Picture this: it’s 1996. Punk is cool again (which it was never meant to be in the first place), with the pop-punk craze still going strong and punk rock bands emerging from the frenzy; Brit-pop is in its peak, leading the way for pop-rock to take over the charts; and people are on the comedown from the post-grunge hype, giving the bands leeway to experiment with something other than lo-fi, basement grunge-rock. There’s a lot going on in the way of music, and that means a lot of great albums are being made. Now, 20 – yes, 20! – years later, we look back at five of the year’s most famous albums that are still standing strong today.
Pinkerton – Weezer
The album that later became Weezer’s finest moment, with hits such as ‘El Scorcho’ and ‘The Good Life’ as well as some brilliant album tracks, was practically shunned at the time of release. Back in the ‘90s, fans and critics panned the personal tone of the record, leaving frontman Rivers Cuomo to later dismiss the album as a regrettable release, like an embarrassing memory he’d rather we all just forget. But thank God we didn’t because, even though it took a few years, Pinkerton grew on us and ended up being the pinnacle of the band’s career. People of 1996, what were you thinking?!
