List your top 10 albums of the 90's. Here is mine:

1. Ten - Pearl Jam
2. Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumpkins
3. Blood Sugar Sex Magik - Red Hot Chili Peppers
4. Purple - Stone Temple Pilots
5. Loveless - My Bloody Valentine
6. Villains - The Verve Pipe
7. Versus - Pearl Jam
8. Slanted and Enchanted - Pavement
9. Jar of Flies - Alice in Chains
10. Throwing Copper - Live

1. Madonna- Ray of Light
2. Prince- The Gold Experience
3. Prince- Crystal Ball
4. Björk- Homogenic
5. Annie Lennox- Diva
6. Prince- Symbol
7. Björk- Post
8. Depeche Mode- Violator
9. Eurythmics- Peace
10. Janet Jackson- The Velvet Rope

01. Nirvana- Nevermind
02. Wilco- Summerteeth
03. Radiohead- OK Computer
04. R.E.M.- Automatic for the People
05. The Flaming Lips- The Soft Bulletin
06. Neutral Milk Hotel- In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
07. Pavement- Slanted & Enchanted
08. My Bloody Valentine- Loveless
09. Nirvana- In Utero
10. Jeff Buckley- Grace

Love the 90s!

1. Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane over the Sea
2. Radiohead - OK Computer
3. Nirvana - Nevermind
4. Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
5. Nas - Illmatic
6. DJ Shadow - Endtroducing...
7. The Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers
8. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
9. Beck - Odelay
10. Blur - Parklife

1. Portishead - Dummy
2. Moby - Play
3. Björk - Debut
4. Depeche Mode - Violator
5. Nirvana - Nevermind
6. Massive Attack - Protection
7. PJ Harvey - To Bring You My Love
8. Sinéad O'Connor - I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
9. U2 - Achtung Baby
10. Sade - Love Deluxe

OK Computer
Different Class
Soft Bulletin
Loveless
Achtung Baby
Dog Man Star
Parklife
Definitely Maybe
The Bends
Crooked Rain,Crooked Rain

Great pick! I didn't know anybody else liked Sade around here.

1. R.E.M. - Automatic For The People
2. Marc Cohn - Marc Cohn
3. New Radicals - Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too
4. U2 - Achtung, Baby
5. Moby - Play
6. The Verve - Urban Hymns
7. Bob Dylan - Live 1966 - The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert
8. Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
9. Bob Dylan - Time Out Of Mind
10. Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory?

01. Radiohead - OK Computer
02. Massive Attack - Mezzanine
03. Portishead - Dummy
04. Counting Crows - August and Everything After
05. R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
06. David Gray - Flesh
07. Pearl Jam - Ten
08. Ben Harper - Fight for Your Mind
09. Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind
10. Air - Moon Safari

I hope i can finish my list in time!! it's so out of date (made back in 2008), there are a lot of females and things i used to love back in the day and others that i found out later are not there, so i need to update it!

1. Radiohead - OK Computer
2. Pearl Jam - Ten
3. Nirvana - Nevermind
4. Nas - Illmatic
5. Jeff Buckley - Grace
6. Radiohead - The Bends
7. Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die
8. Nirvana - In Utero
9. Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
10. For me it really drops off, there's about 7-8 albums I considered putting here. The most notable omission is probably In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, which I want to get more into based on this forum's love for it.

1. Radiohead - OK Computer
2. Weezer - Pinkerton
3. Depeche Mode - Violator
4. The Verve - Urban Hymns
5. Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
6. Oasis - Definately Maybe
7. A Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory
8. Radiohead - The Bends
9. Outkast - Aquamini
10. Manic Street Preachers - Generation Terrorists
10a. Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
10b. Pearl Jam - Vs.
10c. Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory
10d. The Cure - Wish
10e. The Fugees - The Score

1) Elliott Smith - Either/Or
2) Portishead - Dummy
3) Built To Spill - Perfect From Now On
4) IAM - L'école du micro d'argent
5) DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
6) Elliott Smith - XO
7) Radiohead - OK Computer
8) Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
9) Wu Tang Clan - Enter the Wu Tang
10) Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty

1. OK Computer- Radiohead
2. (What's the Story) Morning Glory?- Oasis
3. Nevermind- Nirvana
4. Automatic for the People- R.E.M.
5. Summerteeth- Wilco
6. Loveless- My Bloody Valentine
7. In the Aeroplane over the Sea- Neutral Milk Hotel
8. Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain- Pavement
9. The Bends- Radiohead
10. Parklife- Blur

1. The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs
2. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
3. The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
4. R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
5. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - The Boatman's Call
6. Tom Waits - Bone Machine
7. Nas - Illmatic
8. Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One
9. Tricky - Maxinquaye
10. Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road

1. Slint - Spiderland
2. Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen...
3. Pavement - Crooked Rain Crooked Rain
4. Belle & Sebastian - Tigermilk
5. Mercury Rev - Deserter's Songs
6. Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun
7. Belle - If You're Feeling Sinister
8. Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
9. Radiohead - Ok Computer
10. MBV - Loveless

Funny thing, I find that the best of the 90s come actually in the 200-1000 section of AM. 1991 (which has a lot of the high albums) is incredibly overrated in my mind.

From my all-time top 200 sent out recently, this should be:
1.Johnny Cash American Recordings 1994
2.Chris Whitley Living With The Law 1991
3.Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Orange 1994
4.Portishead Dummy 1994
5.R.L. Burnside Come on in 1998
6.Buena Vista Social Club Buena Vista Social Club 1997
7.Madonna Ray of Light 1998
8.Massive Attack Protection 1994
9.Tom Waits Bone Machine 1992
10.Björk Debut 1993

"Moon Safari" by Air was in this top 10 at the time but has dropped out since. Saw them live this summer and I almost fell asleep.

1. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless (#1 all-time)
2. Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
3. Elliott Smith - Either/Or
4. Slowdive - Souvlaki
5. Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
6. Elliott Smith - XO
7. Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
8. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
9. Mercury Rev - Yerself Is Steam
10. Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet

1) The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs
2) Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish
3) Supergrass - I Should Coco
4) Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory
5) Nirvana - Nevermind
6) Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted
7) The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
8) Suede - Suede
9) Soundgarden - Superunknown
10) The La's - The La's

Really wanted to include Manic Street Preachers' Generation Terrorists because I think it's so underrated, but that would be my #11.

Dude..4 of the same top 5, and every album that is in your top 10 that isn't is in my top 20 or 30.

I like you!

Radiohead - OK Computer
Nirvana - Nevermind
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
Nirvana - In Utero
Fiona Apple - When The Pawn
Liz Phair - Exile In Guyville
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Bjork - Homogenic
Beck - Odelay
Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs

I hate how underrated this album is. It's utterly stunning. Anyone who likes albums like say White Light/ White Heat, albums that create beauty through disorder, will really appreciate this album. The best album of its year, and yes that includes OK Computer (the only decision NME got right!)

I completely agree. This album contains so many mindblowing moments, both through noise ("No God Only Religion") and through beauty (the title track and "Broken Heart"). It's decently acclaimed, but not as much as it should be.

Wow, this was completely unexpected. I've just listened to it for the first time, and I loved it! The Individual has to be the most epic track, even though it's by no means the longest or the most outgoing.

My top album of the 90's according to my old 2008 list, it's going to be hard to beat it even 2 years after i discovered and took me to the stratosphere!

haha thanks, I just looked over your top ten, and I'd put The Soft Bulletin in my top 15, and In Utero, Grace, and Slanted and Enchanted all in my top 30!

Great minds think alike!

Great album. I was happy to see pitchfork give it the big 10.0 when it was reissued.

01. PUBLIC ENEMY-Apocalypse 91...the enemy strikes back (1991)
02. CHEMICAL BROTHERS-Dig your own hole (1997)
03. TRICKY-Maxinquaye (1995)
04. KRUDER & DORFMEISTER-The K&D sessions (1998)
05. TINDERSTICKS-Tindersticks (1995)
06. GZA/GENIUS-Liquid swords (1995)
07. MAURIZIO-Maurizio (1996)
08. PJ HARVEY-To bring you my love (1995)
09. AUTECHRE-Tri repetae (1995)
10. MINISTRY-Psalm 69 (1992)

11. dEUS-Worst case scenario (1994)
12. UNDERWORLD-Second toughest in the infants (1997)
13. TORTOISE-Millions now living will never die (1996)
14. BECK-Odelay (1996)
15. UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE-X 101 (1991)
16. JERU THE DAMAJA-The sun rises in the east (1994)
17. FLAMING LIPS-The soft bulletin (1999)
18. BLACK DOG PRODUCTIONS-Bytes (1993)
19. A TRIBE CALLED QUEST-The low end theory (1991)
20. HAPPY MONDAYS-Pills 'n thrills and bellyaches (1990)

1. My Bloody valentine - Loveless

2. Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

3. Nirvana - In Utero

4. Elliot Smith - Either/Or

5. Radiohead - O.K. Computer

6. Flaming Lips - the Soft Bulletin

7. Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One

8. Slint - Spiderland

9. Mercury Rev - Deserter's Songs

10. Sonic Youth - Goo

11. Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister

12. Portishead - Dummy

13. Tom Waits - Bone Machine

14. Neutral Milk Hotel - In An Aeroplane Over The Sea

15. The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie & The Ifinite Sadness

16. Beck - Odelay

17. Sonic Youth - Dirty

18. Nirvana - Nevermind

19. Bob Dylan - Time Out Of Mind

20. Sleater Kinney - Dig me Out

1. Elliott Smith- ST
2. Radiohead- OK Computer
3. Elliott Smith- XO
4. Weezer- Blue Album
5. Beck- Mutations
6. Pavement- Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
7. Weezer- Pinkerton
8. Jayhawks- Sound of Lies
9. Belle and Sebastian- If You're Feeling Sinister
10. Nirvana- Unplugged in NY

Close:

Matthew Sweet- Girlfriend
Elliott Smith- Either/Or
Starflyer 59- The Fashion Focus
Neutral Milk Hotel- In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Beck- Odelay

Damn - can't believe I forgot Jordan:The Comeback by Prefab Sprout. I'd have it about #3 at the moment,but it may eventually become my #1 of the 90s. It's a masterpiece...

1- Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted
2- Pavement - Crooked Rain Crooked Rain
3- My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
4- Pavement - Wowee Zowee
5- Pavement - Brighten The Corners
6- Radiohead - OK Computer
7- The Chills - Kaleidoscope World
8- The Geraldine Fibbers - Lost Somewhere Between the Earth and My Home
9- Pavement - Terror Twilight
10- R.E.M. - Automatic For The People

Decided to add Runners-up:

Beck- Odelay
Belle & Sebastian- If You're Feeling Sinister
Blur- Parklife
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds- The Boatman's Call
Bob Dylan- Time out of Mind
PJ Harvey- Rid of Me
Magnetic Fields- 69 Love Songs
Mercury Rev- Deserter's Songs
Modest Mouse- The Lonesome Crowded West
Nirvana- MTV Unplugged in New York
Oasis- What's the Story Morning Glory
Portishead- Dummy
Primal Scream- Screamadelica
Public Enemy- Fear of a Black Planet
Radiohead- The Bends
Smashing Pumpkins- Siamese Dream
Elliott Smith- Either / Or
Elliott Smith- XO
Weezer- Pinkerton
Lucinda Williams- Car Wheels on a Gravel Road

20 may seem excessive, but all 20 of those albums were considered for the last spot on my top 10.

1. OK Computer- Radiohead
2. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
3. Odelay - Beck
4. Nevermind - Nirvana
5. Either/Or - Elliott Smith
6. Different Class - Pulp
7. 69 Love Songs - The Magnetic Fields
8. To Bring You My Love - PJ Harvey
9. Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain - Pavement
10. Copper Blue - Sugar

Hmm. Off the top of my head:

1. Radiohead – OK Computer
2. R.E.M. – Automatic for the People
3. Blur – s/t
4. My Bloody Valentine – Loveless
5. Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
6. Nirvana – In Utero
7. Portishead – Dummy
8. Belle and Sebastian – If You’re Feeling Sinister
9. Pulp – Different Class
10. Wilco – Summerteeth

Honorable mentions to Soft Bulletin, Elastica, The Bends, Nevermind, Debut, Endtroducing, Parklife, Siamese Dream, Exile in Guyville and New Adventures in Hi-Fi.

Wow. Good decade.

From my Top 100 list:

1. Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
2. The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
3. U2 - Achtung Baby
4. The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs
5. Weezer - Pinkerton
6. Radiohead - The Bends
7. Radiohead - OK Computer
8. The Verve - Urban Hymns
9. Mercury Rev - Deserter's Songs
10. Elliott Smith - XO

Strong decade - may be my favorite in music.

Yes, yes it was.

I though I've seen Protection at the top of your all time lists before Henrik?

I couldn't resist posting my top 30 '90's albums.....

1. OK Computer- Radiohead
2. (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?- Oasis
3. Nevermind- Nirvana
4. Automatic for the People- R.E.M.
5. Summerteeth- Wilco
6. Loveless- My Bloody Valentine
7. Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain- Pavement
8. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea- Neutral Milk Hotel
9. The Bends- Radiohead
10. Definitely Maybe- Oasis
11. Parklife- Blur
12. Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space- Spiritualized
13. The Soft Bulletin- The Flaming Lips
14. Blue Lines- Massive Attack
15. Screamadelica- Primal Scream
16. Odelay- Beck
17. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness- Smashing Pumpkins
18. Dummy- Portishead
19. Play- Moby
20. Endtroducing….- DJ Shadow
21. Grace- Jeff Buckley
22. Achtung Baby- U2
23. The Low End Theory- A Tribe Called Quest
24. Urban Hymns- The Verve
25. Siamese Dream- Smashing Pumpkins
26. Different Class- Pulp
27. Pinkerton- Weezer
28. Moon Safari- Air
29. Slanted and Enchanted- Pavement
30. In Utero- Nirvana

oh...2005.. the fashion, the colours, the ideas, the politics, the lust... too bad that our younger members probably neither apprehend nor appreciate how significant and uplifting that time was for our generation... their world has become so offensively shallow and effortless that i'm afraid... yux yux yux yux yux...

welcome back, Doc Brown

Grace us with a nj list.

i gladly would. but i'm sick of putting The Soft Bulletin on #1.

(k, distilling my latest ATA_list, it would actually look like this

01. The Soft Bulletin. The Flaming Lips
02. Zaireeka. The Flaming Lips
03. See You On The Other Side. Mercury Rev
04. Twin Infinitives. Royal Trux
05. Clouds Taste Metallic. The Flaming Lips
06. Funcrusher Plus. Company Flow
07. L'ivresse de la vitesse. Paul Dolden
08. His N Hers. Pulp
09. Rise Up. Bobby Conn
10. Innercity Griots. Freestyle Fellowship

.. yikes, witnessing the sheer one-dimensionality-taste of that list, i'm the ckuffing heir of Planet Moonbeam!)

How about the greatest albums of the 1990's that aren't The Soft Bulletin?

That would be

01. Zaireeka. The Flaming Lips
02. See You On The Other Side. Mercury Rev
03. Twin Infinitives. Royal Trux
04. Clouds Taste Metallic. The Flaming Lips
05. Funcrusher Plus. Company Flow
06. L'ivresse de la vitesse. Paul Dolden
07. His N Hers. Pulp
08. Rise Up. Bobby Conn
09. Innercity Griots. Freestyle Fellowship
10. Giant Steps. The Boo Radleys

and it actually DOES feel much better...

Looks like someone isn't entirely horizontal, either!

Have you actually experimented to listening to different discs of Zareika simultaneously? I always meant to do that but never got around to it. How is it when you listen to them together? Any particularly good combinations?

... diagonal people don't have it easy... and it's useless for them to deny their roots.. ok, great, my dad is a horizontal and my mom a vertical, too bad I'm no Terence Trent Kravitz record collecter after all... it simply hurts that neither of them tried to accept me... we're the last minority on earth... blechzeit... again

1: It was quite a pain in the ass to get our "press play - now!" coordinated, 2: yet it still was more intimidating than Avatar.. 3: see "1:"

1. Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
2. Beck - Odelay
3. Elliott Smith - XO
4. Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One
5. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
6. Liz Phair - Exile In Guyville
7. Cassandra Wilson - New Moon Daughter
8. Paul Simon - Rhythm of the Saints
9. Pavement - Brighten the Corners
10. Radiohead - OK Computer

1. Ladies and Gentlemen We're Floating in Space- Spiritualized
2. If You're Feeling Sinister- Belle and Sebastian
3. Little Earthquakes- Tori Amos
4. Cake- Trash can Sinatras
5. 69 Love Songs- Magnetic Fields
6. This is Hardcore- Pulp
7. Whitechocolatespaceegg- Liz Phair
8. Never Loved Elvis- the Wonder stuff
9. Deserter's Song- Mercury Rev
10. Giant Steps- The Boo Radleys

1) Blur - Parklife
2) Oasis - Definitely Maybe
3) R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
4) Beck - Odelay
5) Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish
6) U2 - Achtung Baby
7) Elliott Smith - Either/Or
8) Blur - Blur
9) The Verve - Urban Hymns
10) Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
Almost made #10: Nas - Illmatic, Blur - 13, Radiohead - OK Computer

It's sad how often people forget how terrific this album is, it was also inside my top 10 of the decade back in 2008, still sounds groundbreaking and moving.

1. Radiohead - OK Computer
2. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
3. The Cure - Wish
4. Elliott Smith - Either/Or
5. Slint - Spiderland
6. Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
7. Sonic Youth - Dirty
8. Jeff Buckley - Grace
9. Teenage Fanclub - Songs From Northern Britain
10. Soundgarden - Superunknown

1 Oasis (What's the Story) Morning Glory
2 Third Eye Blind Third Eye Blind
3 Foo Fighters The Colour And The Shape
4 Santana Supernatural
5 Red Hot Chili Peppers Californication
6 Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
7 Cranberries Bury the Hatchet
8 Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream
9 Blink-182 Enema of State
10 Todd Rundgren No World Order

1. RADIOHEAD "OK Computer"
2. BJÖRK "Debut"
3. THE MAGNETIC FIELDS "69 Love Songs"
4. BELLE AND SEBASTIAN "If You're Feeling Sinister"
5. R.E.M. "Automatic for the People"
6. LAURYN HILL "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill"
7. PJ HARVEY "To Bring You My Love"
8. PORTISHEAD "Dummy"
9. MERCURY REV "Deserter's Songs"
10. GORAN BREGOVIC "Underground"

1. Radiohead - OK Computer
2. Nirvana - Nevermind
3. Pearl Jam - Ten
4. REM - Automatic For the People
5. Blur - 13
6. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
7. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
8. Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
9. U2 - Achtung Baby
10. Nirvana - In Utero

Paring this list down was tough

1 .In Utero - Nirvana
2 .Low End Theory - A Tribe Called Quest
3 .36 Chambers - Wu Tang Clan
4 .Goat - The Jesus Lizard
5 .Slanted & Enchanted - Pavement
6 .Aquemini - Outkast
7 .Repeater - Fugazi
8 .Midnite Vultures - Beck
9 .Liquid Swords - GZA
10 .Live Through This - Hole

1. Radiohead - The Bends
2. dc Talk - Jesus Freak
3. Moby - Play
4. Newsboys - Take Me to Your Leader
5. R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
6. Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
7. Jars of Clay - Jars of Clay
8. The Cranberries - No Need to Argue
9. Bjork - Debut
10. Sixpence None the Richer - Sixpence None the Richer

Honorable Mentions:
• The Beatles - Anthology 1, 2 & 3
• Michael Jackson - Dangerous and HIStory
• Paul McCartney - Flaming Pie
• Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill
• Newsboys - Going Public and Love Liberty Disco - both of these would be in my top 10, but I wanted some variety
• Radiohead - OK Computer and Pablo Honey
• U2 - Achtung, Baby
• Soundtrack - The Lion King

It's 12, but I don't care. no order.

My Bloody Valentine- LOVELESS
Neutral Milk Hotel- In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Magnetic Fields- Distant Plastic Trees
Grave Diggaz- 6 Feet Deep
Pharoah Monch- Internal Affairs
Portishead- Dummy
Red House Painters- Roller Coaster
Slint- Spiderland
Stereolab- Transient Random Noise Bursts With Announcements
Talk Talk- Laughing Stock
Wu Tang Clan-36 Chambers
John Zorn- Naked City

I thought Pavement fans would be interested in the article at http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2010/10/11/101011crmu_music_frerejones

My guess is that you already know that the Web site Pitchfork named the band’s single “Gold Soundz” the best song of the nineties, and Robert Christgau, a critic naturally averse to consensus but patient enough to know when it’s meaningful, has called Pavement “the finest rock band of the nineties.”

Interesting article by Frere-Jones. But I completely disagree with his premise.

The centerpiece of his analysis of Pavement is a refutation of Christgau's assessment that Pavement is the "finest rock band of the nineties." He puts Nirvana in that position:

"If Pavement’s songs were the air-conditioned stacks at the main library, Nirvana’s were the fight behind the bleachers: one set of problems was theoretical and subject to will; the other was entirely real and unmanageable. Kurt Cobain’s suicide changed the stakes for independent rock—people saw how far down the hole sincerity could take you. Where before there were love notes hidden in Pavement’s wordplay, now there would be jokes and references. That’s my theory, at least. It’s only rock and roll, folks. No reason to die for it, is there?"

It didn't take Cobain's tragic but (let's face it) stupidly drug-addled suicide to make me naturally gravitate toward Malkmus. (My take is that there may be reasons to die for rock and roll, but there are many more reasons to live for it. And anyway, Cobain didn't die because of rock and roll (his reference to "My My, Hey Hey" notwithstanding), he died because of heroin.) If anything, Cobain's death prompted some beautifully sincere responses, including Patti Smith's "About a Boy" and Imperial Teen's "You're One." Of course, Malkmus loses the tortured artist sweepstakes to Cobain. I'll grant that he is also a less "sincere" artist.

So, there is, no doubt, something to the dichotomy that Frere-Jones sets up. And maybe I prefer Pavement simply because I was always more at home in the "air-conditioned stacks at the main library" rather than "fight[ing] behind the bleachers." But he overstates the case. (After all, if its a fight in the bleashers you are looking for -- well, Cobain took on Axl Rose while Malkmus took on (in his own way) Billy Corgan. I'd say the latter was a riskier move at the time.) Yes, there is an element of the academic to Pavement's music. But Malkmus' lyrics are still firmly poetry, not philosophy. And while there were lots and lots of "wrong" notes, Malkmus as lead guitarist, and the band in whole, could still shred when they wanted to... and they wanted to more often than they were given credit for. Malkmus may have sang "goodnight to the rock and roll era," but he played a rock star often enough not to have meant it.

And Frere-Jones' suggestion that Pavement wasn't shambolic enough after Slanted and Enchanted -- too "good-natured" is how he puts it multiple times --is plain wrong to my ears. No good-natured band asks their fans to struggle through Wowee Zowee. Too comfortable and not urgent enough, Frere-Jones says. I don't think that a band that can give us "Unfair" and "Embassy Row" lacks for urgency.

My erroneous take for a long time had been that Nirvana (for all the soft-loud-soft talk) was a bit too one-note in their rage. But I now see that Nirvana had tongue in cheek plenty of times. And, of course, Unplugged was a whole different animal. But Pavement could change up the mood as well.

Worst of all, he misses all of the post-Slanted and Enchanted "love notes hidden in Pavement’s wordplay." I think they're clearly there in, for example, "Ann Don't Cry," "Spit on a Stranger," and "Shady Lane."

Any rock artists' presentation is part of their art. But don't mistake the presentation for the music. I'm sure that Frere-Jones would grant there is a complexity in Pavement's music. And I recognize, as he does, that his take (as well as mine) is a subjective response. So I guess I leave it at... my ears do not hear what his do.

Nice pick! I just listened to that one for the first time a few months ago, really good stuff.

Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory
Nirvana - Nevermind
REM - Automatic for the People
Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
Oasis - Definitely Maybe
Radiohead - The Bends
Beck - Odelay
U2 - Achtung Baby
Teenage Fanclub - Grand Prix
Wilco - Summerteeth