100 Greatest Songs Of The '90s According to VH1


01. Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
02. U2 "One"
03. Backstreet Boys "I Want It That Way"
04. Whitney Houston "I Will Always Love You"
05. Madonna "Vogue"
06. Sir Mix-A-Lot "Baby Got Back"
07. Britney Spears "...Baby One More Time"
08. TLC"Waterfalls"
09. R.E.M. "Losing My Religion"
10. Sinéad O'Connor "Nothing Compares 2 U"
11. Pearl Jam "Jeremy"
12. Alanis Morissette "You Oughta Know"
13. Dr. Dre (featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg) "Nuthin' but a "G" Thang"
14. Mariah Carey "Vision of Love"
15. Red Hot Chili Peppers "Under the Bridge"
16. MC Hammer "U Can't Touch This"
17. Destiny's Child "Say My Name"
18. Metallica "Enter Sandman"
19. Beastie Boys "Sabotage"
20. Hanson "MMMBop"
21. Celine Dion "My Heart Will Go On"
22. Beck "Loser"
23. Salt-N-Pepa with En Vogue "Whatta Man"
24. House of Pain "Jump Around"
25. Soundgarden "Black Hole Sun"
26. Eminem "My Name Is"
27. Counting Crows "Mr. Jones"
28. Ricky Martin "Livin' la Vida Loca"
29. Vanilla Ice "Ice Ice Baby"
30. *NSYNC "Tearin' Up My Heart"
31. Radiohead "Creep"
32. BLACKstreet "No Diggity"
33. Spice Girls "Wannabe"
34. Third Eye Blind "Semi-Charmed Life"
35. Oasis "Wonderwall"
36. C+C Music Factory "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)"
37. Green Day "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)"
38. Christina Aguilera "Genie In A Bottle"
39. Goo Goo Dolls "Iris"
40. Color Me Badd "I Wanna Sex You Up"
41. Spin Doctors "Two Princes"
42. Collective Soul "Shine"
43. En Vogue "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)"
44. The Fugees "Killing Me Softly With His Song"
45. Hootie & the Blowfish "Only Wanna Be With You"
46. Shania Twain "You're Still the One"
47. Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch "Good Vibrations"
48. Matchbox Twenty "3 AM"
49. Jewel "Who Will Save Your Soul"
50. Alice in Chains "Man in the Box"
51. Tupac (featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman) "California Love"
52. Sugar Ray "Fly"
53. Naughty by Nature "O.P.P."
54. Joan Osborne "One of Us"
55. Fiona Apple "Criminal"
56. L.L. Cool J "Mama Said Knock You Out"
57. Jay-Z featuring Amil and Ja Rule "Can I Get A..."
58. Sophie B. Hawkins "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover"
59. Weezer "Buddy Holly"
60. Bell Biv DeVoe "Poison"
61. Sheryl Crow "All I Wanna Do"
62. Live "I Alone"
63. The Notorious B.I.G. featuring Mase & Puff Daddy "Mo Money Mo Problems"
64. The Presidents of the United States of America "Peaches"
65. Digital Underground "The Humpty Dance"
66. Edwin McCain "I'll Be"
67. Deee-Lite "Groove Is In The Heart"
68. Will Smith "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It"
69. Korn "Freak on a Leash"
70. Jamiroquai "Virtual Insanity"
71. Arrested Development "Tennessee"
72. Barenaked Ladies "One Week"
73. Marcy Playground "Sex and Candy"
74. Cher "Believe"
75. Kris Kross "Jump"
76. Blues Traveler "Run-Around"
77. Ice Cube "It Was a Good Day"
78. Lenny Kravitz "Are You Gonna Go My Way"
79. Meredith Brooks "Bitch"
80. Right Said Fred "I'm Too Sexy"
81. Paula Cole "I Don't Want to Wait"
82. Geto Boys "Mind Playing Tricks on Me"
83. The Breeders "Cannonball"
84. Snow "Informer"
85. Cypress Hill "Insane In The Brain"
86. The Cranberries "Linger"
87. Billy Ray Cyrus "Achy Breaky Heart"
88. Duncan Sheik "Barely Breathing"
89. Liz Phair "Never Said"
90. New Radicals "You Get What You Give"
91. Sarah McLachlan "Building a Mystery"
92. Public Enemy "911 Is A Joke"
93. Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories "Stay"
94. Fastball "The Way"
95. Montell Jordan "This is How We Do It"
96. Nelson "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection"
97. Prince & The New Power Generation "Gett Off"
98. EMF"Unbelievable"
99. Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)"
100. Gerardo "Rico Suave"

Comments on the list??? What songs were left off? What songs shouldn't be on the list? DISCUSS!

Hmm . . . based on what? Use of color and texture in video? Ha ha ha.


I'm surprised at these -- not that they're terrible, but the fact they had enough crossover appeal to get on the list:

62. Live "I Alone"

64. The Presidents of the United States of America "Peaches"

73. Marcy Playground "Sex and Candy"

Hey, I didn't make this list up, VH1 did!
Apparenty you're fine with the list Skep because I didn't see you add any songs to the list.???

There's always something that "belongs" on a list, so I just look for unexpected surprises! I can't comment on the pure pop and rap inclusions but I was nicely surprised to find these on the list:

10. Sinéad O'Connor "Nothing Compares 2 U"

37. Green Day "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)"

42. Collective Soul "Shine"

83. The Breeders "Cannonball"

'm surprised at these -- not that they're terrible, but the fact they had enough crossover appeal to get on the list:

62. Live "I Alone"

64. The Presidents of the United States of America "Peaches"


73. Marcy Playground "Sex and Candy"


Hey skep , these songs were about as mainstream as they come. Infact Im sure that all three of those songs got top 40 airplay in the 90's.

No sh*t! That shows you just how far away from mainstream I've gone.

Well, since you want to know who should be on the list, how about the Smashing Pumpkins? Use of color not good enough? Where's Garbage? Bad texture? Stone Temple Pilots - excessive contrast? Foo Fighters - illegal color saturation? Social Disortion - no NTSC blanking signal?

So you ONLY like a song if it doesn't cross over to the mainstream?

Based on what you pointed out to me and the lack of some of my favorite bands on VH1's list, apparently so. I never know ahead of time

Its time to put that Yugo to bed Justin!

WTF!?! No "Macarena"?

Mr. M busted some 'tweens gettin jiggy wit #16 in the toy store aisle yesterday. They collapsed with laughter when they saw him walk around the corner, and he said "Hey, that's a great song, isn't it?"

Me like:

78. Lenny Kravitz "Are You Gonna Go My Way"
86. The Cranberries "Linger"
88. Duncan Sheik "Barely Breathing"

Wow. I guess I'm too old. There isn't a song on the list that I have or want! (or like!)

I find myself now after 13 years reminising about the "good ole' days" of circa 95-99 ie my college years spent in Providence, RI. Interesting thing about that era in my life is that then unlike now I listened almost exclusively to Classic Rock stations specifically Providence's WHJY which to this day I wish there was a similar station that played that style of playlist as in that it was a classic rock station that played everything that KGON, NRK, and a KUFO would play at that time in comparison. It wasn't until I returned to Oregon in Novemeber of 98 that I became a fan of alternative and other 90's staples. I always remember hearing certain songs played in the dining halls of Johnson & Wales University that were from the local alternative stations but never changed my dial at the dorm and first apartments because I loved the classic rock format so much (Hey I am a Queen fan what can I say!). Now I rarely listen to a classic rock format now.

I look at this list and instead of thinking piecemeal "what do I like/not like," look at this as a whole wondering "would this be the songs in normal rotation at a typical '90s Hits' station, which will undoubtedly start sometime near the end of 2009/2010?"
My guess is it would take a lot to pull off and actually work.

a 90's hits station would be hard because would you include all the alternative grunge rock that rock stations are still playing?? Or would you focus on the rap/techno muisc? OR would you go from playing Korn to Celine Dion??

Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm. (C&C music factory)

Hmmmm . . . I think the high negative factor with most songs will kill any 90's station right off the bat. You'll have to lean to a specific genre if you want any chance of getting a rating higher than, oh, lets say KPAM.

Wasn't VH1 originally launched as a music channel for Baby Boomers? What kind of programming do they run today?

The list posted above is pretty much Gen-X oriented. After years of self-imposed mainstream pop and major label abstinence, I re-discovered CHR and discovered modern rock and Modern/Hot AC in 1997. All of the songs were big radio hits in the 1990s, but it would be interesting to know how VH1 compiled the list.

The 1990s is an interesting time because back then, there were stations that were doing a true CHR-Hit format. House/Techno inspired dance music, modern rock, rap, and soft rock were still playing together. Though that was acceptable then, as Skeptical points out, that same approach may not be tenable today.

As an analogy, the progressive FM station of the early 1970s included folk and a lot of eclectic non-rock music, but the AOR (and eventually Classic Rock) format that evolved out of that was just a small subset of the original. Likewise, I expect to see more Movin' or "classic Alternative" type stations that part out the 1990s nostalgia for aging Gen-Xers.

I think this is a pretty good representation of the music I listened to during the 90s, when I was 15-25 years old.
The question I would like to pose is, what makes a song "great?" Is it great because it had an impact on the songwriters that came after? Did it stand the test of time? Is it still played on the radio today?
Many of the songs on this list are NEVER played on the radio any more, at least not in Eugene-Springfield, despite their status as being among the "greatest" of the 90s.

Here are some examples:
05. Madonna "Vogue"
14. Mariah Carey "Vision of Love"
16. MC Hammer "U Can't Touch This"
29. Vanilla Ice "Ice Ice Baby"
36. C+C Music Factory "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)"
40. Color Me Badd "I Wanna Sex You Up"
47. Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch "Good Vibrations"
60. Bell Biv DeVoe "Poison"
65. Digital Underground "The Humpty Dance"
67. Deee-Lite "Groove Is In The Heart"
71. Arrested Development "Tennessee"
75. Kris Kross "Jump"
80. Right Said Fred "I'm Too Sexy"
84. Snow "Informer"
85. Cypress Hill "Insane In The Brain"
96. Nelson "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection"
100. Gerardo "Rico Suave"

Now, many of these songs may be looked upon today as "novelty songs" that haven't stood the test of time. (Informer, Rico Suave, etc.)
If that's the case, are they really the "greatest" of a decade?
Others are just as good as the songs that are repeated ad nauseum on stations like Mix 94.5 (formerly Magic) and Bob FM. Even KDUK likes to play California Love and Sir Mix-a-Lot several times a week, but I haven't heard Nelson on the radio since the 1990s, and their song "Love and Affection" is a perfectly respectable pop song.

What or who determines which songs we have to hear over and over and over...and which songs will never be heard again??

And does a song's status of being among the greatest of a decade have any bearing on that decision?

"Now, many of these songs may be looked upon today as "novelty songs" that haven't stood the test of time. (Informer, Rico Suave, etc.)
If that's the case, are they really the "greatest" of a decade?"

If they stood the test of time, then they would be the "greatest of all time." I think it's okay to honor songs that fit a particular decade, without expecting those songs to have long-lasting appeal. for my kids, those songs (including many of the ones you listed) just fall into a "you had to be there" category.

What or who determines which songs we have to hear over and over and over...and which songs will never be heard again??
Supposedly research and audience testing.

Speaking of a certain song on the list that I can't stand... I was once in a store making a required purchase (meaning I had to buy the item somewhere)... the song starts playing on the in-house "radio network." I put the item down where I was and left. Went somewhere else.