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Comment by ramesh31 | Hacker News Reader

>Music was incredible

Ehhh, the post-grunge world was a bit of a musical wasteland. Rock died as a culturally relevant force with Cobain, but hip-hop hadn't ascended yet, so we were stuck in this weird doldrum that gave us things like the swing revival, ska, nu metal, and boybands. I mean Counting Crows were the big megastars at the time. Really hard to name a timeless album from '96-'99 the way you easily could on either side of that range. Just see the set-list for Woodstock '99 to further illustrate the point.

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Here’s a list of albums just from 1998.

Mezzanine from Massive Attack, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Big Pun’s Capital Punishment, You’ve Come a Long Way Baby from Fatboy Slim, and Hello Nasty from the Beastie Boys. The K&D Sessions from Kruder and Dorfmeister. Stunt by Barenaked Ladies. Then there’s one of my personal favorites, Mermaid Avenue from Billy Bragg and Wilco.

You mentioned rock. How about Hellbilly Deluxe from Rob Zombie? Follow the Leader by Korn. The New Radicals released Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too. Garbage’s Version 2.0, and Lenny Kravitz 5, and Van Halen III. What’s more rock than Walking into Clarksville by Page & Plant?

All those albums are hilariously overrated and not representative of the truly good music coming out at the time.

Go win five Grammys with one album and then you can talk smack about Lauryn Hill.

You're making his point for him.

Yeah I'm not sure if that was a troll actually

Also Mechanical Animals (Marilyn Manson).

OK Computer (1997). Mezzanine (1998). New Forms (1997). Peak trip hop and drum and bass. I remember it being pretty great. But yeah, I was like 17, so …

Edit: commenter below with Underworld - 100%.

Tool, Weezer, Sublime, RATM, Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Blink-182 all put out amazing albums from 96-99.

Rose coloured glasses though - I was a teenager at the time.

I was in my 20's at the time. I saw all of those guys as being inferior GnR, Motley Crue or Metallica wannabes.

Metallica's St. Anger it's a grunge wannabe disc.

The 80's died but not with Cobain, but with The Pixies and R.E.M.

And in late 90's the industrial rock/metal basically made 80's glam rock cringey and obsolete.

Endtroducing.... (1996)

Second Toughest in the Infants (1996)

In Sides (1996)

Homework (1997)

To name a few. The 90s were great for electronic music.

Wow I've never disagreed harder with an HN comment in my entire life. Counting Crows were a single band that got some radio time in the early 90s. Calling them the big megastars during '96-'99 makes you sound like you weren't alive then. That statement just sounds so utterly ridiculous to me. It's like a narrow-minded European claiming that everyone in the US just eats nothing but hot dogs. Timeless albums from that era:

- Odeley (Beck '96)

- Aenima (Tool '96)

- OK Computer (Radiohead '97)

- Homogenic (Bjork '97)

- This is a long drive for someone with nothing to think about (Modest Mouse '96)

- Stankonia (Outkast '99)

- Kid A (Radiohead '00; began recording in Jan '99)

You were just rage baiting, right? The late 90s were an absolutely legendary time in popular music history.

Edit: Yes, agree with commenter who mentioned Underworld. Didn't mention it because it seemed more niche. But I adore Underworld.

It was such a great time for fringe musical subcultures.

Black metal was a 1992-1998 thing. It was dead (and many of the genre's leading lights were looking to move beyond it, mostly without success,) by the end of 1999.

Those six years also produced an explosion of experimentation in industrial, ambient, darkwave, and many other niche genres. In some cases, musical and aesthetic boundaries were pushed as far as they can possibly go.

From where I'm standing, the 26 year period from 2000-2026 absolutely pales in comparison to just those few years 1992-1998.

Underworld / Second toughest in the infants

NIN / The Fragile

Radiohead / OK Computer

Daft Punk / Homewerk

All of these are generation defining albums.

I would like to add, all the jungle/dnb of the 1990’s and Rhythm & Sound.

The R&S / Maurizio / Burial Mix records are absolutely timeless.

Radiohead put out OK computer then which is iconic.

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