There was a time when choosing what to watch or listen to involved physically getting up.

You had CDs stacked next to the stereo. DVDs lined up underneath the telly. Maybe a battered CD wallet in the car. You knew exactly which albums were in your collection, which films you'd watched a hundred times and which disc had mysteriously disappeared from its case.

Before streaming gave us everything instantly, we had shelves.

For the September Edit, we're taking a trip back to the CDs and DVDs that defined growing up. The albums we played until our parents told us to turn them down, the albums that changed what was playing in bedrooms and cars, the films we watched on repeat and the physical media that somehow became part of our lives.

Because the nostalgia isn't just about what we watched and listened to. It's about how we owned it.

Quick Answer: What CDs and DVDs did we grow up with?

For many of us, growing up in the 90s and 00s meant a collection packed with NOW That's What I Call Music!, Spice Girls, Oasis, Britney Spears, Eminem and Destiny's Child, alongside DVDs such as The Matrix, Shrek, Harry Potter and Mean Girls.

But the real nostalgia isn't just about the titles.

It's about buying the CD. Reading the booklet. Making a mixtape. Lending a DVD to a mate and never seeing it again. And eventually finding that same disc years later at the back of a cupboard.

Key Facts

1. NOW That's What I Call Music!

Before Spotify playlists, there was NOW.

Every new edition felt like a snapshot of exactly what was happening in pop music at that moment. You'd argue over which tracks were best, skip the ones you didn't like and then, inevitably, end up knowing every word anyway.

For anyone who grew up in the 90s or 00s, a NOW album wasn't just a compilation. It was an introduction to music.

You could discover a new band on the same CD as the biggest pop star in the world. You could hear a dance track next to a rock song, followed by an R&B hit.

And there was something particularly satisfying about opening the booklet and seeing the full tracklist.

No algorithm had decided what you might like.

You had to work it out yourself.

2. Spice Girls – Spice

If you were around in the second half of the 90s, you couldn't really escape the Spice Girls.

Spice arrived in 1996 and became one of the defining pop albums of the decade. Wannabe, Say You'll Be There, 2 Become 1 and Who Do You Think You Are turned the group into a global phenomenon.

But the CD itself is part of the nostalgia.

The artwork. The booklet. The case sitting on the shelf next to everything else. The fact that you could lend it to a friend and then spend three weeks trying to get it back.

Nearly 30 years later, Spice remains one of those records that can instantly transport you back to the 90s.

3. Oasis – (What's the Story) Morning Glory?

Some albums don't just remind you of a time.

They are a time.

Oasis' (What's the Story) Morning Glory? is one of them.

Wonderwall. Don't Look Back in Anger. Champagne Supernova. Some Might Say.

It was everywhere.

Whether you were a committed Britpop fan or simply someone who happened to own the CD, these songs became part of the soundtrack of British life in the mid-90s.

And there was always something wonderfully democratic about owning an album like this. It didn't matter what else was in your collection.

Everyone knew the words.

4. Britney Spears – ...Baby One More Time

Then pop changed again.

Britney Spears' debut album arrived in 1999 and suddenly the CD player was getting a very different workout.

The title track became one of the biggest pop singles of its era, while Sometimes, (You Drive Me) Crazy and From the Bottom of My Broken Heart helped make the album a genuine late-90s phenomenon.

It was glossy, perfectly packaged pop at a time when buying the CD was part of the experience.

The artwork. The photos. The booklet. The little plastic case that somehow survived being thrown into a school bag.

And yes, some of us still know every word.

5. Eminem – The Slim Shady LP

Then came the CD that made Hip Hop impossible to ignore.

Eminem's The Slim Shady LP arrived in 1999 and turned an already talked-about Detroit rapper into a global superstar.

My Name Is, Guilty Conscience and Just Don't Give a Fuck were unlike almost anything else dominating the charts at the time. Eminem's combination of dark humour, sharp storytelling and provocative lyrics made him impossible to ignore.

For a generation discovering Hip Hop through CDs, this was a gateway record.

It was funny, controversial, aggressive and completely different from the pop and Britpop records sitting alongside it on the shelf.

And like so many albums from this era, you didn't just stream the big single.

You bought the whole CD.

6. Destiny's Child – The Writing's on the Wall

If Eminem represented one side of the late-90s musical explosion, Destiny's Child represented another.

The Writing's on the Wall arrived in 1999 and turned Destiny's Child into one of the biggest R&B groups in the world.

Bills, Bills, Bills, Say My Name, Jumpin', Jumpin' and Bug a Boo made it one of those albums that seemed to be everywhere.

It also captures something important about CD culture at the time.

Your collection didn't have to belong to one genre. Music was becoming increasingly diverse, and your shelf could jump from Oasis to Eminem to Britney Spears to Destiny's Child without anyone thinking twice.

Your CD shelf was your algorithm.

And you were the one making the decisions.

7. The Matrix

Then DVDs changed everything.

Suddenly you weren't watching a film on a battered VHS tape that needed rewinding. You had a shiny disc, menus, bonus features, deleted scenes and, if you were lucky, a commentary track.

The Matrix was exactly the kind of film that made people want a DVD player.

Released in 1999, it looked and sounded incredible on a decent home cinema setup and quickly became a DVD collection staple.

It also gave us one of the great pleasures of owning films:

Showing someone a film you'd already seen and waiting for their reaction.

8. Shrek

There are films you watch once.

Then there are films that somehow become part of the furniture.

Shrek arrived in 2001 and became one of those DVDs that seemed to be permanently available for another viewing.

The jokes worked for children. The references worked for adults. The soundtrack was brilliant. And once the DVD was in the house, there was really no reason not to put it on again.

It was funny the first time.

It was funny the tenth time.

You still knew what was coming.

You still laughed.

9. Harry Potter

For an entire generation, the Harry Potter films weren't just films.

They were events.

Each new release meant another trip to the cinema, followed eventually by another addition to the DVD shelf.

And the physical versions became part of the experience. Special editions, box sets and artwork that looked good lined up next to the other films.

There was also something satisfying about owning the complete collection as the films accumulated.

You could literally see your childhood sitting on a shelf.

10. Mean Girls

And then there's Mean Girls.

Released in 2004, it quickly became one of those films that developed a life far beyond its original cinema run.

The DVD became a teenage staple, endlessly rewatched and quoted. Years later, it remains one of those films where people can recognise a scene from a single line.

It's also a perfect example of why physical media creates such strong nostalgia.

You didn't just watch Mean Girls.

You owned Mean Girls.

And that meant you could watch it whenever you wanted.

The joy of having a shelf

That's probably the biggest difference between then and now.

Streaming is brilliant. It's convenient, fast and gives us access to an almost ridiculous amount of music and film.

But there was something different about physical media.

You could see your taste.

Your CD collection told people what kind of music you liked. Your DVD shelf showed which films you were obsessed with. You lent things to friends and sometimes never got them back. You found forgotten albums in drawers years later.

And every disc had a story attached to it.

"I bought this on holiday."

"My dad gave me this."

"I played this CD to death."

"We watched this every Christmas."

That's the bit that streaming can't quite replicate.

Your CD shelf was your algorithm

Before personalised playlists, recommendations and "Because you listened to..." sections, discovering music was much more physical.

You saw an album in a shop.

You heard a song on the radio.

A mate told you about a band.

You borrowed a CD.

You bought a compilation.

Then you made your own decisions about what stayed in the collection.

And that's why looking back at an old CD shelf can be surprisingly revealing. It wasn't just a collection of music. It was a record of who you were at the time.

The phases. The guilty pleasures. The albums you still love. The ones you can't quite believe you bought.

They're all there.

The films we watched again and again

DVDs created their own kind of nostalgia.

There was no scrolling through hundreds of thumbnails trying to decide what to watch. You looked at the shelf.

Shrek?

The Matrix?

Harry Potter?

Mean Girls?

You'd already seen them all.

Didn't matter.

You knew what you were getting.

And sometimes that's exactly what you want from a film.

What was on your shelf?

The funny thing about nostalgia is that everyone remembers a slightly different version of it.

Maybe your shelf was all Britpop. Maybe it was boybands and pop princesses. Maybe Hip Hop and R&B dominated the CD rack. Maybe you had a serious metal phase.

Maybe your DVD collection was basically The Simpsons, Friends and every comedy film released between 1998 and 2008.

Whatever it was, there's a good chance at least some of those discs are still hiding somewhere.

And if they're not?

That's what Chalkys is here for.

Rediscover the CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays and vinyl that soundtracked your younger years, or find something completely new to put on the shelf.

Because sometimes the best way to remember something is to put the physical copy back on it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CDs were popular in the 1990s and 2000s?

Some of the most memorable CDs from the 1990s and 2000s included albums by Oasis, Spice Girls, Britney Spears, Eminem and Destiny's Child, alongside artists including Madonna, Backstreet Boys, Westlife and many more. Compilation albums such as NOW That's What I Call Music! were also a huge part of the era.

What were the most popular 90s CDs?

Popular 90s CDs included Spice by Spice Girls, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis, ...Baby One More Time by Britney Spears, The Slim Shady LP by Eminem and numerous NOW compilation albums.

What Hip Hop CDs were popular in the 90s?

The 1990s produced a huge number of influential Hip Hop albums, including Eminem's The Slim Shady LP, 2Pac's All Eyez on Me, The Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready to Die, Dr. Dre's The Chronic and Wu-Tang Clan's Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).

What R&B CDs were popular in the 90s?

Popular 90s R&B CDs included Destiny's Child's The Writing's on the Wall, TLC's CrazySexyCool, Brandy's Never Say Never, Aaliyah's One in a Million and albums by artists including Boyz II Men and Mary J. Blige.

What DVDs were popular in the 2000s?

Popular DVDs from the 2000s included Harry Potter, Shrek, The Matrix, Mean Girls, The Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean and numerous comedy, action and family films.

When did DVDs replace VHS in the UK?

DVDs became increasingly popular in the UK during the late 1990s and early 2000s. By the early 2000s, DVD had become the dominant home-video format as DVD players became more affordable and consumers were attracted to better picture quality, compact discs and bonus features.

Are CDs nostalgic?

Yes. CDs are strongly associated with the 1990s and 2000s because they were one of the main ways people bought and listened to recorded music. The artwork, packaging, booklets and physical act of playing a CD all became part of the listening experience.

Why is physical media nostalgic?

Physical media is nostalgic because it connects music and film with a tangible object. The artwork, packaging, shelf and act of putting a disc into a player can all trigger memories associated with the music or film.

The nostalgia is still on the shelf

We might have streaming libraries now that contain more music and films than we could ever possibly get through.

But there's something satisfying about finding an old CD or DVD and remembering exactly where you were when you bought it.

That's the magic of physical media.

It isn't just something you watched or listened to.

It was something you owned.

And sometimes, that's worth putting back on the shelf.