Heaven Help Me for the Way I Am: My Favorite Albums of 1996

“In the nineties, doing nothing on purpose was a valid option, and a specific brand of cool became more important than almost anything else. The key to that coolness was disinterest in conventional success.” – Chuck Klosterman

If you haven’t read “The Nineties” by Chuck Klosterman yet, do yourself a favor and give Jeff Bezos your money now. Klosterman’s methodical dissection of the decade that gave us so many indelible contributions to popular culture is a compelling read and reminds you of how different the world was before social media.

One notion that I found particularly striking was the idea of people not assuming a position on something and their apathy being an acceptable course of action. Whether right or wrong, the decision to stay out of certain discussions was allowed and seldom held against someone, which is antithetical to everything we’ve been conditioned to believe 30 years later.

Even as an eight-year-old, I never felt as if Clinton vs. Dole was life-or-death or that one of my relatives wouldn’t be showing up to Christmas if they pulled the lever in the wrong direction. It was a less polarizing era and our ability to unite around a movie or album made living through it that much better.

As is the case with all of my lists, the one that you’re about to read is comprised of albums that I came to appreciate later as well as those that I was obsessed with in real time. Authenticity matters and I don’t feel the need to retroactively present myself like one of those Ivy League-educated critics whose entire approach to writing is performative.

Just like reading Pema Chödrön’s 1996 book, “When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times,” got me through the stigma of being a divorced father of three at 37, I’ve gone back to each one of these 10 choices a ton throughout the past 18 months and will continue to do so for as long as the CDs remain playable.

After all, 1996 was the year that my family finally made the transition from cassettes to compact discs, so, if you want to trace the origins of my obsession, that wouldn’t be a bad place to start.

Fiona Apple – “Tidal”

Barenaked Ladies – “Rock Spectacle”

“Weird Al” Yankovic – “Bad Hair Day”

Tool – “Ænima”

The Tragically Hip – “Trouble at the Henhouse”

Sepultura – “Roots”

Tori Amos – “Boys for Pele”

Tonic – “Lemon Parade”

Rage Against the Machine – “Evil Empire”

Soundgarden – “Down on the Upside”

Honorable Mentions – Matchbox 20 – “Yourself or Someone Like You,” Fugees – “The Score,” Weezer – “Pinkerton,” Bush – “Razorblade Suitcase,” and Stone Temple Pilots – “Tiny Music…Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop,” and De La Soul – “Stakes is High”

My 10 Favorite Tracks – Fiona Apple – “Shadowboxer,” Tori Amos – “Caught a Lite Sneeze,” Barenaked Ladies – “When I Fall,” “Weird Al” Yankovic – “Amish Paradise,” Soundgarden – “Blow Up the Outside World,” Tonic – “Open Up Your Eyes,” Tool – “H.,” Rage Against the Machine – “Down Rodeo,” Sepultura – “Roots Bloody Roots,” and The Tragically Hip – “Gift Shop”

Cooper’s List

“Weird Al” Yankovic – “Bad Hair Day“

Space Jam – “Original Soundtrack”

Rage Against the Machine – “Evil Empire”

Matchbox 20 – “Yourself or Someone Like You”

Prince – “Emancipation”

Weezer – “Pinkerton”

Blackstreet – “Another Level”

Spice Girls – “Spice”

Beck – “Odelay”

The Tragically Hip – “Trouble at the Henhouse”

Favorite Tracks – The Tragically Hip – “Ahead by a Century,” Spice Girls – “Wannabe,” Matchbox 20 – “3 AM,” Beck – “Where It’s At,” “Weird Al” Yankovic – “Amish Paradise,” Blackstreet – “No Diggity,” Prince – “Betcha by Golly Wow!,” Weezer – “El Scorcho,” R. Kelly – “I Believe I Can Fly,” and Rage Against the Machine – “Bulls on Parade”