The music of the 1990s is back and booming, baby. From the release of Britney Spears’s memoir, The Woman in Me to NKOTB’s successful “Magic Summer Tour” to recent documentaries and books, the soundtrack of “Gen X” is entering a new phase of appreciation and interest. Having come of age during the 90s I had a front row seat to the era and my perspective on the era has deepened over time.

Up until the mid-2000s pop “success” usually meant platinum (1 million units) plus album sales and multiple hit singles. The best-selling albums of the 1990s include such blockbusters as Garth Brooks No Fences (18 million), Shania Twain’s Come on Over (17.7 million), Metallica’s eponymous album (17.3 million), Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill (15.5 million), Hootie & the Blowfish’s Cracked Rear View (14.5 million), and The Bodyguard soundtrack (13.45 million).

Comparatively digital sales and impressions are far more salient to contemporary artists than album sales.  Few artists sell more than 1-2 million album units. The caché of “alternative” and “indie” music labels were antidotes to blockbuster pop though many of the most heralded albums associated with these categories (e.g. Nirvana’s Nevermind, R.E.M’s Out of Time) still sold in the millions.

Between the blockbusters and indie/alternative artists lie a tier of artists whose music is less obvious commercially and less canonized but worth listening to and discovering. Many of these artists may have scored an album and/or single that crossed over but produced noteworthy music beyond their best-known works. As such, I’m sharing some 1990s music that’s not particularly esoteric but often overlooked in 1990s retrospectives.

Similar to my previous list-oriented blogs I approached this endeavor with a set of parameters including the following:

·       The list focuses on albums released between January 1, 1990-December 31, 1999.

·       The albums featured are traditional albums of new performances not anthologies or compilations.

·       The albums included were modest commercial successes at best.  To quantify this element only albums that peaked in the lower reaches of the top 40 albums (#35 and below) on the Billboard 200 albums list or that never charted were eligible.

·       There are no explicit genre limits but the list leans toward country, pop, R&B, and rock. In the 1990s albums associated with esoteric subgenres (e.g., polka) and/or performed in languages other than English typically ranked low on the pop albums chart so the field of mainstream music overshadowed by blockbusters poses more of a challenge.

·       Additionally, when its relevant my discussion emphasizes a pattern in the 1990s. Notably, during the decade several artists viewed as specialized or niche breached the “mainstream” via a key single or album and subsequent releases were less popular but not necessarily lesser in quality.

·       As a bonus include a list of 20 great singles from the 1990s including those that missed the top 10 on the pop singles chart or that never charted but are nonetheless classics worth rediscovering.

1990

Behaviour (#45)

Pet Shop Boys

1990’s Behavior, released after a string of memorable hits like “West End Girls” and “Always on My Mind” was more somber and pointed than their first few albums tackling friendship and loss in the era of AIDS (the haunting “Being Boring”), rock star pretense (“How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?”), domestic abuse (“The Wind”) and an increasing specialty—heartache (“So Hard,” “Jealousy”). Shifting from 80s synth they encased their melancholia with strings, mid-tempo rhythms and a newfound dramatic sweep. Behaviour proves music with contemporary dance elements and synthesizers could be just as affecting and reflective as more traditional forms. Despite its milder commercial reception, especially in the U.S., Behaviour is a benchmark album.

Any Kind of Lie (Did not chart)

Marti Jones

Marti Jones is best known for her incisive interpretations on the acclaimed late 1980s albums Unsophisticated Time, Match Games, and Used Guitars, the latter an exemplar of jangle pop and one of rock’s finest interpretive sets. Any Kind of Lie features 10 originals and 2 interpretations but they add up to a solid whole. The title track is beautiful, melodic and smart. “Second Sight” showcases her vocal strength quite well. “Cliché” is delicate and understated and “Second Choice” is a moody shuffle with an intimate vocal that illuminates the song’s vivid imagery.  The best originals stand up to some of her favored writers. Several of the songs required repeated listens to sink in but this was a step forward creatively for Jones and her producer, collaborator, and husband Don Dixon.

Have You Seen Me Lately (#60)

Carly Simon                             

Carly Simon experienced a career resurgence in the late 1980s through the hit song and album Coming Around Again, and the award-winning film theme “Let the River Run.” 1990’s Have You Seen Me is perhaps her most listenable and consistent album from start to finish. Whether singing about scandalous affairs (“Better Not tell Her”), the anxieties of new love (“Holding Me Tonight”), aging and mortality (“Happy Birthday,” “Life is Eternal”), or rehabilitation (“Waiting at The Gate”) there is a refreshing introspection in her language and perspective. Musically she sings with impressive confidence and precision, and the textures and arrangements are quite diverse. There is a contented, slow burn quality here that sinks in and stands up to repeated plays. 

Heartbeats Accelerating (Did not chart)

The McGarrigle Sisters

The McGarrigle Sisters are a gifted charming folk duo, comprised of Quebec born sisters Anna and Kate McGarrigle. Best known for writing songs like “Heart Like a Wheel” and “The Work Song” popularized by Linda Ronstadt, and Maria Muldaur, they have always been critical favorites but never had commercial success in the  U.S. 1990’s Heartbeats Accelerating updates their typically sparse acoustic sound with a more electric sheen though it is still recognizable as an acoustic folk album.  Heartbeats features the excellent yearning title track, (later covered by Linda Ronstadt), the bouncy “Love Is” (recorded by Emmylou Harris in 1988) and songs varying from the somber “I Eat Dinner” to the meditative “D. J. Serenade.” Though 1976’s Kate & Anna McGarrigle and 1977’s Dancer with Bruised Knees are great introductions to their early songwriting style, Heartbeats Accelerating is an exemplary introduction to them as writers and recording artists.   

Love in a Small Town (#76)

K.T. Oslin

K.T. Oslin was one of the freshest singer-songwriters and live performers in country music in the 1980s scoring with hits like “80’s Ladies,” “Hold Me,” and “Do Ya.” 1990’s Love in a Small Town is a quirky portrait of love told in loosely connected vignettes of diverse characters. Some of Oslin’s performances, notably the hit “Come Next Monday” and “New Way Home” are so melodic and well-crafted they work well in any context. Slightly quirkier but equally appealing are the charming character sketches on loneliness “Mary and Willi” and lust “Cornell Crawford.”  Elsewhere Oslin showcases her interpretive gifts on a haunting “Love is Strange” and an endearing country-swing version of “You Call Everybody Darling.”  A few of the songs have a late 1980s production gloss and broad themes, but this is in many ways a definitive portrait of Oslin’s unique gifts.

1991

Hoodoo (Did not chart)

Alison Moyet

Alison Moyet is the first lady of 1980s British synth pop. Both as lead vocalist of Yazoo and as a solo vocalist she is renowned in the UK for her passionate, soulful style. Though U.S. audiences have only embraced her intermittently (1984’s “Invisible” reached #31) 1991’s Hoodoo is Moyet’s finest mainstream pop album.  Moyet’s soulful, smoky voice shines on this mix of modern blues-influenced pop and rock material. Highlights include the funky “Footsteps,” the stirring “It Won’t Be Long,” (nominated for a Female Rock Vocal Performance Grammy)  and the rousing blues number “Rise.” The 2016 Deluxe Edition further showcases her formidable gifts on bonus cuts.

Warm Your Heart (#44)

Aaron Neville

Aaron Neville scored one of the most iconic songs of the 1960s with the soul anthem “Tell It Like It Is,” and continued showcasing the wondrous beauty of his pop tenor in the Neville Brothers and as a solo artist. After winning two Grammys for his popular duets with Linda Ronstadt he recorded the full-length album his talent has always warranted. 1991’s Warm Your Heart, produced by Ronstadt (who duets with him on “Close Your Eyes”), is a near perfect amalgam of soulful R&B, pop, and spiritual balladry. Covering everything from John Hiatt’s sensual “Feels Like Rain,” to a silken duet with Rita Coolidge on Jimmy Buffett’s “La Vie Dansante” to a choral “Ave Maria” Neville has a daunting emotional and stylistic command of the tasteful and inspired material. His penchant for R&B shines brightly on Allen Toussaint’s “That’s The Way She Loves,” The Drifters’ hit “Don’t Go Please Stay” and the sexy title track. Though the album is very lushly produced, with strings, keyboards and plush female background vocals and made him an adult contemporary radio star (e.g., the hit “Everybody Plays the Fool”) it is the most fully realized statement of his career.

What Do I Do With Me (#48)

Tanya Tucker

At the age of 13 Tanya Tucker became a country-pop phenom thanks to her unusually mature version of “Delta Dawn” in 1973. Several years into her career she struggled with an uncertain musical identity, addiction, and relationship issues, until rebounding creatively in the mid-1980s.  In 34 minutes 1991’s What Do I Do With Me showcases Tucker’s command of honky-tonk, ballads, and R&B flavored songs with her signature mix of grit and grace. Though it did very well in the country market (four top 5 country radio hits) it was her biggest pop crossover up to that point and pointed to a direction that numerous country-crossover singers such as Gretchen Wilson, Carrie Underwood, and Miranda Lambert would follow in the 2000s.

Prime of my life (#117)

Phyllis Hyman

The last album the elegant and soulful Phyllis Hyman released during her lifetime blends elements of quiet storm and New Jack Swing delightfully reminiscent of early 1990s R&B. Hyman’s warm, elastic voice and confident delivery unites these songs. Though “I Don’t Wanna Change the World” was a #1 R&B hit its heart lies in the epic emotional journeys of “Living in Confusion” and “Meet Me on the Moon.” Though some of the material is pedestrian her committed performances elevate everything making it a fitting display of her ample talents.

T.E.V.I.N. (#38)

Tevin Campbell

Before Usher, Brandy, Leann Rimes, and Britney Spears, Tevin Campbell was one of the great success stories of 1990s teen pop. After producer Quincy Jones discovered him and featured him on the lead vocal of 1990’s “Tomorrow,” from the album Back on the Block, Campbell recorded his solo debut T.E.V.I.N. Whether interpreting Prince (“Round and Round”), covering Shuggie Otis (“Strawberry Letter 23”), or creating new radio classics (“Tell Me What You Want Me to do”) 15-year old Campbell delivers confident, age-appropriate performances that showcase his considerable vocal chops. It also earned him two Grammy nominations for Male Vocal R&B performance against heavyweights like Peabo Bryson and Al Jarreau. Predictably there are lots of boy-girl love songs and 90s slang (e.g., the song “She’s All That”) bathed in New Jack swing beats but these only add to the charm. Campbell built from its success scoring a multiplatinum hit with I’m Ready which spawned radio staples like “Can We Talk,” “I’m Ready,” and “Don’t Say Goodbye Girl,” and garnered three Grammy nods.  

1992

Louisiana Love Call (Did not chart)

Maria Muldaur

By the early 1990s Maria Muldaur had recorded a suite of brilliantly eclectic pop albums at
Warner Bros in the 1970s and several acclaimed jazz-oriented sets in the 1980s that helped people appreciate her talents beyond the 1973 hit “Midnight at the Oasis.” Muldaur branched out into southern R&B and blues singing highlighted by Louisiana Love Call. With the assistance of Dr. John and Aaron Neville, among other recording stars, she waxes autobiographical on “Blues Wave,” simmers on the title track, and saunters through the syncopated “Second Line.” Muldaur continued recording albums in this style throughout the 1990s and branched into the country and classic bleus on her blues trilogy Richland Woman Blues, Sweet Lovin Ol’ Soul, and Naughty, Bawdy & Blue.

Live at the Ryman (#184)

Emmylou Harris and the Nash Ramblers

One of Emmylou Harris’s last straight country records is1992’s At the Ryman, recorded with the Nash Ramblers. On this beautiful, spirited live collection the group delivers ace acoustic interpretations across a variety of genres, including songs by Steve Earle, Stephen Foster, Bill Monroe, and Bruce Springsteen, at a country performance landmark. She and the Ramblers have excellent chemistry and she is a commanding, endearing front lady. 

Abba-esque (#85)

Erasure

Erasure’s Andy Bell And Vince Clarke recorded some of the most indelible singles of the 1980s British synth pop era including “A Little Respect,” and “Chains of Love” before becoming more associated with club music. In 1992 they took a delightful detour from their original songs recording Abba-esque a fun, EP of ABBA covers that modernizes the songs without ruining their spirit or melodicism. Highlights include ace vocalist Bell’s renditions of “Take A Chance  On Me” and “Lay All Your Love On Me.” Though ABBA was remarkably popular in the 1970s Erasure was onto something before the unexpected success of the ABBA Gold compilation in 1993.

Out of the Cradle (#128)

Lindsey Buckingham

Lindsey Buckingham was always Fleetwood Mac’s resident experimentalist infusing his arrangements and productions with quirky sonic elements, grounded by his instrumental prowess. 1992’s Out of the Cradle is a stunning marriage of sound, technique and emotion. Dexterous guitar, sparkling production, earnest singing (including Beach Boys-esque harmonies) and inspired lyrics add up to an unusually, soulful, eclectic, and vital solo album.

Sweet Old World (Did not chart)

Lucinda Williams

Lucinda Williams elevated herself to the top ranks of Americana and roots music on her 1988 album Lucinda Williams. Sweet Old World, recorded for Chameleon/Elektra is a slightly slicker, more stylized version of Williams’ solid songwriting and intimate voice but is a worthy listen. Its intimate portraits of down and out characters and punchy love songs achieve a near perfect folk and rock balance that sets the groundwork for her subsequently rock-driven albums.

1993

Soul Dancing (#51)

Taylor Dayne

Though Dayne always existed in the shadow of bigger acts like Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and Madonna, her first two albums spawned 8 big singles and made her a staple of pop, soul, and AC radio, and a dance club icon since the late 1980s. 1993’s Soul Dancing came after new voices like Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, and Toni Braxton upped the game in the pop-soul universe. Though it spawned two great singles, a remake of “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love” and the luscious “Send Me A Lover” it was a commercial disappointment and led her to record for indie labels and focus more on acting. Soul is comparable to any pop-soul album of the time with percolating dance cuts (title cut, “Can’t”) ,soulful ballads (“If You Were Mine,” “Memories”), and vocal power to spare.

The Wheel (#160)

Rosanne Cash

After a decade of releasing musically eclectic and thematically rich country albums Rosanne Cash pivoted toward a more folk-oriented and less commercial direction on 1990’s Interiors, an acclaimed meditation on the dissolution of her marriage to Rodney Crowell.  Her follow-up The Wheel chronicles a very personal spiritual and romantic awakening including her new marriage to producer and songwriter Jon Leventhal. Very guitar driven and highly melodic, the album balances her proficient lyric eye with subtle melodies, layered production, and the feel of an intimate conversation between the artist and listeners. Peaking at only #37 on the Country Albums chart and #160 on the Billboard 200 it signified her embrace of a new stage in her life and career.  

Symphony or Damn (#119)

Sananda Francesco Maitreya (formerly known as Terence Trent D’Arby)

Sananda Francesco Maitreya was a promising once-in-a generation chameleon when he debuted in 1987. For sheer talent he rivaled self-contained artists like Prince scoring a #1 hit with the iconic “Wishing Well” and winning a Best R&B Vocal, Male Grammy Award for his debut Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby. His follow-up album Neither Fish Nor Flesh was ambitious but flopped commercially and divided critics. Four years passed before he released the superb Symphony one of the decade's finest rock albums. It is a sprawling ambitious potpourri of virtually every major contemporary musical style including soul ballads (“Delicate”), thundering rock ‘n’ ‘roll (“Do You Love Me Like You Say”) , cheeky pop (“Penelope Please”), and country (“Let Her Down Easy”). Sweeping, inspired and relentlessly engaging it is his masterpiece. Despite these qualities it was not a hit in the U.S. (he’s always been more popular in the UK) but is a thrilling listen.

Cowgirl’s Prayer (#152)

Emmylou Harris

Emmylou Harris was the most original and daring country artist to emerge in the 1970s thanks to her fusion of country music’s past with a modern sensibility. She maintained this reputation maintained well into the 1980s and continued taking chances in the 1990s. Despite the commercial boom for crossover country at the time 1993’s Cowgirl’s Prayer is a stark set of songs centered on yearning, longing and spiritual restlessness. Harris has never explored these themes with such sparseness and ache. Beautifully haunting and inspired it set the groundwork for 1995’s bold genre-defying Wrecking Ball.

Plantation Lullabies (#166)

Me’Shell N’degeocello

Me’Shell N’degeocello was a well-known musician in the Black rock scene before debuting with 1994’s Plantation Lullabies. Lullabies, spearheaded by the single “If That’s Your Boyfriend  (He Wasn’t Last Night)” bounces from the sexy “I’m Diggin You (Like an Old Soul Record)” to more topical songs like “Step Into the Projects.” Me’shell wants it both ways—to be loved and appreciated as a sensual being and to be respected for her grasp of racial and sexual politics, an element highlighted by the album’s polemical liner notes and racially charged artwork. Despite such pretensions and a few less than memorable songs the mostly engaging rhythms and strong voice make for an alluring debut. In the 30 years since she has developed a reputation as one of most fiercely provocative and unpredictable artists working in popular music.

Winter Light (#92)

Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt defined the “country-rock” sound in the 1970s and went on to pioneer a kind of pop eclecticism that found her performing on Broadway, appearing in films and TV specials, and recording pre-rock standards, country music, and mariachi music. In 1993 she returned to pop on the evocative Winter Light a lovely blend of rock and R&B classics (e.g., “I Just Don’t Know What to do With Myself,” “It’s Too Soon to Know”) and newer folk songs (The McGarrigle Sisters’ “Heartbeats Accelerating” and Tish Hinojosa’s “Adonde Voy”) that showcased the power of her still lustrous voice. The album’s use of layered harmonies and glass harmonica also gives the album a haunting, ethereal ambience.

1995

Everything is Wrong (Did not chart)

Moby

D. J. based albums tend to lack personality or consistency but Moby defied this caveat with 1995’s Everything. A moody, wide ranging set of calm ballads, dance cuts, and atmospheric instrumentals this is highly engaging mood music highlighted by the opening piano instrumental and the blazing “Feeling So Real.”

All You Can Eat (#37)

k.d. lang

In 1992 k.d. lang bolted from country maverick to pop queen via her Grammy-winning single “Constant Craving” and its acclaimed album of origin Ingenue. Since then, lang has followed her bliss recording what she wanted with little regard for the pop charts. 1995’s All You Can Eat is sensual set of ruminations on love bathed in sleek bass and keyboard arrangements. Where Ingenue smolders with angst All simmers urging listeners to “release your sexuality on me,” “go on get some,” and concluding with the epic “I want it all.”  

1996

Walking Wounded (#37)

Everything But the Girl

On pop radio and in dance clubs a dance remix of the somber acoustic ballad “Missing” (“And I miss you/Like the deserts miss the rain”) catapulted Everything But the Girl from a recovering sophisti-pop group to pop stars. Its success foretold a pivot toward continuing to marry singer-songwriter introspection with danceable rhythms. 1996’s Walking Wounded merged their introspective, intricate writing style with trip hop rhythms, representing their most well-known sound. Much like Pet Shop Boys their music illustrated dance music could move you emotionally and physically.

Spirit (#132)

Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson is such a prolific and eclectic artist it’s easy to take his recorded output for granted. For example, he recorded 14 new albums, solo and collaborative, in the 1990s. Among them 1996’s Spirit stands out. This is a spare introspective record highlighted by “I Thought About You Lord” and the instrumental “Spirit of E9.” Its stark contrast to the “hat acts” of the 1990s country is part of tis appeal certainly but Nelson has never sounded as vulnerable or direct.  

Bilingual (#39)

Pet Shop Boys

Pet Shop Boys followed the popular, acclaimed, and very poppy album Very with the superb Bilingual which mixes Latin-disco and samba rhythms into their synth pop mix making for an intriguing fusion. “Discoteca” and “Single” are two of their most charged, aggressive rhythmic attacks; “It Always Comes as a Surprise” and “Se a Vida e” are tender meditations, with hypnotic rhythms; “Metamorphosis” is a cheeky coming-out reflection and “Electricity” is the demented monologue of a hysterical artiste. The album’s softer more sensual rhythms fuse seamlessly with their expansive lyric approach to urbanity and desire.

1997

East West (Did not chart)

Julia Fordham

Though singer-songwriter Julia Fordham has never been a big seller in the U.S. 1989’s Porcelain was a breakthrough that spawned a few minor AC radio hits and she scored her best-known hit in the U.S. with 1991’s “Love Moves in Mysterious Ways” from the film Mike’s Murder. Her penchant for crafting intricate tales of romantic angst makes her torchiest album 1997’s East-West a mini-masterpiece. On this primarily acoustically based set of songs about love gone wrong she leavens the melancholy through buoyant melodies, clever lyrics and sly wit. A few loops and electronic drum beats add a modern sheen, but this is essentially an emotive folk-pop record. “Killing Me Slowly,” “The Last Goodbye,” “I Can Tell You Anything” and the title track are sublime expressions of heartache. 

Gun Shy, Trigger Happy (Did not chart)

Jen Trynin

Though Jen Trynin’s Cockamamie was an acclaimed post-punk masterpiece that paralleled the Riot Grrrrl movement and preceded the commercial onslaught of Alanis Morissette and so-called “angry woman rock” it never became a major hit. Undeterred Trynin persisted with a superb follow-up Gun Shy, Trigger Happy. The slightly sleeker Gun Shy, actually recorded for Warner Bros. is ostensibly more polished but never glosses over Trynin’s persona. Like her debut it’s a musically eclectic walk through romantic angst but is a bit moodier, more atmospheric and more tempered in tone. Whereas Cockamamie specialized in clipped power-pop the songs here are a bit more measured including the mid-tempo chug of “Washington Hotel” and the downbeat “Under the Knife” and the neo-country flavored, closer “Rang You & Ran”. It’s most searing cut “I Resign” notable for its hook “I-I-I-I Resign…OK,” maintains her debuts bite but it enters the skin more subtly and seductively. Neither album was a hit, and Trynin retreated from commercial recording though she eventually wrote a wry and highly entertaining book about her experiences in the biz (2006’s Everything I’m Cracked Up to Be), and released a few solo songs and recorded Eps in the band LOVELESS in the early 2000s. 

1998

Hungry Again (#167)

Dolly Parton

Starting with 1998’s Hungry Again Parton began to strip away the pop sheen and crossover aspirations she had experimented with for two decades. Musical and spiritual renewal is the core of the record which has an overtly bluegrass and honky tonk fashion metaphorized by the title track. The autobiographical “Blue Valley Songbird” reiterates music as a refuge; “Honky Tonk Songs” asks why more women don’t write and sing in the genre; “When Jesus Comes Calling for Me” reminds listeners of Parton’s gospel roots, etc. Though not a huge commercial success this was one of her finest solo albums in years and its execution gave her the confidence to record more bluegrass themed sets including 1999’s The Grass is Blue and 2001’s Little Sparrow.

I Can’t Complain (Did not chart)

Phoebe Snow

Phoebe Snow established herself as one of pop’s preeminent voices in the 1970s through signature originals like “Poetry Man”  and “Two Fisted Love,” and a superb ear for original interpretations. Though her recording career retreated to the background throughout the 1980s, so she could care for her daughter who was born with developmental disabilities, she maintained her chops.  On 1998’s blistering cover album I Can’t Complain she reinvents rock classics like Dusty Springfield’s “Brand New Me” and Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart” through inventive arrangements and finds new layers of soul in material as varied as Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You,” and the Peter Pan theme “Never Never Land.” She also duets seamlessly with Michael McDonald on two songs and showcases her blues mastery on “Lord, I Just Can’t Keep from Cryin.’” Recorded on the House of Blues record label the album is not streamable currently so if you find it on CD or tape buy it!

Dig My Mood (Did not chart)

Nick Lowe

After 1994’s surprisingly subdued The Impossible Bird 1998’s Dig My Mood is the second stop on Lowe’s growth from power pop to melodic adult-oriented popster. True it is a moody, laidback collection but its fluid grooves and crafty melodies are deceptively seductive. Lowe has always been a graceful melodist and incisive lyricist but there is an affecting introspection beneath the smooth veneer. Things begin slowly with the half spoken and half sung “Faithless Lover” and the pleasant but obvious love ballad “You Inspire Me.” However, as it plays he rebukes religion in the moody Lennon-esque guitar ballad “Failed Christian” and Lead Me Not” which are sharp but never sneering. Elsewhere he confronts romantic angst on “What Lack of Love Has Done” and “Must Be Getting Over You” that expose the gap between his customary public wryness and private torture. As always there is an abundance of musical variety ranging from the subtle doo-wop background vocals on “Time I Took a Holiday,” the country swagger of “Man that I’ve Become,” and “Cold Grey Light of Dawn” and  “Freezing”’s jazzy languor.  Mood reveals an artist growing into himself as a persona and musician.

Rufus Wainwright (Did not chart)

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus Wainwright was one of the few genuine eccentrics recording for a major record label when he debuted in 1998. Though he gained fame with his 2001 verison of “Hallelujah” featured in Shrek his eponymous debut album was acclaimed but never made the pop album chart in the U.S. The Canadian born Wainwright is the son of folkies Loudon Wainwright and Kate McGarrigle and his sound probably seemed genuinely anachronistic amongst the Eminem, Britney Spears, and Offspring, songs popular at the time. With his thin nasally voice, classical, almost baroque piano style, epic emotionalism, open queerness and constant quotes from opera and mythology he was anything but commercial.

His debut, produced by Van Dyke Parks and Jon Brion, is mostly piano songs about the usual twentysomething topics—distinguishing himself from his parents (“Beauty Mark”), struggling with love (“Foolish Love,” “Imaginary Love”) and lust (“Danny Boy”) However how many pop singers drop references to Noah’s ark, Greek Boys, the Elephant Man, Babel and Desdemona, let alone use a tack piano? Wainwright’s pinched, insistent voice, resembling a young Billy Joel with a stuffy nose, and the spare, almost severe acoustic surfaces make for a kind of chamber pop too late for sophisti-pop but preceding emo. The result is something quite unique and indefinable. At times Wainwright can be precious and/or annoying but he is incredibly present.

1999

Live & More Encore (#43)

Donna Summer

In 1999 amidst the commercial resurgence of teen pop and dance pop styles disco pioneer Donna Summer released the sequel to her ‘78 Live & More album with VH1’s Live & More Encore. Though it features a predictable set of her biggest hits, the arrangements are tight and expand on the original recordings and Summer is in superb voice. The set also debuted her disco take on the Italian opera ballad “I Will Go with You (Con Te Partiro)” and songs from her long-in-development musical Ordinary Girl including “This Is My Life.” 

Black Diamond (#46)

Angie Stone

Angie Stone sang in a female hip-hop group and was an R&B writer and producer for years before her 1999 solo debut. Thanks to a smart loop of Gladys Knight and the Pips’ “Neither One of Us” combined with a great drum track, and Stone’s warm voice “No More Rain in this Cloud” made Black Diamond a commercial success.  “Rain” however did not exhaust Stone’s appeal evident on strong album tracks like the dreamy “Visions” and a superb cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Trouble Man.”

Electric Honey (#102)

Luscious Jackson

Fans of the music of the 21st century super group Boygenius might be intrigued to listen to the music of Luscious Jackson a women’s rock and hip-hop group formed by Jill Cunniff, Gabby Glaser, Vivian Trimble, and Kate Schellenbach in the early 1990s.  Their third album Electric Honey was the group’s final album before reuniting in 2013, and its a thrilling listen especially from a time when rock and hip-hop were only beginning to fuse. The album’s best known song, “Ladyfingers,” is irresistible.

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Bonus: 20 Great 1990s singles (that peaked outside of the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100) worth a listen:

1.     “Cowboys and Angels,” George Michael (1991)

2.     “Change,” Lisa Stansfield (1991)

3.     “Crying Game,” Boy George (1992)

4.      “Possession,”  Sarah McLachlan (1993)

5.     “Rebel Girl,” Bikini Kill (1993)

6.     “Today,” Smashing Pumpkins (1993)

7.     “Pocket of a Clown,” Dwight Yoakam (1994)

8.      “Insensitive,” Jann Arden (1994)

9.     “Everyday of the Week,” Jade (1995)

10.  “No More I Love Yous,” Annie Lennox (1995)

11.  “Til I Hear it From You,” Gin Blossoms (1995)

12.  “Barely Breathing,” Duncan Sheik (1996)

13.  “Caramel,” Suzanne Vega (1996)

14.  “Get Out of this House,” Shawn Colvin (1997)

15.  “Love Him,” Donna Lewis (1998)

16.  “When the Heartache is Over,” Tina Turner (1999)

17.  “Hanginaround,” The Counting Crows (1999)

18.  “Fast As you Can,” Fiona Apple (1999)

19.  “Let Forever Be,” Chemical Brothers (1999)

20.  “Vivrant Thing,” Q-Tip (1999)

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