Hope no one else has gotten to this.
>Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 18:10:08 -0500
>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>From: "Phil Connor" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: "passenger side" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: 50/90
>
> ROCK SOLID
> IN THE TWILIGHT DAYS OF THE '90S, HERE ARE 50 REASONS WHY IT HAS BEEN
> A GREAT DECADE FOR MUSIC
> Greg Kot
> * 02/21/99
> Chicago Tribune
> (Copyright 1999 by the Chicago Tribune)
> 1. Nirvana, "Nevermind" (Geffen)
> The underground finally rocks the shopping malls and signals an
> end to the '80s, big hair, spandex and Bon Jovi. "Smells Like Teen
> Spirit" defines its time every bit as emphatically as the Stones'
> "Satisfaction," Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" and Prince's "Purple
> Rain" did theirs.
> 2. Liz Phair, "Exile in Guyville" (Matador)
> Phair talks to the guy who done her wrong by adopting the voice
> and attitude of the Stones' "Exile on Main Street" and paves the way
> for Alanis Morissette and countless others.
> 3. Public Enemy, "Fear of a Black Planet" (Def Jam)
> Hip-hop that outrocks any rock band, and the end of an era: the
> last great album of rap's first golden age.
> 4. Sinead O'Connor, "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got"
> (Ensign/Chrysalis)
> One of the few albums to match the naked-truth intensity of John
> Lennon's "Plastic Ono Band."
> 5. Tricky, "Maxinquaye" (Island)
> A spooky, claustrophobic masterpiece from a ghetto visionary.
> 6. My Bloody Valentine, "Loveless" (Warner Brothers)
> Kevin Shields' guitar builds a new bridge between noise and pop.
> 7. R.E.M., "Automatic for the People" (Warner Brothers)
> A low-key, deeply moving meditation
> on the AIDS era.
> 8. A Tribe Called Quest, "The Low End Theory" (Jive)
> Building on the great East Coast rap tradition, the Tribe brings
> jazzier textures, slinkier beats, deeper rhymes.
> 9. The Orb, "The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld" (Big
> Life/Mercury)
> The final frontier of Pink Floydian psychedelia and Ground Zero
> for the electronica nation.
> 10. Beck, "Odelay" (Geffen)
> Like the Mad Hatter with a channel changer, Beck flips through the
> past and connects seemingly random moments into a grab bag of groove.
> 11. P.J. Harvey, "To Bring You My Love" (Island)
>
> Deep blues as scripted by Tennessee Williams.
> 12. Lauryn Hill, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" (Ruffhouse)
> The Tribune's Maureen Ryan said it best: This is hip-hop's answer
> to Liz Phair's "Exile in Guyville."
> 13. Smashing Pumpkins, "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness"
> (Virgin)
> Billy Corgan -- in the role of alternative rock's Phil Spector --
> makes his "symphony for the kids."
> 14. Ice Cube, "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted" (Priority)
> Though it set the tone for much of the shallow, money-grubbing
> gangsta rap that followed, Cube's chilling portrait of ghetto culture
> is a sonic masterpiece done in conjunction with Public Enemy's Bomb
> Squad.
> 15. Pavement, "Slanted and Enchanted" (Matador)
> Indie-rock's most rewardingly cerebral pop band.
> 16. Radiohead, "OK Computer" (Capitol)
> Psychedelic arias for the machine age.
> 17. Moby, "Everything is Wrong" (Elektra)
> Techno maverick juggles rock, reggae, gospel, disco, blues and
> classical minimalism without fumbling.
> 18. Bjork, "Post" (Elektra)
> Quirky little earthquakes of the human heart.
> 19. Cornershop, "When I Was Born for the 7th Time" (Luaka Bop)
> Bollywood rock, raga rap and a "Brimful of Asha"- the heady sound
> of the new Asian underground.
> 20. DJ Shadow, "Endtroducing . . ." (Mo Wax/ffrr)
> The art of the deejay-mixer taken to new heights.
> 21. P.M. Dawn, "Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The
> Utopian
> Experience" (Gee Street/Island)
> Hip-hop's most blissful album.
> 22. Portishead, "Dummy" (Go! Discs/London)
> The cinematic sound of one heart breaking.
> 23. Goldie, "Timeless" (Metalheadz/ffrr)
> Groundbreaking drums 'n' bass dance music that sounds great in the
> club, even better on headphones.
> 24. Flaming Lips, "Transmissions From the Satellite Heart"
> (Warner Brothers)
> An acid-rock "Fantasia."
> 25. Wilco, "Summerteeth" (Reprise)
> Young roots-rock band makes its own version of the Beach Boys'
> "Pet Sounds" (to be released March 9).
> 26. Los Lobos, "Kiko" (Slash/Warner Brothers)
> Veteran roots-rock band makes its own version of The Beatles'
> "Revolver."
> 27. U2, "Achtung Baby" (Island)
> Like Bowie in the '70s, the earnest Irish rock band reinvents
>
> itself -- and nearly finds a sense of humor -- by making a spiky,
> intoxicating album in Berlin.
> 28. Pearl Jam, "Ten" (Epic)
> "Can ya see the real me?" The Gen X "Quadrophenia."
> 29. Bob Dylan, "Time Out of Mind" (Columbia)
> One more masterpiece, from the brink of middle age.
> 30. Iris DeMent, "My Life" (Warner Brothers)
> The Voice sings timeless folk-country songs about God, death and
> the transforming power of music itself.
> 31. Bloque, "Bloque" (Luaka Bop)
> A new era of Hispanic rock begins.
> 32. Pet Shop Boys, "Very" (EMI)
> Sly, witty, bittersweet disco anthems.
> 33. Tupac Shakur, "Me Against the World" (Out da
> Gutta/Interscope)
> Unlike Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and other gangsta rappers who dominated
> hip-hop in the mid-'90s, Shakur dared to present both sides of the
> "thug life" and to suggest that even in this harsh world tenderness
> still has a place.
> 34. Johnny Cash, "American Recordings" (American)
> Grand Canyon voice, six acoustic guitar strings and a batch of
> great songs.
> 35. Ani DiFranco, "Living in Clip" (Righteous Babe)
> * Folk music with a Doberman's bite.
> 36. Sleater-Kinney, "Dig Me Out" (Kill Rock Stars)
> The "Sgt. Pepper" of riot grrrl rock.
> 37. Lucinda Williams,
> "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" (Mercury)
> Timeless songs, exquisite singing, turmoil redeemed by beauty.
> 38. Tony! Toni! Tone!, "Sons of Soul" (Wing)
> The last great soul group.
> 39. Yo La Tengo, "Painful" (Matador)
> One of rock's best, longest-lived bands explores the sad-eyed
> beauty of drones, moans and murmurs.
> 40. Meshuggah, "Destroy Erase Improve" (Nuclear Blast)
> Virtuoso metal that pushes extremes on all fronts: not just
> faster, louder and harder, but defter, denser and more agile.
> 41. Jimmie Dale Gilmore, "After Awhile" (Elektra)
> The zen cowboy with the high, lonesome voice takes country into
> the realm of Dylan, Sondheim and Leonard Cohen.
> 42. Wu Tang Clan, "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" (Loud/RCA)
> A coming-out party for one of hip-hop's greatest sonic architects,
>
> producer RZA.
> 43. Beastie Boys, "Check Your Head" (Grand Royal)
> Started an onslaught of rap-rock-funk bands, most of which
> couldn't match the inventiveness of this release.
> 44. Belle and Sebastian, "If You're Feeling Sinister" (The
> Enclave)
> Seductive, sharp-tongued guitar pop not heard since the heyday of
> the Smiths.
> 45. Common, "Some Day It'll All Make Sense" (Relativity)
> A lost hip-hop classic from a master wordsmith and enlightened
> thinker.
> 46. Matthew Sweet, "Girlfriend" (Zoo)
> Power pop as agony, ecstasy, exorcism.
> 47. Arrested Development, "3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life
> Of . . ." (Chrysalis/EMI)
> Earthy, soulful hip-hop conceals tough-minded lyrics.
> 48. Sepultura, "Roots" (Attic/MCA)
> Thrash metal goes to Brazil.
> 49. Paul K, "Love is a Gas" (Alias)
> The great lost songwriter of our time.
> 50. Nirvana, "MTV Unplugged"(Geffen)
> The flip side of grunge, with Kurt Cobain's cover of Leadbelly's
> "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" serving as a haunting epitaph.
> ----------
>
