Most of the posts I will write over the next couple weeks are completely inspired by my one trip to the giant Half-Priced Books sale at the Indiana State Fairgrounds last weekend. At that sale, I left with 23 records, 10 CDs, a DVD, and a book for $16.37. That is pretty incredible.
At the big sale, most of the CDs I bought were 90s throwback discs which of course are just nearing the end of their return to trendiness. In 2004/05 I kept another blog that I rarely wrote on, but one of the big things I wrote was a Top 10 list of pop rock bands from the 90s. I realize now that I was way ahead of my time, as some of these bands are going back on tour, making new records, making news for officially breaking up, or just getting more play on the radio.
I am reposting this colossal waste of my last college summer mostly unchanged. Any changes I have made will be written in italics. The only other thing I would do differently is change the ranking a little bit. The change of ranking is slightly influenced by which bands have gained the most from the popular 90s nostalgia. I have put the re-rankings in italics below for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy, and please comment below if you agree or disagree.
Let’s get right down to it. This is a completely confusing genre. My friends and I have been arguing about what makes a pop/rock band all weekend. Is it a sound? Is it record sales? Is it lack of a sound or record sales? But I think one thing to remember is the slash between pop and rock. These bands fuse two different genres without making one new and definable sound. Thus the genre is more open to different types of bands. Through the process of figuring out who the best bands of this genre are I have realized that this alternative adult pop/rock has several brothers including: alternative, alternative pop/rock, post grunge, roots rock, mainstream rock, and adult contemporary.
If I were to give a rough definition of pop/rock it would be music that uses catchy, mainstream, radio friendly melodies blended with a generic (or unique sometimes) mainstream rock sound.
So once I figured out the basic style of music I was going for, I began struggling a lot with how to rate these bands: Are these the 10 bands that define most precisely what pop/ rock is? Or are these the bands that emerged from the genre with the greatest contributions to popular music?
I decided on the latter for two reasons. One is that I read an article by Chuck Klosterman talking about Nine Inch Nails and how Trent Reznor began the industrial music genre and became the most famous band of the genre. Because of the popularity a lot of industrial rock fans said that NIN was not industrial rock at all. But Chuck basically said that’s dumb because without NIN the genre wouldn’t exist. The rest are just bad photocopies. The second reason is based upon the first in that I really did not want to dedicate blog space to writing about Vertical Horizon. I know I am open-minded about music, but I have my limits.
Here are the rules:
1. To be on the list the band must have at least two certifiable Billboard hits.
2. The band’s popularity and appeal must have only come from being part of the “pop/rock movement" (there will be one exception). For instance, there are several great 90s bands that fit much more snuggly into other genres such as alternative (Smashing Pumpkins) or grunge (every band from Seattle ever). Also The Foo Fighters are timeless, so don't go there. They belong to all eras-- past, present, and future.
3. The bands must be BANDS (no Sheryl Crow or Shawn Mullins).
4. These bands must be from the United States (one exception). There are too many new genres that get introduced if you throw British bands into the mix.
5. The top 10 bands must NOT include any of these (Vertical Horizon, The Calling, Lifehouse). Train was originally in that parenthetical, but their current success helps gives their other songs a new traction. Memory does improve from success folks. "Drops of Jupiter" is a better song than it was seven years ago. However, Vertical Horizon still sucks.
Without further a do:
(10) 10. Collective Soul: The Hard Rocking, Well Groomed Priests
Hits: “Shine", “December", “The World I Know", “Listen", “Heavy", “Run"
When this article was originally going to be a Top 5 list with some honorable mentions, these guys from Georgia weren’t even mentioned. But after looking into it I realized that we needed a hard rocker. History tells us these guys faded because they tried to change their sound. But I gotta be honest. I think it was because their sound wasn’t all that good in the first place. They rocked hard—but with no raw aggression or obvious pain (they might be an unknown influence on Creed). And their lyrics are hauntingly spiritual for a band that lost its following because they decided to shave. However, big props for their contribution of “Run" to the Varsity Blues soundtrack. That tugs at my heart strings. And I miss James VanderBeek (is that how you spell his name?). Upon further viewing Varsity Blues is the worst sports movie ever and possibly one of the worst movies ever period.
(9) 9. Barenaked Ladies: The Postmodern Comedians
Hits: “One Week", “If I Had a 1,000,000", “The Old Apartment", “It’s All Been Done", “Pinch Me"
The Barenaked Ladies are quietly one of the more respected bands in pop/rock for one big reason: they just don’t give a crap. In fact, when I was first thinking of this list and being very picky about the style of band, they didn’t make the list because they aren’t serious enough. During their biggest record release, Stunt, the band’s keyboardist Kevin Hearn was getting a bone marrow transplant. But the Barenaked Ladies never made a fuss about it, and Kevin recovered. Plus I give these guys huge props for making us realize why men are really watching Saturday morning Japanime cartoons. Oh, and their Canadian.
(4) 8. The Wallflowers: The Blood on the Tracks
Hits: “6th Avenue Heartache", “One Headlight","Three Marlenas", “The Difference", “Heroes"
Most people would say that the reason The Wallflowers didn’t make it is that they could not deal with their lead singer Jakob Dylan’s dad Bob. Though I agree that this might be part of the problem, I don’t think it is the only problem or even the main problem. The main problem was the band sat on the success of Bringing Down the Horse for four years and pretty much waited away their mainstream fan base. Plus that album is one of the better albums of the 90s and certainly one of the best if not the best represented by this list. It was just too much of an event to not do anything with. Jakob and the gang would be battling for No. 1 if they had just put out one more successful and respectable record (by the way their other albums are solid, they just didn’t take off).
On another front, I know most of you are keeping a tally of this by now, but for those who aren’t, all of the bands so far have had a hit song on a TV show or movie. “Run" on Varsity Blues, “The Old Apartment" on Beverly Hills 90210, and “Heroes" on Godzilla. Hey we didn’t say the movies had to be hits too.
(7) 7. Third Eye Blind: The Suicidal, Girl Chasing, Semi-Charmed, Meth Junkies (and your daughters listen to them)
Hits: “Semi-Charmed Life", “Graduate", “How’s It Gonna Be", “Jumper", “Losing a Whole Year", “Never Let You Go"
The amazing thing about Third Eye Blind is that they might be the dirtiest lyricists on mainstream pop/rock radio. Their biggest hit, “Semi-Charmed Life", is pretty much about doing drugs and doing girls. In fact, the version released as a single is missing two parts of the original song and many of the lyrics that remained were edited on the radio (such as “doin’ crystal meth will lift you up until you break"). And yet these guys were pop princes in the late 90s. That’s because they can flat out write a catchy melody. I can sing every single one of their hits fairly easily including the lesser-knowns such as “Losing a Whole Year."
There’s one more thing. These guys suck live. Just plain suck. It is mostly due to the fact that Stephen Jenkins’ songwriting and production talents (he was in charge of producing new bands at Elektra before their self-titled debut was released) are way beyond his singing ability. The parallels to Everclear are haunting…haunting.
(6) 6. R.E.M.: The Stepfathers of Pop/Rock
Hits: “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)", “The One I Love", “Orange Crush", “Man on the Moon", “Stand", “Losing My Religion", “Shiny Happy People", “Drive", “Everybody Hurts", “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?"
I know I will get arguments for this placement, and I hope I do. To tell you the truth I am on the fence about it. The fact is R.E.M. is so important to the genre that they were either going to be No. 1 or not even in the Top 5. Here’s why. They have more hits than anyone on the Top 10; in fact they have more hits than most combinations of two bands put together. Michael Stipe and his mates have created material that helped to inspire almost every pop/rock band in the industry, even if they don’t know it. But the reason that they are The Stepfathers and not just The Fathers of Pop/Rock is they were conceiving several genres, some at the same time (those dogs).
R.E.M.’s greatest achievement was not in terms of hits and pop but with their influence on the American indie/underground scene. The band was instrumental in developing the whole “you don’t have to have a unique sound or any great innovations to have an identity" vibe. They became unbelievably creative for not being creative. Beautiful yet cryptic lyrics don’t hurt either. But in the end they do lose points for creating too much media attention to find out if Michael Stipe is gay. I mean that went on for a decade. Well guess what—he is (maybe).
(8) 5. Gin Blossoms: The Depressed Earth Toned Balladeers
Hits: “Till I Hear It from You", “Hey Jealousy", “Found Out About You", "Follow You Down"
If you don’t remember any of these songs, I suggest that you download them or whatever you kids do. These are just great songs period. I confess I have not listened to a full album of the Gin Blossoms, but if I did I would like it. Perfect blend of all the genre relatives of pop/rock, and it makes you think about driving on a sunny day with no really bright colors. Yep you heard right. These guys are depressed and depressing. The principal songwriter was guitarist Doug Hopkins who killed himself in December of 1993 right when the Gin Blossoms were at the top of their success. This was truly tragic for a band that really could have gone places.
Of course that didn’t stop the band from putting a single on the movie soundtrack for Empire Records. Maybe I should do a blog on pop/rock songs in movies. This is beginning to bug me. Also, does anyone think The Gin Blossoms sound a whole lot like Blue Oyster Cult (the real band, not the Christopher Walken skit version)?
(2) 4. Hootie & the Blowfish: The Wannabe Jam Band That Pulls the Race Card
Hits: “I Only Wanna Be With You", “Hold My Hand", “Let Her Cry", “Time", “I Go Blind"
If you were to only listen to the singles that Darius Rucker and his band put out, you would think that this band defined 90s pop/rock more than any other band out there. But you would be wrong. You could be right, but the Blowfish won’t let you.
Hootie & the Blowfish were part of a small cult of 90s blues/jam rock bands that flirted with the mainstream (Spin Doctors, Blues Traveler, and Dave Matthews Band), but the Blowfish didn’t just flirt with the mainstream. They dominated. One could almost make the argument that of the group of jam bands Hootie sold out the fastest. That is simply not true because the other groups had radio friendly tunes (“Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong", “Run Around", and “Crash" respectively). Rucker and the gang could just flat out write a better pop song than any of these other bands ever could. The problem is not that they sold out, but that they won a huge hand and then cashed their chips and left without playing some more.
The band does a lot of great things for rock bands trying to make it today, including a battle of bands on a cruise ship, but they simply could not reproduce or add to their great success (later to be proven wrong when Darius Rucker successfully invaded the country market). Parallels to The Wallflowers seem in order.
Oh and one other thing. Hootie is a friend of the band’s—not lead singer Darius Rucker. But don’t you find it interesting that the band never tried to shake Darius’s identity as Hootie as much as it could have? I think these guys used the race card to put some steam into their street cred engines. It is possible that this is simply not true and the statement itself is racist, but it is worth thinking about. Plus there is the haunting reality that, as far as general appearance and even musical style is concerned, Hootie & The Blowfish are the bizarro Dave Matthews Band. Very interesting.
(3) 3. Matchbox Twenty: The Nameless Faces and Mr. Smooth
Hits: “Push", “3am", “Real World", “Back 2 Good", “Bent", “If Your Gone", “Mad Season", *"Smooth"
The fact that Matchbox Twenty went from misogynists to girlfriend-less sissies that are up way too late in only two moves is inconsequential (“Push" to “3am"). The most important fact is that this band is the best representation of “the band with a famous lead singer and a bunch of musicians no one knows" on the market. That’s not to say that the other Top 10 bands don’t represent that because almost all of them do to a certain extent. It’s just the matchbox guys have the most evidence to back their claim to the crown.
That evidence is in “their" biggest hit—the Santana smash, “Smooth", co-written and sung by one Rob Thomas. The Latin pop hit got around 10 Grammys for Mr. Santana and more Grammys for Rob than he would ever get as leader of Matchbox Twenty. And yet they don’t seem to have lost or added any players. It’s still the same quintet, which is amazing considering drummer Paul Doucette has been known to complain about the lack of hard rocking songs in Rob’s songbook. It’s alright though Paul—you will always have “Push".
A small update on these guys is they put out a greatest hits record that had one new song that was a hit ("Let's See How Far We Go") and they are releasing a new album! Also their rhythm guitarist quit and they got a new drummer, so I guess those members changed.
(5) 2. The Goo Goo Dolls: The Broken and Dizzy Hair Gods
Hits: “Name", “Long Way Down", “Iris", “Slide", “Black Balloon", “Broadway", “Here is Gone", "Better Days"
The three gentlemen known as the Goo Goo Dolls were a Replacements rip off band before their acoustic tune “Name" became a smash on rock radio. Fast forward to yet another soundtrack song (“Iris" from City of Angels), and the dolls of goo finally realized that they are too emotional and too wimpy to let bass player Robby Takac keep screaming about whatever he was screaming about. After they tightened their sound, the hits rolled in. Despite the fact that everyone who knows me realizes that I am not a huge Goo Goo Dolls guy I really have no complaints. The group is making a splash right now with some new pop songs, and no one on this Top 10 list can say that except them. This ended up being totally false.
Ok one complaint. I hear through rumor that they aren’t very good live. Would it be such a travesty to add another permanent member or two to the band? I really don’t see how such a move would hurt everything, especially since it didn’t hurt our No. 1 band…
The Goos get demoted in my re-ranking because their songs (with exception to "Iris") just don't hold up. They don't get me all jazzed for 90s references (except for "Iris") or remind me of the melancholy of the 90s (except for "Iris").
(1) 1. The Counting Crows: The Greatest and Most Hopeless Pop/Rock Band of All Time
Hits: “Mr. Jones", “Einstein on the Beach (For an Eggman)", “Round Here", "Daylight Fading", “Long December", “Hangin’ Around", Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby", "Color Blind", “Big Yellow Taxi", “Accidentally in Love"
Yeah that’s right. I gave the No.1 spot to a band that has more depressing songs than good ones and a frontman competing for the worst hair of all time. Why? Well first because I can. And second…
John Mayer once said that he didn’t want to do pop music anymore because the only thing you can get from it is nostalgia (he is currently getting ready to release a new pop album—I love celebrities). If that is true, no other pop/rock band brings me back to my lonely and overemotional high school days like The Counting Crows. They are unashamed to be completely wasted in agony. But here is something that is so pop/rock about them. Their most famous song has little or nothing to do with the rest of their tunes. These guys have the craftiness (or Adam Duritz saves his happy material for a rainy day) to churn out a blockbuster happy song every few years (“Mr. Jones" kind of, “Hangin’ Around", “Accidentally in Love") while keeping true to form with every other track a tribute to melancholy.
These guys complain about girls more than emo bands do, but they do it with an open sound that doesn’t necessarily cross genre boundaries yet gets very close. And they have a song on Shrek II. And they put on a good live show. And they currently have seven members!
In the end these guys beat out Matchbox Twenty, The Goo Goo Dolls, and R.E.M because I simply can’t deny the impact their songs have had on me. That is enough reason for them to be the best band. They are definitely a pop/rock band, and they matter.
