7 min read

The Best Of The 90's That Pitchfork Forgot!

Almost one hundred of Pitchfork's Best Songs Of The 90s appear on Pitchfork's Best Albums Of The 90s. Here's 30 albums & 100 songs they could have given some shine to instead.
Sir Mix-A-Lot in the "Baby Got Back" video.
Pitchfork ignored "Baby Got Back"? Well, I ain't down with that!

Aside from some obnoxious redundancies - "Tunic" and "Kool Thing" and Goo over two lists? We haven't forgiven Thurston enough to acknowledge "The Diamond Sea"? - I was fairly impressed with the new Pitchfork lists for the best albums & singles of the '90s. Forget the quality of writing (blurbs establishing "importance" tend to the banal) or which artist placed where: if you spun those songs for a kid and said "it's the 90s!" you wouldn't be doing the kid or the decade a disservice. Granted, some genres get tokenized more than others, but this hypothetical kid did click on Pitchfork dot com. All things considered, they did fine by the readers who actually learn from these things.

Those redundancies, though! I didn't realize how extreme the situation was until I counted it up. Here's a list of artists who appear on both the singles and albums lists, an asterisk when the song representing the artist is also on the album representing the artist: Wu-Tang Clan, Fugazi, Jay-Z*, Boyz II Men, Soundgarden*, Garbage*, Lil' Kim*, Whitney Houston (two songs from The Bodyguard & The Bodyguard), Cat Power*, Mos Def*, Hole (two songs from Live Through This & Live Through This), Maxwell*, Fiona Apple (two songs from Tidal & Tidal, one song from When The Pawn & When The Pawn), Bjork (a song from Post & Post, plus two songs from Debut & Homogenic in the albums list), Aimee Mann, My Bloody Valentine (two songs from Loveless & Loveless), Gang Starr, Cocteau Twins*, Ghostface Killah*,  Wilco*, Raekwon*, Elliott Smith (two songs from Either/Or & Either/Or, plus another song and another album), Slowdive*, De La Soul (a song from De La Soul Is Dead & De La Soul Is Dead, plus another song), UGK*, Three 6 Mafia, Elastica*, Janet Jackson (two songs from janet. & janet., one song from The Velvet Rope & The Velvet Rope), The Notorious B.I.G. (two songs from Life After Death & Life After Death, one song from Ready To Die & Ready To Die), Ice Cube, Nirvana (a song from Nevermind & Nevermind, a song from In Utero & In Utero), Outkast (a song from ATLiens & ATLiens, two songs from Aquemini & Aquemini), Pavement (a song from S&E and S&E, a song from CRCR & CRCR), The Roots*, The Fugees (two songs from The Score & The Score), Green Day*, MF Doom*, 2Pac (a song from All Eyez On Me & All Eyez On Me, plus another song), Silver Jews*, Radiohead (THREE songs from OK Computer & OK Computer, plus another album), The Chicks, DJ Shadow*, Salt-N-Pepa*, Rage Against The Machine*, The Pharcyde*, Madonna (a song from Ray Of Light & Ray Of Light, plus another song), R.E.M. (a song from Automatic & Automatic, plus another song), Ol' Dirty Bastard, Belle & Sebastian, Depeche Mode*, Weezer*, Smashing Pumpkins (a song from Siamese Dream & Siamese Dream, plus another song), Yo La Tengo*, Public Enemy*, No Doubt*, Selena*, Beck, Toni Braxton, Guided By Voices, Massive Attack (a song from Blue Lines & Blue Lines, plus another song), Sleater-Kinney*, Erykah Badu (a song from Baduizm & Baduizm, plus another song), Dr. Dre (a song from The Chronic & The Chronic, plus another song), A Tribe Called Quest (two songs from The Low End Theory & The Low End Theory, plus another song and another album), PJ Harvey*, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, DMX*, Arthur Russell*, Built To Spill*, TLC (a song from CrazySexyCool & CrazySexCool, plus another song), Juvenile*, LeTigre*, Mariah Carey, Digable Planets, D'Angelo*, The Cranberries*, Sade*, Mary J. Blige*, Aaliyah (a song from One In A Million & One In A Million, plus another song), Lauryn Hill (two songs from Miseducation & Miseducation), Alanis Morissette*, Nine Inch Nails*, The Breeders*, Beastie Boys, Sinead O'Connor*, Pulp*, Portishead*, Mobb Deep*, Mazzy Star*, Daft Punk*, Bikini Kill*, Destiny's Child*, Aphex Twin, Missy Elliott*, Liz Phair*.

FYI, Radiohead made an album in 1997 that a lot of people like.

If my fingers can be trusted, almost ONE HUNDRED SONGS on the songs list are from albums on the albums list! Seriously? We needed four different blurbs telling kids they gotta hear OK Computer? Five blurbs saying A Tribe Called Quest is worth your time? I know it's gauche to complain about what got left off these things, especially when your taste is no less corny indie nor poptimist than theirs. But I'm still surprised by how many more artists could have been put on just by assuming readers checking out album blurbs can be told about choice cuts in the same damn blurb.

"Ok, Mr. Stats," you may ask. "What would you have put on there instead?" Well, below are 30 albums and 100 songs I dig from artists who didn't get any shine from the 'Fork (ok, LL was featured on a posse cut, but man! LL!). No doubles anywhere. I even considered Sugar and the Latin Playboys redundant to Bob Mould and Los Lobos. My own cornie indie/poptimist biases are blatantly obvious; the obscurities are overwhelmingly "alternative" and the r&b mostly mainstream hits. Despite this nerdlinger cliche (and the occasional artist who merited shunning or worse after the 90s), I hope this is an entertaining and rewarding addendum to their decent if needlessly repetitive lists. I really tried to spread the love around! Unless you count two prominent Michael Stipe backing vocals. And two bands featuring John Reis. Ok, and the 6ths is basically Magnetic Fields joined by a cavalcade of indie singers represented on my list and Pitchfork's. Oh, shit. Noel Gallagher sang lead on the Chemical Brothers cut and that Oasis single Pitchfork picked, too. Anyway...I tried. Unlike some people.

Randy Newman.
They left off Randy! Randy!!!


30 ALBUMS I LIKE FROM THE NINETIES FROM ARTISTS THAT PITCHFORK BLEW OFF

  1. Spoon, A Series Of Sneaks
  2. Randy Newman, Bad Love
  3. Amy Rigby, Diary Of A Mod Housewife
  4. Das EFX, Dead Serious
  5. Lungfish, Talking Songs For Walking
  6. Bob Mould, Bob Mould
  7. The 6ths, Wasps' Nests
  8. Prince Paul, Psychoanalysis (What Is It?)
  9. The Clean, Vehicle
  10. Scrawl, Nature Film
  11. Amon Tobin, Bricolage
  12. Devin The Dude, The Dude
  13. Morrissey, Southpaw Grammar
  14. Mountain Goats, Full Force Galesburg
  15. John Prine, In Spite Of Ourselves
  16. Red House Painters, Red House Painters (Bridge)
  17. Tall Dwarfs, Weeville
  18. Afghan Whigs, Gentlemen
  19. Basehead, Play With Toys
  20. Girls Against Boys, Venus Luxure No. 1 Baby
  21. Imperial Teen, Seasick
  22. Los Lobos, Colossal Head
  23. Low, I Could Live In Hope
  24. Luna, Penthouse
  25. Vic Chesnutt, The Salesman And Bernadette
  26. Everclear, So Much For The Afterglow
  27. LL Cool J, Mama Said Knock You Out
  28. Richard Thompson, Rumor And Sigh
  29. East River Pipe, Shining Hours In A Can
  30. White Stripes, The White Stripes
When will Pitchfork stop sleeping on Sugar Ray already?!

100 SONGS I LIKE FROM THE NINETIES FROM ARTISTS THAT PITCHFORK THOUGHT ABOUT AND THEN SAID "HMM, NO, WE SHOULD REAFFIRM THE ARTISTRY OF VARIOUS MEMBERS OF THE WU-TANG AGAIN INSTEAD, DON'T WANT PEOPLE THINKING WE FORGOT ABOUT THE WU-TANG."

  1. Sir Mix-A-Lot, “Baby Got Back”
  2. Sugar Ray, “Someday”
  3. Pixies, “Velouria”
  4. AC/DC, “Thunderstruck”
  5. Ministry, “Jesus Built My Hotrod”
  6. Rocket From The Crypt, “Human Torch”
  7. Sebadoh, “The Freed Pig”
  8. PM Dawn, “Set Adrift On Memory Bliss”
  9. Giant Sand, “Center Of The Universe”
  10. Goo Goo Dolls, “Slide”
  11. House Of Pain, “Jump Around”
  12. Jonathan Fire*Eater, “Give Me Daughters”
  13. Archers Of Loaf, “Wrong”
  14. Tevin Campbell, “Round & Round”
  15. Soho, “Hippychick”
  16. Sloan, “Underwhelmed”
  17. Coolio, “Fantastic Voyage”
  18. Arrested Development, “Tennessee”
  19. Half Japanese, “Heaven Sent”
  20. Kyper, “Tic Tac Toe”
  21. Local H, “All The Kids Are Right”
  22. Faith No More, “Midlife Crisis”
  23. Chemical Brothers, “Setting Sun”
  24. DNA feat. Suzanne Vega, “Tom’s Diner”
  25. Social Distortion, “I Was Wrong”
  26. The Fall, “Hey! Student”
  27. John Mellencamp, “Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)”
  28. Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians, “She Doesn’t Exist”
  29. Jesus & Mary Chain, “Reverence”
  30. The London Suede, “The Drowners”
  31. Drive Like Jehu, “Luau”
  32. New Order, “Regret”
  33. Stone Temple Pilots, “Big Bang Baby”
  34. Bonnie Raitt, “I Can’t Make You Love Me”
  35. Mekons, “Millionaire”
  36. INXS, “Suicide Blonde”
  37. The Faint, “Worked Up (So Sexual)”
  38. Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, “Dang”
  39. Stereo MCs, “Connected”
  40. Unrest, “Make Out Club”
  41. Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Give It Away”
  42. Blake Babies, “Sanctify”
  43. Kris Kross, “Jump”
  44. Aerosmith, “What It Takes”
  45. Chavez, “Flight ’96”
  46. Color Me Badd, “All 4 Love”
  47. Rancid, “Old Friend”
  48. Siouxsie & The Banshees, “Kiss Them For Me”
  49. Matthew Sweet, “Sick Of Myself”
  50. Prince & The New Power Generation, “Gett Off”
  51. Roxette, “It Must Have Been Love”
  52. Mudhoney, “Into Yr Shtik”
  53. Placebo, “36 Degrees”
  54. The Offspring, “Come Out And Play”
  55. Digital Underground, “Kiss You Back”
  56. Taylor Dayne, “I’ll Be Your Shelter”
  57. Screaming Trees, “Sworn & Broken”
  58. Ride, “Cool Your Boots”
  59. Johnny Gill, “Rub You The Right Way”
  60. Beta Band, “Dry The Rain”
  61. Live, “Lakini’s Juice”
  62. Quad City DJs, “C’Mon And Ride It (The Train)”
  63. Wreckx-N-Effect, “Rump Shaker”
  64. Body Count, “Body Count”
  65. DJ Kool, “Let Me Clear My Throat”
  66. Soul Coughing, “Super Bon Bon”
  67. Queensryche, “Silent Lucidity”
  68. Positive K, “I Got A Man”
  69. Ramones, “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up”
  70. Semisonic, “Singing In My Sleep”
  71. Cracker, “Nostalgia”
  72. Next, “Too Close”
  73. Better Than Ezra, “Good”
  74. Zhane, “Hey Mr DJ”
  75. Lucas, “Lucas With The Lid Off”
  76. Urge Overkill, “The Mistake”
  77. Kristin Hersh, “Your Ghost”
  78. Erasure, “Chorus”
  79. Soul Asylum, “Somebody To Shove”
  80. Duran Duran, “Ordinary World”
  81. Dave Matthews Band, “Too Much”
  82. MC Lyte, “Cold Rock A Party”
  83. Rob Zombie, “Dragula”
  84. Backstreet Boys, "Quit Playing Games With My Heart"
  85. Tears For Fears, “Break It Down Again”
  86. Beth Orton, “Central Reservation”
  87. Ini Kamoze, “Here Comes The Hot Stepper”
  88. Del Amitri, “Always The Last To Know”
  89. Meshell Ndgeocello, “Fool Of Me”
  90. Butthole Surfers, “Pepper”
  91. Eels, “Last Stop: This Town”
  92. Smash Mouth, “Walking On The Sun”
  93. Montell Jordan, "This Is How We Do It"
  94. White Town, "Your Woman"
  95. Old 97s. “If My Heart Were A Car”
  96. Violent Femmes, “American Music”
  97. Lou Reed, “What’s Good”
  98. Counting Crows, “Mr Jones”
  99. Squirrel Nut Zippers, “Hell”
  100. Spacehog, "In The Meantime"
No Spacehog?! How could Pitchfork do Britpop so dirty?

I was even nice enough to make a playlist of the songs for you. One I better post already before I freak out and try to get Harvey Danger on there. Damn it, no. 101. "Flagpole Sitta" is no. 101.

The 90s Pitchfork Forgot!