90s Classic Albums (Featuring: Matchbox Twenty)

[jingle.boy]

I think the "grunge" label is more about the attitude, the angst, that is embodied in the lyrics and the music.

Bingo.  It had a little to do with the music, but way much more to your point.  Let's face it, each decade of "rock" has it's own flair/style.  Being a teen in the 80s, I'm heavily biased to the 80s and 70s.  And King kinda nailed it... in '92, I went of to Uni, and shortly after I graduated, I met my now wife, and got into wedding/family mode.  It wasn't until about 2004 and 2005 that I started re-discovering my love of discovering music.

While I agree, there are many classic albums from that decade nonetheless, and there was much more to the 90s than alt rock and grunge, as this thread will demonstrate.

Bring it on bitch.

[Outcrier]

There is gonna be a thread for 2000's classics too?

[KevShmev]

Oh, I will, j.b.

And to keep this going since interest seems to be strong, let's feature another now. I am not going to do all of the major grunge acts right from the start, so let's take somewhat of a turn...



I will freely admit that I am not a fan of Alanis Morissette, but there is no denying the popularity and classic status of Jagged Little Pill. I get why this was popular, since most of the hits are pretty catchy, but her voice just kind of annoys me.  Anyway, discuss. 

[erwinrafael]

For me, the best album by a solo female artist. I will just repost what I posted before in the Jagged Little Pill thread that I started:

This came out while I was entering college. To this day, it remains my favorite album by a female artist. So honest, and, while very angsty, it also sounded so mature and, ironically, optimistic. Three things I learned with Jagged Little Pill:

1) Songs with angry and angsty lyrics are not reserved for male artists in pop music.
2) You can channel negative energy into a thing of timeless beauty.
3) Life can be a bitch, but you can always look for a silver lining.

As Alanis put it in You Learn:

"You live, you learn
You love, you learn
You cry, you learn
You lose, you learn
You bleed, you learn
You scream, you learn"

Or better yet, in the ending of Ironic:

"Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
Life has a funny, funny way of helping you out"

[Calvin6s]

I think You Oughta Know was getting heavy rotation during the OJ Trial, so the two are inexorably linked in my mind.  That and the Jay Leno - Hugh Grant interview. I didn't watch it, but I'd see Alanis, MTV News break with a story on Hugh Grant or OJ Trial.

I liked the songs being played on radio/MTV from this album, but I didn't buy an Alanis album until the song Uninvited.  Still my favorite Alanis song.

[DebraKadabra]

Leave it to a thread about 90s music featuring one of my favorite bands and albums EVER to start with to bring me out of a self-imposed hiatus. Good work, Mister Schmevin. 

Anyhoot - I'd first heard Dirt around the same time as I got into Images and Words, which was late 1992/early 1993. Both blew me away in different ways - I&W because I&W, and Dirt because... well, I guess it spoke to the still angry teen hiding in a 22-23 year old's body (yes, I'm a fogey and damn proud of it LOL). Plus, as a prior alto in Choir from the time I was 11-12 to about 14-15... Layne's voice literally blew my mind with where he could take it. That, and the pentatonic harmonies that he and Jerry came up with - thanks to JERRY'S time in Choir... just fucking WOW. Dirt remains one of my favorite albums ever, it's the CD I've had the longest, and it's aged VERY well. The sun logo on the back cover (modified) is my only tattoo (so far) simply because I love AiC, Layne drew it, and I'd gotten it done a little over a year after Layne died as a tribute to him and as a 33rd birthday present to me.

I also remember going to see Collective Soul and Aerosmith back in 1994 and the deep cuts from Dirt were the background music before Aerosmith hit the stage. I was in hog heaven, and people were giving me REALLY strange looks for singing along to the song Godsmack. Until they realized it was Alice in Chains playing in the background lol. And speaking of that song...

Too bad Godsmack had to dick ride them by using the song's name for their band.

ANY Alice in Chains fan worth their salt will agree with this wholeheartedly. That, and how Sully did a weasely back pedal years later when people asked about it in interviews - he claimed that he'd gotten it from either an Aerosmith quote or song about "how God smacked you" or some such horseshit, but Fraudsmack started as an AiC COVER BAND, ffs. The last straw was their album Faceless. FACELESS. With songs similar to songs on AiC's Facelift. REALLY?! Fuck you, Sully Erna.

Whoops. Sorry 'bout the long text wall. xD

As for Jagged Little Pill... it had its time, but it didn't age well for me at all. In fact it's the reason why I can't stand Alanis to this day. IMO, she's a talentless hack.

[Kwyjibo]

When I first heard You Oughta Know I really liked it, but then it got on heavy rotation in MTV/radio and the more I heard it the less I liked it. Some other songs of her are cool (especially Ironic) but sometimes I can't stand her voice.

[bl5150]

Some other songs of her are cool (especially Ironic) but sometimes I can't stand her voice.

That's about it for me.  Some good songs , but (more often than not) shame about the voice.

[Kotowboy]

Great album. All the singles are classics and her voice never bothered me.

The second album was nowhere near as memorable - ( i say second as in follow up. I know JLP wasn't her debut ) and each of her albums has sold a fraction of the previous one since JLP.

I remember on my production course - one of the tracks on JLP was presented as an example of bad vocal gating and compression as all the breaths are really loud but you'd have to be an engineer to

notice them

[Cyclopssss]

Jagged Little Pill had all the planets aligned for some reason. It starts with an amazing voice and performance and some decent sonwriting.

A while back I was listening to You oughta know (which became something of an instant angry betrayed female Anthem) and wondered who was playing that increddible bassline? Looked at the cover and off course, it was none other then Flea from the Chili Peppers.

Great album in its time and she followed up with some great songs and increasingly bland albums, alas.

[KevShmev]

Leave it to a thread about 90s music featuring one of my favorite bands and albums EVER to start with to bring me out of a self-imposed hiatus. Good work, Mister Schmevin. 

Good to see you back. 

[TAC]

In the mid 90's my life changed dramatically and unexpectedly. I call that time period The Ice Age. It was during this time that I came across JLP. I played the shit out of it. While it was not really what I was into, I just felt like this album kind of spoke to me, for all of the reasons that Erwin posted.

[King Postwhore]

Deb!  Good to see you!

This album while it didn't totally click for me it got me into her art.  There are other albums of hers that I love from start to finish but JLP was a great start to her career and a hell of a first album.

[hefdaddy42]

Jagged Little Pill shows that Glenn Ballard knows how to write hits.

There are catchy tunes on it, but I don't care for it very much.  Also, it always pissed me off that "Ironic" featured a lot of examples of non-irony.

[mrrct]

It's true.  The song is really just a collection of bummers rather than actual examples of irony.  And the hits pretty much dried up after she stopped working with Ballard (co-wrote 4 songs on Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie), although I did see her videos from Under Rug Swept a few times on VHI many years ago.

[KevShmev]

I had no idea that she didn't write all of her own music by herself, and reading up on it, I like her even less now.  To me, she's someone with an annoying voice who was fortunate to hook up with a well-known songwriter (Glen Ballard) for a while.

[Zook]

Too bad Godsmack had to dick ride them by using the song's name for their band.

Is this really a big deal? Epica got their band name from a Kamelot album title. Who cares? I never understood the shear hatred for Godsmack from Alice in Chains fans. I noticed similairties to Facelift on their debut, but Faceless and Facelift aren't the same thing. It's like hating Dream Theater for showing some Rush influence. Sully trying to say AiC isn't an influence is rather odd and shitty, but to be up in arms because the band shows influence to their heroes is ridiculous. Besides, Alice in Chains didn't invent the term god smack.

My opinion on Dirt: it's boring and I hate Rooster. Back in the day, Dirt and the self titled were the two albums I couldn't finish. The only thing by the band I still have is Jar of Flies, but the first half on Facelift was pretty good. Out of all the "Grunge" acts, Alice in Chains were definitely the best of the bunch.

I went through a Jagged Little Pill phase, but it didn't have a whole lot of staying power. I still own it, but it's just a part of my collection. I currently have no desire to listen to it.

[sneakyblueberry]

JLP is a classic pop album for me, FULL OF BANGERZ.

[DebraKadabra]

No, I'm not up in arms because bands pay tribute to their influences--quite the contrary. I'm up in arms about it because Sully Erna is a liar. Hell, even Jerry Cantrell commented that Layne's family should've gotten something because of Fraudsmack's logo being a very close copy to Layne's artwork from the Dirt album (after Layne died).

[Zook]

No, I'm not up in arms because bands pay tribute to their influences--quite the contrary. I'm up in arms about it because Sully Erna is a liar. Hell, even Jerry Cantrell commented that Layne's family should've gotten something because of Fraudsmack's logo being a very close copy to Layne's artwork from the Dirt album (after Layne died).

The sun logos really aren't that similar.

[DebraKadabra]

They were similar enough in Jerry's eyes, and that's good enough for me.

[Zook]

They were similar enough in Jerry's eyes, and that's good enough for me.

So you're of the "James Hetfield hates Escape so I hate it too" variety?

[DebraKadabra]

Zook, I love you man but please don't put words in my mouth.

[Zook]

I'm just making a comparison. I don't even know if you're a Metallica fan. Your opinion on the sun logos doesn't make much sense to me. A musician's opinion isn't the final word on the matter. You could draw a crude circle with some squiggly lines coming off of it and it would be just as similar as those two logos.

Besides, I believe that Godsmack sun logo is just a celtic sun, so if anything, Godsmack just used an already existing religious symbol, which makes sense as Sully is a Wiccan.

[KevShmev]

Now, now, Zook, be nice.  We just got Debra back and posting again.  Don't scare her off!

[DebraKadabra]

  It's all good.

It may be harder to explain/understand now simply because Layne has been dead for 13 years. But back around... 2003, 2004? Everything was still an open wound for the surviving AiC guys and Layne's family. Honestly, I think with that comment that Jerry was not only making a jab at the band for their logo... he was also trying to defend who was at one time one of his best friends.

Me? I couldn't care less if Sully died tomorrow. He's a lying asshole, and you just cannot convince me otherwise.

[Zook]

It's all good.

It may be harder to explain/understand now simply because Layne has been dead for 13 years. But back around... 2003, 2004? Everything was still an open wound for the surviving AiC guys and Layne's family. Honestly, I think with that comment that Jerry was not only making a jab at the band for their logo... he was also trying to defend who was at one time one of his best friends.

Me? I couldn't care less if Sully died tomorrow. He's a lying asshole, and you just cannot convince me otherwise.

I edited my above post.

I'm failing to see the problem though. Godsmack got famous right after Layne died, but you, Cantrell and Layne's family make it seem like Godsmack was a parody band making fun of Alice in Chains. They were a cover band first, and brought the influence over to their original songs. How is that something to be offended by?

I'm not defending Sully. If he's a known liar, especially about something this trivial and obvious, that's not cool, and really he's just making himself look stupid.

[DebraKadabra]

No... Godsmack were popular BEFORE Layne died--they first started to break in 1995, around the time AiC was in a long hiatus due to Layne being in rehab. Layne died in 2002, and I guess the comparisons were more in the public eye thanks to the Internet (and AiC fan uproar over it). It's NOT something to be offended by if Sully hadn't proudly announced it at first, then denounced it later.

[jingle.boy]

So nice to see you Deb.  Missed ya.

Alanis was just inducted into the Canadian Music HoF.  She's smokin hawt - better now than she was 20 years ago.  That's about all the good I have to say.  You Outta Know was cool - especially since it was about as far away from Too Hot as you could get.  I remember seeing that video for the first time and thinking "that looks like that Alanis pop-singer chick".  Never would've thought in a million years that she would make those two songs/videos back-to-back basically.

As for the rest of the album... meh.  Though, like Kev said... no denying it's place in musical history.

[Kwyjibo]

Again derailing this thread, sorry, but I have to ask.

What are the similarities musicwise between Godsmack and Alice In Chains? Because frankly, I don't hear them. I like Godsmack up to IV and know my AiC by heart but other than both belonging to the wide area of rock/metal I really don't see the influences.

[Fluffy Lothario]

Godsmack got famous right after Layne died

No... Godsmack were popular BEFORE Layne died--they first started to break in 1995... Layne died in 2002

Unless you mean popular locally, or absolutely huge, I would say neither of these is quite right. Godsmack were, if not massive, a notable name in the whole nu-metal scene almost as soon as their first (widely released) album hit, which was 1998. They were even more well-established by their second album, which was still before Staley's death.

Also, I was quite the fan of Godsmack with their first and second albums, and got into AiC a few years later. This is literally the first time I've ever heard anything about a connection between the two bands, and I would never have drawn one myself just from their sound. If Godsmack were inspired by AiC, they added far more than enough of their own to the mix.

As for Jagged Little Pill, it is a pretty great album, though Ironic is rubbish. The rest of the album is dwarfed by One Hand In My Pocket and Mary Jane for me these days though. Those two tracks are amongst my favourite songs.

[Kotowboy]

Deb!  Good to see you!

This album while it didn't totally click for me it got me into her art.  There are other albums of hers that I love from start to finish but JLP was a great start to her career and a hell of a first album.

Except it wasn't her first album

[Cyclopssss]

The fuck happened here? 

[Cruithne]

I do own a copy of Jagged Little Pill, but I'm not sure why or how that happened. I only really like a couple of songs off it and the rest I find quite bland and forgettable. I did quite like Ironic when I first heard it, but Ed Byrne ruined it for me. Ruined I say.

The worst thing about Jagged Little Pill is that record companies wanted their own version, which eventually begat Avril Lavigne... 

To be fair, the first Lavigne album was pretty good, but I still remember the clear disparity between how the record company tried to market her and the obvious truth that she didn't write a damn thing on that album that became abundantly clear any time anyone interviewed her over the next year or two. "Change a word, take a third" personified.

That said, it's interesting that so many people are saying they don't consider AiC to be "grunge."  If you think about it, Nirvana is the only one of the "big 4" that actually fits the common definition of the genre.  The other three may have looked the part at times, but I'd say their music is hardly synonymous with what we call grunge, whereas Nirvana clearly embodies it.

See, I don't really know what the common definition of grunge is then, 'cos of the big 4 grunge acts Nirvana are the ones that I think of as being closer to punk than grunge and Pearl Jam were the ones who really typified exactly what grunge was.

[Fluffy Lothario]

A friend of mine was nuts on Avril Lavigne's first album. Considering his previous two obsessions - Hilary Duff and Tatu - it was a step in the right direction, to some minor degree. He ripped me a copy. I thought Tomorrow was the best song.

It was funny though, I had him in one ear proclaiming the album a masterpiece and my brother in the other ripping into her, calling her a fraud, a marionette for record execs, etc.

I wouldn't say JLP and Let Go are very similar though. One is unquestionably teen angsty, one is angsty in a way that doesn't feel teeny at all. Jagged Little Pill also has a consistent poppish alt-rock style across the album. Let Go is just a huge mish-mash. Losing Grip was pseudo hard rock, Complicated is pop rock, Skater Boi was bubblegum punk, I'm With You is all-out schmaltzy pop ballad, Tomorrow is acoustic rock, and I can recall a song late in the album where she raps.