Join the '90s Album Madness Tournament to Vote for the Best Album of the Decade!
Join the '90s Album Madness Tournament to Vote for the Best Album of the Decade!
Craig RosenTue, February 24, 2026 at 12:09 AM UTC
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These days it seems like music “best of” lists are a dime a dozen, often determined by a single critic at a publication or a playlist curator on a streaming service.
The hosts of the long-running Rockin’ the Suburbs podcast are taking a more extensive approach as they try to determine the best album of the 1990s with their two-month-long ‘90s Album Madness tournament.
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Inspired by the NCAA’s annual March Madness basketball tournament, '90s Album Madness pits the most beloved albums of that decade against each other in daily Facebook posts that allow the podcast’s listeners and others to vote on the match-ups until a winner is determined on April 6.
The tournament launched on Jan. 28 with a field of 64 albums making up four different quadrants.
Quadrant 1 features the 16 best-selling albums released in the ‘90s, according to the Recording Industry Assn. of America. Such contenders as Hootie & the Blowfish’s Cracked Rear View, The Bodyguard soundtrack, Nirvana’s Nevermind and Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill are among the titles that have advanced to the second round.
Quadrant 2 includes the top 16 critically acclaimed albums released in the ‘90s, per Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums list, in 2023. R.E.M.’s Automatic for the People, Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and Hole’s Live Through This are among the albums advancing to the second round.
Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre, featured on The Chronic, are contenders in Rockin' the Suburbs' '90s Album Madness tournament. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
Quadrant 3 consists of the top 16 vote-getters among the podcast’s listener submissions, not including titles already in Quadrants 1 and 2. Wilco’s Being There, Weezer’s self-titled blue album, and the Sundays’ Reading, Writing and Arithmetic are among the titles advancing to the second round.
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For Quadrant 4, hosts Jim Lenahan and Patrick Foster picked their eight favorite albums of the ‘90s not included in the other quadrants, with Repeater by Fugazi and Copper Blue by Sugar advancing to the second round.
This is the fourth time that Rockin’ the Suburbs has held such a tournament. In 2023, R.E.M. won its American Band Madness tournament. In 2024, David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Marswon its ‘70s Albums Madness tourney, and the following year, Tim by the Replacements took the crown in the ‘80s Album Madness competition.
Rockin’ the Suburbs, which posts a new episode every weekday, began in early 2017 after hosts Lenahan and Foster left the USA Today-affiliated Dad Rock podcast.
For Lenahan, staging the tournament is all about fun. “For two months out of the year, people get to reconsider what they love about certain albums and rediscover those recordings,” he says.
Along with the daily voting, the podcast is also producing occasional ‘90s Album Madness tournament updates in which Lenahan and Foster are joined by listener/analysts Jason Goebel and Mike Kohli for a wrap-up on the action.
While Lenahan doesn’t want to make a prediction about which album will take the crown, he shared some surprises from the tournament so far, including the shocking upset of They Might Be Giants’ Flood over Tom Petty’s Wildflowers. “I was surprised that They Might Be Giants were even in the field. They got in on a listener vote. I always thought TMBG were a ‘cult band.’ I guess the cult is strong,” he says.
John Flansberg (right, guitarist) and John Linnell (accordionist) of They Might Be Giants are surprising some with their performance in Rockin' the Suburbs '90s Albums Madness tournament. (Photo by Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
He was also surprised that Depeche Mode’s Violator eliminated Matthew Sweet’s Girlfriend, an alt-rock favorite loved by many of the podcast’s loyal listeners. “I thought Girlfriend had a chance to go all the way. It is a much-beloved '90s album. Shows what I know.”
As for who will win, Lenahan points to some front-runners. “First-round voting so far would indicate that TMBG, Depeche Mode, U2’s Achtung Baby and Radiohead’s OK Computer are contenders,” he says.
You can vote daily and see results from ‘90s Album Madness at facebook.com/suburbspod and listen to Rockin’ the Suburbs at suburbspod.com/ and all the usual podcast platforms.
This story was originally published by Parade on Feb 24, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
