Great Forgotten Albums from the Late 1990s

The late 90s were a confusing time for music. Grunge music was devastated by the death of Kurt Cobain. Rap music was devastated by the death of 2Pac and Notorious BIG. There really was no dominant trend in music - which opened the door for anything. Ska. Electronic. Industrial. Swing. White rappers. Rap metal. Teen pop. ANYTHING.

In 1998, lovers of rock music were absolutely terrified of electronic music. It was unstoppable and it was about to take over everything. We were absolutely sure that by 2005, all music will be made by machines and guitars will be obsolete. There is no way electronic and rock can ever peacefully coexist - I remind you, we were still two years removed from Kid A.

That year, after selling 10 million copies of the bi-polar epic Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and then firing their drummer for drug use - the Smashing Pumpkins released Adore. To say this album was confusing at the time is an understatement.

The lead single, "Ava Adore", was everything we'd been waiting for: loud guitars, cruel snarling lyrics, a catchy chorus - but what was going on with the drum? A machine replaced Jimmy Chamberlain? How can they do this? Are they a rock band anymore?

It got more perplexing from there. Many of the songs didn't even need a backbone from a drummer - they were so drenched in synths that the songs floated without it. What you got instead is some of Billy Corgan's best songwriting. "Once Upon A Time" is a gorgeous waltz ballad with beautiful harmonies. "The Tale Of Dusty And Pistol Pete" is so gracefully sung that it doesn't matter that nobody can make sense of the lyrics. "Annie Dog" proves that Billy could have had a great career as a barroom piano singer. And the closing trio of "Behold! The Nightmare", "For Martha", and "Blank Page" is more emotional and powerful than anything they attempted on Mellon Collie.

Eleven years later, this album still holds up as a brilliant late-night listen that I feel like has some context in the greater picture of rock music now. If you don't like pretentious music with overwrought lyrics, you probably shouldn't be a Pumpkins fan anyway. Dust this one off - you'll be glad you did.

A lot of other great albums came out in the late 90s that I would like to eventually write about. If we have another bad month for new releases like we did in July, I'll have plenty of time.