The Albums Every Alt-Girl Owned in the '90s

Updated on 9/29/2016 at 2:55 PM

It was hard to figure out how to be cool if you went to high school in the mid-1990s. Those of us who were "alternative" — though we hated that word — had to cobble together music recommendations without help from Internet or college radio. We stayed up late on Sunday nights to watch 120 Minutes, religiously read the music reviews in Sassy magazine, and begged our parents to drive us to all-ages shows. We frantically searched through friends' CD binders for new discoveries and made each other mix tapes with the coolest stuff we could find.

Much of that music is now considered classic, while other '90s albums every alt-girl owned have since been lost to history. Read on to find out the 42 albums that every '90s alt-girl remembers, and follow our Spotify playlist for all the essential tracks.

The Breeders, Last Splash (1993)

Like the Pixies but with more Kim Deal.

Essential tracks: "Cannonball," "Divine Hammer"

Liz Phair, Exile in Guyville (1993)

Pretty much the alt-girl album of the mid-'90s; Liz Phair's voice and f*ck-it-all lyrics were highly satisfying to sing along with.

Essential tracks: "F*ck and Run," "Divorce Song"

Björk, Debut (1993)

Yes, Björk's first album came out the same year as Exile and Last Splash; 1993 was a glorious year for music.

Essential tracks: "Human Behaviour," "There's More to Life Than This"

Violent Femmes, Add It Up (1993)

The Violent Femmes' self-titled album came out in 1983, but we were only cool enough to discover this compilation, which everyone seemed to own in the mid-'90s.

Essential tracks: "Add It Up," "American Music"

Belly, Star (1993)

Any track from Tanya Donelly's post-Throwing Muses project gave your mix tapes serious cred.

Essential tracks: "Feed the Tree," "Slow Dog"

Cure, Wish (1992)

Where goth kids, alt-girls, and the mainstream all collided.

Essential tracks: "Friday, I'm in Love," "Letter to Elise"

Velocity Girl, Simpatico! (1994)

I had totally forgotten about Velocity Girl until I started working on this post, and you know what? Not bad.

Essential tracks: "Sorry Again," "Tripping Wires"

Elastica, Elastica (1995)

No matter where you lived, if you were a girl into alternative rock, you owned this album.

Essential tracks: "Connection," "Stutter"

PJ Harvey, Rid of Me (1993)

No one — certainly not 14-year-olds — had ever heard anything like this.

Essential tracks: "Rid of Me," "Man Size"

My Bloody Valentine, Loveless (1991)

The gateway album to the shoegaze genre.

Essential track: "Only Shallow"

They Might Be Giants, Flood (1990)

The kids who discovered this album in middle school were bound to be proud weirdos in high school.

Essential tracks: "Istanbul," "Birdhouse in Your Soul"

The My So-Called Life Soundtrack (1994)

This whole list of albums could easily be called Our So-Called Music.

Essential tracks: "Fountain and Fairfax" (The Afghan Whigs), "Soda Jerk" (Buffalo Tom)

Beastie Boys, Ill Communication (1994)

On constant rotation while cruising around town, along with 1992's Check Your Head.

Essential tracks: "Sure Shot," "Get It Together"

Frente!, Marvin the Album (1992)

If you didn't grow up in the '90s, you probably have never even heard of Frente!

Essential tracks: "Labour of Love," "Bizarre Love Triangle"

Indigo Girls, Rites of Passage (1992)

The Indigo Girls were a band we could listen to with our parents yet still edgy enough to have alt cred.

Essential tracks: "Joking," "Romeo and Juliet"

Hole, Live Through This (1994)

The fact that Courtney Love's band's album came out just after Kurt Cobain died makes this a seminal album for '90s teens.

Essential tracks: "Violet," "Doll Parts"

Pulp, Different Class (1995)

Probably Pulp's most accessible album, and the one most likely to be discovered by teen girls in the suburbs.

Essential tracks: "Common People," "Sorted For E's and Whizz"

Sleater-Kinney, Dig Me Out (1997)

You had to be really cool in high school to discover the original riot grrrl bands like Bikini Kill, but we managed to get our hands on Sleater-Kinney's third album.

Essential tracks: "One More Hour," "Little Babies"

The Lemonheads, Come On Feel the Lemonheads (1993)

Another band whose mainstream fame was helped along by My So-Called Life and Sassy, The Lemonheads had the added bonus of a cute lead singer, Evan Dando.

Essential tracks: "Dawn Can't Decide," "Down About It"

L7, Bricks Are Heavy (1992)

Many of us learned about LA-based grunge rockers L7 via Sassy magazine.

Essential tracks: "Pretend We're Dead," "Sh*tlist"

Mazzy Star, So Tonight That I Might See (1993)

This moody, romantic album provided the soundtrack for countless '90s makeout sessions.

Essential tracks: "Fade Into You," "Blue Light"

Luscious Jackson, Fever In Fever Out (1996)

Records on the Beastie Boys' Grand Royal label and spots in Lollapalooza and Lilith Fair made Luscious Jackson a quintessential '90s band.

Essential tracks: "Naked Eye," "Under Your Skin"

Weezer, Weezer (1994)

To this day, "The Blue Album" remains a '90s alt-rock and karaoke staple.

Essential tracks: "Buddy Holly," "Say It Ain't So"

Tori Amos, Under the Pink (1994)

Though Little Earthquakes may be a more important album, this one had the essential '90s-girl anthem "Cornflake Girl."

Essential tracks: "Cornflake Girl," "God"

The Singles Soundtrack (1992)

This soundtrack let us pretend we were already in our 20s and also introduced us to the necessary music.

Essential tracks: "Chloe Dancer / Crown of Thorns" (Mother Love Bone), "Nearly Lost You" (Screaming Trees)

Nine Inch Nails, The Downward Spiral (1994)

Perfect when alt-girls were feeling particularly angsty; in fact, it still works just as well.

Essential tracks: "Closer," "Hurt"

Portishead, Dummy (1994)

Another essential makeout album of the era.

Essential track: "It Could Be Sweet"

Nirvana, Nevermind (1991)

One of the first cool albums most of us owned and the foundation of our musical tastes.

Essential tracks: "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "Come as You Are"

R.E.M., Out of Time (1991)

An accessible bridge from the pop music of our youth to the alternative tendencies of our teens.

Essential tracks: "Losing My Religion," "Shiny Happy People"

Helium, The Dirt of Luck (1995)

Frontwoman Mary Timony was both a musical and fashion idol.

Essential tracks: "Baby's Going Underground," "Superball"

Pavement, Slanted and Enchanted (1992)

Along with Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994), this album was prized by the really cool kids.

Essential tracks: "Summer Babe — Winter Version," "Zurich Is Stained"

Depeche Mode, Violator (1990)

Like the Cure, Depeche Mode was a goth/alt/pop crossover.

Essential tracks: "Policy of Truth," "Personal Jesus"

That Dog, That Dog (1994)

Like Frente!, That Dog has mostly vanished into obscurity.

Essential tracks: "Old Timer," "Just Like Me"

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Don't Know How to Party (1993)

Even before the Bosstones showed up in Clueless, we were making our parents drive us to all-ages shows in our Doc Martens.

Essential tracks: "Someday I Suppose," "Don't Know How to Party"

Veruca Salt, American Thighs (1994)

Credentials: a band name referencing Willy Wonka, an album title alluding to AC/DC, and the MTV hit "Seether."

Essential tracks: "Seether," "Number One Blind"

The Pixies, Doolittle (1989)

Unlike The Breeders, most of the essential Pixies albums came out when we were kids, but Doolittle was still a must own.

Essential tracks: "Wave of Mutilation," "Here Comes Your Man"

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991)

By college, it was embarrassing to own this. But at the time? Totally awesome.

Essential tracks: "Under the Bridge," "Suck My Kiss"

Jane's Addiction, Ritual de lo Habitual (1990)

Most likely, you were introduced to this by someone's older, cooler sibling, or because "Been Caught Stealing" earned a healthy rotation on MTV.

Essential tracks: "Been Caught Stealing," "Stop!"

Eve's Plum, Envy (1993)

Another forgotten female-fronted band from the 1990s, Eve's Plum got a sweet writeup in Sassy and vanished after two albums. They're not even on Spotify!

Essential tracks: "Blue," "Envy"

Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream (1993)

This monster hit record spawned four singles and legions of devoted alternative fans.

Essential tracks: "Today," "Disarm"

The Juliana Hatfield Three, Become What You Are (1993)

In addition to this album, Juliana Hatfield played with The Lemonheads and appeared on My So-Called Life.

Essential tracks: "My Sister," "Spin the Bottle"

Sunny Day Real Estate, Diary (1994)

The very important Sub-Pop Record that transitioned so many of us from alternative to emo.

Essential tracks: "Seven," "In Circles"