Matchbox 20 - Yourself or Someone Like You

In the film Clueless, Alicia Silverstone called the music her step brother listened to as “complaint rock”.  I’m not sure a better description of rock music in the 90s was ever coined.    

We like to think that the sound of the 90s was Nirvana and Pearl Jam but maybe Matchbox 20 is closer to the truth.  There’s a lyrical thread that runs through this album that sums up the mood of the times.  They’re defeatist, downcast and, yes, a little depressing.   

If you match these lyrics with a pretty standard classic rock sound, you get Matchbox 20.  Obviously this was a successful formula as the album was number one for six weeks and it sold 10 times platinum in Australia.