I was wrong about 1990s guitar music

My nieces, 14 and 16 years old, recently told me they are collecting 1990s alternative guitar music CDs. What!? These old CDs of Radiohead, Nirvana and Green Day that many people in their forties have stored somewhere in their garage? They said they love the music from that decade, and so do their friends. Some of them even wear Pearl Jam or Rage Against the Machine T-shirts. I was surprised, but I think I also understand why.

I grew up in the Dutch countryside in the 1990s, in 'De Achterhoek', which means something like 'backwater', which is an apt description. Music was very important to us teenagers. My friends followed the big bands like Nirvana, Radiohead, the Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam and Rage Against the Machine. I was a music snob at age 15. I played the saxophone, so I was into jazz music. My parents had sixties records, so I was into that. I believed that old music was better, and 1990s alternative guitar music was a passing fad. I loved some of these records, but I didn’t expect another generation to fall for them too.

But my nieces taught me the music has stood the test of time surprisingly well. Music from the 1990s has something that music of other eras can't match. It is less polished, maybe more authentic? It is also friendlier to the ears than 1980s punk music, which is also unpolished. Here are my favourites.

My favourite 1990s guitar albums

5. Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill

This album was huge at my high school at the time. All the 'alternative' girls had it, so we boys listened to it too. Only later did I realise how great the album is. I especially like the hits: You Oughta Know, Hand in My Pocket, Ironic. I find the early live performances of Morissette singing these songs especially mesmerising, and I can watch these all day.

4. Death – Symbolic

I am not a fan of metal music, but this one is the exception. Powerful and melodic metal from 1995. I had some friends who listened to this on repeat, and I caught the bug too while spending many evenings doing very little on their couch.

3. Rancid – …And Out Come the Wolves

This album has the real 1990s vibe with heavy guitars and a singer who struggles to hit the high notes. But the songs are also very catchy. The big hit 'Time Bomb' was a crowd-pleaser in our local alternative music bar 'P8' in Terborg and sent me down a rabbit hole of ska and reggae music, which was an inspiration for this song.

2. Green Day – Dookie

A phenomenal album that introduced me to 1990s punk rock. Because this album became huge, it was not cool among my friends to like it. We preferred bands like Rancid, NOFX (especially their album 'Punk in Drublic') and Bad Religion. So I listened to this in secret. I finally dare to admit that I like Green Day the most.

1. Nirvana – Nevermind

It's an obvious choice, but I couldn't leave this one out. I guess Nevermind started the alternative guitar music decade, and still defines it. The songs are catchy, but still have that edge that everyone loves and that musicians incorporated in the years that followed. I got the album as a Sinterklaas present in 1992 and listened to it on repeat, as I had only two albums at the time (the other was Eric Clapton's 'MTV Unplugged').