet Boys
Spice World (1997) – Spice Girls
Bedtime Stories (1994) – Madonna
Live Your Life Be Free (1991) – Belinda Carlisle
Love DeLuxe (1992) – Sade
Dangerous (1991) – Michael Jackson
Paintings In Yellow (1990) – Sandra
Wildest Dreams (1996) – Tina Turner
Believe (1998) – Cher


Untitled — 20 weeks ago

Sonic Youth not on the list until the 93? Seriously?? To each his/her own. Good list!


Untitled — 2 years ago

i honestly think that olivia tremor control’s ‘Dusk at Cubist Castle’ deserves a much higher spot in this list.

And seeing as Nas’ ‘Illmatic’ is one of hip-hop’s top 5 or so finest records ever, it as well, deserves a much much higher place in the list.

these ‘definitive’ lists are never perfect, and they never will be. because taste is subjective! as im sure you all know.


phxphreak
Phoenix

What have you done??? — 2 years ago

The Redux edition is available elsewhere on this site! PLEASE revert back to the old list!!!


List 1 — 2 years ago

I liked having list 1 availible as well… it made for a good comparison (also some of my fav albums were on that list and now they are off)... did list 1 dissapear?


Larry Gilbert
San Diego

Since there's no objection... — 2 years ago

...I will go ahead and update the list since Pitchfork has updated it themselves.


Larry Gilbert
San Diego

Version 2.0? — 2 years ago

Since Pitchfork saw fit to update their list significantly, shouldn’t we update our copy as well? Any objections?


Perlle
East Hampton

Pitchfork Media removed the listsource page — 3 years ago

It is a dead link now. So, I added the next best thing I could find for a listsource.


Weighed more towards the late 1990s? — 3 years ago

It seems that way to me… Wouldn’t it make sense? If you ask people to list from memory certain albums, might they be more likely to list albums whose genres are still viable right now, artists who may be more likely to still be playing and still heard more routinely. For example some very popular/influential grunge bands (not that I’m a grunge fan or anything) don’t appear on here. But you do have bands like Sonic Youth, Belle and Sebastian, Blur, REM etc. which are still performing.