There was plenty of great music in the 1990s. So much choice of genre and style and the emergence of some new types too. There were also plenty of new bands making their debut on the music scene. Many went on to be huge artists with multi-million-selling albums.
Plenty of really great albums still have their critics though. Despite being multiple platinum sellers, some people just can’t bring themselves to like them. That's individual musical tastes and personal opinions at play of course.
There are even more places and ways now to voice those opinions, especially online. Social media, blogs, and forums share those views more widely. Sometimes though, those opinions seem quite a surprise. Especially when it comes to disapproving of top-selling and critically acclaimed albums. Here are five albums that astonishingly attract negative comments.
Five top 1990s albums people like to hate
Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Having been with the Fugees for some time, Lauryn Hill stepped out of the group to release this amazingly heartfelt solo album in 1998. With a mix of hip-hop, soul, RnB, and a touch of reggae it was a hugely popular album. That's backed by over 20 million worldwide sales and Diamond status with the RIAA. Over 400,000 of those sales came in the US in its first week of release.
In her songs, she reflected on difficult times as a Fugee and her pregnancy with a child by Bob Marley’s son Rohan. The pair had five children together before separating in 2009. Hill also used many other female-based experiences in her lyrics, which proved both empowering and inspiring to listeners.
It’s widely regarded as a classic album, but surprisingly it faces some claims of being overrated. They are usually rebuffed by a majority as delusional, it’s interesting to explore the logic of such claims. A few just don’t like the musical style. Others reckon there are only three or four good songs and the rest of the album Is much weaker. Both could be fair enough and easily dismissed as personal taste, or perhaps lack of it!
The regular reason quoted isn’t really about this album. It has more to do with Hill doing very little else since. No real follow-up album, other than one from her MTV Unplugged show covering the same songs. That's a harsh and unjust basis on which to give an individual and spectacularly successful album a thumbs down.
Pearl Jam - Ten
Ten was the debut album from Pearl Jam and released in 1991. It has plenty of credentials as an outstanding album. Close to 16 million sales worldwide is a pretty big claim. Not to mention three hit singles in “Alive”, “Even Flow” and the multiple Grammy Award-nominated “Jeremy”. That latter song is a favourite with Pearl Jam fans and collected four MTV video awards in 1993. The album gets a regular mention in lists of greatest albums of the 1990s or for all-time.
In addition to being the band's best-selling album, it's also noted for its style and legacy. It’s heavily grunge-based but laced with classic rock-tinged. Despite that added rock extra Ten is regarded as a forerunner of grunge and alternative rock. A real influencer for bands and music that followed in its wake.
Despite all that above in its CV Ten still has its critics. There are people who choose to include the band and this album in their overrated music lists. Some give that vote to the band overall, others point to this album in particular.
Their criticisms include Ten being overproduced or full of very similar-sounding songs with little or no variation from track to track. Others rate the album as lop-sided based on the two separate sides of vinyl. Side one is often much more highly regarded than side two. Then there are those who attribute their negative album views on reckoning Pearl Jam’s importance to grunge and alt-rock are overstated.
Looking objectively at this the critics just seem to be people who dislike grunge and the band's sound. Those aren't good enough reasons to hate the brilliance of Ten as an album. It’s undoubtedly a classic.
Oasis - Definitely Maybe
Here’s another debut album that was a massive hit yet people still find the need to take a dig at it. Definitely Maybe signalled the emergence of Oasis onto the music scene when it was released in 1994. Perhaps with a bit of a scowl but also with some style, definite swagger, and great songs. Over eight million copies have been sold around the world.
Sure, it wasn’t their best album. For bands that go on to succeed and grow beyond their debut album that's not unusual at all. (What’s The Story) Morning Glory, their follow-up a year later probably ranks as their best album. But this one has lots of reasons to justify being claimed as an absolutely great record. Hit singles In “Supersonic” “Live Forever”, “Shakermaker” and “Cigarettes And Alcohol” helped launch the album and establish the band.
Critics point their fingers at a few attributes of the band, alongside the music and occasionally cite poor production levels for the album. Tedious songs and a whiny irritating voice claim others. They wouldn't want to be saying that in Liam Gallagher's hearing.
Oasis often gets mentioned as writing Beatles-style songs. This album gets mentioned with suggestions the other Gallagher brother, Noel, had perhaps used a Marc Bolan songbook for his inspiration. “Wonderwall” and other Oasis classics were yet to follow but there are plenty of great tunes on this one. In any case, all songwriters need inspiration or influence, references to Bolan or McCartney and Lennon should be seen as praise and not as negatives.
Radiohead - OK Computer
You could have a long debate with many music fans over what was the best Radiohead album. For many reasons, personal opinion included, you’d likely get a few different answers. OK Computer would surely be very much up there in contention and quite probably emerging at the top overall. It's that good. With just under six million sales, a Grammy Award bagged, and a huge critical reception, the album was, and still is, highly regarded.
This was the band’s third album and marked a change in style moving from strongly-guitar-led to a more layered and at times experimental sound. Despite being deemed futuristic in its lyrical messages or its sounds, there's even a bit of prog rock evident in “Paranoid Android”, though Thom Yorke won’t thank anyone for mentioning that. Perhaps if it hadn’t been trimmed back from its original 11-minute version for the six minutes and 23 seconds on the album it would have been harder to argue with that prog-rock tag.
So what have people found to whinge about and dislike for this album then? An NME blog raised a few reasons behind not rating the album highly including this point. “It’s the moment when Radiohead stopped being ‘good’ and started being ‘important’, and the springboard that shot them so far up their own a***s that at times they seem more like a rectal thermometer than a rock band.” And followed that with this perhaps tongue-in-cheek comment. “You can almost picture Thom Yorke’s face as the sales figures rolled in: “We got away with it, boys! They like ‘weird’! Jonny, get the machine that goes ‘bleep!”
Beyond the NME comments, there are observations that the theme of the music is somewhat bleak and dystopian. That’s not a plus mark for some listeners. Pretentious, soporific, and more claims of a whining voice, this time for Yorke, also crop up. On reflection, you can perhaps see why some people just won't take to an album like this, but you have to stand back and also understand why the words masterpiece and genius are frequently used to describe it.
Nirvana - Nevermind
This is where Dave Grohl added his might to the Nirvana team. It was the band's second album, but their first with Grohl behind the drum kit and also their debut on DGC records. They would have been hoping for a breakthrough moment, but did they expect it to the extent it achieved? Surely not.
Nevermind got off to a slow but steady start when released in September 1991. It entered the Billboard 200 at 144 that week. It battled its way upwards and by mid-January 1992 hit the number one spot with sales then running at over 300,000 each week. With sales now of over 30 million worldwide it's phenomenally exceeded those early expectations.
Like the Pearl Jam album Ten, Nevermind Is credited with driving grunge to the mainstream. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is the album’s anthemic highlight. The single backed by heavy airplay on radio and video on MTV helped drive the album sales upwards.
There's much more to the album than that one song though. “Come As You Are”, Lithium” and “In Bloom” were all hit singles too. The album collected many nominations and awards. And it’s another regularly featuring high in those many top album lists.
Again though the album is slated by some people. They just can't bring themselves to like it. It’s more coincidence than a recurring and scientifically based theme across these albums, but once again there are mentions of a whiny voice annoying listeners. Others rate it as having no real depth, some critics do recognise the influences it had but attribute that more to the exposure it gained via MTV than the quality of the record itself.
I can't buy those arguments myself. It is an album that changed music, sold millions, and helped inspire many other great bands to make their own great music. Perhaps even the Foo Fighters too, through Grohl and his switch to frontman and guitar. Nevermind has a rightful place as a classic album.
There will always be personal opinions, it’s healthy to hear other people’s perspectives. But for these outstanding albums, it just seems as if haters got to hate. Often it's a dislike for the genre, or the artist and we can't really take having a whiny voice seriously as a theme. Thankfully the negative views are very much in the minority for these five classics.