Best Albums of the 1990s

« View best albums of the 1980sView best albums of the 2000s »

Listed below are the best albums of the 1990s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 53,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade

Decade:

Year:

1990s decade summary

Year	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts.	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year)	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart.
1990	2,791	133,590	Violator (115th)by Depeche Mode
1991	2,845	257,925	Nevermind (14th)by Nirvana
1992	3,008	168,873	Automatic For The People (49th)by R.E.M.
1993	3,226	190,705	Siamese Dream (55th)by The Smashing Pumpkins
1994	3,480	284,714	Grace (57th)by Jeff Buckley
1995	3,684	216,655	The Bends (23rd)by Radiohead
1996	3,880	185,393	If You're Feeling Sinister (123rd)by Belle And Sebastian
1997	4,044	258,776	OK Computer (1st)by Radiohead
1998	4,101	193,252	In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (16th)by Neutral Milk Hotel
1999	4,225	181,775	Ágætis Byrjun (75th)by Sigur Rós
Total	35,284	2,071,658

The best artists of the 1990s were Radiohead, Nirvana, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Smashing Pumpkins, My Bloody Valentine, Oasis, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Weezer and Nick Cave.

View chart at point in time

Share this chart

Collector's summary (top 1,000)Log in or register to discover the great albums that are missing from your music collection!

Sort by

OK Computer

Radiohead

Year of Release:

1997

Appears in:

4,339 charts

Rank Score:

76,262

Rank in 1997:

Rank in 1990s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

92 (5,510 votes)

Comments:

844

Nevermind

Nirvana

Year of Release:

1991

Appears in:

3,118 charts

Rank Score:

42,257

Rank in 1991:

Rank in 1990s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

87 (4,243 votes)

Comments:

407

In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

Neutral Milk Hotel

Year of Release:

1998

Appears in:

2,381 charts

Rank Score:

39,207

Rank in 1998:

Rank in 1990s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1991

Appears in:

2,114 charts

Rank Score:

33,795

Rank in 1991:

Rank in 1990s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

Comments:

Year of Release:

1995

Appears in:

2,626 charts

Rank Score:

33,042

Rank in 1995:

Rank in 1990s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

87 (3,833 votes)

Comments:

312

Automatic For The People

R.E.M.

Year of Release:

1992

Appears in:

1,772 charts

Rank Score:

20,413

Rank in 1992:

Rank in 1990s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

84 (2,163 votes)

Comments:

174

Ten

Pearl Jam

Year of Release:

1991

Appears in:

1,797 charts

Rank Score:

20,313

Rank in 1991:

Rank in 1990s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

83 (2,285 votes)

Comments:

178

Siamese Dream

The Smashing Pumpkins

Year of Release:

1993

Appears in:

1,563 charts

Rank Score:

19,537

Rank in 1993:

Rank in 1990s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

85 (1,895 votes)

Comments:

149

In Utero

Nirvana

Year of Release:

1993

Appears in:

1,714 charts

Rank Score:

19,349

Rank in 1993:

Rank in 1990s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

84 (2,615 votes)

Comments:

176

10.

Grace

Jeff Buckley

Year of Release:

1994

Appears in:

1,674 charts

Rank Score:

19,291

Rank in 1994:

Rank in 1990s:

Overall Rank:

Average Rating:

84 (1,910 votes)

Comments:

169

« prev
1
2
3
4
...
99
100
next »
Goto Page:

Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100

Best Albums of the 1990s composition

Year	Albums	%

1990	87	9%
1991	82	8%
1992	102	10%
1993	107	11%
1994	125	13%
1995	112	11%
1996	110	11%
1997	96	10%
1998	93	9%
1999	87	9%

Artist	Albums	%

Blur	6	1%
The Flaming Lips	6	1%
Sonic Youth	5	0%
Alice In Chains	5	0%
Dream Theater	5	0%
R.E.M.	5	0%
Pearl Jam	5	0%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	541	54%
	260	26%
	41	4%
	28	3%
	22	2%
	14	1%
	13	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	983	98%
Yes	18	2%

Live?	Albums	%
No	983	98%
Yes	18	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	990	99%
Yes	11	1%

« View best albums of the 1980sView best albums of the 2000s »

If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker.

A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(

We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.

Recognised Decade Charts (2020s)
1. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s: Staff Picks by Billboard (2019)
2. 100 Best Albums of the 2010s by Rolling Stone (2019)
3. The A.V. Club's 50 best albums of the 2010s by The A.V. Club (2019)
4. The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s by Pitchfork (2019)
5. Gorilla vs. Bear Albums of the 2010s by Gorilla vs. Bear (2019)
6. Top 100 Albums of the Decade by Crack Magazine (2019)
7. Top 50 Albums of the 2010s by The Wild Honey Pie (2019)
8. All The Best Albums Of The 2010s, Ranked by Uproxx (2019)
9. The 50 best albums of the decade – 2010 to 2019 by Independent (2019)
10. The Needle Drop's Top Albums Of The 2010s by The Needle Drop (2019)
11. BrooklynVegan's Top Albums of 2010s by BrooklynVegan (2020)
12. NME's Greatest Albums of The Decade: The 2010s by New Music Express (2019)
13. The 101 Best Albums of the 2010s by Spin (2020)
14. The 100 Best Albums Of The 2010s by Stereogum (2019)
15. The 50 Best Albums of the Decade by Deep Cuts (2019)
16. Tiny Mix Tapes 2010s: Favorite 100 Music Releases of the Decade by Tiny Mix Tapes (2019)
17. Die 100 besten Alben der 10er Jahre by Musikexpress.de (2020)
18. Die besten Platten 2010-2019 by Spex (2019)
19. BEST OF 2011 - 2020: Die besten Alben des Jahrzehnts by laut (2020)
20. Top 100 Albums of the 2010s by Consequence of Sound (2019)