1997

Ben Folds Five – Whatever And Ever Amen (American indie pop)

Rammstein – Sehnsucht (German industrial metal)

U2 – Pop (Irish alternative rock/dance rock)

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – Let’s Face It (American third wave ska)

Radiohead – Ok Computer (English alternative rock/ art rock)

Ween – The Mollusk (American psychedelic pop/ progressive rock, loose concept album with a nautical theme)

Foo Fighters – The Colour And The Shape (American alternative rock/post-grunge)

Aerosmith – Nine Lives (American hard rock/pop-rock)

Faith No More – Album Of The Year (American alternative metal)

The Offspring – Ixnay On The Hombre (American skate punk)

Blink 182 – Dude Ranch (American pop punk)

The Bouncing Souls – Bouncing Souls (American punk rock)

The Muffs – Happy Birthday To Me (American pop punk)

NOFX – So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes (American pop punk/ska punk)

Metallica – Reload (American hard rock/heavy metal, songs written during the same sessions as their previous album, Load)

Strapping Young Lad – City (Canadian extreme metal/industrial metal)

Built To Spill – Perfect From Now On (American indie rock, major label debut)

Deftones – Around The Fur (American nu-metal/alternative metal)

Bob Dylan – Time Out Of Mind (American blues rock/ folk rock)

Green Day – Nimrod (American punk rock/ alternative rock)

Sneaker Pimps – Becoming X (English trip-hop)

Self – The Half-Baked Serenade (American alternative rock/ experimental pop)

Flake Music – When You Land Here, It’s Time to Return (American indie rock, debut by the band later known as The Shins)

Notorious B.I.G. – Life After Death (American hip-hop, the last album he finished in his lifetime)

Various Artists – Spawn: The Album (soundtrack to the comic book film, themed around rock/metal artists collaborating with electronic ones)

Bjork – Homogenic (Icelandic art-pop)

David Bowie – Earthling (English industrial rock/electronica)

Portishead – Portishead (English trip hop)

Elliott Smith – Either/Or (American indie folk/singer songwriter)

John Lydon – Psycho’s Path (English post-punk/dance rock, solo album by Public Image Ltd. and Sex Pistols vocalist)

Wu Tang Clan – Wu Tang Forever (American hip hop)

The Fall – Levitate (English post punk)

Blur – Blur (English alternative rock)

Smashmouth – Fush Yu Mang (American ska-punk)

Millencolin – For Monkeys (Swedish skate punk/ska punk)

Cotton Mather – Kon Tiki (American psychedelic power pop)

Daft Punk – Homework (French house, debut)

Emperor – Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk (Norwegian black metal)

Depeche Mode – Ultra (English synth pop/electronic rock)

KMFDM – Symbols (German industrial rock/EBM)

Camp Lo – Uptown Saturday Night (American hip hop/jazz-rap, debut)

Limp Bizkit – 3 Dollar Bill, Y’all$ (American nu metal/rap metal, debut)

Pavement – Brighten The Corners (American indie rock)

Brutal Truth – Sounds of the Animal Kingdom (American grindcore)

Everclear – So Much For The Afterglow (American alternative rock)

The Prodigy – The Fat Of The Land (English electronic dance music)

L7 – The Beauty Process: Triple Platinum (American punk rock)

Modest Mouse – The Lonesome Crowded West (American indie rock)

Modest Mouse – The Fruit That Ate Itself (American indie rock, EP)

Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott – Supa Dupa Fly (American hip hop, debut)

Veruca Salt – Eight Arms To Hold You (American alternative rock)
Spiritualized – Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space (English space rock)

The Chemical Brothers – Dig Your Own Hole (English electronic music/”big beat”)

Atari Teenage Riot – The Future of War (German digital hardcore)

Roni Size / Represent – New Forms (English drum n’ bass, debut)

Aphex Twin – Come To Daddy EP (English IDM / drum n’ bass)

The Crystal Method – Vegas (American electronic music/”big beat”)

Silverchair – Freak Show (Australian alternative rock/post-grunge)

Yo La Tengo – I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One (American indie rock)
Sleater Kinney – Dig Me Out (American punk rock/indie rock)

Symphony X – The Divine Wings Of Tragedy (American progressive metal)

Primus – The Brown Album (American prog-funk-metal)

Pennywise – Full Circle (American skate punk)

Misfits – American Psycho (American melodic hardcore/horror punk, first album with Michale Graves as vocalist)

Erykah Badu – Baduizm (American r & b/neo-soul, debut)

The Verve – Urban Hymns (English alternative rock)

Supergrass – In It For The Money (English alternative rock/psychedelic pop)

Mogwai – Young Team (Scottish post-rock, debut)

Melvins – Honky (American sludge metal/experimental rock)

Children Of Bodom – Something Wild (Finnish melodic death metal, debut)

Paul McCartney – Flaming Pie (English rock)

Various Artists – Lost Highway (Trent Reznor-produced soundtrack to David Lynch film)

Squarepusher – Hard Normal Daddy (English drill n’ bass)

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – F♯ A♯ ∞ (Canadian post-punk, debut)

Cornershop – When I Was Born For the 7^th Time (English dance rock/ “ragga rock”)

Cornelius – Fantasma (Japanese Shibuya-kei)

Special Electronic Week:

Lords Of Acid – Our Little Secret (Belgian-American industrial dance)

Juno Reactor – Bible Of Dreams (English goa trance)

The Orb – Orblivion (English electronica)

u-ziq – Lunatic Harness (English drill n’ bass/idm)

Mouse On Mars – Audiotacker (German electronica/idm)

Primal Scream – Vanishing Point (Scottish alternative dance/neo-psychedelia)

Gus Gus – Polydistortion (Icelandic electronica)

Thievery Corporation – Sounds From The Thievery Hi-Fi (American chillout/dub, debut)

Stereolab – Dots And Loops (English post-rock)

Alabama 3 – Exile On Coldharbour Lane (English acid house/country, debut)

Alpha – Come From Heaven (English trip-hop)

BT – ESCM (American progressive trance)

Fluke – Risotto (English techno)

Notes:

 It turns out 1997 was a pretty prominent year for electronic music, so after I thought I was done, I decided to go back and do another 6 days just on that theme. I also ended up using a fairly loose definition of "electronic" in a couple of cases - I really should have gotten to the Primal Scream and Stereolab albums earlier, and I decided both had enough electronic elements to count. Also, I had a pretty hard time picking out a top 10 - a few favorites had to be left out because there was just a lot of good music there.


Top 10: 

10. Yo La Tengo – I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One
9. Ben Folds Five - Whatever And Ever Amen
8. Deftones - Around The Fur
7. Foo Fighters - The Colour & The Shape
6.  The Prodigy - Fat Of The Land
5. Built To Spill - Perfect From Now On
4. Elliott Smith - Either/Or
3. Bjork - Homogenic
2.Ween - The Mollusk
1.  Radiohead - OK Computer