Tank Park Salute

Okay folks, it's time.....

Time for my "Best-of-the-1990s" music list:

So here they are, as I confidently bank on the months of October through December offering no unexpected surprises....

...the top 5 records of the 1990s:

1. Sumosonic "This is Sumo" (1998)

    Number ONE? You bet. I LOVE this record.

2. The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy "Waiting For the Love Bus" (1993)

    Moody, ethereal, beautiful, the most unappreciated Fish disc of all.

3. Sugar "Copper Blue" (1992)

    The poor man's Husker Du? Sure, but they're ear-busting debut was a winner.

4. Nova Mob "The Last Days of Pompeii"

    Grant Hart's post-Husker, post-solo project. Energetic, unpretentious rock.

5. Billy Bragg "Don't Try This at Home" (1991)

    This one doesn't touch Bragg's early stuff, but it does include both "Tank Park Salute" and "Wish You Were Her," which are two of the prettiest, if saddest, songs I've ever heard.

    So there. Runners-up? How about the Jazz Butcher's "Condition Blue?" The songs "Harlan" and "Racheland" are enough to carry any album into any tops list. Bob Mould's "Black Sheets of Rain," meanwhile, was also tempting (from WAY back in the summer of 1990).

   Compilations, in all fairness, were disqualified from the list, but it was sad to omit "Draining the Glass" (the Jazz Butcher comp) as well as the Wedding Present's "George Best" collection, both of which are fantastic.

    Biggest disappointments? The Wedding Present's "Saturnalia" was a flop, as was the Butcher's "Illuminate." Neither of these, however, compare to the noisy horror of Sugar's "File Under Easy Listening," aka "FUEL," which earns my vote for the worst (and most over-rated) disc of the decade. Sorry Bob.

• 1999 Patrick Smith