The 90's are quickly fading into the rear view mirror, which is really scary when I think about it. Anyway, the 90's were a great time for me as it was the first time in life I was out on my own, making some money to support my music addiction and I actually cared enough to try to "keep up" with what was hip musically as it was a huge priority in those days. At any rate, although I wasted many a last dollar on some crappy albums, I found a few gems along the way. Right as I was torn between my adolescent heavy metal leanings and with alternative starting to take hold (commercially and personally), I discovered a very cool band called Neverland who released a self titled release in 1991. Stylistically, It was placed firmly between catchy hard rock/metal with some alt "flavorings". Really tough to understand how they didn't make it. Just great songs and performances a plenty and to this day I absolutely love every second of it. So there's my choice for obscure 90's album and what about yours?
Fossil's self-titled 1994 album features some of the catchiest alternative power pop you'll ever hear. Plus, it produced this deliciously cheesy video:
Fleetwood Mac-Time It failed to chart, and is the only album to feature the Bramlett/Burnette/Mason/McVie/Fleetwood lineup.
Wrathchild America - 3D Manic Street Preachers - Generation Terrorists (overlooked in America for sure)
Simple Minds- Our Secrets Are the Same IMO a very, very good album that due to BS record company politics, was never properly released. It's one of those records that I find myself reaching for more than I would have expected and don't skip a single track.
Gallon Drunk From the Heart of Town. Used to be a mainstay of dollar bins, but I haven't seen a copy in a while. Thee Hypnotics Soul Glitter & Sin.
Amazing album that I have long been a fan of! I was actually going to use that as my example until I read your post. I believe the reason they didn't catch on is because they came out at the odd period between the end of the, for lack of a better term "Hair Metal" era, and the beginning of Grunge. They kind of served as a bridge between the two musical worlds, but as such, also got lost in the shuffle. That said, I could spend days listing a multitude of other examples. Here's a couple though, for now... The Sighs - What Goes On 1992 Charisma Records - Kind of a harder edged power-pop band out of North Hampton, Ma. A great mixture of jangling and crunchy guitars, with amazing vocal harmonies, great tunes and killer production from Ed Stasium. Lustre - Lustre 1995 A&M Records - Melodic Alt-rock three piece from North Carolina, with big guitar sound. Had a song on the Empire Records soundtrack, but the whole album is dynamite!
Thanks for this response. Quite frankly you said that way better than myself in the OP. Much appreciated!
I'm just going to leave this here. I was listening to this just the other day and thinking to myself what an under-appreciated gem this is..
Not terribly obscure but certainly forgotten to an extent: Brand New Heavies-Shelter. This album had Siedah Garrett taking N' Dea Davenport's place and the band seemed a bit better to me, especially due to Garrett's songwriting skills and the absence of Davenport's voice. I never really liked the BNH's vibe, thought it was dated shortly after their debut. Of course this Garrett/BNH thing didn't last and people never stopped crying about Davenport not being there. Garrett was gone by 1999 and the band hasn't had a hit in almost 16 years. As for Shelter, it's the only thing I like by them.
Velvet Crush - Teenage Symphonies to God Not only the best power pop album of the 90s, it's also probably the best 'traditional guitar solo' album of the 90s. If it came out in the 60s, 70s or 80s people would be flipping their lids over this record.
"King King" by The Red Devils. Released on Def American in the early 80's. Recorded live in Hollywood the album features a smokin' harmonica driven blues-rock sound. Very raw. You can hear the amps buzzing between songs. I've turned a number of people on to this album and they are almost always blown away. Oh yeah, the drummer is Bill Bateman from The Blasters.
Trip Shakespeare's 1990 album "Across The Universe" is one of my all time fave albums and should have been massively successful
Wish Teenage Fanclub had recorded even more in the '90s? Here's the self-titled gem from Superstar, headed by their pal Joe McAlinden. Hard to find on Amazon because of the generic nature of the band name and album title, but, hey, I did the work for you: http://www.amazon.com/Superstar/dp/B000008LAA/ Your reward? 1-cent copies of the album!
Beyond essential. Also great is the precursor, In the Presence of Greatness. (I always thought they got those two album titles mixed up.)