The 5 greatest bull market rock albums of the 90s
Unless the earth opens up and swallows us whole sometime in the few weeks, it looks like the current bull market will soon surpass the 1949-1956 run to become the second longest streak in U.S. history.
The greatest bull market of all time lasted from December 1987 to early 2000-- 4,494 days, according to CNN Money. It’s also no coincidence that the 90s was a great time to be a young music fan.
So to honor the tech bubble and the magical decade I was lucky enough to experience firsthand, I present the 5 greatest bull market rock albums of the 90s.
Here they are in chronological order:
Release date: September 24, 1991
1991 S&P 500 performance: +26%
I’m legally obligated to include this album anytime the 90s are mentioned, so let’s just get it out of the way first. Yes, Kurt Cobain and Nirvana defined the decade. And this is also one of those albums that every kid owned and talked about for years.
Is it a coincidence that the S&P returned 26% in ‘91-- yet had one of only two negative years for the decade in ‘94-- the same year Cobain killed himself? Of course not.
I can’t tell you where I was when I heard “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for the first time. But I do remember arguing over the indecipherable lyrics (no Google) with my friends in algebra class and amassing an impressive collection of flannel that lasted me well into high school.
Nirvana taught me how to act cool. It didn’t work, but they tried.
2. Smashing Pumpkins
Siamese Dream
Release date: July 27, 1993
1993 S&P 500 performance: +7%
1993 was a huge year. One of my friends got AOL. The video game Doom was released. And Siamese Dream was the first album I owned that I would listen to all the way through-- on repeat-- for hours.
I loved Billy Corgan’s weird voice, the buzzy guitars and that mix of huge, heavy songs with delicate ballads like “Soma” that would just build and build until they exploded. Everything about this album is a contradiction. It’s big and optimistic, yet pretty damn sad, too.
Bill was right-- today is the greatest. Amazing things were happening. We were ready for liftoff.
3. Weezer
Weezer (The Blue Album)
Release date: May 10, 1994
Price of a barrel of oil in 1994: about $20
While every grunge kid was still strategically tearing his jeans, Weezer comes out of nowhere with a masterpiece of an album that perfectly blended pop and nerd-rock. It was emo before emo even existed.
Yes, Pinkerton has a lot more depth. And many music fans point to it as the Weezer’s ultimate achievement before the group went completely off the rails with the next half-dozen offerings. But there’s something so innocent and fun about the blue album that I’ll always love.
Also, it’s important to note that Rivers Cuomo is a contrarian-- in his music and investment strategies. Consider these lyrics from “Surf Wax America”:
You take your car to work, I’ll take my board
And when you’re out of fuel, I’m still afloat
Clearly, Cuomo is predicting the oil spike that occurred more than a decade after he wrote this song. I wonder when he’s going to launch a newsletter.
Release date: July 30, 1996
1996 S&P 500 performance: +20%
The dot-com boom was in full force when Sublime blended rock, hip-hop, reggae, and ska into a summer house party. The California vibes on Sublime were palpable. I had never set foot in the state before, but I totally felt at one with Long Beach after three or four listens. As a result, this CD remained in heavy-rotation on my Discman’s car cassette adapter well through ‘98.
As the market kicked into high gear in ‘96, the late Bradley Nowell perfectly captured the decadence of Wall Street on “Santeria” when he declares that he had a million dollars-- but he spent it all. I can only presume he was daytrading tech stocks on the tour bus. It’s too bad he didn’t live to see what the rest of the decade would bring.
Release date: May 21, 1997
1997 S&P 500 performance: +31%
It’s 1997. The market is streaking higher-- and we’re studying the Great Depression in my American history class. I knew from the background noise in my life that stocks were going higher. That was the extent of my market knowledge at age 16. But I was interested in how it all worked.
So I asked my teacher if the markets could ever crash again like they did in 1929. She told me that couldn’t happen because of modern advancements. What a relief!
However, Radiohead knew something was amiss. OK Computer is a deep album. And I desperately wanted to be “deep”-- so I listened intently as Thom Yorke tore apart all the ridiculous excesses of the decade. He knew fitter, happier, more productive wouldn’t last forever. It’s only fitting that OK Computer is the last great rock album of the ‘90.
What else was there to say?
Red Hot Chili Peppers Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Green Day Dookie
Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine
Oasis (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
Photo by Blondinrikard Fröberg