70 – Mayonnaise – Smashing Pumpkins
Everywhere I went in 1993, Siamese Dream was playing, but it never hit on two of the better songs from the album. This one is one of the greatest that James Iha penned and it might be the reason that it was never played. Billy Corrigan wouldn’t allow it.
69 – Closing Time – Semisonic
I worked in bars a lot through the 90s and knew what it was like to close up shop. No other song put together what that feeling was like than this one hit wonder from Semisonic.
68 – Sweet Jane – Cowboy Junkies
I have a hard time claiming that a remake of a Velvet Underground song could be better than the original, but the haunting vocals that accompany this mellower version of this song makes it a completely different song than the upbeat original.
67 – Runaway Train – Soul Asylum
Music came from many different locations in the 90s, and this breakout hit from the underground band from Minnenapolis stuck out as one of the few yet more memorable ballads from this decade.
66 – Star – The Cult
The Cult was primed to breakthrough with the big hair bands of the 1980s when the bottom fell out in that part of the industry. But this band had enough strength in their songwriting abilities to make the move to the alternative scene and this was the song that finally allowed them to break in the United States.
65 – Love Spreads – The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses were supposed to be the big band to emerge from the second British Invasion laying the groundwork for Oasis and Blur later, but internal conflict caused the band to break up before they made it big. They were still able to leave this song behind before they broke up.
64 – Spiderweb – No Doubt
Before the band decided to go the pop route, they were a Ska band. This song was the best example of what they could do if they stuck to their roots, and is still one of the best party tunes to emerge from the decade.
63 – Wicked Garden – Stone Temple Pilots
Driving guitars, and Scott Weiland’s signature vocals are what makes this song a classic. It was also the surprise highlight from their debut album that took over the airwaves in the early 1990s.
62 – John the Fisherman – Primus
I have always considered Les Claypool the Jimi Hendrix of my generation. He did for bass what Jimi did for the guitar, and this track from the Frizzell Fry album proves why he will always be considered a genius in my book.
61 – Jolene – Cake
Cake has written so many original songs that it is impossible to remembe all the ones that have made it to the radio. Oddly enough, it is not their hits that are their best songs. “Jolene” never gets radio play because it was never released as a single, but it is so good that it is hard to see why it didn’t become one of Cake’s biggest hits.
John Collings 