Putting aside the egregious editing mistake in the header -- note that this is a singles list, not a songs list -- this is a rare 90's listicle with results that I mostly agree with. The methodology behind the SINGLES list is described here, and keep scrolling to see the full list.
The one song per artist rule is a necessary one for this kind of project, so good on Popmatters for realizing it unlike many other sites compiling similarly themed lists. They strike a good balance between different corners of the 90's alt-universe, American (grunge, nu-metal) and British (Britpop, shoegaze) fad genres are all here, and just about all the uncategorizable key bands (REM, Radiohead, Depeche Mode, many more) are featured. It's very much a white male dominated list, but that was alternative in the 90's. Other genres (electronic, hip-hop) were more varied in that regard, let's not retroactively pretend that POC-dominated bands were unjustly ignored by the grunge scene. And finally, the #1 single is entirely predictable, and as noted in the write-up, there is really no other choice for #1. It's nice to see a list that doesn't try to distinguish itself through surprise choices and controversial re-writes of the canon.
There are two weaknesses here. First, I have the notion that Popmatters had an internal struggle between featuring cult bands vs commercial bands, and often flexed toward the former. If Alanis Morissette, Dave Matthews, and U2 are alternative, then where are the other alt-lite acts like Semisonic and Matchbox 20? I feel like they wanted to make this a more commercial list, but held something back.
Second, they sometimes choose singles that have gained more prestige over the years, instead of choosing more obvious singles from the same album that were considerably bigger at the time. For instance, Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" became more of a signature song after Johnny Cash recorded it. But at the time, "March of the Pigs" or "Closer" were far bigger and more characteristic of the popularity of "The Downward Spiral". For No Doubt, why choose "Spiderwebs" over approximately five more massive hits (unless we're getting into the radio single vs physical single argument, in regards to songs like "Don't Speak" which was never released as a physical single)? "If You Tolerate This ..." was a #1 hit for the Manics in the UK, but it's hardly their breakthrough song and was released after they peaked creatively. But most of the time, they don't get cute and chose an obvious genre-defining, band-defining single.
p.s. where is 1999? Just one song is represented (Flaming Lips, "Race For the Prize)
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