When songs from the nineties are the topic, three loose groups of things come to mind - teen and dance-pop, hip-hop at a high, and grunge and Britpop on the third side of the spectrum, with the likes of Nirvana, Public Enemy, Oasis and Radiohead probably coming up as the big artists that in many ways defined the sound of the decade.
Yet, as is always the case with any decade in popular music, there were artists that either came up with an almost perfect song (or album) within a defined genre or tried to cross any set (or imaginary) boundaries with their music.
As is usually the case, they sometimes hit the nerve of a wider audience at the time or just simply don’t make it no matter how good their song or album is. Here is a set of eighteen songs from the 1990s, some of which made it big at the time, or should have made it but didn’t and need some serious re-evaluation today
Underrated 1990s songs that deserve a second listen
The La’s - “There She Goes” (1990)
Liverpool, England’s The La’s to this day suffer from something that could bear the name of ‘curse of a brilliant song.’ In their case this one. “There She Goes” sounds like a song that could have been written at any point between the mid-1960s and yesterday. Lee Mavers wrote this one in the late eighties, but it was only a hit on the UK charts when it was reissued in 1990.
Jellyfish - “Baby’s Coming Back” (1990)
Jellyfish was hailed as the new face of power pop at the time and had some mild success with this one and a few other songs from their only two albums. Their band history might have been brief, but they have a serious cult following to this day, this song being one of the reasons behind it.
Marc Cohn - “Walking In Memphis” (1991)
This song did make it big at the time and for all the right reasons, particularly with its infused gospel overtones. Yet, in many ways, Cohn was never able to come up with a follow-up to solidify the success of this great song.
k.d. lang - “Constant Craving” (1992)
Lang was always an incredible vocal talent, and when she had a great song to work with, like this one, the results could be brilliant. No wonder she won a Grammy for this one, even though it had a relative chart success.
Blind Melon — “No Rain” (1992)
Grateful Dead themselves had only one chart hit (“Touch of Grey”), but this song by Blind Melon, who themselves were obviously Deadheads, made it big too, and all for the right reasons. It became proof that tribute songs, intentional or not, can work so well.
The Breeders — “Cannonball” (1993)
One of the reasons Kim Deal left the Pixies was to give her songwriting more space, and this song, which had moderate chart success, proved her point (as does her latest album). It also shows that not sticking to set music formulas can work wonders.
The Posies - “Solar Sister” (1993)
The Posies were (and probably still are) considered a power pop band, but they never stuck to any particular genre rule, with this single from their album being solid proof. More power than pop, with some incredible vocal harmonies and guitars to boot.
Cardinal -“If You Believe In Christmas Trees” (1994)
This song or the self-titled album it came from never really made it, but this American/Australian duo deserved much more than the cult status they got, as they show here how far you can go with almost perfect baroque pop.
Lisa Loeb - "Stay (I Missed You)" (1995)
Lisa Loeb and this song that was included on the soundtrack of Reality Bites movie just might be one of the reasons why and how sophistic-pop got its name. There’s a sort of an excellent balance between both sophistication and pop within this song.
Sloan - “Good In Everyone” (1996)
Another power pop group with a strong fan following, this Canadian band always had a knack for striking the right balance between loud guitar licks and great harmonies, with this song that had solid success at the time proving the point.
Primitive Radio Gods — “Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand” (1996)
PRG was the nineties version of a one-hit wonder (the band’s first single at that), showing how a great sample, used in the right way (in this case, B.B. King), can uplift any song to great heights. This one, though, had other great elements, too, but it didn’t help PRG get much further.
Spiritualized - “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” (1997)
If you want to know how many elements you can pick up from psych rock and at the same time come up with some great, spaced-out dream pop, try out this one. Spiritualized was able to cram up almost everything in this one, including London Community Gospel Choir.
Eels - “Novocaine for the Soul” (1998)
E and his Eels were biggies in the nineties, but we don’t hear much from him or the Eels these days. It's a bit of a shame, as he was able to come up with some gem songs (and whole albums) at the time, including this one, which, according to him, deals with detachment.
New Radicals - “You Get What You Give” (1998)
New Radicals recently announced that they are going to make a comeback, and it is certain that this, their best (and biggest charting) song will surely be part of the possible live shows. Hopefully, they would be able to come up with something as catchy as this one.
Beck - “Nobody’s Fault But My Own” (1998)
Beck’s early hit was titled “Loser,” but through time, he proved he was not one. This song, along with the album it came from (), somehow almost went unnoticed at the time, but slowly became a fan favorite, particularly with the critics, and for all the right reasons.
Semisonic - “Closing Time” (1998)
The so-called college radio genre was so big in the nineties, and although this song formally didn't make a very big dent in the charts, it was surely blasting from almost every dorm, or student room window at the time, showing you could come up with a meaningful combination of alt-rock and a power ballad.
Mercury Rev - “Goddess on a Highway” (1998)
Mercury Rev was always a strange musical beast, yet with the ability to stick to the listener’s ear with quite some ease. This song from possibly their best album, Deserter's Songs, amply proves it.
Fatboy Slim - “Praise You” (1999)
From brit-pop to electro-pop goes the career of Norman Cook, the man behind the Fatboy Slim moniker. His third album You’ve Come A Long Way Baby, dominated the end of the decade, with this song/single from that album making it big.