Best rock albums since 1990

[nothumb]

Okay, since I have spent so much time discussing this, I will actually attempt to put these albums in order.

Nothumb's Top 10 Rock Albums Since 1990

Albums that don't qualify due to not being rock, but still rule:

Morphine - Cure For Pain
Radiohead - Kid A

Albums released pre-1990 that I wish came out yesterday because they own all you fanboys:

Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
The Pogues - Rum, Sodomy and the Lash
Leatherface - Cherry Knowle

Honorable Mentions

Hum - You'd Prefer an Astronaut
Beck - Sea Change
Shiner - Lula Divinia
June of 44 - Four Great Points
The Promise Ring - Nothing Feels Good
Nirvana - In Utero
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

Albums it really, really hurts to leave off, but I had to:

The Pixies - Doolittle
Sonic Youth - Dirty
Soundgarden - Superunknown
Tool - Undertow
Pearl Jam - Ten
Weezer - Blue Album

Number 11

Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
This record was very exciting when it came out and I must say, it stands the test of time. It didn't break the new ground of 'OK Computer' or make the potentially career-ending genre leaps of 'Kid A,' but rather bears the marks of all these albums, all these experiences, and more. A fine example of a band that has aged phenomenally well.

Finally, the Top Ten:

10. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
The Chili Peppers have always had their limitations. Well, two, really - heroin and their lead singer. Anthony Kiedis brings the vocal versatility of a monkey in heat, and lyrically this band is, again, fun but limited. However, the will of this band to make fun, funky music in an era of self-hate, self-pity and self-importance is what really rescues them. That, and their awesome bass player, suprisingly good guitar melodies (given the mortality rate of six-string men in this group) and solid drumming. This album was their tour-de-force, the sort of Black Album for funk-punk as a genre. A perfect melding of good production, songwriting, and energy. Great ballads and party anthems, with just the right balance. Nothing before or since can compare.

9. Leatherface - Mush
Perhaps I'm being stubborn, insisting on including this little album that could on the charts with the big boys. Leatherface are misfits in both the punk and indie rock universes. Punk purists hear the Smiths with distortion and an unintelligible accent, while today's indie rock fans hear a grouchy old man with the same vocal settings as a jackhammer - 'off' and 'loud.' But Leatherface made smarter political punk than the purists and dealt with personal/philosophical topics more searingly and directly than any emo band ever could. Their best albums walk that fine line perfectly.

8. Hot Water Music - Fuel for the Hate Game
Yet another dated, incredibly earnest post-punk band that ol' Thumb is foisting on us. Fine, I'll own up to that. But any post-punk band named after a work of C. Bukowski deserves a place on my list. The thing is, Hot Water Music could easily have been a pop-punk band - catchy melodies, sing-along choruses, optimism and unity. They had it all. But before they almost made that leap, with albums like "Forever and Counting" and "No Division," there was this brooding, blue-collar album. This is the last record they made with the taste of a real job fresh in their mouths.

7. Tom Waits - Mule Variations
Tom Waits refuses to let the singer-songwriter die, fade into homosexual oblivion or become warmed over and trite. He just keeps making beautiful, bizarre, and consistently brilliant albums. 'Mule Variations' has the trademark weirdness ("Eyeball Kid," "What's He Building"), as well as those guaranteed, heart-tugging ballads ("Hold On," "House Where Nobody Lives"), a dash of raunch ("Filipino Box Spring Hog"), a touch of religious silliness ("Chocolate Jesus") and one overwhelming, existential finale to tie it all together ("Come on Up to the House").

6. Jawbreaker - 24 Hour Revenge Therapy
While many would take the more polished 'Dear You' for their favorite Jawbreaker record, I would argue that this short and sweet album signifies the moment in which Blake Schwarzenbach found that perfect balance between punk angst, Beat awe, and melodic sensibility. Punk rock looking back on itself and letting out a big sigh (followed by a hacking cough.)

5. Guns and fucking Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Really, shame on all of you for not putting this on your lists. I move that the profanity filter be modified to allow this one particular use of the f-bomb, because there's no other way to say 'rock and roll.' This was hungry, snarling, swaggering white-boy rock in all its decadent glory. Welcome to the Jungle, bitches.

4. Fugazi -Repeater +3 Songs
It's probably cheating to put this reissue, with a 3-song EP included, in as a 1990's release. I don't care, because it's the best Fugazi album you can get. This CD alone is enough of a free pass for Ian McKaye to be an arrogant, self-absorbed prick for the rest of his life as far as I'm concerned. This is post-punk as it should be: rhythmically challenging, dynamic, smart and angry. Before you can mention any indie rock album of the last 8 years, you need to pay homage to the original.

3.Nirvana - Nevermind
What can I say? It changed the world. Sure, the pieces are there in a few other bands of the same time period. But this put it all together. I couldn't even listen to this album for about five years because it was so ubiquitous. Then, one night, we put it on at work in the middle of the biggest pizza frenzy you've seen in your life. And it still kicks ass. The songs stand the test of time, and what this album did for rock music does too.

2. Radiohead - OK Computer
The album that Coldplay has built an entire career around.

1. Slint - Spiderland
If you can somehow regress to high school, turn out all the lights in your bedroom, and listen to this album in pitch blackness, you won't argue. Ask all your precious indie rock bands of today who their daddy is.

Thanks for reading,
NT