Slant Magazine: Best Singles of the '90s

[HolidayGuy]

Another revisit to the 90s (after the Rolling Stone albums list). Now, Slant magazine counts down the 100 Best Singles of the '90s.

According to the accompanying pic, Madonna, Nirvana and Radiohead dominate the list. Nirvana already has two in the 81-90 range.

100. Sophie B. Hawkins, "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover"
99. Stardust, "Music Sounds Better with You"
98. Arrested Development, "Tennessee"
97. Ice Cube, "It Was a Good Day"
96. The Stone Roses, "I Wanna Be Adored"
95. Underworld, "Born Slippy.NUXX"
94. The Cure, "Pictures of You"
93. Daft Punk, "Da Funk"
92. Sheryl Crow, "If It Makes You Happy"
91. Pavement, "Cut Your Hair"
90. The B-52's, "Roam"
89. U2, "Mysterious Ways"
88. Nirvana, "Heart-Shaped Box"
87. Lauryn Hill, "Lost Ones"
86. Zhané, "Hey Mr. DJ"
86. Nirvana, "Come As You Are"
84. Jay-Z, "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)"
83. Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson, "Scream"
82. Pavement, "Summer Babe"
81. Depeche Mode, "Personal Jesus"

80-61 come Tuesday.

[ListenToItTwice]

So far this looks really similar to VH1's list of 90s songs.

[HolidayGuy]

It does? Hmmm... just looked at that list (which had web site visitors voting on a list of 125 or so tracks) and of the 20 revealed, a whopping three appear on the VH1 list. :) "Damn...," ""Tennessee," and "It Was a Good Day."

While including some mainstream acts/tracks, Slant's critics' list is not as commercial/mainstream as something like VH1's list of songs. VH1's 80s list of 125 or so contenders wasn't as bad as the 90s list. (I know that the initial list for the 90s included "Macarena"! Though site visitors did not vote it into the top 100)

[MikeCheck12]

Cool to see Depeche Mode at 81. "Violator" was a MONSTER of an album back then....

[areyoureadytojump]

#100 should be higher...

[Enigma.]

86. Nirvana, "Come As You Are"
84. Jay-Z, "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)"
83. Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson, "Scream"

What a tremendous trio

[Tea-why]

I can see "Ray of Light" ranking the highest out of all of Madge's singles.

I wouldn't be surprised if "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is #1. U2's "One" will probably also rank high.

[HolidayGuy]

If Madonna has, say, three entries, I'd go with "Vogue," "Frozen" and "Ray of Light." But, the under-appreciated "Erotica" may appear, given the accompanying picture Slant used. If there were a fifth, then "Beautiful Stranger."

Missy Elliott had five entries in Slant's top 100 of the 2000s.

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

I need to redo my list. I made one about 5 years ago but I consider it very disagreeable with how I would do it now.

I still stand by my Best of the 2000s list though.

[HolidayGuy]

80-61:

Nirvana now has 3, and the other two who dominate the list (Radiohead and Madonna) have yet to appear. And Mimi Carey actually cracks the list.

80. Robin S., "Show Me Love"
79. Soundgarden, "Black Hole Sun"
78. Oasis, "Wonderwall"
77. Portishead, "Sour Times"
76. Us3, "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)"
75. The Notorious B.I.G., "Hypnotize"
74. Neutral Milk Hotel, "Holland, 1945"
73. Nirvana, "Lithium"
72. White Town, "Your Woman"
71. Snoop Doggy Dogg, "Gin and Juice"
70. Nas, "The World Is Yours"
69. The Notorious B.I.G., "Mo Money Mo Problems"
68. Smashing Pumpkins, "Tonight, Tonight"
67. The Orb, "Little Fluffy Clouds"
66. Prince and the New Power Generation, "7"
65. Belle and Sebastian, "Lazy Line Painter Jane"
64. The Prodigy, "Smack My Bitch Up"
63. Primal Scream, "Loaded"
62. Fugees, "Fu-Gee-La"
61. Mariah Carey, "Fantasy"

[Enigma.]

Lazy Line Painter Jane is divine

[Diego]

61. Mariah Carey, "Fantasy"

Sweet (sweet fantasy baby, when I close my eyes...). I hope it's not the last of her on the list.

[HolidayGuy]

^Given her critical history, I'd be surprised if he had another entry- but, you never know. Recall that she didn't have any entries in Slant's top 100 for the 2000s ("We Belong Together" came in at 218 or something like that).

[Tea-why]

I think the O.D.B. remix helped "Fantasy" crack the list. I've read a few Mariah reviews on Slant before and they praised the remix (as well as the club mix) and kind of panned the album version. But that's just a hunch.

[HolidayGuy]

The write-up actually praised the album version, too- but, it could depend on the writer.

I'm waiting to see Madonna have half of the top 10. nah, that won't happen. For the 2000s list, she had three in the top 40 (all in the 25-40 range).

[spooky21]

Jan 11, 2011 0:15:45 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

80-61:

And Mimi Carey actually cracks the list.

Gotta love the snark.

[Tea-why]

Jan 11, 2011 8:41:41 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

The write-up actually praised the album version, too- but, it could depend on the writer.

Now that's surprising lol but like you said, it does depend on the writer.

Not that I mind, I love Mimi. I just find most critics don't like her uber-poppy singles.

[HolidayGuy]

Prior to this, the notable all-time features that "Fantasy" appeared on was Q magazine's 1,010 Songs You Must Own (2004) and the "10,001 Songs..." addendum to the "1,001 Songs..." book. it also had a single year-end list appearance (Sweden's Pop, at No. 29).

[Diego]

Jan 11, 2011 8:31:08 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

^Given her critical history, I'd be surprised if he had another entry- but, you never know. Recall that she didn't have any entries in Slant's top 100 for the 2000s ("We Belong Together" came in at 218 or something like that).

Yeah, I'm thinking if they listed another of her songs it would probably be Vision of Love.

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

I think it's interesting how different lists from the 2000s are from decade lists made prior, such as this one. It's not uncommon for pop hits to make lists like these whereas the best of the 2000s contained few big hits. Likely with the help of Internet-based acts that didn't get mainstream success. It's changing the way we view success I think. Critical acclaim matches up with mainstream success less and less.

[cking33]

Jan 11, 2011 10:22:44 GMT -5 Diego said:

Jan 11, 2011 8:31:08 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

^Given her critical history, I'd be surprised if he had another entry- but, you never know. Recall that she didn't have any entries in Slant's top 100 for the 2000s ("We Belong Together" came in at 218 or something like that).

Yeah, I'm thinking if they listed another of her songs it would probably be Vision of Love.

I wouldn't be surprised to see "Always Be My Baby" either, it's her most timeless single, IMO. Or if they want to throw in a Christmas song, AIWFCIY.

[Gravity.]

"Wonderwall" is too damn low.

[MikeCheck12]

Nothing from Janet yet. Interesting - there was Rhythm Nation carryover, the janet. singles and Velvet Rope singles in th 90s.

[MikeCheck12]

^ I take that back, "Scream" appeard at #83.

[Enigma.]

That's The Way Love Goes must be on the list.

[Deleted]

Jan 11, 2011 8:58:03 GMT -5 Tea-why said:

Jan 11, 2011 8:41:41 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

The write-up actually praised the album version, too- but, it could depend on the writer.

Now that's surprising lol but like you said, it does depend on the writer.

Not that I mind, I love Mimi. I just find most critics don't like her uber-poppy singles.

She has become (slightly) more appreciated by music critics since her 2005 comeback. I think perhaps critics began looking at her as more than some major fad of the 90's after she expanded her hit-making career to 20 years after experiencing such a huge comeback. It wouldn't be the first time music critics as a whole seemed to reevaluate their opinion of an artist much later in their career. You know it's easy to write a relatively substance free pop artist like Mariah Carey off when they only experience a few years of success. When they extend their hit-making to two whole decades, you realize they must have something a lot of other artists don't.

[HolidayGuy]

Obviously Mimi has talent and is good at what she does. Though, Emancipation, for all of its success, wasn't a BIG critical success. It's one of her best-received albums, without a doubt, though.

I think "That's the Way Love Goes" has a shot at appearing. You'd think it would have racked up more critical love than it has through the years. Per Acclaimed Music, Janet's most acclaimed tracks have been "Nasty" and "Got Till it's Gone." Acclaim-wise, Control (the album) is her top title. TTWLG didn't feature among the six Janet tracks in the 10,001 Singles feature.

[#LisaRinna]

Not surprised by the 'Fantasy' appearence. It's one of her classics and most hailed singles And, then again, this isn't a RS list

[HolidayGuy]

Why cite RS, as if it's the only outlet to not give Mimi critcial love? :)

Looking at notable critics lists and such, "Dreamlover" actually has garnered the most success, followed by "We Belong Together" and "Vision of Love." None rank n tne top 2000 at Acclaimed Music, though.

[Deleted]

The point being that not every artist needs to release some magnum opus to become critically respected. There may not be any one point in Mariah Carey's career that she has received considerable critical acclaim. However, when critics look back over her 20 year (and counting) career in retrospect, it is easier to consider how her extensive body of hits has contributed to popular music, how that sets her apart as one of the top hitmakers in music history, and how 20 years into her career, her influence on younger artists is quite noticeable. Her 90's work has more respect from critics now than it had 10 years ago (not saying that she is being put on the same level as Bob Dylan or Radiohead; no need to go there). The work hasn't changed. It has simply taken time to realize the impact that some of these records had that they may not have initially made outside of commercial impact.

Take someone like Donna Summer for instance. In 1979 the music she was doing was seen as the lowest garbage out there. 30 years later and people are up in arms about how this woman could possibly not be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In retrospect, people realize the impact that she had not only on urban music's growing popularity in the mainstream, but also on dance music's growing popularity in the mainstream, and what it means to be a female pop singer.