1990's represent

Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and Bananarama. These people defined their generations through their music, interviews, lifestyles, and hair spray fetishes. But havent you ever wondered who will still be played on classic rock radio when our kids are listening to '90s rock'? Well, I tried to make a little list. These are probably the best bands of our generation (so far) and our window of opportunity is closing quickly.... i just feel privilieged to be old enough not to have to list britney spears, creed, sum 41 or any of the other crap coming out now.

Red Hot Chili Peppers
Although they had several albums out in the late 80s, the popularity of this group took off in 1991 with the release of the Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Under the Bridge was like a defining moment in 90s rock history... everyone listened to it at camp that summer. They have put out several hit albums since then... one hot minute, californication. Plus they were on the playlist for the 2nd Lollapalooza tour, which is basically a mark of 90's rock icon status. i remember flea and anthony even had a cameo in this charlie sheen movie, cast as the punk rocker dudes who throw their bigfoot into a high speed police chase. also i went to one concert as a little 16 year old and i remember flea donning his infamous 'pink sock' and anthony keidis standing on a speaker giving his 'red eye' shot to the audience. i guess thats deemed not as important as janet jacksons titty.


Green Day
When I was in 9th grade, this band blew up the scene at my school pretty hardcore. There were two kinds of green day fans back then... the ones who just listened to it, and the ones who worshipped the ground that billy walked on. billy this, billy that. jesus christ man, be yourself. anyway these guys had a lot of hits and of course the Dookie album is clutch in everyones collection. they played lolla '94, which was a big year for them... but even now green day is all up in the radio airplay time.


Beastie Boys
Even though their first big hit album came out in 1986, no way the 80s can claim the beastie boys... this band is a 90s shoe-in. Check Your Head in 92, Ill Communication in 94. I think that was my favorite beastie album... i knew all the lyrics and it was on constant rotation in my stereo. These 3 jewish boys from brooklyn made the world more aware of the Tibetan Freedom fight than any band i can think of... that was a cool cause to be behind. Even though their newer stuff isnt as fresh as it was back in the 90s, they still throw together some badass mixing and hiphop thats totally original... no rhyming about just bitches and hos.


Smashing Pumpkins
I am obviously talking about the 90s pumpkins... not so much that last album the freakshow put out. Siamese Dream has to be a CD that everyone who knows anything about tunes has in their collection. plus melon collie and gish and that boxed set thing, all very tight albums. its amazing what you can find on the internet... i saw them on 4/13/04 at louisville gardens, no setlist on the site. Anyway, i dont have much to say. these guys are good.


Dave Matthews Band
oooh, controversial band on the list of 1990s represent. music fans love to hate this band because they symbolize middle class white people who are being force fed music from record labels. but, even though i dont listen to it daily like i did at one point in my life, the dave matthews band is definitely an influential band from our generation. before dmb, i didnt even know you could throw a bass, a guitar, a sax, and a violin into the same song to make some sweet ass tunes. plus dave influences my dancing habits... i have the leg kick and moonwalk in place thing down to a science. i remember i had to BEG people to come with me to lex in 9th grade to see this show...fuckin akin. and it was a damn good show... i have probably seen them 4 or 5 times since.

Phish
This band never makes any lists... i guess because they play purely for their fans and not for mtv. that is probably my favorite thing about their attitude... like we dont have to sell our shit to anyone, it sells itself. Besides Trey being one of the most talented guitarists of our lifespan, this quintessential jam band has one of the biggest followings of any band today. Oh wait, they just broke up... but it doesnt matter, phish will always be part of our generation. Favorite songs: Fee, Bouncing Round the Room, Down with Disease, Waste, and Heavy Things.

Nirvana
Its pretty hard to put this band on the list for me.... i know they were influential in the scene and i obviously still listen to them... it just sucks that we got a small piece of what they were capable of. but nirvana is still on heavy rotation on the radio here... and why shouldnt it be, nirvana played some dank ass tunes. i think personally i like the unplugged album the best, and that might be blasphemous, but damn that was a sick album. what else can i say... nothing graceful, so i will just cut it short. nirvana will always be remembered by our age group...its just one of those classic bands.

Pearl Jam
I think that because Kurt Cobain didnt really get to expand his musical releases, this band should probably be voted for best all time band of the 90s generation. Eddie Vetter had so many good albums, so many good tunes, so many good lyrics.... everyone i know has some pearl jam cd in their collection. I have seen this band 6 times and they threw a great fucking show every time. mixing classics with new shit, it all sounded so good. Vitalogy could have probably been left behind on the short bus.... but Ten, Alive... you cant match those albums with anything.


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Other bands that are deserving but i dont have tons of shit to say about them:
- Beck
- Black crowes
- Weezer
- Metallica
- U2

Bands that coulda shoulda woulda, but arent for obvious reasons
- 311
- Sublime
- Blind Melon

If I left any off, please do tell... i know how music sparks controversy on my blogger.