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90s Music

Danzig: Glenn Danzig (vocals, guitar); Lazie (bass); Joey C. (drums). Additional personnel: Jeff Chambers (guitar). Recorded at NRG Studio & Big Love Studio, Hollywood, California. In the early '90s, Danzig appeared to be on the brink of global domination with such best-selling titles as DANZIG III: HOW THE GODS KILL and THRALL: DEMONSWEATLIVE. Commercial audiences finally appeared to be embracing the band. Danzig headlined bigger venues, earned gold albums, and even achieved an MTV hit with 1993's live version of the anthemic "Mother." Soon after, however, singer/leader Glen Danzig started exploring electronic sounds in addition to his expected blues metal, and the band members began leaving one by one. Such albums as 1994's DANZIG 4 and 1996's BLACKACIDEVIL failed to match the group's early efforts artistically or commercially. 1999 saw the release of 666 SATAN'S CHILD. While Danzig's sixth full-length album still reflects his recent electronic direction, it also sees more of a return to the band's earlier direction. New members Lazie (bass) and drummer Joey C. join Danzig and bring his cartoon horror stories to life.

Danzig: Glenn Danzig (vocals, guitar); Lazie (bass); Joey C. (drums). Additional personnel: Jeff Chambers (guitar). Recorded at NR

Snap includes: Andy Plocher (guitar); Daniel Iribarren (guitar); Bobby Sattler (winds). With its second album for Arista Records, THE MADMAN'S RETURN, Snap had already positioned itself as one of the top dance acts of the early '90s. Shortly after this album was released, Turbo B had left the group and was replaced by Niki Harris, a former background singer for Madonna. The album contains "Rhythm Is a Dancer," a hit song that rocketed to number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Some of the other standout tracks on THE MADMAN'S RETURN are "Don't Be Shy," "Believe in It," "Colour of Love," and "Who Stole It?," the last of which has a sound that recalls one of the group's classics, "The Power."

Snap includes: Andy Plocher (guitar); Daniel Iribarren (guitar); Bobby Sattler (winds). With its second album for Arista Records,

Full title: Critic's Choice: Leonard Maltin's Best Movie Themes Of The '90s. Music performed by The Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Recorded at Hudebni Studio Smecky, Prague, Czech Republic. Includes liner notes by Leonard Maltin.

Full title: Critic's Choice: Leonard Maltin's Best Movie Themes Of The '90s. Music performed by The Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

Includes liner notes by Paul Lukas. Columbus, Ohio's intrepid Anyway label has released what amounts to a state-of-the-union address of middle American lo-fi semi-pop. Most of the artists hail from the "middle coast" and many will be unfamiliar to the casual listener. The most immediately recognizable names here are Tobin Sprout and Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices, who both offer intriguing solo cuts. The real stars of this show are relatively obscure artists like Scotty Tabachnik, who is represented by the strangely poetic "Stones and Noah's Bones" and cult heroes like Simon Joyner, one of the great unsung singer-songwriters of the '90s, who contributes the casually stirring "Hot Tears." If you favor songcraft and naked emotion over fancy production values, introduce yourself to this "collection of field recordings."

Includes liner notes by Paul Lukas. Columbus, Ohio's intrepid Anyway label has released what amounts to a state-of-the-union addre

A titular tip of the turntable to George Clinton marks the return of Coldcut's Matt Black and Jonathan More to dance-floor preeminence. While the veteran producers' Ninja Tunes imprint virtually defined the state of cutting-edge '90s trip-hop, Black and More hid behind the relative anonymity of their DJ Food and Hedfunk identities. High-profile '80s production stints with Erik B & Rakim and Lisa Stansfied remain Coldcut's claims to fame. Meanwhile, the savvy duo's prescient wheels-of-steel and sampling maneuvers serve as the templates employed by urban and suburban "headz" alike. These tracks are politically fueled funk-feasts filled with provocative samples, crafty beats, indomitable basslines, and gobs of wiggy Moog, but the remixes contributed by such certified heads as The Herbaliser, Luke Vibert, and Red Snapper are even stronger. The Herbaliser slows "Atomic Moog" to a menacing hip-hop crawl over which Oliver Parfitt goes Moog-wild. Vibert's smoldering mix has an itchy, circling urgency; Red Snapper takes its treatment in a smoky, ragga-jazz direction; and Bedouin Ascent's standout "Crash the System" follows fusion-y fretless lines into increasingly distorted electro-soul forms. Coldcut's "Natural Rhythm" video, a technically flawless feat of audio/video syncopation that is included in the disc's CDPlus sector, is even more astonishing.

A titular tip of the turntable to George Clinton marks the return of Coldcut's Matt Black and Jonathan More to dance-floor preemin

Recorded at Wilderness Studios, Suffolk, England. One of only two major ambient works Brian Eno recorded in the '90s--THE SHUTOV ASSEMBLY being the other--NEROLI is a single composition, 58 minutes long, that combines Eno's concept of music designed not to be listened to attentively with the vaguely North African feel implied by the piece's title. Written in the Phrygian mode, with flattened intervals and missing root notes that give the piece a seeming lack of tonality, NEROLI is even more peculiarly weightless than earlier extended ambient works like THURSDAY AFTERNOON. Also unlike earlier ambient works, the comparatively substantial melodic content of NEROLI rewards attentive listening as well as the piece's intended use as environmental music. In many ways, NEROLI is a summation of Eno's theories of ambient music.

Recorded at Wilderness Studios, Suffolk, England. One of only two major ambient works Brian Eno recorded in the '90s--THE SHUTOV A

Like most of the Television Personalities '90s releases, 1998's DON'T CRY BABY, IT'S ONLY A MOVIE is a Daniel Treacy solo album in all but name. The 10 songs are based around acoustic guitar, piano and hand percussion, with occasional odd touches like the woozy slowed-down tape effects on the vocals in the opening "Love Changes Everything," and the siren which punctuates Treacy's hypnotic cover of Jonathan Richman's "Pablo Picasso." Richman is actually a good touchstone for this album; if you're a fan of any of his post-Modern Lovers work or his guitar-and-voice concerts, you're halfway to an appreciation of this set. Rampant Anglophilia would also add to the enjoyment of Treacy's very British work. "TV On in Bed" and the charmingly ragged title track are the highlights, but this is one of the best late-period Television Personalities albums.

Like most of the Television Personalities '90s releases, 1998's DON'T CRY BABY, IT'S ONLY A MOVIE is a Daniel Treacy solo album in

Entombed: Uffe Cederlund (vocals, guitar, piano); L-G Pertrov (vocals); Alex Hellid (guitar); Jorgen Sandstrom (bass); Peter Stjarnvind (drums). Additional personnel: Camela Leierth (vocals). Recorded at Polar Studios, Dasboot Studio and Dog Pound Audio, Stockholm, Sweden. Sweden's Entombed have already cemented their place in the annals of heavy metal history. Their first two albums, LEFT HAND PATH and CLANDESTINE, made Entombed a force to be reckoned with in the then-blooming death metal world. Although fans thought their turn toward a more traditional rock & roll sound in the mid '90s was a mistake, that infusion of new ideas was just what they needed to keep their music fresh and invigorating in the new century. The album starts off right, as "Chief Rebel Angel" pounds away with chugging riffs, topped by some nice melodies and the phlegmatic vocals of frontman L-G Petrov. The pace of the disc changes on a dime, but with a fluidity that shows the capable musicianship of this stalwart quintet. With tracks like the speed-metal "Ensemble of The Restless," and headbanging, bluesy rockers like "Out of Heaven," Entombed proves that their earlier divergence has paid off. They have managed to find the perfect balance between their music of old and newer ideas. MORNING STAR is a must for any fan of extreme metal.

Entombed: Uffe Cederlund (vocals, guitar, piano); L-G Pertrov (vocals); Alex Hellid (guitar); Jorgen Sandstrom (bass); Peter Stjar

The first live Ozrics disc since LIVE UNDERSLUNKY, SPICE DOUBT is mostly culled from the band's later '90s catalog, cobbling liberally from ARBORESCENCE and BECOME THE OTHER, with a track or two from STRANGEITUDE and some new surprises. Get past the kooky, highly collectible packaging (the jewel box is encased in a spongy plastic cover containing green goo in which prehistoric fish float) and immerse your aural canals in an hour of real-time starship rock. "Cat DNA" emerges off the top, the band extending the original take with a swampy introduction before hurtling off into the cosmos. "Sploosh!" is everybody's favorite quicksand jam-its sequencers boiling to the undertow of a motorik beat. The remaining agenda lavishes the band's trademark humoresque touches, frenzied drumming, and sounds wrenched from a parallel universe. A splendid time is guaranteed for all, but it is a limited pressing. Snatch one while you still can.

The first live Ozrics disc since LIVE UNDERSLUNKY, SPICE DOUBT is mostly culled from the band's later '90s catalog, cobbling liber

Beanfield: Jan Krause, Tobias Meggle, Michael Reinboth. Additional personnel: Boris Geiger, Bajka (vocals); Till Sahm (Fender Rhodes piano); Thomas Simmerl, Max Weissenfeldt (drums). Beanfield's second is a dandy slice of left-of-center technojazz that trips the light fantastic and just dares you not to get up and shake your booty. Well, not quite. This isn't just mindless dance-floor fodder but beat-crazy groove tastiness created for interactive home listening. "Corso" simply falls over itself in a jumble of perky bass, funky electric piano licks, and an attitude that says that '70s fusion wasn't so bad after all-provided you give it a jolt of '90s digital cred. "Abstractions" lays on Beanfield's rich electronic heritage a bit thicker, earmarked by Tangerine Dream-ish atmospheres and gauzy electronics traveling down numerous pockmarked Rhodes. Ambient jazz, perhaps? Out in the Beanfield, it's "Great Outside," the stop-start rhythm majesty of which just begs you to come out and play. Have fun picking the cream of this crop.

Beanfield: Jan Krause, Tobias Meggle, Michael Reinboth. Additional personnel: Boris Geiger, Bajka (vocals); Till Sahm (Fender Rhod

Personnel: Common, Lauryn Hill, De La Soul, Cee-Lo, Erykah Badu, Black Thought "Taria", Canibus, Chantay Savage, Lonnie "Pops" Lynn, Q-Tip. Producers include: NO I.D., Dug Infinite, James Poyer, Spike Rebel, Rob Carter. Includes liner notes by Raquel Cepeda. Common's third and most introspective album is a career-making effort. The man people knew as Common Sense dropped the later half of his moniker along with the forty-and-blunts rhymes to reflect on themes such as adulthood, the pitfalls of self-hatred, abortion, and fatherhood. Complete with some of the most impressive and inspired production of the '90s, with the lion's share attributed to No I.D., ONE DAY IT'LL ALL MAKE SENSE is one to remember. Common invited an impressive group of friends over for this outing. One standout pairing is his teaming up with Goodie Mob's Cee-Lo on "G.O.D.," where the two ponder the state of religion with more honesty than Oral Roberts and Jim Baker could muster in an entire career. Other guests include Q-Tip, Lauryn Hill, De La Soul, and Erykah Badu. Of course, Common tears through the solo cuts with ease just to show you he doesn't need a little help from his friends. When a '90s hip-hop revival takes root, this is one of the albums your kids will steal from your collection. You better get two.

Personnel: Common, Lauryn Hill, De La Soul, Cee-Lo, Erykah Badu, Black Thought "Taria", Canibus, Chantay Savage, Lonnie "Pops" Lyn

Recorded at Ariwa Studios, London, England. Horace Andy can handle traditional roots reggae as well as he can the trip-hop sounds of Massive Attack and the futuristic dub of Mad Professor. Andy's mid '90s work with Mad Professor (LIFE IS FOR LIVING and ROOTS AND BRANCHES) proved to be as good of a collaboration as his work with Massive Attack. Mad Professor hit his '90s stride in 1995, providing some wicked tracks for his stable of singers. LIFE IS FOR LIVING doesn't have as deep a sound as Andy's later ROOTS AND BRANCHES and is more melody-driven, making for a spacier roots atmosphere than his previous works. Especially solid tracks include "Rebel" and "Dem a Fraud," both with just the right balance of patented Mad Professor echoes and deep driving bass.

Recorded at Ariwa Studios, London, England. Horace Andy can handle traditional roots reggae as well as he can the trip-hop sounds

The Charlatans U.K.: Tim Burgess (vocals); Mark Collins (guitar); Rob Collins (Clavinet, Hammond B-3 organ, Wurlitzer, piano, background vocals); Martin Blunt (bass); Jon Brookes (drums). Additional personnel: Dave Charles (percussion); Steve Hillage (programming). Producers: The Charlatans U.K., Dave Charles, Steve Hillage. The Charlatans' star rose quickly and then stalled; they never really fit comfortably into the same mold that gave us the Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses, or The Smiths. Dogged by misfortune, self inflicted and otherwise, they ultimately just didn't possess the cachet of a late '80s 'Manchester band.' However, their eponymously titled fourth album brought them to a hitherto unachieved level of prominence--almost, but not quite, turning them into international stars. The Charlatans are at their most Stones-like here, evoking Primal Scream and other rockier British dance-influenced acts. Highlights include the great "Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over," "Just Lookin'," and "Toothache." Full of great hooks and lyrically persuasive, this album is recommended to anyone with an interest in the best of '90s British pop.

The Charlatans U.K.: Tim Burgess (vocals); Mark Collins (guitar); Rob Collins (Clavinet, Hammond B-3 organ, Wurlitzer, piano, back

Full title: Hot Latin Hits/ Exitos Latinos Calientes: The '90s/.

Full title: Hot Latin Hits/ Exitos Latinos Calientes: The '90s/.

One of the most accomplished artists to come out of Brazil in the '90s, Daniela Mercury combines the percolating percussion of her native Bahia with the fever of rock & roll. Although she has yet to achieve any real success in the United States, she is a bona fide superstar in Brazil, and in her live shows, she boasts the pyrotechnical self-assuredness of a pop star like Ricky Martin. Surrounded by a solid core of swinging percussionists, she flexes her powerhouse vocal chords, aided by an electrifying horn section and a few backup vocalists. This concert album reveals Mercury in all her effervescent live glory, and it is especially recommended for listeners who are not familiar with her explosive style. Mercury is also a gifted composer of catchy hooks, as the opening track "Eletrica" amply demonstrates. And she spices the program up with selections by Brazil's most notorious songwriters, from Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil to newer sensation Carlinhos Brown.

One of the most accomplished artists to come out of Brazil in the '90s, Daniela Mercury combines the percolating percussion of her

Personnel includes: James Edward III (keyboards); The Beat Mechanixs (programming). Producers: DJ Lucho, Steve Chavez, Charles Chavez, Luis Diaz, Georgie Porgie. Engineers: Gaspare Valenti, Jim Godsey, Robert Ortiz. Remixed at Step One Studios, Brooklyn, New York. In the mid-'90s, the world of Latin pop was in dire need of an old-fashioned romantic singer, somebody who would be able to reproduce the charisma of legendary crooners such as Jose Jose, Roberto Carlos, or Palito Ortega--a new artist who would bring back to the genre an injection of old-fashioned melodrama. The prayers of so many female fans were finally answered in 1996, when Colombian singer Charlie Zaa released the smash record SENTIMIENTOS, claiming the throne of Latin pop and romantic balladry. REMIXES celebrates the first four years in the career of Zaa, giving his sentimental anthems a rhythmic makeover that allows them to shine in the disco floor as well. The outstanding "Un Disco Mas" demonstrates the importance that Zaa attributes to the lyrics, with a clever "world-within-a-world" story about songs (and records) bringing back memories of loves that once seemed promising but could never become a reality.

Personnel includes: James Edward III (keyboards); The Beat Mechanixs (programming). Producers: DJ Lucho, Steve Chavez, Charles Cha

The Veils: Finn Andrews (vocals, guitar); Oli Drake (guitar); Adam Kinsella (bass); Ben Woollacott (drums). Producers: Bernard Butler, Matthew Ollivier, Ken Nelson. This 2004 Rough Trade debut by the Veils showcases a sound born out of English post-punk and 1990s American alt-rock. Fronted by guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Finn Andrews (son of Barry Andrews of XTC and Shriekback fame), the Veils feature his throaty, impassioned vocals and emo-leaning songsmithery as their focus. On THE RUNAWAY FOUND, the band delivers on the promise of its stylistic amalgam. Andrews flirts with British jangle-pop on cuts such as "The Wild Son" and "The Tide That Left and Never Came Back," rocks hard on the angst-laden "More Heat Than Light," and tries his hand at melancholic balladry on "The Valleys of New Orleans." Crypto-poetic lyrics and interlocking guitar lines bolstered by clean, large-scale production (by Suede's Bernard Butler on four tracks) lend atmosphere to Andrews's tunes, as do the tastefully applied strings, giving the Veils a Radiohead-esque rock aura.

The Veils: Finn Andrews (vocals, guitar); Oli Drake (guitar); Adam Kinsella (bass); Ben Woollacott (drums). Producers: Bernard But

Personnel includes: Duke Levine (guitar, lap steel guitar, mandolin, bass); Kevin Barry (guitar); Darrel Scott (pedal steel guitar); Tom West (piano, Clavinet, organ); Paul Bryan (bass); Doug Plavin (drums). NOBODY'S HOME is a great example of a sideman stepping out on his own. Guitarist Duke Levine has been working regularly with Mary Chapin Carpenter, in addition to doing numerous other sessions throughout the '90s. For his first solo album, Levine put together an exceptional instrumental combo featuring bass player Paul Bryan, drummer Doug Plavin, and keyboard player Tom West. The songs prove more than mere showcases for topflight players, primarily because of the passion and intelligence of Levine's songwriting. There's striking variety in the set, but an anchoring cohesion as well. The band proves equally adept at crazed rockabilly-surf hybrids, slow tropical ballads, and confidently strutting shuffles. The version of Woody Guthrie's "Vigilante Man" is earthy and dazzling. This is a great instrumental album, full of good taste, dashes of humor, and inventive playing.

Personnel includes: Duke Levine (guitar, lap steel guitar, mandolin, bass); Kevin Barry (guitar); Darrel Scott (pedal steel guitar

FROM...ANOTHER TIME AND PLACE was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album. First released in Italy in the early '80s but unissued in the U.S. until the mid-'90s, FROM ANOTHER TIME AND PLACE lacks the thematic unity of some of Dave Van Rionk's most successful albums. But even though these disparate songs seem to have little to do with each other, they're united by Van Ronk's bluesy, gruff voice and expressive acoustic guitar. Starting with the wistful title track and continuing through traditional blues like "Kansas City Blues" and the "Frankie and Johnny" variant "Frankie's Blues," to Willie Dixon's "Hootchie Cootchie Man," Muddy Waters' "Lovin' Spoonful," and another Dylan cover, "He Was a Friend of Mine," Van Ronk's jazz-inflected vocal style and Delta-derived finger-picking technique make each song sound newly minted. Van Ronk originals like "Losers" sound equally strong, making FROM ANOTHER TIME AND PLACE a late masterwork by an underappreciated legend.

FROM...ANOTHER TIME AND PLACE was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album. First released in Italy in th

Personnel: Adrain Belew (vocals, various instruments); Martha Belew, Sherry Webb, Iris Belew, Ken Latchney, Stan Hertzman (vocals). After a foray into instrumental improvisation in the modern classical mode (1995's THE GUITAR AS ORCHESTRA), idiosyncratic songwriter and guitar wizard Adrian Belew returned to the pop fold with renewed vigor on OP ZOP TOO WAH. The rocker "Six String" (a love song to his guitar), the Beatles-esque "Beautiful" and the carefree ditty "Something to Do" provide more of the bright, hook-stuffed songcraft that characterized most of Belew's late '80s and early '90s recordings. But Belew is no average tunesmith. The astonishing range of his technical facility and all-around musicianship, and his fascination with varied sonic textures and dense polyrhythms, can generate savage, tribal trips through the jungle ("Of Bow and Drum") or ethereal, surreal impressions ("Sky Blue Red Bird Green House"). Belew's avant-garde sensibilities are in evidence too, especially on cuts such as "Word Play Drum Beat," which features voice samples over a lone rhythm track, the ethno-surf-boogie of the title cut and the ear-bending big top solo on "High Wire Guitar." Taken together, these accomplished experiments make OP ZOP TOO WAH Belew's most interesting and cohesive pop effort since MR. MUSIC HEAD.

Personnel: Adrain Belew (vocals, various instruments); Martha Belew, Sherry Webb, Iris Belew, Ken Latchney, Stan Hertzman (vocals)

Cluster: Dieter Moebius, Hans Joachim Roedelius. That's one hour. Sixty minutes. Yep, thirty-six hundred seconds of Cluster, 90s style. The passage of time hasn't dulled its patina in the slightest. Theirs is the stuff of chronological hijacking, of history suspended, of sounds stolen from the prenatural nucleus of the human bandwidth, stretched, looped and fragmented to infinity. Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius, travellers in this sphere of movement, have been altering the lifeclocks of their listeners for neigh on decades now. Their 're-surgence' and penultimate recognition in the U.S. as electronica's pre-eminent digital designers led to a first (and last) tour of North America, subsequent live albums, and the ageless document that is ONE HOUR. Encapsulating a Cluster recording, especially this one, can leave the reviewer gasping for expression. Stop-motion twitters exorcised from rusting beatboxes, awesome sounds that suggest the non-air caught in vast galactic vacuums, noxious synth eddies that orbit about a maelstrom of black holes, dilating time-Cluster has forever sounded like no other, the duo's ideas forever embraced in 'tempus fugit'. And once you're in, you're in for the duration.

Cluster: Dieter Moebius, Hans Joachim Roedelius. That's one hour. Sixty minutes. Yep, thirty-six hundred seconds of Cluster, 90s s

The Knack: Berton Averre (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Doug Fieger (vocals, guitar); Prescott Niles (bass); Terry Bozzio (drums). Producers: Richard Bosworth, The Knack, Oliver Leiber. Recorded at House Of Blues Studio West, Encino, California. Although ZOOM counts as The Knack's second '90s comeback (following 1991's SERIOUS FUN), this should have been the record that saved them from the backlash created by their multi-platinum 1979 debut. Original members Doug Fieger, Prescott Niles and Berton Averre recruited former Missing Persons/Frank Zappa drummer Terry Bozzio for a record that is the equivalent of a power-pop smart bomb. Simple, bubblegum love songs such as "Can I Borrow A Kiss" and "Love Is All There Is" are sauteed in chiming 12-string guitar and chirpy harmonies guaranteed to bring back memories of AM radio and high-school crushes. Elsewhere The Beatles are the obvious musical touchstone, whether it's the lyrical references to "Revolution #9" on "Terry & Julie Step Out" or the "Dear Prudence"-psychedelia of "(All In The) All In All." Lest ZOOM be seen as an all-out lovefest, The Knack do manage to import a modicum of cheeky snarkiness in the cynical bon-bon "Pop Is Dead." But the most fun comes during a pair of flat-out rave-ups, the runaway train of "Tomorrow" and the hard-hitting "Ambition," a tune co-written by Heartbreaker Stan Lynch and given its punch by Bozzio.

The Knack: Berton Averre (vocals, guitar, keyboards); Doug Fieger (vocals, guitar); Prescott Niles (bass); Terry Bozzio (drums). P

Essential Music Videos - '90s Rock

Essential Music Videos - '90s Rock

90s Hot Country

90s Hot Country

Last Chance For A Thousand Years: Greatest Hits From The 90s

Last Chance For A Thousand Years: Greatest Hits From The 90s

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