H

ot on the heels of 501 Essential 
Albums of the ’80s comes 
its grungier, pop-obsessed 
younger cousin — 501 Essential 
Albums of the ’90s: The Music Fan’s 
Definitive Guide.
Edited by award-winning veteran 
music journalist Gary Graff, the expan-
sive 448-page volume 
features 501 hand-selected 
and carefully curated 
albums that defined ’90s 
music.
With more than 600 
images and contributions 
from music’s leading names, includ-
ing journalists, historians, musicians 
and radio personalities, 501 Essential 
Albums of the ’90s spans multiple 
genres, subgenres and everything 
in-between — from the top-sellers to 
little-known hidden gems.
It’s a book Graff, an Adat Shalom 
member, says is designed to start argu-
ments. In fact, he’
d be disappointed 
if readers agreed with every album 
included in the sprawling music book.
“It’s a subject of exercise, with the 
exception that I’m right,
” he jokes. 
“These stories are great attention-get-
ters because everybody wants to com-
pare other people’s opinions against 
theirs.
”

EVERYONE’S FAVORITE DECADE
In an era defined by Britpop, indus-
trial rock, electronic music, rap and 
R&B, many agree the ’90s was one of 
the finest decades in music history. 
Out of the ’90s rose the Spice Girls, 
Nirvana, Britney Spears, Blink 182, 
Tupac Shakur and The Smashing 
Pumpkins.
Yet with the ’90s also came thou-
sands of albums — that somehow had 
to be whittled down to just 501. It was 
an enormous task, Graff says, but one 
that came together quickly.

Graff hopes to do follow-up books 
exploring the music of the ’60s, ’70s 
and even the 2000s.
The pages read as a discussion 
between friends — a favorite album 
here, another there. Contributors 
include Ann Delisi, Adam Graham, 
Ron Wade, Clark Warner and more.
“One of the main reasons I wanted 
to work on this project was the oppor-
tunity to collaborate with my old, dear 
friend Gary,
” says Cleveland-based 
contributor and former Rock & Roll 
Hall of Fame curator Howard Kramer. 
“It’s also a chance to shed more light on 

some records that might not be as well 
remembered as they should.
”
Those include Mule Variations by 
Tom Waits, Apartment Life by Ivy and 
Blue Sky by Midnight Oil — all hidden 
classics Kramer says he hopes readers 
will take time to rediscover.
“So much music, so little time,
” adds 
contributor Howard Handler, pres-
ident of 313 Presents. “It was a blast 
to revisit the ’90s canon of essential 
albums. I especially enjoyed writing 
about Lucinda and The Mavericks, 
two important artists still making great 
music today.
”

FROM BESTSELLERS 
TO HIDDEN GEMS
Graff, like Kramer, hopes people will 
fall back in love with old favorites, but 
also discover artists and albums previ-
ously unknown to them.
“It’s a tricky balance,
” Graff says. 
“Besides including what we feel rep-
resents the decade, we balanced the 
obvious and the big names and the 
multi-platinum sellers with some dis-
coveries for people. There’s great music 
they may not have heard because it 
didn’t have a big record company bud-
get behind it, or it didn’t have MTV 
support at the time.
”
501 Essential Albums of the ’90s: The 
Music Fan’s Definitive Guide debuted 
this month and is available anywhere 
books are sold, including Barnes & 
Noble and Amazon.
“Hopefully, anybody who reads the 
book will find an album or two that 
they hadn’t heard of before,
” Graff says. 
“They’ll read the entry, and they’ll say, 
‘You know what, I’m going to go check 
this out.
’” 

Gary Graff

48 | DECEMBER 12 • 2024 
J
N

Gary Graff with
Shirley Manson
of Garbage

ARTS&LIFE
BOOKS

501 Essential Albums of the ’90s takes readers on a trip down memory lane.

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

