Punk, ska, and hip hop dominate the 1998 albums selected for the massive best 1,000 albums ever project, a five-year journey to rank the 1,000 albums that have meant the most to me and write a full-blown pop culture-meets-memoir piece on each.
Here they are, the best 20 albums from 1998 ever, with select quotes from each pulled from pulled from each album’s individual album piece.
1) The Suicide Machines – Battle Hymns (#26 of best 1,000 albums ever)
I’d do this thing where I’d blast The Suicide Machines’ best album while standing there, holding a pole or strap or whatever. And as the subway car accelerated down the track, I’d look down to the far end of the car and imagine the band playing there – playing for all it was worth. Playing like their lives depended on it.
And then in my mind’s eye, the subway passengers would be going nuts, losing their minds at how kinetically incredible and insanely electric this manifestation of ska punk fury and bliss was.
And they’d be dancing. But not just dancing. Moshing, skanking, bouncing off the subway car walls and doors and of course each other. Especially each other.
By the time we arrived at 59th and Lex, a full mini-concert within the theater of my mind had played out.
2) The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – Live from the Middle East (#37)
As great as the Bosstones’ studio albums are – and you can check out the assortment of them that made the best 1,000 albums ever, including the incredible Devil’s Night Out (#48) – the loose, rollicking, and ecstatically joyful vibes that blast through all 22 tracks and just over an hour of music make this collection the best example of TMMBT’s music I could ever put in front of someone.
3) Beastie Boys – Hello Nasty (#86)
It’s really important to note that for all of its many high energy tracks, Hello Nasty also shows tremendous range, exploring further reaches of sounds touched upon on earlier ‘90s albums Check Your Head and Ill Communication (#94 of best 1,000 albums ever).
4) Reel Big Fish – Why Do They Rock So Hard? (#102)
When I listen to that tasty horn hook on “She’s Famous Now,” I’m taken back to a summer day in 1999. I have a free swag baseball cap on backwards, I’m writing a massive glossary of baseball terms that included all kinds of crosslinks and anchor links (exciting stuff indeed during that era), and I’m blasting Why Do They Rock So Hard?
5) Jurassic 5 – J5 (#178)
“Jayou” is a perfect rap song – one of the all time best.
Here’s my case for it.
First of all, it’s arguably the best rap song to feature the flute of all time. I’ll allow “Sure Shot” by the Beastie Boys into the argument, but I’m still pretty sure that I’ll land on “Jayou.”
That flute hook is absolutely sizzling. And then, on top of that it makes you think, “What’s that from?” It might not be obvious right away, and then it hits you: the flute melody is a complete and ingenious reworking of “Get Up, Stand Up,” by Bob Marley and the Wailers.
6) Cappadonna – The Pillage (#212)
I’m pretty sure the first time that Cappadonna’s solo work came across my radar was by the way of The Pillage’s opening salvo, “Slang Editorial.” To this day, it’s one of those songs I throw on and my thought bubble is something along the lines of wooo (or maybe wuuuu?).
It’s so melodic and yet hard hitting and precise underground hip-hop at the same time. This is precisely the kind of hip-hop that hits my sweet spot, and Cappadonna displays superior flow here and throughout The Pillage.
7) Beck – Mutations (#217)
If there’s one true jewel (diamond?) on Mutations, it’s the bossa nova masterpiece that is “Tropicalia.” It’s one of those songs that I’ve listened to countless times and can never get enough of it.
8) Black Eyed Peas – Behind the Front (#234)
From the first track, the sublime “Fallin’ Up,” and all the way through, it’s a groovy, chilled down, and head bobbing collection of songs. That’s not to say that the Black Eyed Peas of “My Humps” and “Boom Boom Pow” don’t hold its charms, but for me it’s “Joints & Jam” that’s more my… well, jam I suppose you could say.
9) Chef Aid: The South Park Album (#247)
It boils down to this: Chef Aid: The South Park Album is not only a wildly eclectic and fun compilation of late 1990s rock and pop and hip hop artists, it deftly mixes in the hyper-talented voice actors from the legendary animated show on some tracks, which allows other cast members – and I’m especially shouting out funk and soul legend Isaac Hayes here – to shine bright as well.
10) Rancid – Life Won’t Wait (#270)
“Who Would’ve Thought” and “Corazon De Oro” are two of the most beautiful songs – and yes, they’re still very much punk rock songs! – that Rancid has ever produced, and shows off how mature their songwriting and musical craftsmanship had become by this point.
11) R.E.M. – Up (#287)
Like much of their late era R.E.M. material, it’s not considered to be one of the band’s better albums – especially by a cohort of early era R.E.M. purists. Some, who look at Up more kindly, see it in terms of the band figuring out their new identity without their longtime drummer in the mix.
I agree with this latter take, but I additionally strongly argue – which I hope is obvious by my placing it within the Top 300 of the best 1,000 albums ever – that it’s a great album of experimentation and reinvention.
12) Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels soundtrack (#302)
While Quentin Tarantino is rightly lauded for perfecting the modern movie soundtrack with a signature blend of obscure gems and dusted off classics, Guy Ritchie is way up there himself.
13) The Beta Band – The Three E.P.’s (#314)
“Dry the Rain” is the perfect indie song, the perfect record shop song, and High Fidelity deploys it to perfection in [the High Fidelity] scene. Absolutely delightful.
14) Fatboy Slim – You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby (#331)
Of the wave of electronic music and other “big beat” artists that crossed over to the mainstream starting in the 1990s, I credit Fatboy Slim for widening my personal musical palette and opening me up to different musical styles and soundscapes.
15) Wu-Tang Clan Killa Bees – The Swarm (#348)
“S.O.S.” featuring Streetlife and Inspectah Deck and produced by the latter, would easily rank among the Deck’s very best solo work: it’s slinky, slightly sinister, and staccato, with the rapping duo dishing out outstanding bars.
16) Mad Caddies – Duck and Cover (#509)
Let’s start with “No Hope,” which is arguably my all-time favorite Mad Caddies song, an absolute blast of both punk rock and horn-driven ska that’s up there with the very best from Voodoo Glow Skulls, Less Than Jake, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, you name it.
17) Voodoo Glow Skulls – The Band Geek Mafia (#515)
I particularly recall jogging through Astoria Park, which afforded a great view of the east side of Manhattan, listening to “Walking Frustration.” I adore its stellar ska punk groove to this day. Voodoo Glow Skulls at their best represent perfectly honed chaos, and that’s none better represented here.
18) The Creation – Our Music Is Red – With Purple Flashes (#517)
I first discovered The Creation via Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, a film with a stellar soundtrack in its own right. “Making Time” helped to set the movie’s super unique tone (think back to when a Wes Anderson movie wasn’t yet its own genre or full-on cultural event!): whimsical, retro, arch, melancholy, and hilarious, often all at the same time.
19) Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (#576)
It’s the soul- and R&B-inflected hip hop that turns me on the most, and that starts with “Doo Wop (That Thing),” which is an absolute smasher (it’s credited to “Ms. Lauryn Hill,” by the way, as is every track on the album). Hill deploys one of her “unfair advantages” here, seamlessly pivoting between rapping and gorgeous vocals. I also must note that I’m always a sucker for hip hop tracks that effectively use the piano as percussion. Also: nice use of strings!
20) Madonna – Ray of Light (#634)
Ray of Light sounds super fresh – still to this day in 2022, I should note – upbeat, easy, exuberant. None of these things happened by accident: they’re the result of meticulous songwriting and sound production, the latter by way of techno producer William Orbit. The mesh between Madonna’s pop pedigree and Orbit’s techno orchestrations sounds better upon each listen of Ray of Light, in fact.