Tuesday Top Ten: Debut Albums of the 1990s

As we discussed last week, Friday was the 25th anniversary of the release of Weezer's self-titled debut album (the "Blue Album").  It's one of my favorite debut albums of all-time, and as I was listening to this amazing SiriusXM bonus channel called "'90s Rock & Hip Hop" -- which is, as the name implies, a station that alternates between '90s rock songs and '90s hip hop songs -- I started thinking about some of the other fantastic debut albums of the '90s.  And thus, the idea for this list was born.

I plan to take you on a journey of what I think are the ten best debut albums of the 1990s.  Here are my criteria:
1.  First and foremost, the album must have been first released between January 1, 1990 and December 31, 1999.
2.  It must be the band or artist's first full-length studio album.  Thus, if the band or artist had previously released a single or an EP, I'm not counting those as "debut albums."  However, if the band released a full-length album -- even if it was self-released or on a small label -- that counts.
3.  I'm only considering the album as it was originally released, so if there was some deluxe reissue years later with bonus tracks, I'm not considering that, even if the bonus tracks are totally sweet.
4.  The band or artist must have released at least one more full-length studio album after their debut.  I realize this may be a strange criterion, but for me, a "debut" album implies there was something that followed.  Also, this will cut out one-off projects and collaborations.  Sorry, Temple of the Dog, Jeff Buckley, and New Radicals fans.
5.  An album's inclusion on the list is solely based on the strength of the album, and not on any future success of the band or artist. A lot of great bands or artists had so-so debut albums.  They don't get to be included on the list just because the band or artist went on to do great things.  For instance, the '90s were 2Pac's decade, but 2Pacalypse Now isn't going to make this list because it's not one of the ten best debut albums of the '90s.
6.  The album must have achieved some form of either commercial or critical success, or has since been recognized or accepted as being awesome (for instance on a list like Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time or the ever-shifting list of 1,001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die).  Basically, this is so that I can't put some random debut album that I really like that nobody else has heard of.  Sorry, my fellow Fu Schnickens fans.
7.  That said, I must own the album or at least four songs from the album.  Otherwise, I feel like I'd be talking out of my ass.  Bear in mind that, over the years, I have compiled somewhere over 2,000 albums when you add up my CDs, vinyl, tapes, and digital album downloads -- and that's not including partial albums and singles.  Also, my tastes are relatively eclectic, so it ain't all the same shit.

With that, here is the list.  First, I must tell you what I'm excluding because of my own criteria.  Here are albums for which I don't own enough songs (i.e., four or more) that I will consider them for the list.  Some of them might have made the list or at least been in the running, although I can't even say that for sure, given the strength of the list.  Anyway, here are the excluded albums that I would likely have considered if I owned enough music (in chronological order):

Radiohead - Pablo Honey (1993)
Nas - Illmatic (1994)
Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die (1994)
DMX - It's Dark and Hell Is Hot (1998)

Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)

Rob Zombie - Hellbilly Deluxe (1998)

Second, here are the albums that I do own (either in full or at least four songs) that I strongly considered, but ultimately fell into the Honorable Mention category (also in chronological order):
Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill (1991)
House of Pain - House of Pain (1992)
Sheryl Crow - Tuesday Night Music Club (1993)
Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville (1993)
Oasis - Definitely Maybe (1994)
OutKast - Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994)
Foo Fighters - Foo Fighters (1995)
Garbage - Garbage (1995)
Wyclef Jean - Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival (1997)
Puff Daddy - No Way Out (1997)
Will Smith - Big Willie Style (1997)
Third Eye Blind - Third Eye Blind (1997)

Finally, here are my Top Ten debut albums of the '90s.  There is a lot of hard rock and hip hop on the list because, well, that's pretty much what the '90s were about (and sometimes even at the same time, for better or worse).  Anyway, here you go (again, in chronological order).  And because I love you, I'm giving the album covers and my favorite song off each album, followed by a YouTube video of each song:

1.  The Black Crowes - Shake Your Money Maker (1990)

The rock world really didn't know how to deal with The Black Crowes.  At a time when hair bands and metal (and soon grunge and alt rock) ruled the rock airwaves and MTV, here come these guys playing a blend of Southern Rock and the Rolling Stones, releasing an album named after an Elmore James song -- and kicking ass in the process. It's strange that regular old rock and roll confused the hell out of people.  I remember hearing "Hard to Handle" on a classic rock station in 1991.  But the album is proof that good music finds a way, even if it doesn't fit neatly with what everyone else is doing.
Favorite song:  "Twice As Hard"


2.  Pearl Jam - Ten (1991)

There cannot be a list of the best debut albums of the '90s without Ten.  This is not just a grunge classic, but a rock and roll classic.  And to think, without Andy Wood's heroin overdose, Mother Love Bone might have stayed together, and we might not know who Eddie Vedder is -- kind of like how heroin also gave us Foo Fighters.  Thanks, drugs!
Favorite song:  "Alive"


3.  Arrested Development - 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days in the Life Of... (1992)

This was a sneaky addition to the list, and it wasn't an album I initially thought of when I was imagining this list, but it seemed pretty obvious in the end.  The album title refers to how long it took the group to get a record contract, but they made the most of it when they did.  Arrested Development was a unisex hip hop collective, which was certainly unusual in the days of misogynistic gangsta rap, and their brand of hip hop stood in stark contrast to street-tough image of rappers like Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, and 2Pac.  This album is credited with putting Southern hip hop on the map, and it's just a catchy, soulful, good album.  Also, anyone who can successfully cover Sly & The Family Stone is okay in my book.
Favorite song:  "Mr. Wendal"


4.  Dr. Dre - The Chronic (1992)

This is maybe one of the top two or three rap or hip hop albums ever.  As an NWA fan, I remember seeing the video for "Ain't Nuthin' But a G Thang" the first time and thinking, not only was that a fucking awesome and catchy song, but that I needed to get this album ASAP.  I did, and little did I know until many years later, I was getting a lesson in funk just as much as I was in hip hop.  And let's not forget the comedy with skits like "Deez Nuuuts" and "The $20 Sack Pyramid."
Favorite song:  "Let Me Ride"


5.  Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine (1992)

This album cover, of the infamous self-immolating Vietnamese Buddhist monk, should have been a clue that this wasn't a normal band.  A Harvard-educated guitarist with a weird turntable-esque scratch effect, a thunderous rhythm section, and rapping lead singer combined to bring politics and social consciousness to hard rock with the force of a herd of rabid elephants.  It took me a few years before I really discovered this album, but I was hooked immediately.  I mean, who doesn't remember hearing the lyric "Some of those who burn crosses / Are the same who run forces" and thinking whoa?  And they were right.  For better or worse, Rage were kind of the forerunners of rap metal, although they admittedly did it better than anyone else and with more power and intelligence.  This album is a classic.
Favorite song:  "Killing in the Name"


6.  Stone Temple Pilots - Core (1992)

Along with 2Pac's Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. and Spin Doctors' Pocket Full of Kryptonite, this is one of the first three CDs I ever got, and it's one of my favorite albums of the '90s.  I never saw STP as a Pearl Jam rip-off, as some people (Pearl Jam fans, mostly) claimed.  They were weirder, darker, and druggier.  Core is a fantastic album from the get-go, with that a capella "I am smelling like a rose that somebody gave me on my birthday deathbed / I am smelling like a rose that somebody gave me 'cause I'm dead and bloated" kicking off the album.  From there, Weiland and Co. take you to places you don't always want to go, but you're better off for it.  "Will she smell alone?"
Favorite song:  "Plush"


7.  Snoop Doggy Dog - Doggystyle (1993)

Lest you thought Snoop Doggy Dogg was just Dr. Dre's skinny sidekick, a year after his cameos on The Chronic, he released his own hip hop masterpiece.  Doggystyle showed that even gangsta rappers can have fun.  
Favorite song:  "Ain't No Fun"


8.  Hootie & The Blowfish - Cracked Rear View (1994)

I am not ashamed to say that I loved this album when it came out, and I still think it's one of the best debut albums of the '90s.  I'm clearly not alone, as the album has sold over 20 million copies in the U.S. alone, making it one of the 20 best-selling albums in U.S. history.  And how '90s was all of this?  An interracial band playing soulful, folky pop rock that literally anyone could love.  They proved you didn't have to be controversial or have profanity-laced songs to be popular in the mid-'90s -- which isn't to say that their songs were all vanilla or didn't touch on touchy subjects ("Drowning," for instance, dealt with racism).  And they played football with Dan Marino (granted, it was on my archrival high school's field, but still).

Favorite song:  "Drowning"

9.  Weezer - Weezer (1994)

I discussed this album last week in my Retro Video of the Week post with "Say It Ain't So."  This is one of the most complete albums on this list.  Truly, there isn't a bad song on this album.  I can't say enough about this album, so I won't way anymore.
Favorite song:  "No One Else"


10.  The White Stripes - The White Stripes (1999)

This may seem like a cop-out because The White Stripes are one of my favorite bands, but while the rest of the rock world was into bloated alt rock, nu metal, rap metal, Britpop, post-grunge, jam bands, and the like, there was a divorced couple from Detroit pretending to be brother and sister who wore only red, white, and black, who started the next rock revolution by stripping music down to its essence.  It was only a guitar and drums, and from them came a combination of blues, garage rock, fuzz rock, and punk that sounded both fresh and familiar at the same time.  The White Stripes's eponymous debut album may not have been met with much fanfare, but it is since recognized as a one of the balls that started the garage rock revival rolling.  Only a couple years later, bands like The Strokes, The Hives (who I'm seeing next week!), and The Vines followed suit and did their damnedest to displace the Hoobastanks, Creeds, and Incubuses of the world on alternative radio.  You listen to this album, and it slaps you in the face when you consider that Limp Bizkit topped the album charts a few weeks after this album came out, and Santana and Rob Thomas's "Smooth" was released around the same time as well.

Favorite song:  "Broken Bricks"