Best Non-Hip Hop Albums of the 1990s

Aside from hip hop, 90's music isn't exactly an area of expertise for me. Growing up in the 90's, almost everything I listened to was hip hop and R&B. Even now that my taste in music is more varied, hip hop probably takes up about 80% of the 90's albums I've heard, and I still think 90's hip hop is far superior to any other music that came out in the 90's. If I'd listened to more artists and albums these lists would be a little different, and I wouldn't have so many artists repeated over and over. I'm happy with the results though. There might be a few albums listed in the wrong year, but Wikipedia, AllMusic, Discogs, and Rate Your Music are always inconsistent. The best non-hip hop album of the 90's is Combustication by Medeski, Martin & Wood.

Albums highlighted in yellow are DD-Cup/5 Mech classics

1990

1. Naked City - Naked City (Avant-Garde/Grindcore/Jazz Fusion)
2. Matthew Shipp Trio - Circular Temple (Free Jazz)
3. Al di Meola - World Sinfonia (Jazz Fusion/World)
4. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Good Son (Post-Punk)
5. Sun Ra Arkestra - Mayan Temples (Jazz)
6. Jonas Hellborg Group - Jonas Hellborg Group (Jazz Fusion)
7. Naked City - Torture Garden (Avant-Garde/Grindcore/Jazz Fusion)
8. Prince - Graffiti Bridge (Funk/Pop/Rock)
9. Sun Ra - Purple Night (Free Jazz)
10. Stevie B - Love and Emotion (Contemporary R&B)

1991

1. Mr. Bungle - Mr. Bungle (Experimental Rock)
2. Sonny Sharrock - Ask the Ages (Free Jazz)
3. Buddy Guy - Damn Right I've Got the Blues (Blues)
4. John Prine - The Missing Years (Folk/Americana)
5. Charlie Haden Quartet West - Haunted Heart (Jazz/Neo-Bop)
6. Boyz II Men - Cooleyhighharmony (Contemporary R&B)
7. Jonas Hellborg Group - E (Jazz Fusion)
8. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik (Funk-Rock)
9. Branford Marsalis - The Beautyful Ones are Not Yet Born (Jazz)
10. The Field Mice - For Keeps (Indie Pop)

1992

1. Faith No More - Angel Dust (Alternative Metal)
2. Sade - Love Deluxe (Soul/Quiet Storm)
3. Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine (Alternative Metal)
4. Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted (Indie Rock)
5. The Magnetic Fields - The Wayward Bus (Indie Pop)
6. Steve Coleman and Five Elements - Drop Kick (Jazz)
7. Tom Waits - Bone Machine (Experimental Rock)
8. Neil Young - Harvest Moon (Rock)
9. Red House Painters - Down Colorful Hill (Folk Rock)
10. Yusef Lateef & Archie Shepp - Tenors of Yusef Lateef & Archie Shepp (Jazz/Hard Bop)

1993

1. Jonas Hellborg - Octave of the Holy Innocents (Jazz Fusion)
2. The Magnetic Fields - Holiday (Indie Pop)
3. Steve Coleman and Five Elements - The Tao of Mad Phat (Fringe Zones) (Jazz)
4. Henry Threadgill - Too Much Sugar for a Dime (Jazz)
5. Melvins - Houdini (Sludge Metal)
6. Naked City - Radio (Avant-Garde/Grindcore/Jazz Fusion)
7. John Zorn - Kristallnacht (Avant-Garde)
8. Mariah Carey - Music Box (Contemporary R&B)
9. Red House Painters - Red House Painters (Rollercoaster) (Folk Rock)
10. Matthew Shipp Trio - Prism (Free Jazz)

1994

1. Boyz II Men - II (Contemporary R&B)
2. Johnny Cash - American Recordings (Americana)
3. Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (Indie Rock)
4. Ted Hawkins - The Next Hundred Years (Soul/Folk)
5. Seal - Seal II (Soul/Pop)
6. Joi - The Pendulum Vibe (Neosoul)
7. Melvins - Stoner Witch (Sludge Metal)
8. Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse (Black Metal)
9. Keb' Mo' - Keb' Mo' (Blues)
10. Masada - Alef (Avant-Garde)

1995

1. Ron Sexsmith - Ron Sexsmith (Folk Rock)
2. Ted Hawkins - Songs From Venice Beach (Soul/Folk)
3. Radiohead - The Bends (Alternative Rock)
4. Masada - Gimel (Avant-Garde)
5. Mariah Carey - Daydream (Contemporary R&B)
6. Elliott Smith - Elliott Smith (Indie Rock/Folk Rock)
7. Henry Threadgill - Carry the Day (Jazz)
8. Pavement - Wowee Zowee (Indie Rock)
9. Medeski, Martin & Wood - Friday Afternoon in the Universe (Jazz-Funk)
10. R. Kelly - R. Kelly (Contemporary R&B)

1996

1. Maxwell - Maxwell's Urban Hangout Suite (Neosoul)
2. DJ Spooky - Songs of a Dead Dreamer (Illbient)
3. Medeski, Martin & Wood - Shack-Man (Jazz-Funk)
4. Rage Against the Machine - Evil Empire (Alternative Metal)
5. Bar Kokhba - Bar Kokhba (Avante-Garde)
6. Henry Threadgill - Where's Your Cup (Jazz)
7. Pharoah Sanders - Message From Home (Jazz/Pan-African)
8. Fiona Apple - Tidal (Alternative Rock)
9. 112 - 112 (Contemporary R&B)
10. Jonas Hellborg, Shawn Lane & Apt. Q-258 - Temporal Analogues of Paradise (Jazz Fusion)

1997

1. Erykah Badu - Baduizm (Neosoul)
2. Elliott Smith - Either/Or (Indie Rock/Folk Rock)
3. Radiohead - OK Computer (Alternative Rock)
4. Sam Salter - It's On Tonight (Contemporary R&B)
5. Jonas Hellborg & Shawn Lane - Time is the Enemy (Jazz Fusion)
6. Emperor - Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk (Black Metal)
7. Steve Coleman - Genesis & The Opening of the Way (Jazz)
8. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - The Boatman's Call (Post-Punk)
9. Billy Bang - Commandment (For The Sculpture Of Alain Kirili) (Jazz/Solo Violin)
10. Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind (Folk Rock/Blues Rock)

1998

1. Medeski, Martin & Wood - Combustication (Jazz-Funk)
2. Belle and Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap (Indie Pop)
3. Ted Hawkins - Love You Most Of All: More Songs From Venice Beach (Soul/Folk)
4. Ted Hawkins - The Final Tour (Soul/Folk)
5. John Zorn - The Circle Maker (Avant-Garde)
6. Elliott Smith - XO (Indie Rock/Folk Rock)
7. The Notwist - Shrink (Indie Rock)
8. Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane over the Sea (Indie Rock)
9. William Parker & In Order to Survive - The Peach Orchard (Free Jazz)
10. Dru Hill - Enter the Dru (Contemporary R&B)

1999

1. Rage Against the Machine - The Battle of Los Angeles (Alternative Metal)
2. Mr. Bungle - California (Experimental Rock)
3. Bonnie "Prince" Billy - I See a Darkness (Folk)
4. Faust - Ravivando (Krautrock)
5. The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs (Indie Pop)
6. Tom Waits - Mule Variations (Experimental Rock)
7. Porcupine Tree - Stupid Dream (Progressive Rock)
8. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication (Funk-Rock)
9. Macy Gray - On How Life Is (Contemporary R&B/Neosoul)
10. Pharoah Sanders - Save Our Children (Jazz/Pan-African)