Korn

Sure, you had the Bill Clinton blowjob scandal, OJ, Pakistan and India going nuclear, mad cow disease, the Rodney King decision, and Titanic. But what made the '90s truly awful was its music. That's not to say that there weren't bright spots -- early Beck, say, or Ok Computer and much of hip-hop's golden era -- but what passed for mainstream rock was awful, particularly when it was tagged with the "alternative" qualifier.

See also: Guess What Year These Lisa Loeb Photos Were Taken

And considering that internet music platforms hadn't much gotten going, too often the crap on the radio was what we were stuck with. As a method of catharsis, then, let's take a look back at what was so dispiriting about this pivotal time in our lives. We promise there is no C+C Music Factory. -Ben Westhoff

More »

Crash Test Dummies

The 20 Worst Albums Of The '90s: 20-11

Sure, you had the Bill Clinton blowjob scandal, OJ, Pakistan and India going nuclear, mad cow disease, the Rodney King decision, and Titanic. But what made the '90s truly awful was its music. That's not to say that there weren't bright spots -- early Beck, say, or Ok Computer and much of hip-hop's golden era -- but what passed for mainstream rock was awful, particularly when it was tagged with the "alternative" qualifier.

See also: Guess What Year These Lisa Loeb Photos Were Taken

And considering that internet music platforms hadn't much gotten going, too often the crap on the radio was what we were stuck with. As a mode of catharsis, then, let's take a look back at what was so dispiriting about this pivotal time in our lives. We promise there is no C+C Music Factory. -Ben Westhoff

More »

Sure, you had the Bill Clinton blowjob scandal, OJ, Pakistan and India going nuclear, mad cow disease, the Rodney King decision, and Titanic. But what made the '90s truly awful was its music. That's not to say that there weren't bright spots -- early Beck, say, or Ok Computer and much of hip-hop's golden era -- but what passed for mainstream rock was awful, particularly when it was tagged with the "alternative" qualifier.

See also: The 20 Worst Albums Of The '90s: 10-1

And considering that internet music platforms hadn't much gotten going, too often the crap on the radio was what we were stuck with. As a mode of catharsis, then, let's take a look back at what was so dispiriting about this pivotal time in our lives. We promise there is no C+C Music Factory. -Ben Westhoff

More »

Mark McGrath

Sugar Ray lead singer and former Extra co-host Mark McGrath has a cruise. No, seriously! This October, fans of the '90s can travel on the Carnival Cruise ship Imagination, alongside Gin Blossoms, Smash Mouth, Cracker, Spin Doctors, Vertical Horizon, The Verve Pipe, Marcy Playground and, of course, Sugar Ray.

Holy bananas. We spoke to McGrath about what inspired the idea; believe you me that this former three-time Rock and Roll Jeopardy champion has some serious plans for vacationers.

More »

Tomorrow, Alanis Morissette brings her signature brand of melodic angst to Club Nokia in support of her new album Havoc and Bright Lights, her eighth studio album, recorded in Hollywood.

While most Americans got our first glimpse of Morissette from her 1995 hit "You Oughta Know," our neighbors in Canada got to watch her grow up in front of their very eyes. It was wild, it was wacky; here are the highlights, from You Can't Do That On Television to a freaking hip-hop song called Alanis: Too Hot.

More »

[Editor's note: Why This Song Sucks determines why particular tracks blow using science. It appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday.]

See also:
*Pearl Jam Are the Most Boring Band in 20 Years
*Top 20 Worst Bands of All Time: The Complete List

Song: Pearl Jam's "Jeremy"

History: Pearl Jam was a band that people liked a whole lot in the early '90s but then tried to pretend otherwise when Kurt Cobain killed himself* and Eddie Vedder didn't. "Jeremy" was the third single from Ten, their debut album.

*This is ironic because "Jeremy," regarded as one of PJ's best-ever songs, is about how a kid who killed himself made the wrong** decision.

**Suicide is extra weak, yo. Eddie Vedder had that part right. He was wrong about basically everything else though. I mean, are you even looking at his hair in the video?

More »

Courtesy Aerosmith

It's been years since "The Bad Boys from Boston" have put out a studio album, with their most recent being 2004's Honkin' on Bobo. Yesterday, Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, and Joey Kramer (minus Brad Whitford who is currently on tour with The Hendrix Experience) greeted an eager crowd at The Grove and announced their new studio album will be out within the next three months.. They revealed plans for an upcoming tour with Cheap Trick, which includes a stop at the Hollywood Bowl August 6th.

The band participated in an audience-driven Q&A regarding the upcoming tour and discussed whether or not Tyler is more difficult to work with now that he's "a big TV star" and the strangest thing that's ever been thrown on stage during an Aerosmith show -- and it might be the strangest thing ever thrown on any stage.

More »

I ain't tellin' you no lie

See also: Top 20 Worst Bands of All Time: The Complete List

Around the time OJ was acquitted I began college at a private liberal arts school in the lower midwest, a place where students who didn't get into Northwestern came to spend their parents' money on drugs. They also filled their dorm rooms with dubious tunes. Everyone was entitled; "If it doesn't feel good, why do it?" was our motto.

From that cesspool spawned significant followings for the following ten bands, all of whom seemed to come from Colorado. I've left off acts like Phish and Dave Matthews Band, because those groups have been terrorizing campuses for generations.

More »

See also: The Worst Song Of The '90s? A Line-By-Line Dissection Of Alanis Morissette's "Ironic"

August marked the 20-year anniversary of Pearl Jam's Ten. Yes, for 20 soul-crushing years we've listened to Eddie Vedder mumble. Which is somehow even worse than Jeff Ament's endless procession of silly hats. Somehow Pearl Jam enjoy more acclaim than ever these days; it seems that mediocre rock bands, like ugly buildings, become respectable if they stick around long enough.

How did they get to be so boring? Let's explore their pedigree. Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard (is there a douchier name?) played in a group called Green River alongside Mark Arm and Steve Turner. The latter two went on to form Mudhoney. Ament and Gossard jammed with some dudes from Malfunkshun, a band even more terrible than its name, and later formed Mother Love Bone, who are most noteworthy for straddling the fence between grotesque '80s glam rock and pretentious '90s grunge rock. Eventually, the pair found self-important San Diegan Eddie Vedder, a name which has terrified children ever since.

More »