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Zeebo's Top 10 Rock Albums of the Last Decade
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July 25, 2001 - Zeb "Dokken" Snyder (Columnist)
I've been mulling this one over for quite a while. This is a totally and completely subjective list, and the members of this highly selective club are there because I like them or recognize their importance, not because everyone else likes them. I don't really care about everyone else, because quite frankly, it's people like everyone else that have given us Limp Bizkit. If I ever find this "everyone else" person I'm going to have to give him or her a stern lecture. Anyway, this isn't based on popularity, album sales, number of band members killed by drugs or shotguns, or number of groupie porn videos on the market. This is based on what I think are the best albums that came out from 1991 through 2000 - and let me say that it was really tough to make these calls. Feel free to disagree....
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10. Nirvana - "Nevermind"
(1991 - 10 million)
I didn't like this album all that much. I didn't like Kurt Cobain. He wasn't my savior, I never owned a t-shirt/poster/condom/smack vial with his likeness, and I didn't miss three weeks of school when he (or his disgusting wife, whatever) painted his guesthouse wall with his brains. That being said, I recognize the importance of this album. It shocked the rock world out of its hairspray-induced coma, and shifted attention from the L.A.-based music scene to Seattle, which went on to produce several bands that were far better than Nirvana.
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9. Rage Against the Machine - "Rage Against the Machine"
(1992 - 3 million)
Wow. Have you ever heard of a band full of so much piss and vinegar? This album was unlike anything I'd ever heard before. Musically, it was a blend of hard rock and funk, with some completely unique guitar work. Vocally, it was mad-rhymin' rap (yes, I said "mad-rhymin'"). Lyrically, it was a condemnation of oppression, apathy, corruption, genocide, capitalism, and all things related to image-conscious corporate America. Not only was the music fresh and original, but also the subject matter was stimulating. I learned a lot by researching some of the topics Rage covered. How often can you say you learned something from a rock band?
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8. Tool - "Aenima"
(1996 - 2 million)
Cryptic lyrics combined with avant-garde guitar playing and a first-rate rhythm section makes this album great. Tool push the envelope both lyrically and musically. Lyrics dealing with religion, abuse, and sex are present here, along with guitar riffs that seem to morph as songs progress. Justin Chancellor and Danny Carey combine to make one of the best rhythm sections rock music has ever seen, and it really makes the difference on this record. This is a groundbreaking album.
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7. Guns 'n' Roses - "Use Your Illusion 1 & 2"
(1991 - 7 million each)
The last original studio output from one of the greatest rock bands ever. These two albums (conceived as a double album but sold separately) simply rock. They feature G'n'R at their most developed point musically and lyrically. Some songs are tight, some are ragged or expansive, but all are dead-on perfect. This band made a huge leap in making this, their second studio album - G'n'R 'Lies' was basically a compilation of tracks that were recorded during the 'Appetite for Destruction' sessions or before - and it's too bad they never made another. (No, 'The Spaghetti Incident?' doesn't count since that was an album of covers put out to hold the record company over until they were able to cut a new record... still waiting Axl.) Anyway, G'n'R was a great band and it's too bad they withered and died, but hey, it couldn't have happened to a better guy than Axl Rose. Nonetheless, these two albums were incredible.
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6. Alice in Chains - "Dirt"
(1992 - 4 million)
Alice in Chains rocked out on this album. It is their opus. If you want to know what they're all about, pop this disc into your player. Lyrically, it deals with the lighter side of life - you know, death, heroin addiction, being a machine-gunner in Vietnam - the fluffy stuff. Because of this, AIC was usually lumped into the alternative or grunge category, but they are by far the hardest and heaviest band to come out of Seattle, and this album is far more akin to Metallica than Nirvana. While 'Jar of Flies' is probably their most developed album musically speaking, 'Dirt' really captures the essence of Alice in Chains, and in my opinion it is one of the best hard rock albums to come down the pike in the last twenty years.
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5. Metallica - "Load"
(1996 - 4 million)
This album caused a shitstorm among many Metallica faithfuls. Some loved it; some viewed it as being the ultimate act of selling out. The fact is that 'Load' is a great rock album, all 78 minutes and 59 seconds of it. This album features bone-jarring riffs, thunderous bass and drums, and slippery, soulful leads from Kirk Hammett - his revitalized playing really makes this album. For my money, it's their best musical accomplishment since 'Master of Puppets'.
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4. A Perfect Circle - "Mer de Noms"
(2000 - 1 million)
The mainstream music audience in this country had likely never heard of Paz Lenchantin, Troy Van Leeuwen, Josh Freese, Billy Howerdel, and Maynard James Keenan. Keenan has garnered a cult-like following for his work in Tool, but has gone largely unnoticed to the mainstream. The band was put together not by Keenan, but by Tool's guitar technician, Howerdel. He assembled a lineup of well-rounded but largely unknown musicians, and when they emerged from the studio, they had made a masterpiece. It features thought-provoking, haunting lyrics, emotive and biting guitars and violins (yes, violins), and solid rhythm work. "Judith" questions the basis of religious faith. "Three Libras" explores the pains if various relationships. Ah, but to single out songs from this album is to commit a terrible injustice, because the entire album is strong - it is solid from the first to the last note. 'Mer de Noms' is simply a work of brilliance.
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3. U2 - "Achtung Baby"
(1991 - 8 million)
U2 emerged in the first year of the new decade with a brand new sound and attitude. Absent is the uplifting spirituality of 'The Joshua Tree' - in its place we have a jaded critique of stardom and celebrity excess. Also, it went from the lighter, melodic guitar sounds of The Joshua Tree to a harder-edged, more electronic sound. It was brilliant, but most people didn't (and still don't) get it. The album is loaded with great tunes, and it sounds just as fresh today as it did in 1991.
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2. Pearl Jam - "Ten"
(1991 - 11 million)
I didn't appreciate this one until years after its release. The whole grunge revolution was lost on me at the time (not a big fan of flannel), but at a certain point I realized that this is simply one of the finest rock albums (and bands for that matter) ever. Gossard and McCready definitely take the sonic forefront on this album, but it was the drumming of former member Dave Krusen and the lyrics of Eddie Vedder that really made Ten and Pearl Jam as a band stand out from all of the other similarly-themed grunge acts that emerged in 1991. The tenderness of "Black", the rockin' and rollin' of "Even Flow", the darkness of "Jeremy", and the sheer hugeness of "Alive" make this, in my opinion, the best album of the grunge movement, and the second best album of the decade.
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1. Metallica - "Metallica"
(1991 - 12 million)
Nothing but the biggest damned album of the decade, any way you look at it. Nicknamed 'The Black Album', it is heavy, dark, crunchy, quick, and compact - not as musically diverse as 'Load', but 'Load' would have never happened if the Black Album hadn't come along first. James Hetfield's vocals took a huge step forward on this album, which can be mostly attributed to producer Bob Rock. Hetfield's lyrics are also extraordinary on this album. The Black Album put Metallica into the mainstream, but on their own terms. It won a Grammy, for whatever that's worth, and continues to sell a ridiculous number of copies every week. It spawned a tour that lasted the better part of three years, taking the band around the U.S. many times, through South America, through Europe, and even to far-off places like Singapore and Indonesia - yes, Metallica Live in Jakarta would have probably been a pretty cool live album. The hair bands died (unfortunately they've returned), grunge came and went, gangsta rap lived and died, dance music rose and fell, and Napster peaked and sputtered, but Metallica outlasted all of it, finishing the decade strong with the 'S&M' collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, their fourth album of the decade. 'The Black Album' was the number one rock album of the nineties, plain and simple.
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Honorable Mention Grab Bag
Let's face it, not every album can make it into the hallowed halls of the top ten, but these albums were damn good. Consider them numbers eleven through twenty, in no particular order.
Smashing Pumpkins - 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness' (1996 - 8 million)
Live - 'Throwing Copper' (1994 - 8 million)
Jerry Cantrell - 'Boggy Depot' (1998 - N/A)
Collective Soul - 'Collective Soul' (1995 - 3 million)
Soundgarden - 'Superunknown' (1994 - 5 million)
No Doubt - 'Tragic Kingdom' (1995 - 10 million)
Aerosmith - 'Get A Grip' (1993 - 7 million)
Foo Fighters - 'The Colour and the Shape' (1997 - 1 million)
Alice in Chains - 'Jar of Flies' (1994 - 2 million)
Dave Matthews Band - 'Before These Crowded Streets' (1998 - 3 million)
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Opinions, we all have them. Our's is not the same as yours. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. The point is, if you don't agree fine. If you do agree, even better. Just realize this: everything said on these pages, is an opinion, and should be taken as such. If you are offended by what is said, just don't come back. Please do not resort to childish flaming or spamming of our message board or monk.e.mail address below, but do feel free to drop us a line with any intelligent comments you may have.
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Brad & Tim. |
DMLives@gmail.com
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