| Anthony Fantano (USA) - The Needle Drop: Classic Albums
| No Order |
| Associated Press - The 10 Best Albums of the 1990s (1999)
| No Order |
| Blender (USA) - 500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die (2003)
| No Order |
| Blender (USA) - The 100 Greatest American Albums of All time (2002)
| 75 |
| CDNOW (USA) - The 10 (+5) Essential Records of the 90s (2002)
| No Order |
| Consequence of Sound (USA) - Top 100 Albums Ever (2010)
| 68 |
| Ego Trip (USA) - Hip Hop's 25 Greatest Albums by Year 1980-98 (1999)
| 4 |
| Gear (USA) - The 100 Greatest Albums of the Century (1999)
| 88 |
| Ink Blot (USA) - Albums of the 90s (2000)
| 9 |
| Kitsap Sun (USA) - Top 200 Albums of the Last 40 Years (2005)
| 65 |
| National Recording Preservation Board (USA) - The National Recording Registry
| No Order |
| Nude as the News (USA) - The 100 Most Compelling Albums of the 90s (1999)
| 40 |
| Paste (USA) - The 90 Best Albums of the 1990s (2012)
| 16 |
| Pause & Play (USA) - 10 Albums of the 90's (2003)
| No Order |
| Pause & Play (USA) - Albums Inducted into a Time Capsule, One Album per Week
| No Order |
| Pause & Play (USA) - The 90s Top 100 Essential Albums (1999)
| 7 |
| Popblerd/bLISTerd (USA) - Top 100 Albums of the 1990s (2012)
| 50 |
| Robert Dimery - 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (Updated 2018)
| No Order |
| Rolling Stone (USA) - 50 Essential Female Albums (2002)
| 32 |
| Rolling Stone (USA) - The 100 Greatest Albums of the 90s (2010)
| 5 |
| Rolling Stone (USA) - The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2012)
| 314 |
| Rolling Stone (USA) - The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020)
| 10 |
| Rolling Stone (USA) - The Essential Recordings of the 90s (1999)
| No Order |
| Rolling Stone (USA) - Women Who Rock: 50 Greatest Albums (2012)
| 43 |
| Slant (USA) - The 100 Best Albums of the 1990s (2011)
| 24 |
| Spin (USA) - The 125 Best Albums of the Past 25 Years (2010)
| 78 |
| Spin (USA) - The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (2015)
| 192 |
| Spin (USA) - Top 100 (+5) Albums of the Last 20 Years (2005)
| 49 |
| Spin (USA) - Top 90 Albums of the 90s (1999)
| 28 |
| Tom Moon (USA) - 1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die (2008)
| Main entry |
| VH1 (USA) - The 100 Greatest Albums of R 'N' R (2001)
| 37 |
| Vibe (USA) - 150 Albums That Define the Vibe Era (1992-2007)
| No Order |
| Vibe (USA) - 51 Albums representing a Generation, a Sound and a Movement (2004)
| No Order |
| Vibe (USA) - The 50 Greatest Albums Since '93 (2013)
| 9 |
| XXL (USA) - 40 Years of Hip-Hop: Top 5 Albums by Year (2014)
| No Order |
| Channel 4 (UK) - 125 Nominations for the 100 Greatest Albums (2005)
| No Order |
| Elvis Costello - 500 Albums You Need (2000)
| No Order |
| Gary Mulholland (UK) - 261 Greatest Albums Since Punk and Disco (2006)
| No Order |
| Hip-Hop Connection (UK) - The 100 Greatest Rap Albums 1995-2005
| 39 |
| Mojo (UK) - The 100 Greatest Albums of Our Lifetime 1993-2006 (2006)
| 67 |
| Mojo (UK) - The Mojo Collection, 3rd and/or 4th Edition (2003/2007)
| No Order |
| NME (UK) - 101 Albums to Hear Before You Die (2014)
| No Order |
| NME (UK) - The 50 Greatest Debut Albums (2010)
| No Order |
| NME (UK) - The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2013)
| 89 |
| No Ripcord (UK) - Top Albums 1990-1999 (2013)
| 56 |
| Q (UK) - 100 Greatest Albums of the 1990s (2015)
| 32 |
| Q (UK) - 90 Albums of the 90s (1999)
| No Order |
| Q (UK) - The Ultimate Music Collection (2005)
| No Order |
| Stuart Maconie's Critical List on BBC Radio 2 (UK) - One Album Added Each Week
| No Order |
| The Guardian (UK) - 1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die (2007)
| No Order |
| The Guardian (UK) - My Favourite Album Series (2011)
| No Order |
| The New Nation (UK) - Top 100 Albums by Black Artists
| 10 |
| The Rough Guide - Soul: 100 Essential CDs (2000)
| No Order |
| Times, Metro (UK) - Top 10 Albums of the 90s (1999)
| 8 |
| Entertainment Weekly (USA) - The 100 All-Time Greatest Albums (2013)
| 28 |
| Entertainment Weekly (USA) - The 100 Best Albums from 1983 to 2008 (2008)
| 2 |
| Entertainment Weekly (USA) - The 25 Greatest Albums, 1990-2014 (2015)
| No Order |
| The Sun (Canada) - The Best Albums from 1971 to 2000 (2001)
| No Order |
| Aftenposten (Norway) - Top 50 Albums of All Time (1999)
| 48 |
| Eggen & Kartvedt (Norway) - The Guide to the 100 Important Rock Albums (1999)
| No Order |
| Helsingin Sanomat (Finland) - 50th Anniversary of Rock (2004)
| No Order |
| Studio Brussels (Belgium) - The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Nominations (2015)
| No Order |
| Laut (Germany) - Meilensteine (Milestones)
| No Order |
| Musikexpress (Germany) - The 50 Best Albums of the 90s (2005)
| 23 |
| Wiener (Austria) - The 100 Best Albums of the 20th Century (1999)
| 100 |
| FNAC (France) - The 1000 Best Albums of All Time (2008)
| 420 |
| FNAC (France) - The Ideal Discography: 823 Indispensables Albums (2015)
| Key album |
| Rock & Folk (France) - The Best Albums from 1963 to 1999 (1999)
| No Order |
| Dance de Lux (Spain) - The 25 Best Hip-Hop Records (2001)
| 12 |
| Rock de Lux (Spain) - The 150 Best Albums from the 90s (2000)
| 132 |
| Rock de Lux (Spain) - The 300 (+200) Best Albums from 1984-2014 (2014)
| 217 |
| Cameron Adams (Australia) - 100 Must Have Albumsïŋ―(2013)
| 11-100 |
| Juice (Australia) - The 100 (+34) Greatest Albums of the 90s (1999)
| 55 |
| Ondarock (Italy) - Rock Milestones (albums added every month)
| No Order |
| Babylon (Greece) - The 50 Best Albums of the 1990s (1999)
| 45 |
| Giannis Petridis (Greece) - 2004 of the Best Albums of the Century (2003)
| No Order |
| All Music Guide (USA) - Album Ratings 1-5 Stars
| 5 Stars |
| Robert Christgau (USA) - Consumer Guide Album Grade
| *** |
| Rolling Stone Album Guide, Ratings 1-5 Stars (USA, 2004)
| 4.5 Stars |
| Martin C. Strong (UK) - The Great Rock Discography 7th Edition, Ratings 1-10
| 9 |
| Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (UK) - Album Ratings 1-5 Stars (2002)
| 4 Stars |
| Music Story (France) - Album Ratings 1-5 Stars
| 5 Stars |
| Piero Scaruffi, Italy (www.scaruffi.com), Album Ratings (Scale 1 to 10)
| 7.5 |
| Addicted to Noise (USA) - Albums of the Year
| 1 |
| College Music Journal (USA) - Albums of the Year
| 2 |
| Downbeat (USA) - Album of the Year
| 1 |
| Grammy Awards (USA) - Album of the Year
| Winner |
| LA Times (USA) - Albums of the Year
| 1 |
| Rolling Stone (USA) - Albums of the Year
| 1 |
| Spin (USA) - Albums of the Year
| 1 |
| Village Voice (USA) - Albums of the Year
| 2 |
| Wall of Sound (USA) - Albums of the Year
| 1 |
| Face (UK) - Albums of the Year
| 3 |
| Melody Maker (UK) - Albums of the Year
| 32 |
| Muzik (UK) - Albums of the Year
| 3 |
| NME (UK) - Albums of the Year
| 22 |
| Q (UK) - Albums of the Year
| No Order |
| Select (UK) - Albums of the Year
| 9 |
| Uncut (UK) - Albums of the Year
| 39 |
| Eye Weekly Canadian Critics Poll - Albums of the Year
| 2 |
| Aftonbladet (Sweden) - Albums of the Year
| 3 |
| Nïŋ―jesguiden (Sweden) - Albums of the Year
| 2 |
| Pop (Sweden) - Albums of the Year
| 1 |
| HUMO (Belgium) - Albums of the Year
| 10 |
| OOR (Netherlands) - Albums of the Year
| 4 |
| Musikexpress/Sounds (Germany) - Albums of the Year
| 46 |
| Spex (Germany) - Albums of the Year
| 16 |
| Szene (Germany) - Albums of the Year
| 14 |
| BigO (Singapore) - Albums of the Year
| 4 |
| OAZA (Yugoslavia) - Albums of the Year
| 18 |
