'90s Memories

It was 1991 when Nirvana dropped its Gen-X atom bomb "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and kicked the last decade of the millennium into high "here we are now" gear. But while the massively sludgy, flannel-wrapped sounds of grunge hits like Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" seized the '90s off the top, there was so much more to the end of the century. Like when Whitney Houston released her own kind of monster, commandeering the airwaves with the soaring chorus of "I Will Always Love You," or Los Del Rio hit the prom and wedding-reception circuit with its infectious dance tune "Macarena," and Hanson sent U.S. tweeners into a tizzy with the bubblegum beauty "MMMBop."

More '90s Memories await in Next Steps.

Every decade has its one-hit wonders, and the '90s was no different. House of Pain got pulses pounding with its hip-hop hit "Jump Around," and Right Said Fred launched a legion of so-confident catwalkers with its purring novelty number, "I'm Too Sexy." But genuine superstars also arose from the millennium's end, staking their claims to new-era immortality with musical commands like "Say My Name" from the aptly named Destiny's Child. Meanwhile, Eminem unleashed his incendiary alter ego, Slim Shady, on "My Name Is," and Christina Aguilera rubbed millions the right way on her debut smash, "Genie in a Bottle."

Don't forget — there are more '90s Memories in Deep Cuts.

The house-party holler of Naughty By Nature's "O.P.P." — yeah, you know me! — was only one of the '90s' finest hip-hop moments. Rap got a dose of laid-back jazz, courtesy of Digable Planets and "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)," while, down in "Tennessee," Arrested Development explored its Southern roots and wound up the first rap outfit to score a Best New Artist GRAMMY®. In other news, the ladies hit it big as Shania Twain scored a country classic with "You're Still the One," Sophie B. Hawkins laid it on the line in "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover," and Joan Osborne asked the big questions on "One of Us."

What were you doing in the '90s? Sitting on the couch watching Seinfeld and The Real World? Investigating that amazing technological witchcraft called the Internet? Making your first foray down the block on your Hot Wheels? Hey, we all have our own cherished memories of the millennium's ultimate decade, but it takes iTunes Essentials to wrap up the best of the '90s' musical milestones into one easy download. We've got it all right here — everything from the scorched-earth payback of Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know" to the love-in grace of U2's "One," from the TKO punch of LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out" to the Sunshine State shout-out of 2Pac and Dre's "California Love." If you want the real-deal smashes (MC Hammer's funky rapper "U Can't Touch This") and the one-hit splashes (EMF's incredibly hook-heavy "Unbelievable"), make '90s Memories your ultimate sonic scrapbook.