'90s Love Songs

With the exception of several affecting low-key melodies (notably from Crowded House and Savage Garden), pop love in the '90s was rarely a subtle affair — rather, something to be belted out on a mountain top for all the world to hear (Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You"); or from the prow of a doomed ocean liner ("My Heart Will Go On"); or in a forest surrounded by merry men — that'll be Bryan Adams, putting into song what Kevin Costner felt for the maiden of his dreams in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. The best love song of the decade? Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares 2 U" must be in the running.

There are more heartfelt tunes from the 20th century's dying years, in Next Steps.

Take That made a great impression on teenage hearts in the '90s . . . even after the band's breakup, as old boy Gary Barlow scored with the eternal gorgeousness of "Forever Love." Zucchero, the hoary Italian veteran with a voice like rust, teamed up with blue-eyed soul boy Paul Young for "Senza una donna (Without a Woman)," Jimmy Barnes took the old-school road to "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby," and Kylie drank the milk of human empathy on "Put Yourself in My Place." And while the Spice Girls got it on, and set our spirit free (it's the only way to be), on "2 Become 1," girl group rivals All Saints were dazed by love on the sublimely slinky "Never Ever."

A fistful of rockers get amorous, '90s-style, in Deep Cuts.

Rockers who showed us their romantic side in the '90s were surprisingly thin on the ground — but honourable mention must go to Lenny Kravitz, who slid into an exotic groove on "It Ain't Over Til It's Over," Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, whose depths of sensitivity were revealed on "(Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For,?" and Paul Weller, who proved that the romantic soul man within could never be denied on "You Do Something to Me." Meanwhile, Sean Maguire rode the soapy wave of his EastEnders fame straight into our hearts with "You to Me Are Everything," and Billie Piper was sweet as a nut on "Honey to the Bee."

When Marti Pellow's Wet, Wet, Wet declared "Love Is All Around" in 1994, he articulated a sentiment that pretty much summed up the decade. That track, along with the other monster smashes in this collection by Bryan Adams, Whitney Houston and Céline Dion, spent so long at the top of the charts that the sound of romance was changed forever — at every wedding from now until the end of time, you'll hear at least one of those tunes. But don't overlook the scores of other great love songs produced by the '90s, from the dream pairing of Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey on "Endless Love" to "I'll Stand by You," the track that put the tender in the Pretenders.