Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

I'm not sure I can say best album of the 90s, but I can say best American album of the 90s. This is a perfect mirror of the real zeitgeist of the time. Superficially the 90s are colorful and optimistic, but the music that was popular betrays how people were really feeling. Nirvana, Alice in Chains, NIN, Korn, Marilyn Manson. Pretty grim stuff. 'Heresy' most completely encapsulates this particular mind set: "God is dead, and if there is a hell I'll see you there."

This mind set may appear very surprising when you consider the context of the times. It was not a result of excessive misery, the 90s were peaceful and plentiful, but rather a lack of positive fictions a person, specifically young men, could seek comfort in. God had died in the sense that Christianity was no longer taken seriously on a societal level. People no longer believed in it. The cold war was over, so there was no clear enemy that could distract you from the resulting spiritual emptiness. Young men started seeking refuge in nihilism. Today this phenomenon has been somewhat tamed with neo-Christian ideologies like global warming, black lives matter, refugees welcome, feminism and veganism, which, despite their hidden economic motivations, offer youth a more positive outlet to their feelings than cutting their arms with a knife. That's not to say that our present hedonism is a much better alternative, but at least it is not the overt, in your face nihilism of a Marilyn Manson or a Trent Reznor.

On the other hand the 90s still had some music. The present does not. Perhaps our age should be called "post musical". It is the only time in history where music has been completely subsumed by commercial and political forces. The fringe, independent stuff doesn't count in this regard, and is also bad. With the exception of a few old timers who are still trucking there is absolutely nothing going on with music anymore. It is as if our very minds have been affected somehow, rendering us incapable of real creativity. It's very strange and I don't know how to explain it. Perhaps artistry has simply been dulled by excessive statism and political correctness. There is no room for maneuvering anymore, no leeway. The mind doesn't know how to run because it has never walked.