20 Underrated 1990s Albums! 

Hey Dillon, I’m 14 from Cape Town, South Africa. I just want to thank you for introducing me to such amazing music. You introduced me to The Stooges, King Crimson, the MC5 (My now favourite bands) and many more. I’ve decided I want to become a professional musician (I play guitar) and it is because of you. Thank you so much!

Screaming Trees was another great band that should be talked about more.

Faith No More- Angel Dust!

Toadies record Rubberneck is killer front to back. Starts with the instrumental "Mexican Hairless" to get you pumped and then finishes with an incredible acoustic guitar driven, melodic anthem that kicks in with the drums and distortion, epic track, "I Burn" also has the hit Possum Kingdom. But man so many good songs, Tyler, Away, Backslider, I Come from The Water... top 3 favorite albums of the 90's. Also Local H with either "As Good as Dead" or "Pack up The Cats" classic 90's rock. The production value on Pack Up The Cats really ramped up from As Good As Dead. Each song flows into the next. Incredible albums and I never hear/see anyone talk about them. If you haven't check them out, you shan't be disappointed :) Toadies - Rubberneck Local H - As Good as Dead Pack Up The Cats

The Sugarcubes from Iceland had some amazing 90s music.

Urge Overkill - Saturation. Album of the '90s for my money. I can listen to it endlessly. Though I'm guessing it's impossible to find vinyl with "Operation Kissinger" on it.

Catherine Wheel-Chrome Built to Spill-Keep it Like a Secret Old 97’s-Too Far to Care Luna-Bewitched Bad Religion-Stranger than Fiction Social Distortion-Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell Pixies-Bossanova

My top 4 are all from 1993, great alternative rock. The Catherine Wheel - Chrome (part UK shoegaze, part american alternative, with a sprinkle of grunginess) Swervedriver - Mezcal Head (influenced by The Stooges, Husker Du, Sonic Youth) Adorable - Against Perfection (UK alternative/shoegaze on Creation Records) Seam - The Problem With Me (alternative rock from Chicago)

The Melvins, Sonic Youth, Silverchair, Babes In Toyland, Mudhoney

Catherine Wheel's record Chrome. That band made such a beautiful noise.

Helmet was and is still great. Loved them being on The Crow soundtrack. Come to think of it, that whole soundtrack is pretty damn good! Some other 90’s bands/albums I still listen to that some people may have forgot: Stabbing Westward (Wither Blister Burn + Peel), Rollins Band (End of Silence), Faith No More (King for a Day), Afghan Whigs (Gentlemen), The Verve (Urban Hymns), and Nada Surf (High/Low).

I use to listen to a lot of Monster Magnet, Helmet, and Down. Sonic Youth and Fugazi should be in your list. I also have love Battery cds seen them live back in the day. Great Video!

Monster Magnet - "Dopes to Infinity" is one of the greatest 90's album ever!

2:41 Bardo Pond, love them. Missed in the 90s. Sounds like Mazzy Star meets Jesus & Mary Chain. Thanks Dillon!

Corrosion of Conformity "Wiseblood" is highly underrated

Delighted to see you include PJ Harvey’s Dry. Recorded in Yeovil in the UK and where I grew up up - saw her pay as part of Automatic Dlamini at Yeovil College in 89/90. Glorious 🙌

Great call out on PJ Harvey. She gets overlooked alot. Love her stuff. A few not so uncommon but I like are Portishead, Barkmarket, Butthole Surfers, Tragic Mulatto, I am Spoonbender and anything involving Jay Munly ( solo or with Slim Cessna Auto Club ) . Just found your channel and enjoying the back catalog of videos. Keep up the good work

Great list. Love that you included Paw and Jon Spencer. Some of my favourite 90's albums

I have a soft spot for the Mental Jewelry album by Live. This album often gets overshadowed by their more successful record, Throwing Copper, which is also excellent. The earlier demo that they recorded as "Public Affection" was pretty good too, unfortunately it's only available on cassette tape, as far as I know.

Shudder to Think’s Pony Express Record is always at the top of my list of underrated 90s records

Amazing to see you show PAW! Band from my college town that i had the fortune of seeing live many timesand watching them grow. I agree with everything you said about them.

Bailterspace from New Zealand ❤ One of many amazing bands from NZ

The posies….Frosting on the beater. Great 90’s indie rock

As a teen in the 90s one I always loved was Handsome. They were sort of a mix of members of Helmet and Quicksand (also could be on your list). Handsome had really accessible catchy tracks that I still come back to.

Great list and very cool records! I saw Daniel Johnston in concert many many years ago, and he was great. It’s a sentimental memory for me now because the person I attended it with has since passed away, so I can’t help but think of my friend when I listen to Daniel Johnston, and it brings me great joy to think of her. And yes, more people need Paw Dragline in their life!

Jay from France here. Great video, man ! Usually in this kind of videos, it always end up with the same albums. I only know half of those you selected, which is a surprise. And these records beins great, I can only suppose that the others are great as well, so i'm gonna have a try right now ! Thanks for these suggestions !

Thanks for the suggestions! I’m taking notes for when I go out hunting for vinyl 😊

Love your list! Great recommendations. I would add The Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies self-titled record to this list. Amazing 90's southern rock from start to finish. Also, in the blues category, Little Jimmy King, "Something Inside Me" has got to be one of my favorite records of the 90's. Keep up the great work!

Super cool stuff as always. Giving out so much homework!

Some excellent choices here Dillon, great to see the shout outs to Bailterspace, Bardo Pond, and Daniel Johnston. And R.I.P. Dexter “Dex” Romweber of the Flat Duo Jets (June 18, 1966 - February 16, 2024)

No history of 90’s grunge is complete without Mother Love Bone - Apple

So glad you mentioned the Mazzy Star record. I’d heard and loved “fade into you”, but that was the only song I ever really heard. Might’ve dipped in once or twice on spotify and nothing really grabbed me. This album has some twang to it and a Neko Case vibe. Love it.

As per usual, your choices reflect that of a true music obsessive - actually got amped up seeing some of your picks! Every time I watch your channel I pick up on something obscure and AWESOME! We'd never fight over the stereo selections.......NEVER! Zep is my holy Grail of music as well! "Great Minds......

Cheers for shouting out Down- Nola. Amazing UNDERATED album!

Laughing Stock by Talk Talk is what first came to mind for me. Such a beautiful album that should really be talked about more

Thanks for the recommendations! Was hoping to see August and Everything After :)

Kyuss - Welcome to Sky Valley

hey from brazil!! great selection!!! huge admirer of 90´s alt rock. thanxxxxxxxxxxx

Great episode! Gonna check a few of these out! Love that Veruca Salt album. Do you have The Gits - Frenching The Bully in your collection?

Great picks! There are some i haven't heard so im going to check them out.

I'm 54. I caught Monster Magnet opening for Soundgarden on the Badmotorfinger tour back in 1992, and picked up the Superjudge CD shortly thereafter. Unlike most people who got into Television due to their first album Marquee Moon, my in-road was on that self-titled you featured. I have a lot of what you featured as well as a lot of 2nd / 3rd tier grunge because I was picking up everything in the era, however, Paw - Dragline (1993) is a new one for me to check out. Thanks!

Super interesting watch buddy..!! Instant subscription..!! That Nola album is an absolute monster

Thanks for the new ones and reminders.

I Mother Earth-Dig Fantastic debut album

fantastic choices dillon... each and every one is a gem. one id like to add is THE GOD MACHINE- one last laugh in a place of dying (1994 fiction) a monster of a record which everyone has forgotten about today. another one is CRUNT (1992 trace syndicate) members of babes in toyland, jon spencer blues explosion and lubricated goat being as cool as hell!

The 90s were such a plentiful time for music. It was hard to listen to everything. Great content. Thanks

Toad the wet sprocket and monster magnet...those albums bring me back to high-school...awesome video thanks

Love some of your pic there - also love that you found that first press copy of NOLA - amazing album.

So many great records here! Nice to see Paw mentioned, I saw them with Monster Magnet and Kill Whitey at Lounge Ax here in Chicago in ‘97 and it just about blew the doors off the place

Holy cow! I thought I was the only one who remembered Paw! Failure's Fantastic Planet was released on vinyl a year or two ago and I missed it; hoping to own that grail one day. Everclear's Sparkle and Fade practically gave me a mantra for the late 90s: "Don't fall down now, you will never give up". Sunny Day Real Estate's Diary also reshaped emo.

White Zombie's La Sexorcisto was a heavy rotation back then for me, along with early Clutch stuff, and the mighty Fudge Tunnel!! I saw L7 play at a small club around 95 or 96 and that was a blast. Still have the T shirt i cant wear to work lol. And cont forget the first QOTSA album probably have listened to that a million times. Cheers.

Great episode! Love that some British records were in there but having grown up with British 90’s indie music it’s odd to hear that PJ Harvey, Ride and Mazzy Star might be seen as underrated 😉 But if someone discovers great music this way everyone’s a winner! Other must listens from the 90s are Swervedriver’s Raise and the follow up Mezcal Head.

This Daniel Johnston record is amazing. Thank you for the recommendation. Has a very demo tape Violent Femmes feel to it. Just incredible.

Beautiful smile, always a pleasure watching. Your happiness is contagious. Thank you

Some Bangers in here - always loved mazzy starr but never heard anything past 'Fade into you' until you jogged my memory. Great recommendations, lots there that i'd never heard of over here in the UK. Glad PJ Harvey got a mention, such an amazing back catalogue.

Awesome to see Love Battery mentioned. Was a favorite of my friends and I growing up. Got to see them on the Far Gone tour and hung out with them afterwards. I looked for years for an original Dayglo and tracked one down with my friend a few years back at a tourist record store at the beach of all places but gave it to my friend who’s a huge fan. Finally managed to snag an OG for myself last year and grabbed the reissue on pink. Such an incredible album.

Interesting list -- once again, you presented some stuff that I'd never heard of and will check out. Just a couple that I can think that I would add to your list is The Olivia Tremor Control -- Music From the Unrealized Film Script: "Dusk at Cubist Castle" (1995). Also, their second one, Black Foliage: Animation Music which was released in 1999. Also, Bevis Frond - New River Head.

Good to see toad the wet sprocket get some love. Saw them in concert many times back in the day. Got to meet them a few times. They’re a good bunch of guys. Pale is a great album. Another great band from the 90s nobody talks about is Dada. The albums Puzzle and American Highway Flower are two my favorites. Also the band Morphine, their album Yes came out in 1995, is one of my all-time favorite records.

Hey man, great forgotten lineups. I just want to add in a band called Season To Risk. They were freakin killer. I was thrilled when you pulled out the paw dragline album. I still have that CD from way back. My sister used to work at the college radio station at Louisiana Tech back in the 90's and she gave it to me.

Another really really Goode one..thank you..!!

Thanks for this! Will check a lot of them out

I used to listen to Helmet - Meantime, Paw - Dragline, and L7 - Hungry for Stink A LOT. Haven't thought about those albums in a long time. I think I'll pull them out and give them another listen!

Superjudge is amazing, but dopes to infinity might even be better! Great video, thanks! Great recommendations. Im not sure if these fall into the underrated category but some of my favorites (outside the more obvious grunge/rock/metal 90s albums): NOFX - Ribbed Kyuss - Welcome to Sky Valley Bolt Thrower - For Victory & 4th Crusade Immortal - At the heart of winter

Great video as usual... Bailter Space was essentially reconstituted version of The Gordons, seminal early '80s noise rock band... There is a LOT of great '90s rock that has largely been forgotten, you could do 10 more sets of 20 easy

What a great idea for a video, I'll probably watch it twice.

Awesome list! One of my favorite 90's albums that I still listen to pretty often is by a band called Dig. The album is also called Dig and their radio hit was called Believe, but the whole album rocks. Screaming Trees is another one still on rotation for me.

FINALLY some love for superjudge! Awesome album - everybody here should go crank Twin Earth & Face Down. Not to mention Hungry for Stink, Nowhere, and Meantime. Kudos!

Love that you had Paw on there. I definitely think they got slept on. Down’s first album was incredible, not just for Phil’s vocals, but they were a super group, guitarists from C.O?C. And Crowbar, drummer from Eyehategod, and Pantera’s bassist. I feel like Blind Melon’s second and third albums could definitely be on there as well. Lots of others. Love the video

Miss daniel.! Good albums man! Pod and Meantime were always regular listens for me💥

Hello sir, you just randomly popped up on my feed and I'm glad you did. Had 18 out of 20 of these so I guess I'm biased for saying great list. :) Wanted to throw a few more out there that wouldn't feel out of place in your list. Frogpond count to ten; Quicksand Slip; and Super junky Monkey Parasitic people. You can find them all on youtube for anyone interested.

Sebadoh III is the lo-fi White Album. To this day a masterpiece and my favourite album.

Another under rated album from the 90's is HUM..."You'd prefer an astronaut"

A couple of underrated classics from here in Ireland to add to the many recommendations in the comments... Horsedrawn Wishes by Rollerskate Skinny - psychedelic layers of driving guitars and weird effects with druggy but very evocative lyrics, it'll steamroll your senses. And Heartworm by Whipping Boy - tight, hard, bruising, supremely melodic indie rock, with confessional lyrics that will often leave you floored. Top video this, great selection, thanks!

Loved your pick of PAW. I always loved them. Hugely underrated.

Bardo Pond Lapsed is an amazing record. Was huge for me when I heard it in HS

Thank you, those are some interesting suggestions. Kind of surprised to see down (nola) on the list, didn't know it was underrated. I remember when it came out, everyone who was into pantera, or coc was hooked on it.

Loved this episode and can relate to a lot of the albums you showed. Some of the bands that should have been more well known back then: Swell School of Fish (great alt rock with grunge overtones) 360's 7 Year Bitch (female grunge) Tilt (pop punk female vocals) American Music Club Fretblanket (grungy alt rock) An Emotional Fish (grungy alt rock) Billy Goat Blonde Redhead (Sonic Youth influenced) The Sugarcubes Grifters Butter 08 Brainiac New Bomb Turks Wool (with Pete Stahl from legendary D.C. punk band Scream) G Love And Special Sauce Swervedriver Mary's Danish Idaho Got to see The Jesus Lizard in 1997 or '98, best show I ever went to. Saw Wool, Shonen Knife, the Grifters, 360's, Tilt (they opened for Green Day), Everclear, New Bomb Turks, 7 Year Bitch, so many more. Fun times when I worked at an indie record store and worked at a college radio station. I was awash in promo records and CDs, stickers, postcards, and even still have my promo Television paper pad! I never saw a vinyl copy of Television's '90s release. I do recall every last band you mentioned in this episode. I have a plastic box full of '90s promo band stickers and postcards. Also still have most of my '90s band t-shirts including The Jesus Lizard one. If I could post pics here I'd post a pic of the Television promo paper pad. I *think* it may have also come with a Television pencil but not positive. ~ Michelle

Fudge Tunnel. Some people prefer Creep Diets but I'm a 'The Complicated Futility Of Ignorance' guy. Sugar's 'Copper Blue' is great and the band Luxurious Bags's 'Frayed Knots' is a stratospheric low-fi classic I will never get tired of. It's such a slacker sounding album, it almost makes J. Mascis seem hyperactive and every song manages to sound different, yet with a character of its own but, at the same time, they all belong together on the same album as it is a very cohesive whole. At first, when you put it on, you may think 'what's the big deal' but with a little patience, the magic is revealed. I think it was 'Frayed Knots' that came with a statement in the liner notes (or a sticker) that said 'best heard through under-pillow speakers', ha.

Some absolute belters there Sir, bravo! How's about Kyuss "Blues For The Red Sun", Liquid Jesus "Pour In The Sky" and Hater, "Hater".

The 90s were my 20s so I ended up listening to a lot of music. I have 75% of the albums you showed, but on CD. Many great albums there. Paw is definitely an album fans need to hear.

Well, I'll agree with you on PJ Harvey's _Dry._

Daniel Johnston if you get it you get it. If you don’t then you will think it’s terrible. But an amazing song writer. No one wore their heart on their sleeve more than him.

Tripping Daisy- i am an ELASTIC FIRECRACKER along with Soul Coughing- Irresistible Bliss are some absolute hidden gems from the 90s. I was pumped to see Jesus Lizard on here and surprised to see some Limp 😂 that was awesome loved this video!!

Some great albums there: Paw, Toad…, Ride, L7, Veruca Salt, Mazzy Star, Love Battery, The Breeders. And several I’ve never heard of but will now check out. Thanks for the recommendations!

Failure - Fantastic Planet Enjoyed the video!!

Kyuss- Sky Valley, 1994. The greatest album of all time,

Excellent topic ! I did grow up in the 60s and 70s, but I’ve always been wild about the 90s. I own at least 500 albums from that decade alone. So here’s several of my favorite under appreciated pieces : Tad’s Infrared Riding Hood ( speaking of grunge ), “ Mag Earwhig “ from Guided By Voices ( one of the best indie rock bands ever ), Erotica by The Darling Buds, Carnival of Light by Ride, Seven from James, Sack Full of Silver by Thin White Rope, Dig - I Mother Earth, Chrome - Catherine Wheel, Sunrise on the Sufferbus by Masters of Reality, and The Sky Moves Sideways by Porcupine Tree. There are SO many others, but that’s the 90s for ya. A totally underrated decade.

Fu Manchu - The Action is Go (1997)

Saw Bardo Pond live a few times back then. Dense intense loud wall of sound. They're still going!

Having also grown up in the 90's, i really loved this video. A few of my favs that werent mentioned are Thrush Hermit - Clayton Park, Treble Charger - Maybe Its Me, Spin Doctors - Pocket Full Of Kryptonite, SNFU - Something Green and Leafy This Way Comes, Dayglo Abortions - Little Man In The Canoe. Some good canadian stuff for you here

Great List I might add: Morcheeba - Who can you Trust? Therapy - Troublegum Skeleton Key - Fantastic Spikes Through Balloon Replicants Senser - Stacked Up And anything by Poe

Great selection . I saw Veruca Salt live at the Power Sration concert venue in Auckland New Zealand circa 1997

Whoa, Bardo Pond now thats the definition of criminally under appreciated. After watching vinyl videos on RU-vid for years I've heard them brought up maybe twice? Have all their records, just turned on a dude who runs one of my locals shops onto them and now he's obsessed lol

Dude…childhood memories…60% of your list were some of my favourite records, still some nice discoveries I didn’t know (PAW). Here’s one for you…Haystack - Slave me. Or Barkmarket - L Ron. Thanks for sharing this. The Nineties were the best.

Killer choices man. Good to see “Ride” in there. Im a big trip-hop fan so a ton of those such as Attica Blues-Blue Print, Lamb-S/T, Sneaker Pimps-Becoming X are all fantastic and rarely talked about. Of course I guess one has to be a trip hop fan to think they are underrated, ha I can remember hearing people talk in the late 90’s how music sucked compared to blah blah blah years. How do they like us now? 😎🎸 90’s were the last really great decade for rock. 90’s rule!

Some stuff I never heard of in there! I’ve always been a little wary of 90’s rock vinyl because of quality. Are these recommendations good sounding on vinyl (or might CD be better)?

Good list. There are a couple albums on there I sold and wish I hadn’t. Helmet Meantime is epic and the follow up Betty is also. Fugazi should be on your next list. Maybe some COC too.

I saw Jackyl open for Aerosmith in Sioux Falls, SD in the summer of '93. Loved the act with the chainsaw. Great show!

Solid choices. For folk who are chasing recommendations, here's some associated bands or labels to check... For Helmet - loads of bands on Amphetamine Reptile at the time 'In the meantime' came out. Janitor Joe, Surgery, Cows, Guzzard, also Quicksand. For Jesus Lizard - Scratch Acid, Drive Like Jehu, Brainiac, Shellac there's a lot of stuff in the late 80's through mid-90's that was just labeled 'noise' or 'alt rock' due to it being wildly askew and journalists and distros not really knowing where else to pigeonhole them, some of them would likely be seen as post-rock or post-hardcore. The same applies to Helmet and the bands i've recommended there. For L7 - Really, check out 'Smell the Magic' an early ep they did for sub pop, it is immense. Lunachicks and Tribe 8 would also likely appeal. For Monster Magnet - Orange Goblin, Clutch, Slift, if you want stoner, southern or psych metal respectively. For the Blues Explosion - there was a lot of garage punk stuff on Crypt Records, the earlier Blues Explosion albums, New Bomb Turks, The Dirty's, Teengenerate, garage punk stuff. Estrus Records put out a /lot/ of excellent albums in a similar vein, the makers, the fall-outs, the mono men. For more of that funk/soul edge to garage punk that the blues explosion were doing, the delta 72, the dirtbombs, nation of ulysses, king khan and the shrines should all fit the bill.

So many great selections! I'm tempted to look up the Jackyl song, just for the chainsaw solo. I've heard it before, but I was probably 18. Are you familiar with Alice Donut? They have a song with a hair dryer solo, Thanks, Dillon for your assistance in crate digging.