The music of the 1990s is making a comeback

It's hard to believe that we are a whole ten years removed from the last No Doubt album (Rock Steady) which some people say is a normal evolution for what was once a ska-based band but I felt that Rock Steady was the final step in the band changing their sound to appeal to a far wider swath of the population. Sure, that move led to huge sales numbers and radio play (not to mention launching Gwen Stefani's short-lived pop career) but the typical fans of pop music consume that music in heavy doses but do so for only a short time before quickly moving on to the next new thing.

Hopefully No Doubt will return to the pop/ska roots with their sixth album due out in mere weeks. Maybe the sounds of the 90s which I came of age during are bound for a comeback.

I keep hoping that's true as one of my favorite bands, Blink 182, are supposedly releasing a new album this year. I'm not holding my breath on it. They originally announced their reformation during the 2009 Grammy Awards and had already been writing at that point in time. Two-plus years to produce a new album is an insanely long time but I truly loved their final album, the self-titled effort which yielded their most mature songwriting to date and possibly my favorite Blink 182 song, Always.



Blink is on tour this summer and the album's first single is due to be released sometime this month. I'll believe it when I hear it (because I'm forever a skeptic) but this is one of t hose rare songs I am eager to hear.

Then there's The Red Hot Chili Peppers. They began as a band in the early 1980s but didn't become widely popular in the wide world of rock music until the late 1980s with the release of Mother's Milk and achieved what many call "superstardom" in the early 1990s with the release of Blood Sugar Sex Magik. From that point -- even with members leaving and rejoining -- RHCP were hugely popular. I really latched on to them as a band with 1999's Californication and 2002's By The Way.

I'm throwing The Red Hot Chili Peppers in, even though they have spanned three decades already, because the band reached their pinnacle of popularity and refined their sound in the 1990s. They are one of those bands who I also can't wait to hear what they come up with next. 2006's Stadium Arcadium was a decent effort but, due to the demise of many alternative-rock radio stations and the further fragmentation of musical genres, the album never reached a wide audience and it's a shame because it did spawn three or four spectacular tracks which live on my iPod.

Their new album, I'm With You, is supposed to be released on August 30th.

Maybe the 1990s are making a comeback. Oh, sure, three bands whose popularity peaked in the 1990s releasing new work ten-plus years later doesn't make a trend but to me it does. If you were to look at my CD collection you'd notice that the bulk of the 500 or so CDs were released in the 90s. I padded my collection into the early 2000s but a couple years in to the decade I had made the move to digital tracks and had slowed my spending on music. That's probably fairly typical as people's priorities change but I am welcoming the return of some of the band which I sort of grew up with.

Welcome back 90s, welcome back.

My musical tastes should be locked up for bad behavior

My latest half-baked idea involved my vast but scary CD collection. Due to having a 15 month old in the house, the generally alphabetized nature of the collection is in a state of complete mayhem but that very mayhem lead me to this somewhat terrible idea.

My CD collection started around 1994. I spent too much money ammassing it and looking back it proves that my musical tastes have a bit of a checkered past (hey, I was young so shove it hipsters). Alright, my musical tastes sucked. But those terrible tastes make this latest idea that much more awesome.

One CD per day chosen at random from the somewhat massive CD shelving unit. The first CD I chose, after announcing my plan to my less than enthused wife (because I suggested that she participate as well) the first CD I chose - with a little help from the daughter - was by the world renowned band "Rednex" with the disc entitled "Sex and Violins". A classic in its own right.

Okay, so it's about as far from classic as anything could get but I look at this idea as making good for all the terrible music choices I've made in the past. It's sort of my musical pennance from the days before my musical tastes were refined and more accepted by fellow humans.

By the way, if you're unfamiliar with the band name "Rednex" but were near a radio in the mid 1990s and heard a song called "Cotton Eyed Joe", that's them. I apologize both for writing this and for buying that particular CD. Now I probably won't make it through my entire collection nor will I write about the boring details of each disc but I'll definitely point out the worst of the worst because it makes me that much more honest and relateable.

Both this blog and MinnPics took yesterday off but expect new photos at MinnPics at some point today because I love showcasing the best of the best in Minnesota photos!