Full List: The 100 Best Songs of the 1990S (As Voted By Pitchfork Readers)

Another week, another list. This time it’s a list of the 100 best songs from the 1990s from the folks at Pitchfork Media. What makes this list different is that Pitchfork took a democratic approach (and eschewing responsibility) by compiling this ranking via votes from their Pitchfork readers. Not only will they get the clicks and ad revenue, but they can don’t have to take any of the vitriol or blame when butthurt Blur fans take offense that Oasis has double the songs on the list of 100 best.

One thing is for sure, every article that approaches the topic of the best music that came out of that decade is going to include some of the bands that released the most-critically acclaimed albums that also had crossover appeal between 1990 and 1999. Who comes to mind for you? You would get a bonus 25 if you guessed Radiohead who had the most-representation on this list with seven songs. Tied for second place are Björk and Nirvana each clocking in with five songs each. The diehard fans of Oasis, The Smashing Pumpkins and My Bloody Valentine came out to the polls; giving those three groups four songs each in the top 100.

The 1990s Saw Hip Hop Cross Into Mainstream

The 1990s can be argued as the decade when music became much more varied with Grunge/Alternative, R&B, and Rap crossed over into the mainstream. If you listened to a mainstream top-40 radio station in the early 1990’s you could hear songs from Dr. Dre, Britney Spears, Notorious B.I.G., Weezer, Outkast, Madonna, Nine Inch Nails, Lauryn Hill, Rage Against the Machine, and Alanis Morissette all within the same hour.

The best-selling artists of the decade also illustrates the variety of music that had mass appeal. According to Chart Masters, these were the 25 most-successful artists in the 1990s using the CPSC Method.

And the above artists don’t even include some of the more popular artists from different genres that were at the forefront when talking about the 1990s including the top grunge artists and most-popular hip hop hit makers like Nirvana, Dr. Dre, N’Sync, Boyz II Men, Britney Spears, Pearl Jam, Puff Daddy, and Janet Jackson.

And that brings up an interesting contrast. Critics love to heap praise on the links of Radiohead, Outkast, Fiona Apple, Nirvana, Lauryn Hill and Dr. Dre, but when it came to the mainstream it was all about Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Garth Brooks, The Backstreet Boys, Guns ‘N Roses and Whitney Houston.

It’s also fun to compare the 71 songs from the 1990s that made Rolling Stones’ top 500 songs list released earlier this year (that’s 14%!!). U2’s “One,” Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and Dr. Dre’s “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thing” had overlap on both lists but even though Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” was #5 ALL-TIME on Rolling Stone’s list, it doesn’t make Pitchfork’s Readers list.

It goes to prove there’s a lot of subjectivity and bias when it comes to the word “best.” There are only a few rare artists that made Pitchfork’s list and were considered popular by CPSC (true crossover appeal) and they were all white artists: Nirvana, Madonna, U2, Green Day and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. CPSC’s list trended away from Hip Hop (A.K.A. Black artists).

There’s a lot of reasons for that divide, but that’s a topic for another day.

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