10. Supergrass - I Should CocoIn some ways I like the grown up Supergrass of the 2000's better than this 90's stuff. There is, however exploding energy and youth in the rock n' roll of I Should Coco. This is the album that features their most popular song of all times, Alright, with its beautifully simple pop melody. Heavy English accent known from the britpop movement comes together with fast paced punk influenced songs in most of the songs on this album. The cover art shows some of that aggressive attitude that this young band showed on their first album. The sounds of this album have not been flattened by the studio. They sound exactly as they would sound played live. Most of the songs are up-beat and good for summer, but there are some darker and angrier moments in there to shake things up. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Elastica is one of the less well known bands from the golden age of brit-pop. They were fairly successful in the UK but not that well known abroad. The band was formed by two ex-members of Suede. The debut album became fastest selling debut album since Oasis' Definitely Maybe. The sounds are fairly typical for brit-pop and similarities with Blur are especially audible, but there is a certain punk feel to the music not found in other brit-pop greats. The female lead singer obviously also makes the sound different from Blur & co. So if you're one of the brit-pop enthusiasts who have missed this band for some reason, I suggest you give their music a go. Listen to the album on Youtube.
Sleeper, like Elastica, was mostly unnoticed outside the UK because of the huge popularity of Oasis, Blur, Suede and Pulp. Sleeper deserves its place in the brit-pop's hall of fame. Louise Wener's bit off-key singing gives their music a great attitude. The band's sound is a mixture of punk, pop and rock. It's easy to make the connection to Blondie. Sleeper famously covered Blondie's Atomic in the film Trainspotting. This debut album of theirs and their second album The It Girl are full of great songs. They only made one more album after these two but already that wasn't as good nor successful. The first two albums are classics that should not be forgotten. Listen to the album on Spotify.
For me, Elliott Smith's second album, the self titled Elliott Smith, might as well be his first. The debut Roman Candle did not yet have all the pieces to make it as beautiful as the rest of the albums. This self-titled album already reveals Smith's deeply depressed lyrics and sounds. The sound is mostly acoustic, which lets you appreciate his skillful guitar playing. Southern Belle is one of the best songs from his whole career. The opening track Needle in the Hay became somewhat of a hit. Smith's melancholic folk and fragile but beautiful singing voice make him one of my all time favourite artists. This album is where you should start your journey to this strange character who in the end ended up stabbing himself to dead. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Blur had already made their best album when they released their most well-known album with most hits. Great Escape includes a staggering amount of hits. Everyone who lived in the 90's remembers Country House, Charmless Man and The Universal. Stereotypes and Best Days are also great examples of Blur's hit material. If you were watching MTV in 1995, you simply could not miss Blur's songs. All this success wasn't enough though to win the battle against Oasis, who released one of the most succesful albums of all times the same year. Great Escape could be seen as the last Blur album with their original sound. Their self titled following album took them to a different, and in my opinion worse, direction. Listen to the album on Spotify.
This album has one of the worst album covers ever. The cover is, however, misleading, since this album is absolutely brilliant. Grand Prix has to offer amazing harmonic singing, unforgettable pop melodies and skillful playing. Grand Prix might just be the best album from this Scottish band. Every single song on this album could be a hit. if you haven't been listening to this band before, the songs may seem pretty similar at first, but when you listen to them more times you can't let go of these amazing songs. Teenage Fanclub is the Beach Boys of the 90's making sunny songs for the summer. They still continue to make great albums and their performances live are exceptionally good. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Radiohead had became fairly well known due to Creep from their first album, but The Bends is truly their first great album as a whole. The album is much more organic than their albums after this. Thom Yorke's high and whiny singing voice and melancholic songs are already there, but electronic sounds are very subtle. This album has some of the best songs from the band and for me Street Spirit (Fade Out) might even be their best song of all. If you played Radiohead's most recent album and this one you might not believe they're the same band if it wasn't for Yorke's distinctive voice. The Bends is full of organic electric guitars, drums and band sound that sounds like an actual live playing band. Listen to the album on Spotify.
The great theme albums are usually connected to the 70's, but The Smashing Pumpkins' highly ambitious double album Mellon Collie proves that they were made later on as well. This album could be seen as a grand farewell to grunge of the early 90's. Album combines heavy guitar sounds of grunge to beautiful strings and melancholic tunes. Billy Corgan's nasal voice has never sounded as beautiful as in these songs. Tomorrow Tomorrow, Zero, Bullet With Butterfly Wings and Galapogos are my favourites. If I have to bring up something negative about the album, I think it's a bit too long. I think they would have made one of the best albums of all times, had they only released a single album containing all the best songs from these sessions. Listen to the album on Spotify.
This is one of the most successful and well-known albums ever released. Oasis won the battle against Blur by releasing an absolutely fantastic album full of hits. Everyone in the western world knows Wonderwall, Don't Look Back In Anger, Some Might Say and Shampagne Supernova. But the hits don't end there. Every single song on the album is known throughout the world and there is a good reason for it. This album is absolutely brilliant! Memorable melodies, crunchy guitars and ultimate rock attitude of the Gallagher's come as close to the aim of rock n' roll as you can get. Then why is this not number one of 1995? There is a good reason for it. Even better album was made in the same year. Listen to the album on Spotify.
Pulp is one of my favourite bands of all times. Jarvis Cocker's seductive voice and funny and insightful lyrics combined with absolutely brilliant melodies and sounds cannot be easily beat. Different Class is Pulp's career's highlight when it comes to brilliance and succesfulness. Disco 2000 and Common People are the best known hits, but album has so much more to offer. I Spy, Mis-Shapes, Underwear and F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E. are included to my all time favourite tracks. Every single song is amazing! These amazing songs bring out funny and sad observations of the class system in Britain. This album should not be missed by anyone ever. It's definitely in my top 5 albums of all times. Listen to the album on Spotify.
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