8 Artists You Loved in the '90s That Are Back

It was 1995 when Shirley Manson and the boys of Garbage captured our hearts by exploding onto MTV with videos for "Queer," "Stupid Girl," and, of course, "Only Happy When It Rains." While they have released more music intermittently since then, they haven't quite captured the same mix of shrewd self-deprecation and catchy grunge — until now.

The first single on Garbage's new album Strange Little Birds is powerful, introspective, and utterly infectious. Manson looks as gorgeous as ever while reminding us that even though the band has enjoyed success, she still has trouble giving in to her self-doubt and losing herself to unhealthy obsessions from time to time. Meanwhile, the rest of the band surrounds us in buzzy guitars and even a dash of industrial whirring that reminds us of that classic Garbage sound we know and love.

While they never were quite as popular as Garbage back in the day, the charismatic duo of Louise Post and Nina Gordon burned into heavy MTV rotation with videos for songs like "Seether" and "Volcano Girls," and even toured as an opening act with bands like Hole and Bush. Unfortunately, in 1998, vocalist Gordon left the group on bad terms to pursue other projects and the band was never able to replicate their mid-'90s fire again without her.

Luckily, Post and Gordon were able to finally bury the hatchet and come together to record new songs, and the results have exceeded expectations. While watching the videos for "Laughing in the Sugar Bowl" and "Eyes on You," or listening to any of the songs on their incredible new album Ghost Notes, it's pretty hard to believe that it's been 18 years since the two of them have created any music together.

Blur might not have been the most popular Britpop band in the United States during the '90s (that title would be reserved for Oasis), but everyone who grew up during the decade likely remembers "Song 2," even if they only know it as "That Whoo Hoo Song." However, Blur has a large discography and many members of their devoted fanbase have been hoping for a reunion ever since frontman Damon Albarn announced that his side project, Gorillaz, was going on hiatus.

Last year we got our wish as Albarn and the rest of Blur released The Magic Whip, their first album in 12 years. Just like Blur's classic albums, it's a clever and cynical take on modern life (with some Asian themes mixed in, as the band wrote much of the material while stranded during a trip to Hong Kong), and the video for the lead track, "Lonesome Street," features an adorable dance routine by San Francisco's Phoenix Fly Line Dancing Group.

No Doubt was pretty inescapable while growing up in the '90s, but we're not saying that was a bad thing. On the contrary, songs like "Spiderwebs," "Don't Speak," and "Just a Girl" were some of the best sounds we could hope for when station surfing on the radio in the car, and Tragic Kingdom has soundtracked many Sunday mornings (and afternoons, and nights) throughout the decade.

While No Doubt eventually parted ways, Stefani is still out there making music on her own, and her latest single is exceptional. Not only is the song a joyous and playful declaration of her love for Blake Shelton, her fellow judge on The Voice, but the video was actually shot live in one take during the Grammys earlier this year — a music-video first!

We'd forgive you if you forgot that before she was dancing on her own, Robyn actually scored two hits back in the '90s with "Do You Know (What It Takes)" and "Show Me Love." These are both good songs to break out while trading music videos with friends to get that "Ooh yeah, I totally forgot about this one" reaction.

The Swedish pop star took a few years to reinvent herself before exploding back on to the scene with Body Talk in 2010, but has been relatively silent since then. However, this last year she teamed up with friend Christian Falk and vocalist Maluca to drop a new EP. "Love Is Free" is definitely more on the tech/house spectrum than Robyn's usual pop tunes, but it's still quite serviceable if you're looking to dance (on your own, or with others).

While we're not sure if there was ever an official feud between the two bands, All Saints were definitely lumped into the same girl-group category as the Spice Girls back in the mid-'90s. The former did their best to distinguish themselves from their fellow British superstars, and although they never did top "Wannabe," for a minute there, "Never Ever" actually was one of the biggest songs in the world.

If you asked your Magic 8 Ball 19 years ago if All Saints would still be making music in 2016, the answer that would have floated to the top would have been, "Outlook not so good." However, the first track on their new album Red Flag proves that they both still have the voices and the songwriting chops to create graceful and alluring music.

Natalie Imbruglia may be considered a one-hit wonder since she was never able to replicate the immense success of "Torn," but her song will surely live on in karaoke halls and '90s mixtapes until the end of time. Fun fact: "Torn" is actually a cover of a song originally written by a band named Ednaswap, although no one would ever be able to contest the fact that Imbruglia was able to add her personal touch to the song and make it completely her own.

Speaking of cover songs, Natalie's latest album, Male, is an entire album full of them. (The title of the album refers to the fact that each song was originally sung by a man.) The first single is "Instant Crush," written by Daft Punk featuring Julian Casablancas (of The Strokes) and once again, her take on the song gives it a more human feel compared to our favorite masked robot duo's version.

It's hard to imagine a world without Mariah Carey, as she has certainly gone down in history as one of the greatest singers ever. Not many artists dominated the '90s as much as Mariah did, with her incredible voice and songwriting abilities catapulting her to the top of the charts not once or twice, but something like 18 times? It's pretty hard to fathom, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Although Mariah hasn't released a new album for a spell, her recent greatest hits collection did include a new song: "Infinity." Her voice is still as strong and radiant as ever as she sings about how her latest relationship isn't quite living up to the high standards that she deserves. Even though we'll always be hoping for a full comeback album from Carey, any new material released by her is very welcome and will be cherished.