50 Landmark 90s Albums

From flannel shirts to backwards caps, from Saved By The Bell to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, from grunge to gangster rap to pop, the 90's was an extremely interesting decade, particularly for pop culture. Confusing and meandering at times, the decade experienced various swings and shifts in popularity. The 90's began slowly, wandering in on the back of the 80's, riding the sounds and styles of that decade, unsure of its own musical direction. That is until September of 1991 when a relatively unknown grunge band from Seattle blasted through stereos everywhere with a vicious burst of furious power chords and teenage angst, kickstarting the alt-rock boom of the 90's. This almost single-handedly paved the way for grunge bands, alternative rock bands, punk bands and many others to achieve a level of success previously unknown by their genres. The decade swayed between alt-rock, hip hop and pop music in a furious battle for radio airplay. Bands such as Radiohead, Nirvana and Weezer went head to head with pop artists such as Britney Spears, while rappers like Nas and 2Pac wedged their way in between. Other brilliant bands like Built To Spill and Sonic Youth released magnificent albums that went largely unnoticed, barely scraping the surface of popular culture. The decade may have had some artistic flops, and may have seen pop music exert its muscles, inevitably winning back the charts, but it did not pass by without some truly extraordinary and memorable albums. The following are the 50 most memorable albums of the 90's.