Choose Your ‘90s Rescue Mission: Adrian Belew’s Failed Radio Gold or Seam’s Overlooked Influence?
From King Crimson’s guitarist to Chicago’s indie pioneers—which community suggestion wins the deep dive?
Four Albums Fighting for the Spotlight
Our community just proved it again. The polls are open, and these four albums showcase everything that made ‘90s rock beautifully, unapologetically weird. We’re talking King Crimson’s guitar wizard going solo, Columbus punks making their major-label farewell, Seattle’s psychedelic misfits, and Chicago’s indie rock perfectionists.
These aren’t your “Best of the ’90s” greatest hits. These lived in the margins. They demanded something from you—attention, patience, maybe even a little faith.
Adrian Belew - Young Lions
What happens when David Bowie shows up and nobody cares?
Keith P Miller nailed it: “fantastic album that features quirky yet accessible songs and a couple of guest appearances by David Bowie.” That’s the tragedy and the beauty of Young Lions right there.
Picture this: Adrian Belew, fresh from King Crimson madness and Bowie’s musical director gig, crafts his fifth solo record. He’s got all that experimental guitar wizardry you’d expect, but wraps it in pop songs that actually stick. Bowie himself sings on “Pretty Pink Rose” and “Gunman”—tracks that should’ve been radio gold.
But 1990 wasn’t ready for accessible weirdness. Maybe it was too smart. Maybe the industry just couldn’t figure out where to put it.
Sound familiar?
Scrawl - Nature Film
When your farewell becomes your calling card
Patrick Testa calls this “a self-reflective concluding statement to their major label deal from the celebrated, independent, alternative rock, female-duo-led, post-punk trio from Columbus, Ohio.” That’s a lot, but it captures exactly what made Scrawl special.
Nature Film works as both ending and beginning—six re-recorded older tracks, six new ones, creating Scrawl’s definitive statement. But here’s what gets you: Marcy Mays and Sue Harshe could sound “tender and callous at the same time” while creating “real humanism inside their own master-crafted guitar trio churn and grind”.
It’s punk rock for people who pay rent. Music that understood growing up without giving up.
The Dark Fantastic - The Dark Fantastic
What if Seattle did psychedelia instead of grunge?
Eric Peterson describes it as “Dark Psych Folk Alt Rock from the Seattle area… oh and there are some Euro Disco (Rave) beat elements that make for an interesting experiment.” Sounds like someone threw genre names in a blender, right?
That’s exactly the point.
Mark Pickerel left Screaming Trees and formed The Dark Fantastic in 1999, carving out space in Seattle’s post-grunge landscape that nobody else wanted. Too experimental for mainstream rock, too structured for the underground.
Perfect for anyone who wanted their music to challenge them without completely abandoning melody.
Seam - The Problem With Me
Nine songs that taught indie rock how to feel
Bob Ramakers gets it: “A ’90s gem that deserves all the attention. Delicate, perfectly crafted songs. Monumentally sad yet overwhelmingly triumphant.”
Among Seam devotees, The Problem With Me is the masterpiece—Sooyoung Park’s songwriting peak captured in nine perfect tracks. This became the template for emotional indie rock, influencing everyone from Death Cab for Cutie.
Park’s “quiet-but-intense vocals” and guitar work that shifted from gentle arpeggios to cathartic release? That’s lightning in a bottle, recorded by a band hitting their absolute creative stride.
You Spoke. We Listened. Europe Takes Flight! 🦅
This is exactly why we do these polls. You didn’t just pick an album—you chose a story that needs telling. While the world remembers “The Final Countdown,” you recognized something deeper. Something rawer. Something that captures a band right before they became superstars.
80s Metal Final Results:
Europe - Wings of Tomorrow: 40.0% 🏆
Skid Row - Skid Row: 30.0%
Vixen - Vixen: 23.3%
Black ’n Blue - Nasty Nasty: 6.7%
What You Just Unleashed
Chip, who suggested this album, asked the perfect question: “Did you know Europe put out two albums before ‘The Final Countdown’?”
You answered with your votes: Yes, and they matter.
Wings of Tomorrow is Europe at their hungriest. John Norum’s guitar work cuts like a blade. Joey Tempest’s vocals soar without a synthesizer in sight. This is Swedish metal before it got polished for arena crowds. We’ll be breaking it all down in the next episode of Dig Me Out: 80s Metal.
Your Suggestions Become Our Next Episode
What’s sitting in your collection right now, waiting for its moment? That obscure gem from the used record store. That major-label misfire that time vindicated. That album that changed your life but never got the recognition it deserved. Send us your suggestions and keep this conversation alive. Tell us what forgotten treasure should be unearthed next—because at Dig Me Out, the best discoveries come from the community that lives and breathes this music. 🤘