The 10 Most Gut-Wrenching 90's ALTERNATIVE Ballads! 

Young man that was probably one of your best videos to date. I was struck by how to me, you humanized your message, in how music can speak so soulfully to us as individuals. I'm 60 years old and have been playing guitar since I was knee high. Keep it up. Your greatest strength is your personal approach in how you communicate and connect. 😊

I will always thank the melancholy of the 90s. I was in my 20s and in a very weird place. These songs became a part of me and will always be a part of me.

That song "Winter" gives me chills. I've actually recently taken up piano and one of my goals is to learn that song. Tori is a genius. To be able to play with the complexity she does and sing like an angel at the same time.

Jeff Buckley’s version of Lilac Wine on Grace is really the most stunning singing I’ve ever heard. Best song on the album

My #1 would have to be Joey by Concrete Blonde. "Joey, I'm not angry anymore" is one of the most heartbreaking lines I've ever heard a singer hit.

Yess! 90's alternative ballads. Have been waiting for this one. Love the return of the Ozark shirt! Congrats on 854k Subscribers! Damn, that Taylor looks and sounds beautiful, I want one haha.

Fade into you... one of the most beautiful songs of all time ❤

I couldn't agree more with what you said about Counting Crows and Gin Blossoms. I listened to those 2 bands constantly and to this day, anytime I put them on I'm right back in High School again.

I think you managed to get most of the good ones! Great job on this list! I love that you have "Fake Plastic Trees" on this list. That song and its best friend "High and Dry" have gotten me through some hard times. I remember hearing the latter song on the radio as a kid and it immediately stuck with me, but I didn't learn the name of the song until nearly 20 years after I first heard it! "Fade Into You" is one of the sweetest songs I know. That one automatically plays in my head if I'm feeling sad. One last thing - when that guy complained about you talking too much and you decided you'd talk more just to spite him, he indirectly did me a favor! Your stories are the best thing about your videos!

I love this video and your descriptions of these songs - both ones I loved too, and ones that are new to me. Thank you for being vulnerable sharing your emotions and memories with us!

As a musician who was desperately trying to break into the music industry in the late 90s, nearly all of these songs and albums hit home for me. August and Everything After is one of my lifetime albums. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and passion about this great music.

Really heartfelt video. I was never into alternative in the ‘90’s. I was still listening to 70’s & 80’s Rock….I couldn’t stand the music at the time. As I got older, and had to travel away from my wife and kids for years (starting in 2007 due to coming recession -2008 GFC) I listened to plenty of “classic rock” radio which was now playing these songs. They began to sound like something to me, along with my longing for home….I found myself growing in a calming/pained relationship with so many of these tunes.

9:41 Yes! So glad to hear you’re doing a video on Jeff Buckley’s guitar playing. Such an underrated player whose voice often overshadows his incredible guitar skills. Check out his guitar solo during “The Way Young Lovers Do” live in Corregio, Italy.

Hope Sandoval (Mazzy Star) reminds me a lot of Susanna Hoffs from The Bangles, both in appearance and in vocal prowess. Both are incredible singers and performers. I admit to having posters of both of them on my wall ball in the 90's. Not ashamed at all.

I knew the guys in the Gin Blossoms back before NME came out. Doug Hopkins, troubled though he was, was a good guy. I was out with them one evening and had no ride home - he gave me the keys to his car and said, "You can get it back to me tomorrow."

Like you said, the entire August and Everything After is such a captivating album, but I always go back to "Anna Begins." There's something about the way that song transitions from the pre-chorus to the chorus, it's like sunlight breaking through the clouds.

I actually got chills for some reason when you went from Fake Plastic Trees to Until I Fall Away. I saw Gin Blossoms in concert for the first time about 4 years ago and they played their cover of FPT and it was so freaking awesome.Gin Blossoms fans probably already knew that was a thing but it was really cool for me.

i first saw jeff buckley on an mtv show that showed up-and-coming bands performing live, in a studio, to nobody. they played 'grace' and it was so far beyond every other song, in every way, that my jaw was on the floor. really wish i could've seen him live.

Fade into You reminds me of a girl I loved that I couldn’t be with back in the mid 90s. I love Hope’s vocals. One of my fav songs of the 90s.

CROWING! Glen Philipps is one of my favorite songwriters. That entire album is incredible, but that particular song is a shining example for me of turning vulnerability into a raw and amazing work of art. In addition, that song makes great use of a capo, and the harmonies are epic.

LOVED this one -thank you. Far and away my favorite decade of music!

Saw Toad the Wet Sproket at a small college near my home. We sat on gym mats and listened. The singer had bare feet while he played and sang. One of my favorite music shows I ever attended. Just did a deep dive on them 30 years later. Good memories.

When you said August the whole album, I was in total agreement and I have often told friends and anyone who would listen that that album is the most perfect encapsulation of a band's sound where every song is a part of a complete story. It's a rare gem that stands alone and reflects its natural beauty every time. I'm very much a hard rock guy, but Counting Crows just gets me.

Absolutely love these videos 👍🏻

I am so, so stoked to hear The Jayhawks mentioned on this channel. One of my very favorite bands too! Gary Louris is such a tasty singer, song writer, and guitar player. Cheers!

Thanks! You just grew my Spotify playlist. Thanks for the memory too, of many a morning drives in to high school Senior year, picking up a friend on the way, us singing and shouting the lyrics to Mr. Jones at full blast. Best and worst of times.

Counting crows hard candy has three songs that absolutely kills me everytime i listen to them.

Toad the Wet Sprocket is such an underrated band.

Man your videos are really hitting me. I was in high-school during these songs. We were so lucky to have such great music to grow up with. Really liking your whole thing going on. New big fan here.

So happy to see that you remember the art of Jeremy Enigk. It would be great if you would make a video on the guitar work in SDRE"s album Diary. Such a masterpiece..

There were sooo many beautiful songs like this released in the 90’s. I could easily make a top 100 90’s indie ballads and still have to leave some out, it’s crazy! ”August…” is and will always be one of my favorit albums of all time, it really is an emotional masterpiece❤ Great list!

Until I Fall Away is a great pick. Beautiful song. Doug wrote that one btw.

The nostalgia in these songs puts me back in my high school art room every time I hear any of them. Those were incredibly great times but they were also incredibly painful times.

Sounds like you and I are around the same age, man, and I get the same nostalgia kick from mid to late 90s music. Gin Blossoms, Goo Goo Dolls, Dishwalla, Spacehog... I call it my High School Memories playlist. It's really extraordinary how music has this profound effect on the soul. That was also before the days of MP3s and iPods, so I used to spend a lot of time listening to the radio with my hand poised over the 'Record' button on my dual cassette player. Lol. But there was something intrinsically magical about that moment when you're going through a bad break-up or things are just going wrong in your life, and a song comes over the radio that perfectly and thoroughly personifies what you're feeling at that particular time. It's like the gods saw you at that low point and sent you a raven.

Great selection, great video!

Gin Blossoms new miserable experience album is one of the best albums ever. Every song is 🔥.

Round Here brings me to tears everytime.

Dude, 9 out of 10 of these are a part of my playlist from college. Excellent list.

Maaaan! You nailed the nr 1. That whole album is among the most amazing and magic ever! I’ve got so many feelings to all those songs ❤ His voice is really amazing and he sings with so much feelings that it’s just… I don’t know man. Thanks for the reminder man!

August and everything after is amazing. Round here and Anna Begins go straight to the heart

Mike your top 10 was a time capsule for me, to better days and a better world. Thank you

Mike is referring to “sense memories” with the songs. Such an interesting and cool phenomenon that hardly anyone speaks about. GG’s!! Awesome video. Love your content

The 90's to me were the last really superb decade of music. MySpace. Wow, talk about an echo from the past. Gonna have to check put some of this music. I honestly dont remember it.... I love the personal anecdotes. I feel like I always learn something and get to know you better...or even learn something about myself...✌️

Decent list. I had never heard the Buckley track. Put that one on my list. The 90’s were an amazing decade.

Wow great list thank you

Mazzy Star's albums are all great. Their music evokes a sense of nostalgia and sadness, longing, but it'a so beautiful.

Great list dude! I think the song "Walk by the Ocean" from Toad is a heartbreaker too. Very melancholy. The line "And half an hour later we packed up our things We said we'd send letters and all those little things And they knew we were lying but they smiled just the same It seemed they'd already forgotten we'd came" really hits. That idea that we'll always keep in touch with folks we meet through life but in reality, we often don't.

Great video. Really took me back to my 20’s in a good way. Totally forgot about Mazzy and Tori.

I WORE OUT August and Everything After. You absolutely hit the nail on the head. Funny what you said about Mazzy Star. Maria McKee's harmonies on Sullivan Street almost overshadowed Adam's. I had no idea what she looked like, but I just knew she was gorgeous!

Great video!

5:53 That’s awesome you mentioned Jeremy Enigk from Sunny Day Real Estate. Big fan.

Not enough talking! Talk more dude, we love it!

Please do another one of these, they are so sick!

Glad you included “fade into you”. I would say “lover you should have come over” for Buckley for me personally. Can’t get through that one without crying. “Down in a hole” by AiC is also a notable. So many good ones. Great video.

Whoa. I'm glad you made it through the 90s. Hugs. 😊

Great video Mike! - a Time Machine! I bought the Tori Amos EP “Crucify” that had “Winter” on it. It also had covers of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” , “Angie” , “Thank You”. The covers blew my mind and I listened to it so many times. 30 years later I’m still listening and mesmerized. “Winter” is a masterpiece.

I love August and Everything After in the same way and I always listen from start to finish. Completely relate.

Amazing video and completely agree with the songs. The 90's were my college years and a time of self discovery especially in the area of love. These songs take me back. One that always brings me to a melancholy moment in time is "Crown of Thorns" by Mother Love Bone. It gets me every time.

Tori Amos, was one of the best live shows I've seen. Raspberry Swirl hits different when it's live and she's playing 3 pianos.

I'm right there with you on Counting Crows. There are times when I can't even listen to that album because it's just so gut wrenching.

The interstate love song by stone temple pilots is probably the closest song from the 90s to my heart, I just turned 16 a few weeks ago and that song was something special. I would look at old photos from the 90s with my dad in them and my grandparents and I looks like everyone had a great time and people genuinely looked happy. It also reminds me of when my mom left and that was the song that made me realize what actually happened and it hurts like a bitch to this day but that song plays in my head atleast once a day

jeremy enigk is my favorite vocalist ever. his voice is so unique its almost alien. glad you gave his solo record a nod. here are some of my picks: hum - i hate it too sunny day real estate - days were golden death cab for cutie - line of best fit at the drive in - 198d archers of loaf - chumming the ocean elliott smith - no name no. 5 jimmy eat world - anderson mesa mineral - &serenading

Jeff Buckley was amazing. I'm kind of surprised you didn't go with Last Goodbye though.

August and Everything After has one of the greatest lyrics ever in Raining In Baltimore where Adam sings "Three thousand five hundred miles away but what would you change if you could?" Man that lyric is gut wrenching tragic and dense with meaning and implications.

Amen brother, Round Here is my all time most favorite song. It is special, timeless, and soulful. His live versions of that song are incredible, one here on RU-vid is nearly 13 minutes long, it's like a Shakespeare play.

I've heard about half of this list, thanks for sharing man! Now I'll have to check out the other half. I was born in 89 so I was busy with Barney and other stuff in the early '90s when a bunch of these came out lol. Now I'll be 35 this year...

Jeff Buckley definitely is the real deal musician. I would have a hard time picking one song for this list, but I’d probably still have to go with “Last Goodbye.” It’s so sad, so good and so relatable. I was able to see him at First Ave as well but it was the show shortly before he died. Great video and trip down memory lane, Mike!

This is the first video of yours that I have seen so I was blown away to discover that your 1990s selection was basically my soundtrack for the decade. You did a great job picking just 10 songs! Since you asked, here's a few other songs from some of the same bands that you mentioned that I think would fit this list. The Jayhawks - Haywire . . . "my whole life has gone haywire." Gin Blossoms - 29 "Some rides don't have much of a finish. That's the ride I took. Through good and bad straight through indifference without a second look . . ." Toad - I Will Not Take These Things for Granted, Pray Your Gods, and Windmills are a few of their songs that I never get tired of. But there are so many more great songs. Tori Amos - Silent All These Years and China Sunny Day Real Estate (Jeremy Enigk) - Circles Counting Crows - you picked the best one for the video but Anna Begins is a great melancholy song too. I couldn't help but think that Ben Folds Five's "Brick" would fit on a list like this too. Similar theme to Freshman. Maybe not "alternative" though. Sebadoh - Willing to Wait The Posies - Any Other Way The Red House Painters - Grace Cathedral Park, Katy Song, Trailways, and their Cars cover of All Mixed Up are all pretty gut-wrenching early 90s songs.

It’s wired how I appreciate music from the 90s that I never listened to back then. These songs bring me back to those times.

OK… I usually don’t comment on any video. But I will say that somehow I stumbled across your channel and I’m happy that I did. The more you tell about your life the more it is relatable to me. I think we came up around the same time but you might be a little younger. I also did newspapers from the time I was 9 until my mid 20s. I remember, watching others move on with their lives while I was doing newspapers and working multiple jobs. Actually newspapers bought me my first Gibson Explorer with a Kahler back in 1985. It was everything to me. I worked my butt off for that guitar and I still have it to this day. But unfortunately, I don’t have my own RU-vid channel that produces content and I don’t get to do much music like I used to. Eventually I moved on and had to grow up. Now driving tractor trailers and trying to get in my guitars as much as possible in my downtime. I really miss it. This list was a pretty good list, to finish it with the number one being Counting Crows really shocked me. It’s almost like we’ve had the exact same experiences. That is like one of my all-time favorite melancholy albums. I do have some different songs in the middle though in my top 10. But I just want to say you do a great job with the channel, and you did a good job with the list. Keep on doing your thing man, you’re doing a good job.

I can't believe you had number 1 right!! I was legitimately concerned that they'd be skipped. I can barely think about round here without getting emotional. Kudos. thank you!

I feel like nobody ever mentions these bands. This is literally my favorite genre but I find that many people didn’t like this stuff. I trying to revive it actually with the stuff I am writing . Awesome video man!

The Freshmen has done it for me ever since it came out. It has helped keep the classic VP lineup in my top ten bands.

Time and Time Again just hits different

Ooof. This was heavy. This list hit every sad nerve. Great job!

Dang man, great vid.

This is a really great video with a lot of truly fantastic songs in a decade full of great music. I especially love that you included The Freshman. If there was ever a song that had some crazy painful memories attached, it's that one. But THE gut wrenching 90s alternative ballad, the very first thing that comes to mind when considering that idea of that sort of thing, and probably the most gut-wrenching and the most 90s ballad of all time, has got to be Black by Pearl Jam.

Great list and great video. We overlap quite a bit. And I second the comment about Jeff Buckley's dad, Tim Buckley. Also a tragic early death and also a supernaturally potent singing voice. Buzzin' Fly and Happy Time are my two favorite Tim Buckley songs. Highly recommend

That was a decent list. I had my own list too back then. I was a teen in the 90s and the music and certain songs are associated with specific memories and feelings.

round here is one of the most beautiful songs i've ever heard. i cant even complain that it was number one in a list with winter and fake plastic trees. that song hits so hard! just try to sing along to it and not feel like you're gonna cry, it's sorta impossible.

There’s a song from 1990 that I don’t hear often but when I do, I always get that tingling up my arm. Joey by Concrete Blonde. I thinks it’s their only hit but it’s such a powerful song.

Return of the Frog Queen is an underrated classic. Thanks for giving it some exposure!

Your no.1 is classic, that album got me through some tough times!

Great List dude! Could you maybe make a video on what gear you need to gig in like small clubs and stuff, i‘d really enjoy it thanks 🤙

Not sure if youve ever heard of him but elliott smith wrote some of the saddest songs of all time. Songs like angeles or clementine are a good place to start, dude was an amazing guitarist and lyricist.

So many songs that really speak to me on this list. Fade Into You is haunting. The Freshmen always hits like a gut punch. Round Here is just so sad and lost sounding. Enjoyed the list and thought it cool to hear your memories of these.

You chose Crowing and the Crows. I love this video.

I've got the Tori Amos ep with Winter, Crucify, etc, & it's got some of the best covers I've ever heard. She's a stunning talent.

I was 100% waiting for Blue October's Hate Me to make an appearance here. Great list, and thank you for sharing some real feelings.

I love the Jayhawks too!

I think one of the most telling parts of Hallelujah is the sigh he lets out at the beginning, just knowing the song is going to completely gut him emotionally.

I liked your list man! I would add How's It Gonna Be or God Of Wine by Third Eye Blind to my list. 👍

Back in the mid-90's, my mom and I would play August and Everything After in the car whenever we went on a trip. It was our road trip music. I know it's not 90's, but if you do a video about the 2000's, my #1 album would be Sea Change, by Beck. Nothing in my life was as poignant and so simultaneously right and wrong as playing Already Dead on my acoustic guitar to my mom as she lay in her death bed, delirious from morphine. Everything about that album tears at the heart, and the production is so, so brilliant.

Not sure if these are “ballads”, but definitely gut wrenching. No particular order Blind Melon - Sleepyhouse S.P. Drown/ Mayonaise Sunny Day Real Estate- 47 Tori Amos - Tear in your hand Mazzy Star - Fade into you Alanis - Perfect Sinead - Black boys on Moped Pearl Jam - Black/ Release Me

Beautiful analogy on the space heater.... Love seeing Tori and Mazzy that high, when i hear "Fade Into You' or something like "Silent all These Years", its like the world just stops and it *centers* you and you feel so present in the moment. My Honorable Mentions + Deep Cuts Bush "Glycerine" is so simple and all encompassing -- same with "Alien" on the same album. Everclear "Strawberry" and "Pale Green Stars" are both severely emotionally draining songs about effing up and how it affects those around you as well. Oasis "Dont Look Back in Anger" is one of the most perfect songs ever written. Alice in Chains entire Dirt album... "Down in a Hole" "Dirt" "Would?" "Rooster" its its own list. One super odd one is "Doll Parts" by Hole.. It's great on it's own, but if you look up and experience Miley Cyrus's cover of it, it really shines and hits you over the head with how much the song is a pure love letter to Stevie Nicks. It's jarring, and explains why Courtney was so quick to volunteer to sing Gold Dust Woman on the Crow 2 soundtrack.

You’re spot on about The Counting Crows album..I wasn’t a fan of them when they were huge actually I was kinda annoyed by them until recently..I’m 47 now and I loaded the album into my music and have been listening to and enjoying every song on it for the past 4 months now..

Your younger viewers may not know but Jeff Buckley's Dad was Tim Buckley,a great singer,songwriter and guitar player in his own right. Tim Buckley wrote a very famous song which has been covered by many called 'Song to The Siren.' There is a brilliant version of him playing it on youtube.

Speaking of Tori Amos, the song "China" also hits HARD. I also recommend listening to "Mother's Eyes" by Great White from the Sail Away album (1994). Jesus that's got to be the most gut-wrenching song I've ever heard. Anyone with kids (or who's lost a loved one unexpectedly) will choke up after hearing that song (it's a great song though).

When Adam holds that note for what seems like forever on Sullivan Street 🤌🏽

@TheArtofGuitar Okay 2nd comment to add my thoughts. LOVED this list! I was only reading about Radiohead just yesterday, an older guys channel that I follow just put out his acoustic cover of Creep and his style is very emotional/ melancholy and someone mentioned in the comments Fake Plastic Trees, that song and another called Talk Show Host are favourites song from them for me. Again funny this should be on the list when I have this very album in my car and it was the last song to play before I turned my engine off yesterday when I got home. Found out about you is of course another great tune off that album. That Hallelujah tune is just ugh, perfection. That and the Leonard Cohen versions were the 2 I grew up hearing and getting to know and love. The intro and the way he plays it like you mention is just so haunting, and grabbing. From the first note I can't tear my ears away, it just takes hold. His voice is beautiful, and the album Grace, simply amazing! I love Fade Into You, I can't remember the first time I heard it but in my later teen years I would listen to it a lot when I was feeling sad. I love the album So Tonight That I Might See as a whole. Oh my god, that Jayhawks tune, I love it so much, Smile is a great one too. I've got almost all their albums now, just a few left to get, but the first 4 including this one, they hold a special place in my heart. I love Gary Louris' voice and his song writing is just beautiful. I was only thinking about MySpace the other day haha. I went and listened to some Toad The Wet Sprocket about 3 weeks ago now I think. First song I went to was Crowing. Again love the album Dulcinea, i've got it on my shelf. I KNEW Tori Amos would be up there at the top. I love Winter, I have the album in my car. Listened to it on repeat, last Winter funnily enough, it was the soundtrack to my commute for a good couple of months. Her voice is just so unique, I love it. I knew Counting Crows would be here! I love that album, the whole thing is just wonderful and if you know what the title is about and Adam Duritz' life and what he was and is kinda dealing with then it just holds so much more meaning. Raining in Baltimore is one of my favourites as is Round Here. Gary Louris and Mark Olson did backing vocals on this album :-)