Album Nerds

We Love the 90s
The flannel is still in the closet, the Macarena won't leave the dance floor, and dial-up is screeching from the family computer. Our I Love the 90s series wraps up with Don and Dude each picking one favorite album from the whole decade, a Liverpool jangle-pop classic and a Seattle grunge follow-up.
The Albums
The La's – The La's (1990)
The La's started in Liverpool in 1983 as Mike Badger's idea. Lee Mavers soon took over the songwriting, John Power joined on bass in 1986, and guitarists and drummers came and went for years. John Leckie, Mike Hedges and others tried to make the album over about three years, and none of them satisfied Mavers. Steve Lillywhite finally recorded it at Eden Studios in London in December 1989, but the band walked away from the sessions. Lillywhite put the album together from what he had, and Mavers called it a snake with a broken back.
Pearl Jam – Vs. (1993)
Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard formed Pearl Jam in Seattle in 1990, after Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood died, and brought in Mike McCready and Eddie Vedder. Dave Abbruzzese had replaced drummer Dave Krusen by the second album. The band produced it with Brendan O'Brien at The Site in Nicasio, California, building most songs from live jams so it came out rawer and funkier than Ten. It sold more than 950,000 copies in its first five days, even though the band refused to make music videos.
Diggin' Albums
Prince – Timeless (2026)
This posthumous collection gathers 10 unreleased recordings from 1977 to 2016 in chronological order, including the 1991 recording of "With This Tear," a song Céline Dion later recorded.
Jeff Buckley – Grace (1994)
Buckley's only studio album finished in his lifetime, produced by Andy Wallace at Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, mixes adventurous rock with intimate songs like "Last Goodbye" and his take on Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah."
Pet Shop Boys – A Man from the Future (2026)
The synth-pop duo's 16th album is an eight-part concept album about the life and death of Alan Turing, made with Turing biographer Andrew Hodges and featuring narration by Juliet Stevenson.
Paul Heaton – Jenius (2026)
The former Housemartins and Beautiful South singer's 23rd album, produced by Ian Broudie of the Lightning Seeds, covers love, loneliness, pubs, the state of the country and football, with Rianne Downey as his duet partner.
Follow & Support Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook, Threads and Bluesky @albumnerds, email your own favorites to podcast@albumnerds.com, and support the podcast by subscribing, rating, reviewing and sharing it with another music obsessive who still loves hearing whole albums front to back.
"I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living, or get busy dying." - Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Our I Love the 90s series lands on 1999, the year Regis wanted your final answer, Brandi Chastain's penalty kick won the World Cup, and everyone was trying to catch 'em all. Don and Dude split the TRL countdown between pop and nu-metal, pairing five Orlando harmonizers with a red-capped Jacksonville crew mixing turntables and seven-string riffs.
The Albums
Backstreet Boys – Millennium (1999)
Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson got together in Orlando in 1993. Lou Pearlman had put out an ad looking for a group with a New Kids on the Block look and a Boyz II Men sound. The album came after a hard stretch: Brian had heart surgery, the band lost family members, producer Denniz Pop died, and the group sued Pearlman. Max Martin wrote or co-wrote seven of the twelve songs, recording mostly in Stockholm with Kristian Lundin and Rami Yacoub. Mutt Lange, Stephen Lipson and Eric Foster White shaped much of the second half, and Brian and Kevin did more of the writing this time.
Limp Bizkit – Significant Other (1999)
Fred Durst, Sam Rivers and John Otto started the band in Jacksonville in 1994, and Wes Borland and DJ Lethal completed the lineup. Durst met Korn's Fieldy while working as a tattoo artist, and that connection helped get them noticed. Terry Date, known for his work with Pantera, Soundgarden and Deftones, produced the album with the band in New York and Los Angeles. They kept the debut's rap-metal formula and added funk, melody, turntables and skits. Guests included Method Man, Jonathan Davis, Scott Weiland and Aaron Lewis.
Diggin' Albums
Ian Noe – Canyon Falls Trailer Band (2026)
The Eastern Kentucky singer-songwriter finishes his trilogy with a 16-song double concept album about a made-up hometown band traveling to Nashville to try for a record deal.
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication (1999)
John Frusciante's return and Rick Rubin's production steered the band toward a more melodic, vulnerable sound on what became their best-selling album.
Blossoms – Songs From the Wedding Cake (2026)
The Stockport indie pop band's sixth album is named after the local nickname for the town hall where Tom Ogden got married, and it was recorded on analog tape with more 80s funk, disco and dance influence.
Johnny Marr – The Age of Everything (2026)
On his fifth solo album, co-written and co-produced with James Doviak, the former Smiths guitarist deals with feeling overwhelmed by technology and modern life while still sensing possibility.
Follow & Support
Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook, Threads and Bluesky @albumnerds, email your own favorites to podcast@albumnerds.com, and support the podcast by subscribing, rating, reviewing and sharing it with another music obsessive who still loves hearing whole albums front to back.
"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." - Yoda (Frank Oz), Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)

Our I Love the 90s series lands on 1998, the year Seinfeld signed off, McGwire and Sosa chased the home run record, and every kid wanted a Furby. Don and Dude take on country and post-grunge, pairing a Texas trio bringing banjo and fiddle back to country radio with a Boston band mixing heavy riffs, witchcraft and movie samples.
The Albums
The Chicks – Wide Open Spaces (1998)
Sisters Martie and Emily Erwin started the group in Dallas in 1989 as the Dixie Chicks. After Laura Lynch left in 1995, Lubbock steel guitarist Lloyd Maines recommended his daughter Natalie as their new singer. Paul Worley and Blake Chancey produced the album, mostly at Nashville's Westwood Studio. It was Natalie's first record with the band, and it put Martie's fiddle and mandolin, Emily's banjo and dobro, and their three-part harmonies up front. The songs came from writers like Susan Gibson, Radney Foster and Bonnie Raitt.
Godsmack – Godsmack (1998)
The band formed around Boston in 1995, when former drummer Sully Erna moved to lead vocals alongside Robbie Merrill, Tony Rombola and Tommy Stewart. They first recorded the album as All Wound Up... at Mudrock's New Alliance Studios for roughly $2,600 and put it out themselves in 1997. After Republic/Universal signed them, it was remixed and reissued. The sound draws on Alice in Chains and Metallica, adding movie dialogue, tribal percussion and songs about Wiccan ritual.
Diggin' Albums
HOL1D4Y – TOPOLOGY (2026)
Rival Sons guitarist Scott Holiday sings lead for the first time on a psychedelic solo debut of fuzz guitars and vintage synths, shaped by his recovery from a severe bike accident.
Pearl Jam – Yield (1998)
The band's fifth album, produced with Brendan O'Brien, went back to more direct rock after No Code, with all five members bringing songs to the sessions.
Beck – Ride Lonesome (2026)
Beck's first album in seven years is a slow, mostly acoustic record shaped by his divorce and getting older, often called the last part of a heartbreak trilogy with Sea Change and Morning Phase.
Matt Berninger – Type It Up (2026)
The National's frontman offers a surprise five-song EP that pairs three songs he worked out on stage during the Get Sunk tour with covers of New Order and The Velvet Underground.
Follow & Support Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook, Threads and Bluesky @albumnerds, email your own favorites to podcast@albumnerds.com, and support the podcast by subscribing, rating, reviewing and sharing it with another music obsessive who still loves hearing whole albums front to back.
"Oh man! How'd you get the beans above the frank?" - Charlie (Keith David), There's Something About Mary (1998)

Our I Love the 90s series lands on 1997, the year Titanic and As Good as It Gets arrived in theaters and Tiger Woods won his first Masters. Don and Dude take on "the rest" and rock, pairing a gathering of Cuban musical veterans celebrating their country's traditions with a metal heavyweight chasing bluesy riffs and unexpected sounds.
The Albums
Buena Vista Social Club – Buena Vista Social Club (1997)
Assembled for these sessions rather than a standing band, the group came together through Juan de Marcos González, with Compay Segundo guiding the repertoire, Ibrahim Ferrer pulled back from shining shoes, pianist Rubén González out of retirement, Eliades Ochoa bringing eastern Cuba's country music, and Omara Portuondo on the only female lead vocal. After visa problems kept the originally planned Malian players away, Ry Cooder and World Circuit's Nick Gold changed course, cutting about a week of dance songs, boleros and instrumentals at Havana's EGREM studios in 1996, mostly live in the room.
Metallica – Reload (1997)
Sixteen years after Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield met through a newspaper ad, the lineup with Kirk Hammett and Jason Newsted had moved from thrash through the Black Album into the blues and alternative rock of Load. Reload came from those same Bob Rock sessions in Sausalito, built from songs left unfinished and reworked in 1997 with heavier grooves, contrasting guitars, a Marianne Faithfull guest vocal, and stray hurdy-gurdy and violin.
Diggin' Albums
Stanley Simmons – Dancing While the World Is Ending (2026)
Evan Stanley and Nick Simmons, sons of KISS members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, skip arena metal for a Rob Cavallo produced debut steeped in '70s folk, Americana and roots rock.
Creed – My Own Prison (1997)
The Tallahassee band's roughly $6,000 debut, self-released before Wind-up remixed it, turned Scott Stapp's songs about faith, guilt and redemption into one of late-'90s post-grunge's defining records.
Bloc Party – Anatomy of a Brief Romance (2026)
The British indie rock band's seventh album, produced by Trevor Horn, wraps Kele Okereke's account of a new romance after a long separation in synth-heavy arrangements.
The Proclaimers – You May Offend (2026)
Scottish brothers Craig and Charlie Reid return with their thirteenth studio album and first since 2022's Dentures Out, taking on contemporary Britain and freedom of speech.
Follow & Support Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook, Threads and Bluesky @albumnerds, email your own favorites to podcast@albumnerds.com, and support the podcast by subscribing, rating, reviewing and sharing it with another music obsessive who still loves hearing whole albums front to back.
"You'll have bad times, but it'll always wake you up to the good stuff you weren't paying attention to." - Sean Maguire (Robin Williams), Good Will Hunting (1997)

Continuing our I Love the 90s series, we move on to 1996, the year the Atlanta Olympics captivated the country and Bill Clinton edged out Bob Dole to win a second term in the White House. Don and Dude drop the needle on one studio album from festival rock royalty and one alt hip hop record that became a crossover phenomenon, connecting both records to a world of holiday shoppers fighting over Tickle Me Elmo, scientists cloning a sheep named Dolly, and dance floors everywhere catching the Macarena.
The Albums
Phish – Billy Breathes (1996)
Formed in Burlington, Vermont in 1983 around guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman and keyboardist Page McConnell, Phish built a devoted touring and tape trading fan base well before recording its sixth studio album at Bearsville Studios in the Catskills between February and June 1996. Producer Steve Lillywhite, brought in partway through on Dave Matthews' recommendation despite never having heard the band, helped steer Phish toward shorter, more direct and emotionally exposed songwriting, a marked shift from their denser earlier records.
Fugees – The Score (1996)
Formed by Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill and Pras Michel out of New Jersey's hip hop scene in the early 1990s, the Fugees followed their inconsistent 1994 debut Blunted on Reality with a major creative reset, taking greater control of their sound and recording much of the follow up in Wyclef's cousin's New Jersey basement. Released February 13, 1996, The Score fused hard edged East Coast rap with reggae, soul, R&B and live instrumentation, with Lauryn Hill's ability to move between rapping and singing becoming central to the group's identity.
Diggin Albums
Mastodon – Marrow Deep (2026)
Atlanta metal band Mastodon's first album without founding guitarist Brent Hinds, who died in 2025, leans on Greek mythology to explore life, death and destiny, with guests including Josh Homme, Geezer Butler and Randy Blythe.
Stone Temple Pilots – Tiny Music...Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop (1996)
San Diego's Stone Temple Pilots traded the grunge weight of Core and Purple for brighter guitars, psychedelic textures and glam swagger on this Brendan O'Brien produced left turn, spinning off Mainstream Rock No. 1s in "Big Bang Baby," "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart" and "Lady Picture Show."
Dexys Midnight Runners – Love (2026)
The English band fronted by Kevin Rowland, best known for "Come On Eileen," release their first album under the full Dexys Midnight Runners name since 1985, a David Holmes produced record built around stories from Rowland's own life.
Dinosaur Jr. – There Near (2026)
The Amherst, Massachusetts trio's thirteenth studio album was made in short bursts over about a year, with J Mascis reportedly reaching for the same vintage amp from their mid 1980s debut to chase a rawer, more fuzzed out guitar sound.
Follow & Support Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook, Threads and Bluesky @albumnerds, email your own favorites to podcast@albumnerds.com, and support the podcast by subscribing, rating, reviewing and sharing it with another music obsessive who still loves hearing whole albums front to back.
"There's more to life than a little money, you know. Don'tcha know that? And here ya are, and it's a beautiful day. Well, I just don't understand it." - Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand), Fargo (1996).