22. Soundgarden, Down on the Upside By 1996, it was already a decisive time for the various acts that surged to popularity on the grunge wave started by Nirvana and swelled to terrifying size by Pearl Jam. The commercial alternative … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1996, 22 and 21
24. Victor, Victor As I noted somewhere around the lower seventies, there was at least one Rush super-fan on the 90FM Director Staff in the first half of 1996, meaning he probably had a little bit of sway and influence … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1996, 24 and 23
26. Tool, Ænima The title of Tool’s second album is a made-up word. Ænima is a rough amalgam of the Latin word for soul and the word “enema.” And that sort of sophomoric, scatological brattiness masquerading as uncompromising, dirty-minded profundity … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1996, 26 and 25
28. Barenaked Ladies, Born on a Pirate Ship Being cult heroes to chipper nerds can be highly lucrative. Even before that bit of cultural cachet undoubtedly helped Barenaked Ladies land the job of providing the theme song to The Big … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1996, 28 and 27
30. Paul Cebar and the Milwaukeeans, Upstroke for the Downfolk Paul Cebar, like his band, is a Milwaukeean. His band’s sophomore release, Upstroke for the Downfolk, came out in 1995 and, like a lot of the music that fell in … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1996, 30 and 29
32. Various Artists, Beautiful Girls soundtrack I’ve tended to denigrate the various soundtracks that have cropped on this list, implicitly–okay, sometimes directly–questioning the judgment of the on-air personnel that played them enough to necessitate their inclusion on this list. But … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1996, 32 and 31
34. Paul Westerberg, Eventually Officially, Eventually was the sophomore solo effort from former (and, improbably, future) Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg. (I actually consider All Shook Down, the final album credited to the Replacements, to be Westerberg’s solo bow, but I’m letting that go for today’s purposes.) It was also the first indication that things weren’t necessarily going to go swimmingly for the flannel-clad Twin Cities troubadour in his solo career, at least from a critical acclaim standpoint. He was regularly and rightly cited as one of the great rock ‘n’ roll songwriters of his generation throughout his tenure with The … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1996, 34 and 33
36. Iggy Pop, Naughty Little Doggie I think everyone in college radio was always rooting for Iggy Pop to make a great album, but man alive did he crank out some bad stuff. Of course, when those albums have centerpiece … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1996, 36 and 35
38. Reel Big Fish, Turn the Radio Off Good lord, just look at that hideous album cover. Turn the Radio Off is the sophomore effort for punk-ska band Reel Big Fish and their first after being signed to the Mojo … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1996, 38 and 37
40. Dog’s Eye View, Happy Nowhere Much as I complain about the monolithic grunge sound that dominated any radio station that aligned itself with the “alternative” movement in the mid-nineties, in some ways the real problem was that many of … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1996, 40 and 39
Coffee for Two 