9 Musical Treasures of the '90s
"Too Close" by Next"I wonder if she can tell that I'm hard right now," starts the unedited version of this 1997 slow jam. The version none of us got to hear when it came on because the principal refused to let the DJ play anything but the wholesome one, going so far as to force the amateur disc jockey to lower the volume when the lines, "it's almost like we're sexin'," and "makes me want you so bad sexually," intruded upon our eager, Puritan ears. The six inches of space ("leave room for Holy Ghost!") between you and your seventh grade honey disappeared whenever this song came on.
Soul AsylumOur love for Soul Asylum is like a runaway train, one that's never coming back. Admit it, you totally wanted to rock that torn and tattered Spaghetti O's shirt that dreamy lead singer Dave Pirne wore. Grunge-rock power ballads rule.
Hootie and the Blowfish"I wanna love you the best that, the best that I can," Darius Rucker proclaimed on Hootie's 1995 single "Hold My Hand," which catapulted the band into stratospheric success and radio ubiquity. And for two years during the '90s, Hootie did love us the best that he could. But our love for Hootie eventually faded, despite a barrage of radio-friendly albums. Maybe "with a little love and some tenderness," Hootie can "walk upon the water and rise above the mess" back into our hearts where he so clearly belongs.
Smashing PumpkinsLong overlooked in the grunge rock scene simply because they hailed from Chicago rather than Seattle, Smashing Pumpkins finally got due credit once grunge started to fade and they were still making the greatest music in the history of music. "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" was one of the 10 best albums of the '90s and Billy Corgan's magnum opus. Bald is beautiful thanks to Billy.
"Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm"by Crash Test Dummies - Any song composed of tragic vignettes about children with problems and vivid memories of everyone in the country talking about a song named after a single syllable has got to be gold standard. The Crash Test Dummies, led by the inimitable bass of Brad Roberts, came out with this song in the summer of '93, and the world was never the same.
"Stay" by Lisa LoebIf only we could all have some random cat following us around, a black baby-doll dress and some nerdy glasses. Lisa Loeb provided the anthem to the seminal movie, "Reality Bites." Defining the post-college malaise of "Generation X", there's nothing better than this song that honors all of the social work done by Winona Ryder and Ethan Hawke.
Anything on a Disney soundtrackDisney really nailed it in the '90s when it came to soundtracks, specifically "Aladdin" (1992), "The Lion King" (1994) and "Pocahontas" (1995). Nobody is actually going to make fun of you for knowing all the words to "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" when you're stumbling home from a party. They all just wish you were belting out "Hakuna Matata" instead. These soundtracks rocked our small worlds when we were younger.
OasisIt's a wonder the Gallagher brothers haven't died yet. Between the brotherly feuding, the alcohol abuse and the rabid music critics that won't acknowledge the Beatles similarity, the brothers G should have shuffled off this mortal coil with the turn of the millennium. Somewhere in the back of all of our minds, every single word to "Wonderwall" lurks. Whatever anyone says about Oasis sucking was obviously home-schooled in a house without access to pop culture in the '90s. They probably played with wooden toys.
TechnoClearly the only purpose for this brand of club music - which has gone by the various names of techno, house, rave and electronica - is to give white people a beat to which they can comfortably do the dance of their ancestors of the Caucasus Mountains (which naturally involved glow sticks). Connoisseurs will no doubt scoff at this unscientific grouping, but for all intents and purposes, this beat-heavy, lyric-light form of music took clubs by storm in the '90s. And if nothing else, techno gives you something to enjoy while high on X.
