Your top 10 defining songs of the 90's (2024)

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    gabers Posts: 2,787

    January 2008 edited January 2008 in Other Music

    The other 90's thread inspired me to think of what songs, to me, define the 90's.

    U2 - The Fly
    First single off of Achtung Baby and the opening riff is to me one of the greatest. The song and album were totally groundbreaking and perfect.

    Pearl Jam - Alive
    The first single (?) from Ten and probably their most well known. We all love it. Enough said.

    Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
    The biggest song from the biggest "grunge" band (whether we like it or not). First rock song of the grunge era.

    Snoop Doggy Dogg - What's My Name?
    Not really gangsta rap, but was the upside to it. Even though Snoop rapped about being a hustler, a pimp, and a gangb*nger, he made music so damn catchy and with just the right hooks to make 13 year old girls feel happy and safe listening to it.

    Green Day - Basket Case
    Probably their biggest song. It played on MTV once an hour for about three months - back when MTV was still watchable and played videos. It's not my favorite Green Day song, but it's their most memorable. And yes, unfortunately, it ushered in a hoard of crap pop punk wannabe bands.

    RHCP - Give it Away
    When I think of the Chilis, I think of this one. Their best video. The song captures the energy of their early stuff with the hooks of their best album (Blood Sugar Sex Magic).

    Blind Melon - No Rain
    This is probably in my top three most "90's" songs. I'm actually pretty sick of it and chances are, if it's on the radio, I'll turn it. But it is a great song.

    Moby - Porcelein
    Mr. Techno slows it down and makes one of the most memorable albums of the 90's. Every song from this album was licensed for marketing of some kind or another, with all profits going to charity. Maybe the best "dance oriented" album ever, in my opinion.

    Beastie Boys - Sabotoge
    The epitome of the Beastie Boys rock sound. Brilliant. Possibly the best video ever.

    Britney Spears - Oops...
    Sucks so bad but was huge. Reintroduced America to pop sweethearts. Damn her!

    Post edited by Unknown User on

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      South of Seattle West Seattle Posts: 10,724

      January 2008

      1. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
      2. Even Flow - Pearl Jam
      3. Green Day - Longview
      4. Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
      5. Dr. Dre - Nuthin' But A G Thang
      6. Toadies - Possum Kingdom
      7. Blind Melon - No Rain
      8. Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun
      9. Guns N' Roses - November Rain
      10. Radiohead - Creep

      NERDS!

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      miskin Posts: 278

      January 2008

      in no particular order

      spin doctors - two princes - classic 90s tune
      alice in chains - rooster - emotional, so grunge, so 90s, so good
      pearl jam - state of love and trust - the sound of grunge for me (this is my 90s tunes not really general 90s)
      foo fighters - monkey wrench - the one everyone knows from the colour and the shape Your top 10 defining songs of the 90's (4)
      lemonheads - its a shame about ray - tune!
      neutral milk hotel - in the aeroplane over the sea - alternativvveee
      nirvana - smells like teen spirit - ok ok
      REM - the sidewinder sleeps tonight - nice sad song lacking sad meaning
      Radiohead - Karma Police - radiohead woo
      Rage Against the Machine - Bombtrack - it has umphh

      myspace.com/airstriponeuk

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      SlowFade Posts: 75

      January 2008

      nirvana - smells like teen spirit
      smashing pumpkins - 1979
      STP - interstate love song
      soundgarden - black hole sun
      radiohead - paranoid android
      rhcp - suck my kiss
      green day - longview
      dinosaur jr. - feel the pain
      sonic youth - 100%
      g-n-r - you could be mine

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      Losing my religion REM
      Alive PJ
      Disarm Smashing pumpkins
      Runaway train Soul asylum
      Under the bridge RHCP
      Killing in the name RATM
      Basket Case Green Day
      Black Hole Sun Soundgarden
      Grace Jeff Buckley
      Karma Police Radiohead

      And so many more

      "Actually we could do a commercial for Dodge, Can't Find A Better Van"
      E.V

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      Joe2TheRevenge Posts: 904

      January 2008

      Pearl Jam - Jeremy
      Alice in Chains - Down in a Hole
      Soundgarden - Burden in my Hand
      Nine Inch Nails - We're in this Together
      Tonic - If You Could Only See
      Stone Temple Pilots - Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart
      Hootie And The Blowfish - Only Wanna Be With You
      Oasis - Champagne Supernova
      Lenny Kravitz - Fly Away
      Moby - Porcelain

      this was hard. Personally, these are amongst the 10 that had the biggest effect on me, but i could have made 4 more "top 10" lists of songs that had almost as big of an impact.

      You can't spell "dumb" without DMB

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      gabers Posts: 2,787

      January 2008

      Joe2TheRevenge wrote:

      Pearl Jam - Jeremy
      Alice in Chains - Down in a Hole
      Soundgarden - Burden in my Hand
      Nine Inch Nails - We're in this Together
      Tonic - If You Could Only See
      Stone Temple Pilots - Trippin' On A Hole In A Paper Heart
      Hootie And The Blowfish - Only Wanna Be With You
      Oasis - Champagne Supernova
      Lenny Kravitz - Fly Away
      Moby - Porcelain

      this was hard. Personally, these are amongst the 10 that had the biggest effect on me, but i could have made 4 more "top 10" lists of songs that had almost as big of an impact.

      Yeah, I know what you mean. There are so many. There are several others I wanted to include but I kept it to ten.

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      LONGRD Posts: 6,036

      January 2008

      1: S.L.Teen Spirit -Nirvana (not a big fan, but they broke down the doors)
      2: Sandman - Metallic (great album made by greedy bastards)
      3: Even Flow -Pearl Jam
      4: Would? - A.I.C
      5: Plush -STP
      6: Nuthin' But A G Thang - Dre & Snoop (put West-coast rap in the spotlight)
      7: Ought A Know -Alanis (help the female rock movement in mid-90's)
      8: Crash Into Me - DMB (made the jam bands/touring bands popular)
      9: ADDIAS - Korn (made the Nu-Metal/Rap popular, I hate it though)
      10: Hit me Baby 1 More Time - Britney (she made Xtina, Jessica, Mandy etc popular) seriously she did.

      PJ- 04/29/2003.06/24,25,27,28,30/2008.10/27,28,30,31/2009
      EV- 08/09,10/2008.06/08,09/2009

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      stargirl69 Posts: 6,387

      January 2008

      Pearl Jam Black
      Beck Loser
      Smashing Pumpkins Mayonnaise
      Tool Sober
      U2 Mysterious Ways
      A.I.C Would
      Soundgarden Jesus Christ Pose
      Nirvana Something in the Way
      James Laid
      Eels Beautiful Freak

      “There should be a place where only the things you want to happen, happen”

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      Pauk Posts: 1,084

      January 2008

      For my student radio show I've planned a series with an episode for each decade, so I guess if I'm choosing mine I have to choose from there... Not necessarily my favourite songs of the 90s, but the songs that instantly remind me of the 90s

      Bran Van 3000 - Drinkin' In LA
      Baz Luhrmann - Everybody's Free
      Supersonic - Closing Time
      Alisha Attic - The Incidentals
      Elliott Smith - Angeles
      Ace of Base - Never Gonna Say I'm Sorry (I know it's not a great song, but The Bridge was the first ever album I got, so guess that has to count for something)
      The Breeders - Cannonball
      New Found Radicals - Get What You Give
      Blur - Country House
      Hanson - Mmmbop (what's more defining than mmmbop?!)

      Paul
      '06 - London, Dublin, Reading
      '07 - Katowice, Wembley, Dusseldorf, Copenhagen, Nijmegen
      '09 - London, Manchester, London
      '12 - Manchester, Manchester, Berlin, Stockholm, Copenhagen

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      Odin Posts: 599

      January 2008

      Pearl Jam - Alive
      Pearl Jam - Jeremy
      Total - Kissin' You
      Goo Goo Dolls - Iris
      Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under The Bridge
      Nas - If I Ruled The World
      TLC - Waterfalls
      Soul Asylum - Runaway Train
      Metallica - Enter Sandman
      Boyz II Men - End of the Road

      I know I'm missing a few.

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      ledvedderman Posts: 7,755

      January 2008

      Nirvana "Lithium"
      Pearl Jam "Alive"
      R.E.M. "Nightswimming"
      Radiohead "Fake Plastic Trees"
      Better Than Ezra "Desperately Wanting"
      Bruce Springsteen "Streets of Philadelphia"
      Marcy Playground- "Sex and Candy"
      Puffy "I'll Be Missing You"
      Britney Spears "Baby One More Time"
      NSYNC "Bye Bye Bye"

      Those all pretty much define the 90's. Some of the songs are f*cking terrible, but the first six are f*cking fantastic.

      Your top 10 defining songs of the 90's (14)

      http://www.reverbnation.com/brianzilm

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      gabers Posts: 2,787

      January 2008

      ledvedderman wrote:

      Nirvana "Lithium"
      Pearl Jam "Alive"
      R.E.M. "Nightswimming"
      Radiohead "Fake Plastic Trees"
      Better Than Ezra "Desperately Wanting"
      Bruce Springsteen "Streets of Philadelphia"
      Marcy Playground- "Sex and Candy"
      Puffy "I'll Be Missing You"
      Britney Spears "Baby One More Time"
      NSYNC "Bye Bye Bye"

      Those all pretty much define the 90's. Some of the songs are f*cking terrible, but the first six are f*cking fantastic.

      It's good to see love for BTE, another highly underappreciated band in my opinion. They've kept on making good music and nobody seems to know.

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      ledvedderman Posts: 7,755

      January 2008

      gabers wrote:

      It's good to see love for BTE, another highly underappreciated band in my opinion. They've kept on making good music and nobody seems to know.

      Indeed. "Before The Robots" was a fantastic album, and "Closer" should have been HUGE!

      Your top 10 defining songs of the 90's (17)

      http://www.reverbnation.com/brianzilm

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      pjoasisrule Posts: 3,412

      January 2008

      My problem is that I dont know if I should list bands that are defining for everybody, defining for me back then, or defining for me now

      Alpine Valley 2000
      Summerfest 2006

      "Why would they come to our concert just to boo us?" -Lisa Simpson

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      ledvedderman Posts: 7,755

      January 2008

      I have to put "Don't Look Back in Anger" on my list as an honorable mention..

      Your top 10 defining songs of the 90's (20)

      http://www.reverbnation.com/brianzilm

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      direwolf74 Posts: 1,622

      January 2008

      This is tough, but I'll give it a shot:

      1. Nirvana- Smells Like Teen Spirit
      2. The Tragically Hip- Little Bones
      3. Pearl Jam- Alive
      4. Rheostatics- Record Body Count
      5. Buffalo Tom- Taillights Fade
      6. Sloan- Underwhelmed
      7. R.E.M.- Losing My Religion
      8. U2- One
      9. Spirit of the West- Home for a Rest
      10. Rage Against the Machine- Killing in the Name

      honorable mentions:
      Eric's Trip- Behind the Garage
      54-40- Blame Your Parents
      Beck- Loser
      Radiohead- Fake Plastic Trees
      Lowest of the Low- Salesmen, Cheats and Liars
      Cracker- Teen Angst (what the world needs now)
      Beastie Boys- Sabotage
      The Bourbon Tabernacle Choir- Simple
      Weezer- Say it Ain't So
      Blue Rodeo- Hasn't Hit Me Yet
      The Inbreds- Any Sense of Time
      Fishbone- Swim
      Weeping Tile- Good Fortune
      Red Hot Chili Peppers- Suck My Kiss
      The Mahones- Drunken Lazy Bastard
      Soundgarden- Black Hole Sun
      Sarah McLachlan- Possession
      Smashing Pumpkins- Cherub Rock
      Change of Heart- Little Kingdoms
      Doughboys- Fix Me
      Skydiggers- A Penny More
      Uncle Tupelo- Looking for a Way Out
      Counting Crows- Round Here
      Headstones- When Something Stands for Nothing
      The Watchmen- Run and Hide
      Midnight Oil- My Country
      Junkhouse- Out of My Head
      The Black Crowes- Remedy

      "I try my best to chug, stomp, weep, whisper, moan, wheeze, scat, blurt, rage, whine, and seduce. With my voice I can sound like a girl, the boogieman, a Theremin, a cherry bomb, a clown, a doctor, a murderer. I can be tribal. Ironic. Or disturbed. My voice is really my instrument."

      -Tom Waits

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      illegal pants Posts: 13,471

      January 2008

      South of Seattle wrote:

      1. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
      2. Even Flow - Pearl Jam
      3. Green Day - Longview
      4. Smashing Pumpkins - 1979
      5. Dr. Dre - Nuthin' But A G Thang
      6. Toadies - Possum Kingdom
      7. Blind Melon - No Rain
      8. Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun
      9. Guns N' Roses - November Rain
      10. Radiohead - Creep

      yeh i can work with this...

      but you forgot push by matchbox 20

      wah

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