The Downward Spiral is pure genius. Probably one of the best albums of the 90's. It made the anticipation for the "Fragile" so high that it was doomed to fail.
if you're into piano: Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever Amen horns: Cake - Fashion Nugget alt: Wallflowers - Bringing Down the Horse Foo Fighters - Colour and the Shape Incubus - Make Yourself indie: Flaming Lips - Soft Bulletin Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (early 00's) radio: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Here's some of my suggestions excluding many I've already seen listed in this thread.. I kept this from being too obscure, otherwise it would have been a completely different list. Rancid - Out Come the Wolves Green Day - Dookie Soundgarden - Superunknown Rage Against the Machine - self-titled Alice in Chains - Dirt Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magic Breeders - Last Splash Elastica - Elastica Fountains of Wayne - Welcome Interstate Managers Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand Hole - Live Through This Lemonheads - It's a Shame About Ray Libertines - Up the Bracket At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command Son Volt - Trace Matthew Sweet - 100% Fun or Girlfriend
Pixies- Greatest Hits Smashing Pumpkins- Greatest Hits Pavement- Slanted and Enchanted Heatmiser- Mic City Sons
Nice list, made all the better because of your mention of the Kinks. I have a few minor disagreements, but they aren't worth mentioning.
Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever, Amen is the best album ever Dave Matthews Band - Under the Table and Dreaming Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak Radiohead - OK Computer Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
My fault is that perhaps I'm too generous- I see the good in a lot of different types of music- fast, slow, hard, soft, complex, simple (damn, sounds like a porno movie)- seriously, all different types of music is good and "best of" lists are extremely arbitrary. I will put the quality and output of The Kinks' music up against anybody, though. Their songs are among the best of the 60s (You Really Got Me, All Day and All of the Night), the 70s (Lola, Celluloid Heroes), the 80s (Destroyer, Come Dancing) heck, they even have the greatest Christmas song of all time (Father Christmas)- who can argue with that?
Perhaps in these neck of the woods. Personally, I think that album (and the whole band as a whole) is vastly overrated, but that's just me. Third Eye Blind - Self Titled I also second the Flaming Lips mention.
I would suggest both Belly albums if you can find them or the greatest hits CD Sweat Ride. Belly is mainly Tonya Donnelly and I was actually fortunate enough to see them open for both U2 and the Velvet Underground in Paris and for Radiohead here in Houston. Lost in Space, The Forgotten Arm or Whatever by Aimee Mann. Bloodletting by Concrete Blonde Does latter Johnny Cash count? Hurt is amazing and it was written by Trent Reznor. Massive Attack - Mezzanine Morcheeba - Big Calm or Who Can You Trust PJ Harvey I don't know if this would be an "essential" album but there's cool album by a band called Snow Machine that I really like.
Collective Soul, Soul Asylum and Vertical Horizon need to be mentioned. Rock CDs of the same period but not spot-on the same genre as "Modern" punk: The Offspring - Americana Green Day - American Idiot goth: HIM - Razorblade Romance Stabbing Westward - s/t
QFT. I'll second the Foo Fighters suggestion (literally any of their albums) I'll throw in the first two albums from Garbage. The first album from The Refreshments was brilliant. There's not a lot to get excited about these days, IMO, as far as traditional rock goes.
Smashing Pumpkins - Pisces Iscariot Teenage Fanclub - Thirteen Manic Street Preachers - Generation Terrorists Matthew Sweet - Altered Beast Urge Overkill - Saturation Mike Watt - Ballhog or Tugboat Tripping Daisy - Bill Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking Faith No More - Angel Dust Suede - Suede
