This isn’t my first ode to the 90′s and it will not be my last. I grew up in this decade and as with any decade you grow up in, it holds a certain affection. Still, the 90′s were special. More to the point, there was mainstream music that came out to really be proud of. The mainstream music of today, well, it lacks a lot of heart. Sure, there is the occasional band or nugget, but you can’t deny the magic of the rock music that hit in the 90′s.  To get that kind of passion now you have to chase after the indie rock dragon. I could turn my radio on in 1992 and hear Dinosaur Jr. If I want to hear a band like Yuck, I have to sit through Jacob. If you didn’t know, Jacob is 20-years-old and an undergrad at a local college. His major is sociology. He has had one serious girlfriend who turned out to be a lesbian, and he would only raise his voice from mundane if Godzilla came through the radio station he is broadcasting from at four in the afternoon.

What This List Focuses On

This list is not about the biggest chart topping songs of 90′s rock. These songs have to be on the edge of obscure, but popular enough to have hit the airwaves on a frequent bases back in the day. It can be a song by a band who have faded away into obscurity, or it may be the more subtle hit of a larger band. The hope is to make you go “OH S**T, I forgot about that song!” For some of you who participate in constant nostalgia on the level of it really not being nostalgia because it is still present (you know who you are classic cartoon/80′s movie addicts) this will be another day in the music rotation.

Got it? Let’s hit play!

Gravity Kills – Guilty

Loud Lucy – Ticking

Wax – California

Fuel – Shimmer

Cracker – Low

Meat Puppets – Backwater

Our Lady Peace – Superman’s Dead

Oasis – Live Forever

Toad The Wet Sprocket – Fall Down

Better Than Ezra – Desperately Wanting

Dishwalla – Counting Blue Cars

Stabbing Westward – What Do I Have To Do?

Stone Temple Pilots – Trippin’ On A Hole In A Paper Heart

Filter – Hey Man, Nice Shot

Sponge – Sixteen Candles (Molly)

Soul Asylum – Somebody To Shove

Letters To Cleo – Here And Now

Chalk Farm – Lie On Lie

R.E.M – Bang and Blame


R.E.M. – Bang And Blame by Warner-Music

Primitive Radio Gods – Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth

Geggy Tah – Whoever You Are

Playlist Track Order
1. Gravity Kills – Guilty
2. Loud Lucy – Ticking
3. Wax – California
4. Fuel – Shimmer
5. Cracker – Low
6. Meat Puppets – Backwater
7. Our Lady Peace – Superman’s Dead
8. Oasis – Live Forever
9. Toad The Wet Sprocket – Fall Down
10. Better Than Ezra – Desperately Wanting
11. Dishwalla – Counting Blue Cars
12. Stabbing Westward – What Do I Have To Do
13. Stone Temple Pilots – Trippin’ On A Hole In A Paper Heart
14. Filter – Hey Man, Nice Shot
15. Sponge – Sixteen Candles (Molly)
16. Soul Asylum – Somebody To Shove
17. Letters To Cleo – Here And Now
18. Chalk Farm – Lie On Lie
19. R.E.M – Bang and Blame
20. Primitive Radio Gods – Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth
21. Geggy Tah – Whoever You Are

Related posts:

  1. The Melody Principle – “Angry girl music of the Indie Rock persuasion”
  2. The Melody Principle – Volume 2
  3. It’s Personal – Dreams
  4. The Melody Principle – Volume 1
  5. All Play and No Work: 06-27