The Best Albums of 1999
A decade of trying to find the next grunge hit or nu-metal clone left rock radio with bands like Creed, Godsmack, and Korn dominating the airwaves. Pop radio was an endless barrage of the Backstreet Boys, Christina Aguilera, and Britney Spears. There were plenty of bright spots both above and below the surface—in hip hop, college rock, alt-country, and punk, but they were often overshadowed by forgettable music you couldn’t escape. Just a month before the year started, frustrated with the state of the music industry, some friends and I started a music company called Paste to highlight some of our favorite overlooked bands. Looking back, it was an amazing time to jump into the industry as everything was about to change. Here are all of the 1999 albums ranked.
Don’t miss out on the TIMELESS songs of 1999 below! Click to experience the music at its finest!
10. Keep It Like A Secret (Built To Spill)
“For me, this album takes the expansive, adventurous sound of Perfect From Now On and compresses it into its most compact, perfect form. Brimming with melodic invention and some of Doug Martsch’s tightest songwriting, every track on Keep It Like a Secret is a knockout in its own way.”
9. Summerteeth (Wilco)
“‘Summerteeth’ is the summation of everything that is great about Wilco: wonderful pop nuggets, lush melodies, memorable and at times dark lyrics. Every little bit of every Wilco album is on this album & is a great starting point if you’ve never heard Wilco before”
8. American Football (American Football)
“American Football is one of the pioneers of emo and math rock. American Football is honest music, touching with sincerity, pure and uncompromising. A brilliant and bright guitar sound, on which are added simple words and unpretentious … This sincerity is felt throughout the album. The changeable and unstable metric illustrates the human side of the work, a kind of constant and touching imperfection, an impression of never being able to feel fully reassured but to be at the same time immersed in a serene and dreamy state.”
See more: Blur Albums Ranked
7. 69 Love Songs (The Magnetic Fields)
“This is the Magnum Opus of Merrit and I finally made it through and it was fun to go through very specific music I like it all the way some parts I don’t like so much but it was ok a great album. And what makes this such a remarkable release you should know despite its hefty length its largely good and simply brilliant in parts, a rare beast where quantity also equals quality Really good work.”
6. 98.12.28 男達の別れ [98.12.28 Otokotachi No Wakare] (フィッシュマンズ [Fishmans])
“What a masterful performance. You can hear the sincerity in the band, especially on the stellar live rendition of Long Season in its entirety. True musicianship. I’m studying for my acute cardiovascular exam as I type this comment and I almost shed tears in the library from the beauty of this live album.”
5. Emergency & I (The Dismemberment Plan)
“Yes, it is definitely better the more I listen. “What Do You Want Me To Say” is the definite high point, but overall it’s a great album, especially if you’re looking for a little change of pace from the usual. It really is nothing remotely like anything else”
4. 13 (Blur)
“A bizarre record. And I love it for that. Shoutouts to William Orbit to make it weird as fuck. And I love it because of it. Hell, I might give this a 100 with future listens just to get the lyrics. But instrumentally this reminds me of records that came in the future.”
See more: The Flaming Lips Albums Ranked
3. Californication (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
“They stand at an interchange do the peppers, a junction where all forms of music meet. Sure there’s funk and punk, rap and metal. But there’s also surf and soul, grunge and blues. What makes them great is the ability to blend these sounds, to twist them into something that is always The chili peppers’ unique sound.”
2. The Soft Bulletin (The Flaming Lips)
“Progressive rock sophistication with none of the pretentiousness that often steals it’s soul. This thing is an adventure, a totally unique experience. The magic is in the production, every tiny detail comes with it’s own profound meaning, and just when you’re amazed at how these little things alone are so satisfying, a beautiful unexpected melody comes flooding in.”
1. Ágætis Byrjun (Sigur Rós)
“This album really represents why we love music so much. The emotional power the tracks have is so immense, the vast atmosphere of greatness is oh so present. If you haven’t listened to this, give it a shot. Most likely it will not disappoint!”