What Are Your Favorite Albums From 1996

TOOL's Aenima is a monster! and it holds up. Experimental and deadly serious with TOOL's trademark random goofy humour thrown in to boot.

I also like Neil & Crazy Horse's "Broken Arrow" (saw them on this tour) & The Hip's "Trouble at the Hen House"

 

The Wedding Present- Saturnalia
The Wedding Present- Mini EP
Guided by Voices- Under the Bushes Under the Stars
GbV- Sunfish Holy Breakfast EP
Robert Pollard- Not In My Airforce
Tobin Sprout- Carnival Boy
Sebadoh- Harmacy
Pearl Jam- No Code
Afghan Whigs- Black Love
The Cure- Wild Mood Swings (great album if you can overlook the goofy and too-poppy stuff)
Beatnik Filmstars- Phase 3
GbV/Superchunk- split EP
Archers of Loaf- All the Nations Airport
Pavement- Give It a Day EP
Spent- A Seat Beneath the Chairs
Smudge- You Me Carpark... Now
Smudge- Slight Return EP
Smudge- Mike Love Not War EP
Frank Black- The Cult of Ray
J Mascis- Martin & Me
REM- New Adventures in Hi-Fi
Bluetip- Dischord No. 101
Jawbox- Jawbox
Boyracer- In Full Colour
Haynes Boys- Guardian Angel
J Church- The Drama of Alienation
J Church- Whorehouse: Songs and Stories
Fluf- Waikiki
New Radiant Storm King- Hurricane Necklace
Neutral Milk Hotel- On Avery Island
Verbena- Pilot Park EP
Butterglory- Are You Building a Temple in Heaven?
Built to Spill- Perfect From Now On
Modest Mouse- Interstate 8 EP
Wilco- Being There

 

1) Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go
2) Bluetones - Expecting to Fly
3) Spock's Beard - Beware of Darkness
4) Kula Shaker - K
5) Porcupine Tree - Signify

Roll on '97 I say...

 

Nice, a kindred spirit around here.

 

In no particular order:
Reject All American - Bikini Kill
Boys For Pele - Tori Amos
Sheryl Crow - Sheryl Crow
Sisters Of Avalon - Cyndi Lauper
Life Is Sweet - Maria McKee
Nine Objects Of Desire - Suzanne Vega
Underworld - Divinyls
Tidal - Fiona Apple
Antichrist Superstar - Marilyn Manson
Chaos & Disorder - Prince
Man - Neneh Cherry

 

Another folk heavy year for me, nine out of my top ten! Here we go (no order):

Shave The Monkey - Mad Arthur

Kim Seymour - The Journey Continues

Fairport Convention - Old, New, Borrowed, Blue

Fernhill - Ca Nos

Steeleye Span - Time

Tanglefoot - The Music In The Wood

New Bushbury Mountain Daredevils - Urban Hillbilly

Darden Smith - Deep Fantastic Ble

The Men They Couldn't Hang - Never Born To Follow

REO Speedwagon - Building The Bridge

 

Beck—Odelay
Belle and Sebastian—If You’re Feeling Sinister
Sleater-Kinney—Call the Doctor
Fugees—The Score
Prince—Chaos and Disorder

Btw, after seeing Feeling Sinister in several lists here and checking its release date, I’ve learned it’s a 1996 album. I used to think it was 1997, as that’s when I first heard about it in reviews.

 

1. The Grey Race - Bad Religion
2. Building - Sense Field
3. White Light, White Heat, White Trash - Social Distortion
4. Bob Mould - Bob Mould
5. Harmacy - Sebadoh
6. Car Button Cloth - The Lemonheads
7. Repetition - Unwound
8. Hi Fi Way - You Am I
9. Juvenile Product of the Working Class - Swingin' Utters
10. Pick one from below:

Hellbound - The Living End
Kryptonite - Gaunt
Jawbox - Jawbox
Everything Sucks - The Descendents
Destruction by Definition - The Suicide Machines
To Sell the Truth - Youth Brigade

 

R.E.M. - New Adventures In Hi-Fi
The Figgs - Banda Macho
Descendents - Everything Sucks
Social Distortion - White Light...
Refreshments - Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big & Buzzy
Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go
Beck - Odelay
Goldfinger - s/t
Lemonheads - Car Button Cloth
Superdrag - Regretfully Yours
Stone Temple Pilots - Tiny Music
Cracker - The Golden Age
Reverend Horton Heat - It's Martini Time
Petty - She's The One
The Queers - Don't Back Down
Kula Shaker - K
Chris Isaak - Baja Sessions
The Monkees - Justus

Kind of a weird year in that there were only a few great albums that are still in my regular rotation (R.E.M., Figgs, Descendents, Beck) but lots of good ones. An excellent year for alternative radio singles, though (Manics, Refreshments, Goldfinger, Superdrag, STP, etc.) But definitely, to me, a bit of a breather between the avalanche of great stuff that came out in '94-'95 and the monster year '97 would be.

 

+1 on the Refreshments Juan, a favorite!
Other ones I still enjoy today-
Birmingham 6-Error of Judgement
Cocteau Twins-Milk & Kisses
Type O Negative-October Rust
Eels-Beautiful Freek
Frazier Chorus-Wide Awake
KMFDM-Xtort+Rules single
Anything Box-Living In Oblivion MCMXCVI AD EP
Bob Mould-S/T
Qkumba Zoo-Wake Up & Dream
Pet Shop Boys-Bilingual
Crash Test Dummies-A Worms Life
Electronic-Raise The Pressure
Neil Diamond-In My Lifetime Comp
(See) The Ocean Blue
Second Voice-DAWN The Collection 2 disc
Lightning Seeds-Dizzy Heights

 

Beck - Odelay

 

Tommy Keene - Ten Years After
Cracker - The Golden Age
Guided By Voices - Under the Bushes, Under the Stars
Afghan Whigs - Black Love
Patti Smith - Gone Again
REM - New Adventures in Hi Fi
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - She's The One Soundtrack
Paul Westerberg - Eventually
Suede - Coming Up
Elvis Costello & The Attractions - All This Useless Beauty

 

Social Distortion - White Light, White Heat, White Trash
Nerf Herder - Nerf Herder
Helloween - The Time of the Oath
Spice Girls - Spice
Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire
Iced Earth - The Dark Saga
Sheryl Crow - Sheryl Crow
White Zombie - Supersexy Swingin' Sounds
Dr. Octagon - Octagonecologyst (Instrumentalyst)
Anti-Flag - Die for the Government

 

Being There, Wilco
...Sinister, Belle and Sebastian

 

Talking With the Taxman about Poetry – Billy Bragg
Lives in the Balance – Jackson Browne
Guitar Town – Steve Earle
Graceland – Paul Simon
Live 1975-85 – Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

 

One of the greatest years for recorded music ever. These albums are not just some of my favourites from that year, but of all time.

Wilco - Being There
Ween - 12 Golden Country Greats
Beck - Odelay
Weezer - Pinkerton
You Am I - Hourly, Daily

 

The Screaming trees-Dust
Soundgarden-Down on the upside
Tonic-Lemon parade
K's choice-Paradise in me
Rage against the machine-Evil Empire
Bush-Razorblade suitcase
Fiona Apple-Tidal
The Wallflowers-Bringing down the horse
Tool-Aneima
Sneaker pimps-Becoming X

 

Looking over the first page, I have a handful of these albums (all, or almost all, on CD). Suede's Coming Up stands out.

 

Sheryl Crow self titled is under appreciated

 

In no particular order (including comps):

1. Willie Nelson - Spirit
2. Johnny Cash - Unchained
3. Prince - Chaos and Disorder/Emancipation
4. Screaming Trees - Dust
5. Motörhead - Overnight Sensation
6. Porcupine Tree - Signify
7. George Michael - Older
8. The Beatles - Anthology 2/Anthology 3
9. Neil Diamond - In My Lifetime
10. Schoolhouse Rock! - Soundtrack

 

Porcupine Tree - Signify
The Flower Kings - Retropolis
Dave Matthews Band - Crash
Eric Johnson - Venus Isle
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F# A# (Infinity)
The Wallflowers - Bringing Down the Horse
Pet Shop Boys - Bilingual
Spock's Beard - Beware of Darkness
Wilco - Being There

 

Stabbing Westward - Wither Burn Blister & Peel
Def Leppard - Slang
R.E.M. - New Adventures In HI-FI
Pearl Jam - No Code
Cake - Fashion Nugget
Sheryl Crow - Self Titled
Matchbox 20 - Yourself Or Someone Like You
Tonic - Lemon Parade
Stone Temple Pilots - Tiny Music......Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop
Bruce Dickinson - Skunkworks

This was the year that several sophomore albums didn't really catch on with me, and I got rid of lots of CD's. But these have survived the test of time for me.

 

Boys For Pele - Tori Amos
Pinkerton - Weezer
Ben Folds Five
No Code - Pearl Jam
Roots - Sepultura
Antichrist Superstar - Marilyn Manson
Stag - Melvins
Life Is Peachy - Korn
Regular Urban Survivors - Terrorvision
Aenima - Tool

 

Real time purchase ?
Anything S U E D E.

Though on my playlist now would be Jason Falkner:
Presents Author Unknown.