Top 5 Favorite Bands/Artists Circa 1995

Here's a list that precludes any apologizing--the top five bands that you were into in 1995. In other words, imagine you are doing a Top 5 Bands/Artists list of all-time--as your 1995 self.

Ryan's Top Five

1. Smashing Pumpkins - Around this time, I was dead-convinced that 1979 was as good as a song could get, and I was in love with the video. For videos, see also "Tonight Tonight," which may be the greatest music video ever made. "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" really captured that angst I was feeling...and by "angst" I mean a predilection for playing rock music with cool lyrics very loudly. See also "Zero," which still is the one of the best songs to play when you're angry (thank you, Baker).

2. Green Day - Enamored with "Dookie," I acquired (my mom bought) "Insomniac" without hearing any of the music, which is a rare thing nowadays (thenadays?). I remember playing "Brain Stew/Jaded" quite loudly, on one occasion getting my grandma to remark, "This isn't music." For a 12-year-old, I felt pretty empowered with my righteous rebelliousness. Of course, I was overlooking the fact that I owned CDs by: Hootie and the Blowfish, the Rembrandts, and Sheryl fucking Crow. Anyway, I really loved Green Day at this point in my life, and they've successfully done everything to destroy that relationship since.

3. Offspring - Oh man, did I ever love "Smash." The song "Self Esteem" epitomizes my infatuation with playing rock loudly, and to this day I can't pass it on the radio without turning the volume up to 11 and singing along. I also bought their prior albums without hearing any of the music and, well, ... I can't recall a track.

4. Oasis - Ranking Oasis behind Offspring is painful even if this list has little to do with objective awesomeness. Anyway, the two big songs I was obsessed with from this album were "Wonderwall" (still great) and "Champagne Supernova" (I don't really need to hear it anymore). I was not that into "Don't Look Back in Anger," which for some reason I heard again in 2000 and fell in love with.

5. Weezer - Here's the thing: I loved the blue album, but I didn't really get into all of it until later in life. This was the first album I ever got, and I was still very much single-track-minded; when I found a single I liked, I honed in on it to an extreme fault. Thus, in 1995 I listened "Buddy Holly," "The Sweater Song," and "No One Else" way too much, and other (better) songs like "Only in Dreams" and "My Name is Jonas" not as much.

Honorable: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Weird Al Yankovic, and it feels like I'm probably leaving some folk out... I think I've pretty much nailed this list though.

Dan's Top 5:

This is actually extremely hard, since I did not even get into popular music until 1999, and even then I was only into classic rock. It took a long time before I became a fan of more modern artists. That said, I'm going to turn back the clock a bit and list a few bands that were popular at the time, as well as some of my early favorites from my beginnings in '99.

1. Van Halen - Oh my god, have you heard Eddie Van Halen play the guitar? Van Halen will always hold a special place in my heart as the first rock band I really liked. For a hard rock band, they were really pretty original during the early David Lee Roth years. There were a lot of different swing and jazz influences when it came to song structure and style, and there was an undeniable sense of humor in their performances. As much as I've worn out their songs in my head, there's still a pretty good chance that I won't skip over them in my music library.

2. Pink Floyd - I remember when I first listened to The Wall. It actually really freaked me out, the way Trainspotting did. Beyond serving as my personal introduction to the concept of concept albums, Pink Floyd really became the first band I really took ownership of. i considered them visionaries, and I still love the band to this day.

3. Weezer - By 1995, only the Blue album had been released, so I have to factor in my would-be impression that Weezer would continue with such greatness. Apart from a few Pinkerton and Maladroit songs, however, this turned out to not be the case. Still, since I consider that album one of the finest of the 90's, I imagine it would have had a significant impact on my by this point.

4. Blur - I'm assuming I would have been able to find out about Parklife in '94, and subsequently hail it as the best thing to hit music since the decade started. I would have had to rely on the Internet, though, and I can't remember if I had access to it back then. Anyway, that album kicked ass and it sold me on Blur.

5. R.E.M. - I still don't know this band well, but I imagine that if I were into music in 1995, they would be one of my top 5. Man on the Moon is one of my favorite songs, albeit pretty much the only R.E.M. song I know apart from their biggest radio hits. I imagine that if I bothered to collect the rest of their albums, I could find something good on all of them, even though this is just intuition talking.

Honorable Mentions: Probably everything Ryan mentioned with exception of Offspring.

Tim's Top 5:
This is kind of difficult, because I really remember my taste in 7th grade (shudder) and I remember my taste once I was forced to fend for myself when I started college (whew). In between, not so much. Apparently, however, a couple of the answers are easy. Really, given that I had a brother four years older than me, the better title for my list would be "Things My Brother Was Into and I Followed Him Into"...

Frankly, I don't recall Oasis - What's The Story (Morning Glory) or Smashing Pumpkins' Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness until 1996 (which is when I saw The Smashing Pumpkins at my first ever concert...but apparently both were released in 1995, or so ITunes tells me.

My list isn't really my idea of the top 5 bands of all time circa 1995, but they were the people I was listening to. Hell, I know The Beatles are better than The Dead Kennedys, but just ask me which I've listened to in the last few months.

1) R.E.M. - This was one of the few spillovers from junior high that hung around. I still think Monster is their second best album ever, and Automatic For the People was the highlight, so it's not hard to defend R.E.M. fanhood. They would then go on to release Up, and there was no reason to fear for the future. Then they released Reveal and there was no reason to forgive.

2) Matthew Sweet - Well, well, well, the truth comes out. It's not really a guilty pleasure because his work after In Reverse is a sheer house of horrors, and I can argue in favor of both 100% Fun and Girlfriend. But really it came just as much from a hyper-pop sensibility merged with my newfound arrival in Nebraska which really required you to support local artists...and it was either Matthew Sweet or 311 and Blue Moon Ghetto. Lord, be glad I chose Matthew Sweet.

3) John Lennon - The John Lennon Collection was the first album in my BMG investment of my freshman year and I listened to it relentlessly. I didn't get into the Beatles full-on until 1996, but I'm pretty sure this album was in the collection in 1995 and predated my full British invasion investment since the Who and The Sex Pistols would follow in ensuing months. The single greatest hits album was like a gateway drug to good taste, and all the albums I owned before it can't take that away.

4) Oasis - I was still hung up on Rock 'n' Roll Star from Definitely Maybe, and I got really hooked on a very emo-ish Don't Look Back In Anger somewhere around this time, and I definitely followed my brother hook, line, and sinker into Oasis. Oddly enough, though, I never bought the album. I still don't own it...and I own Heathen Chemistry and The Masterplan. I'm not entirely sure whether it was really 1995 that Oasis made it impossible to ignore them, but it was close enough to count them.

5) Gin Blossoms - I'd like to pretend I could put Guided by Voices or Pavement into this spot and get some indie street cred, but it'd be a total lie. I was four years away from getting any genuine interest in those bands, so it's got to be Gin Blossoms. At the time, I'd had maybe three sips of alcohol, but apparently I had optimistic views of potential future alcoholism and loved the relentlessly bleak pop sensibilities of New Miserable Experience. I liked Weezer's songs on the radio, but didn't buy the Blue album until a year or two later, Nirvana's Unplugged in New York didn't make it into the rotation of albums I'd get obsessed with until the last month of my freshman year, and I had just moved, so I was really finding my footing in Nebraska and didn't have time to develop good taste. At least that's my story.

Not-at-all Honorable mention: definitely Weird Al Yankovic, Foo Fighters, U2, yikes...Genesis, Inner Circle? I really liked fake reggae when I moved, but only reggae that clearly distanced themselves from any sort of drug use (my relentless hatred for frat boys was preordained)

Top 5 TV Shows, 1990-1999

Defined however you wish--you can include dramas if you want, but, meh on this end. I'm going with shows that had their prominent run in the 90s--so, though The Simpsons debuted in the 80s, it was 90s show. By that same token, I don't consider Cheers a 90s show, but you may disagree.

Ryan's Top 5:

1. The Simpsons - The greatest TV show ever made, bar none.

2. Seinfeld - The early seasons were a bit sketchy, but you accept it because after season 2 the series was perfection.

3. The Critic - I wish the series were longer than it is, but it's still excellent. Really the only non-kid-centric animated show that has truly achieved what every show aspires to: a funny show that is similar to, but not a complete ripoff of, The Simpsons.

4. Frasier - Excellent writing and a cast that gelled. David Hyde Pierce is hilarious. (If you don't believe me, rent Wet Hot American Summer. Or, you know, Frasier.)

5. Friends - I'm not sure how comfortable I feel putting this here, because I like 1-4 a lot more, but it really was better than most TV shows. Unless I'm forgetting something obvious.

5. Saturday Night Live, 1990-1996 - OK, maybe I'm breaking my rules here a bit. SNL has become so bad that it's easy to forget a time when it had some of the best comedy on TV. There were occasional funny moments after 1996, but I figure that's the season where it ceased being better than most other shows on TV. From 91-95, SNL was the TV event I most looked forward to week to week, aside from Seinfeld and Simpsons.

Honorable mentions: The Wonder Years (I count it an 80s show), Northern Exposure, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Doug, Pete & Pete. If I'm going solely for personal favorites I'd put Doug at about #2-3, but, you know. Occasionally I try to be objective.

Dan's Top 5:

I should note that my list, if I were truly being accurate, would be a carbon copy of Ryan's. Well, with possible exception of #5, as I didn't really like "Friends" too much, though it probably belongs there just out of sheer cultural relevance. With that in mind, I am going to refrain from using any of his shows in my list for the sake of diversity. Now that that's out of the way...

1. The X-Files - I should say that I never watched this show regularly, but it always interested me. Obviously it interested a lot of people, as they released a movie before the series was even over. Another fairly unique concept, though - a paranormal mystery show. If you really think about it, the success of this show really coincided with the anti-government sentiment and conspiracy theory mentality of the time. A real zeitgeist show. My first encounter with the show was season 2, episode 2 - "The Host," which is apparently a classic.

2. The Wonder Years - I love the concept: a middle-to-high-school comedy/drama set twenty years prior and not in front of a studio audience. The show was accessible to all while still addressing the events and issues of the time depicted. Also features Daniel stern in his only respectable role as the protagonist narrator.

3. Dinosaurs - The show that everyone forgets about. Another sitcom, this one was remarkable in that it was made with a cast of nothing but Jim Henson creatures. When you look back at it, it really was a fairly good parody of modern human society, with a number of topical issues arising, as in every good sitcom. Nonetheless, it was pretty fun to watch.

4. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? - I would watch this religiously every afternoon, and really, this show, when coupled with the Carmen Sandiego board game I had, is responsible for 90% of my knowledge of geography. Also features probably the best damn theme song ever, and is the second-longest-running kid's game show on record (Double Dare being the longest).

5. Family Matters - Probably one of the better sitcoms of the decade. For better or worse, this was the show responsible for the Steve Urkel sensation, which got annoying after a while, especially as the series became more and more dependent on the character. By the end, it was a comedy not about an African-American family's daily life, but about a mad scientist teenager's latest invention. Nonetheless, it comes in second only to The Jeffersons as one of the longest-running sitcoms with a predominantly black cast.

Tory's Top 5:

1. Frasier - This is my personal favorite. Everything about this show is perfect.

2. The Simpsons - Number 1 and 2 are so hard to differentiate between. They're almost neck and neck, but I just love Frasier.

3. Seinfeld - Though I am not the biggest fan of this how, I understand its brilliance.

4. Everybody Loves Raymond - Every single show was a hit. There were no misses.

5. Boy Meets World - I think this show gets overlooked because of its beginning seasons that weren't quite as good as its latter years. People seem to see it as a younger more family oriented show in the vein of Full House, where it is actually surprisingly smart.

Honorable mentions: The Critic, it's bad when you haven't seen all of the episodes of a show with 20-something episodes; Friends; 3rd Rock from the sun, which seems commonly forgotten about.

Tim's Top 5:
1) The Simpsons - No argument with Ryan here, as much as I may love the others on the list, this was great for an entire decade, and I'm learning as they release more DVD seasons that it's hard to not be wistful even for mediocre things like Season 11, just because it's been so long since I've seen them.

2) Mystery Science Theater 3000 - This was really revolutionarily awesome and got me into movies, comedy, and lack of a social life -- three passions I continue to this day.

3) Seinfeld - It took me a couple years to get into it, but every season is essential owning.

4) Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist - Yeah, it turns out that my habit of watching only two channels is not so new after all.

5) NewsRadio - Ok, forget the post-Phil Hartman stuff, yes, Andy Dick is annoying, but NewsRadio was a really high-quality show.

Honorable mention: Picket Fences, The Critic (its greatness has been partly ruined by the fact that I saw every episode 40 times during its reruns on Comedy Central), SportsCenter, The Awful Truth (half the show was in 2000, but half the show wasn't very much).