Worst era of the US Modern Rock Chart?

It does look hilarious though, because there's no way for the chart to acknowledge the exponential growth of its base

That the number of stations playing "machinehead" and the number playing "what's good" we're quite different

The Joel whitburn rock chart book I have includes the mainstream and modern chart rankings for acts side by side and its cool to see how the charts were wildly different and almost identical in the 90s, except for a few key signifying stars like Metallica and Aerosmith

Here's an experiment: can you imagine a song like "Machinehead" in the same playlist as "What's Good" in '92? I say yes. Whereas the programming director might've been fired in '95 for playing "What's Good."

And then identical, rather

I'm not being nostalgic for the Robyn Hitchcock Era, just pointing out that "modern rock"-reporting stations, as croup said, had more numbers on their side in '95.

what's poor John Frusciante got to do to get a BNM?!

Actually I have to disagree a little, the music on mod rock charts DID get harder, both formats moved toward each other but were quite distinct for about five years

Xpost re bush and lou

And c'mon alt radio still played shit like Shawn Mullins, everlast, Sheryl crow. You could still get a thoughtful shuffle on rock radio you just couldn't be old

I don't doubt "Wonderwall" got more legit play than Ned's Atomic Dustbin's #1 when the number of stations and listener responders expanded.

Female singer-songwriters got more slack than the male ones in the mid/late '90s though - just desserts.

In the early '90s we had, what, Sinead and Suzanne Vega and maybe Kate Bush? Slim pickins.

right in the middle of the 2003-2008 "Oligopoly" period I remember hearing a lot of White Stripes and Modest Mouse and the Raconteurs and Bloc Party and Gnarls Barkley and the Bravery

Yeah, while the Foo Fighters, Linkin Park, and Incubus had the highest peaking songs of that era I tend to usually associate that time period more with bands like The White Stripes, The Killers, Modest Mouse, The Bravery, Muse and all of those emo pop acts like Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, My Chemical Romance. Also, because I'm in Canada bands like Metric, Arcade Fire, Sam Roberts, and AlexisonFire/City and Colour.

Alfred you are talking the height of the Tori Amos era. she was huge.

Was tori amos really that huge?

Huger than the three Alfred mentioned. I think Alfred's thinking 1990-91 though.

well, Little Earthquakes was '92.

1999-2002 < 1997-1999 < 2003-2008 < 1993-1996 < 2009-2013 < 1988-1993

actually i can't really decide whether 1999-2002 or 1997-1999 is worse

arent you supposed to be nostalgic for the music of your youth?

right now I'm jonesing for a burger

I listened to oldies radio so I am nostalgic for the Four Tops and the Grass Roots, not Matchbox 20 and Fuel.

I have never heard Sweater Weather.

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it feels weird lumping in 2003 with as far ahead as 2008. the representation listed above doesn't account for the singles during the earlier half of that era that were actually decent ("go with the flow," "minerva," "just because," "maps," "duality," "hard to explain," the darkness, etc) although audioslave had shown up by then who were both the worst and most overplayed rock band of that entire decade. but as far as i can tell, those odd minor-hits disappeared entirely by the time 2009 had arrived.

just as well that i am mookieproofed

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hmm