Hey there. It's my first proper post on here in over a week. I've been really ill recently and also in honesty, I kinda needed a little break from this site! I try to post every two days and some of my articles are quite long. But I love doing it so it's no excuse. No one puts that pressure on me but myself. It's good pressure though. But you also need a break once in a while.
Anyway, back to business. Female vocals in rock and metal are, for some reason, hard to find. I mean you find certain bands and certain artists come and make a small dent in the genres of rock, metal and indie, but it's a lot harder for a female vocalist to get the success that a male vocalist does. In pop it's a different story, you have female vocalists and girl bands all over the place. It's an oddity. So today, I'm paying homage to female vocalists in rock, metal and indie music.
Not familiar with my Mixtapes? Here are the rules.
A Mixtape is a playlist of a certain genre, band or era. The
list is generally 80 minutes long, the same length of a blank CD, with further
recommendations if some of the songs aren't to your taste. Remember kids,
downloading is wrong!
This Mixtape doesn't sound as good as some of the others I've done. But, the content is a nice balance of all the subgenres of rock, metal and indie. So in that respect this Mixtape is a success. Also, some of the choices aren't obvious, it's to my personal taste. Anyway, enjoy!
And
that's it! I hope you enjoyed this list. There's a lot of variety here. I'm running low on Mixtape ideas, do you want to suggest any? Let me know, comment below or on my Facebook page or Twitter. That's it from me today, have a good evening!
For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!
Hey everyone, welcome to the fifth edition in a series of
reviews of a year in music. So far I have covered all the 2000s together as the
Noughtie series,
and so far monthly, the
year 1999,
then 1998,
followed by 1997 and then last month, 1996.
Just in case you’re not familiar with it, here’s the format.
It will be done in five parts. I'll do a brief history of what happened in that
year, followed by my five favourite albums of the year, then what I think the
five best videos are. I'll then do a Top 10 most impactful (still refraining
from using the word important) songs from that year. To wrap it up, I'll do my
favourite songs in a mixtape format. So now that you know where I'm going with
this, let's get to it!
We’re half way through the decade now. 1996 was a fantastic year;
let’s see how good 1995 was.
Brief History of the
Year 1995 in Music
Dave
Grohl of Nirvana starts his own band and calls it the Foo Fighters. They
would go on to be one of the biggest rock bands for the next decade.
Oasis
release "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" and it becomes one
of the best selling albums of all time and many of the singles get to #1.
Pink
Floyd disband after a career that covered 31 years. The classic lineup
wouldn’t play together again for another 10 years.
Nickelback
form. They release their first album a year later, but find worldwide
success at the start of the next decade.
In
rap, Tupac gets sent to prison on sexual assault charges. Later his album,
"Me Against the World" get to #1 in America, the first time in
history a solo artist has a #1 album whilst in prison.
In
pop, Michael Jackson releases a double album named HIStory and it becomes
the highest selling double album of all time.
My Top 5 Albums of
1995
#5 – “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” by Oasis
Released: 2/10/95
Rating: **** stars
Stand-out tracks: “Champagne Supernova”, “Don't Look Back in
Anger”, “Roll with It”
Just in case you didn’t know, the albums lists are
completely biased. Doing unbiased lists on albums is impossible unless you’re
part of a collective group of people. It goes without saying that this would be
the top album of 1995 in an unbiased list however, the album is the fourth
highest selling album in the UK ever, it got to #1 in the UK, Australia, New
Zealand, Canada and Spain, it won a Brit Award for best album, two songs got to
#1 in the UK charts (Some Might Say and Don't Look Back in Anger), the Brit
Awards named the album the best in the past thirty years, it being on Rolling
Stone’s list of best albums of all time, and other accolades.
But this is a biased list and while this is my favourite
Oasis album, my feelings on Oasis are mixed. However, this is their best work
and it’s got some fantastic tracks on this album, none better than the
brilliant and anthemic “Champagne Supernova”, a song that most certainly should
have been released as a single in this country, and of course the song that was
heavily influenced by John Lennon’s “Imagine”, “Don’t Look Back in Anger”, a
song that is considered one of the band’s best singles ever, this album is a
fantastic listen. It’s one of those albums that you just have to hear, no
matter what your taste in music is and if you like Oasis or not. It’s a
classic, and a legendary album.
#4 – “Astro Creep: 2000” by White Zombie
Released: 11/4/95
Rating: ****1/4 stars
Stand-out tracks: "Electric Head Pt. 2 (The Ecstasy)”, “More
Human Than Human”, “Real Solution #9”
Astro Creep: 2000, or if you want its elaborate title, “Astro-Creep:
2000 – Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric
Head”, is definitely my favourite White Zombie album. I much prefer the work of
Rob Zombie as a solo artist rather than the band he was associated with prior,
but this is a fine piece of work. The album’s sound is the closest White Zombie
came to being the sound Rob Zombie is most associated with; the album is full
of industrial metal, obscene lyrics and snippets from old horror films cut into
the core of the tracks. The album and the single, “More Human Than Human”, were
nominated for Grammy awards, and the album was and is featured on many “Best of
the Nineties” album lists. It’s a truly great album, the final album White
Zombie did as a group, and paved the way for Rob Zombie’s solo career to be as
big as it’s become.
#3 – “Garbage” by Garbage
Released: 15/8/95
Rating: ****1/4 stars
Stand-out tracks: “Not My Idea”, “Supervixen”, “As Heaven is
Wide”
Garbage’s debut album is probably my favourite, although
their first three albums were all good quality. This debut has some excellent
work on it, and Shirley Manson, who at this point was eleven years into her
musical career, sounds fantastic. Manson has always had a good voice, but I
don’t think she’s ever sounded as good as she did in 1995. The music sounds
great too, Garbage have always managed to combine alternative rock with
electronica and parts of dare I say it, industrial rock. There’s a certain
element of Garbage’s sound that hasn’t really been replicated, despite there
being a few bands that are associated with them. I thoroughly enjoy listening
to Garbage’s debut album and put it on every once in a while, and it always
manages to sound as fresh as it did in 1995.
Elastica’s debut album is something else. At the time, it
got to #1 in the UK charts, it was certified gold, and became the fasting
selling debut album of all time (it’s now Leona Lewis with “Spirit”). Elastica
had a brilliant sound, mixing punk, post-punk, early indie, grunge and brit-pop
together and with the fantastic female vocals of Justine Frischmann, this is
one of my favourite childhood albums. It’s odd that they were as popular as
they were, also being nominated for a Mercury Music Prize, considering the
genre, but in the years of post-Nirvana-mania, the popularity of the harder
rock sound obviously was still strong, at least for this moment of 1995. I
absolutely love this album, the first half is as good as any album out there
and while the quality is on the slight decrease towards the end, the final
track “Vaseline”, an awesome 90 second piece, is as great an ending to an album
around. Overall, this is a brilliant album, one I definitely recommend you get
if you like female bands (the drummer is male mind) and the idea of a punky
grungy brit-pop outfit.
#1 – “The Bends” by Radiohead
Released: 13/3/95
Rating: ****1/2 stars
Stand-out tracks: "My Iron Lung", "Just",
"(Nice Dream)"
The Bends is my favourite Radiohead album, as well as my
favourite album of 1995. It was a challenging time for the band. “Pablo Honey”
was released; “Creep” became a huge hit in the UK and the US. The sound of
their first album, a more raw and aggressive version of their eventual style,
was considered a soft Nirvana, grunge if you will. They hated the idea that
they were considered a Nirvana knockoff, as well as the increasing reputation
to do a bigger and better song than “Creep”. They took refuge from the hype
throughout 1994 and 1995, releasing an EP of the track “My Iron Lung” to show a
different direction that they were heading in. “The Bends” is the end product
of that separation from their debut, and it’s a transitional step to the sound
they would then develop with “OK Computer” a sound they have tweaked around
with, but haven’t drifted too far away from.
But I preferred this sound. It’s the hardest and heaviest
album they’ve done (not that it’s heavy) and it’s just a great sounding rock
album. Radiohead have been called everything, from indie, alternative, grunge,
rock, dance, techno, ambient, brit-pop, everything. But this is just rock; it’s
a rock album and I just love it. Johnny Greenwood was at his experimental best
here, his distortions in his guitars are absolutely magnificent, and sounds
best in “My Iron Lung” and “(Nice Dream)". This is just an album you have to
hear, and it’s my preference over “OK Computer”, if you want to try and get
into Radiohead but don’t know where to start.
My Top 5 Music Videos
of 1995
#5 - "It’s Oh So Quiet” by Bjork
You can’t help but love a bit of Bjork. Iceland’s best
export since four chicken breaststeaks for £1, she really was something in the
nineties. So cute, so weird, so different and she had a fiery temper when she
wanted to. But her finest moment really was this, a cover version of Betty
Hutton’s version from 1951; a song that was forgotten about completely by 1995
was revived in amazing fashion. The video played every part in its success. The
song and video were very reminiscent of the musicals of old, where normal day
life is emphasised in the slow and ‘quiet’ verses and then the bright and
colourful chorus brings everyone to life and lots and lots of dancing
commences. Bjork’s fine video remains one of the most iconic videos of the
nineties.
#4 - "Common People” by Pulp
This was one of the first music videos that really struck me
as a kid. I was six years old when this came out, and I still remember being
engulfed in this fantastic artistic location that the video was in. The
supermarket section especially was something that stuck with me as a memory
from my childhood. The art direction is just great and the homages to “Yellow
Submarine” by the Beatles is cool. The awful yet cool dance routine at the end
makes me laugh now as it fits Jarvis Cocker to a tee. The actress, Sadie Frost,
who also was in Bram Stoker’s Dracula and The Krays, does a great job playing
the ‘uncommon’ person who likes the ‘common people’. This video is a must see
if you’ve never seen it before, it’s just a great video.
#3 - "Where the Wild Roses Grow” by Nick Cave and Kylie
Minogue
If there ever was such a perfect video for a perfect story
told in song format this is it. Nick Cave’s “Murder Ballads”, which was
released the following year and covered last month, is a phenomenal piece of work
anyway, and this video gives a fantastic visual for one of the deaths in the
album. “Eliza Day”, otherwise known as the Wild Rose, is played by the beautiful
Kylie Minogue and her murderer is played by Nick Cave. The video pretty much
word for word describes the song’s story, but it’s just beautifully crafted,
filmed and acted by the two musicians. The Wild Rose is murdered by the
character Nick Cave plays, the reasoning possibly being he wants her to be
remembered as beautiful in his memories forever, rather than her getting old
and weak. She takes him to the river, they kiss and then he kills her with a
rock. He then closes her eyes, puts a rose between her teeth, and sets her body
to the river. It’s a beautifully crafted death and it’s one of the best videos
of the year.
#2 - "Dope Hat” by Marilyn Manson
I don’t know how many of you have seen this video. It’s
basically Manson’s homage to one of the greatest children’s films of all time,
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Just in case you’re not familiar with
Manson’s full work, this was from his debut album released the year earlier,
“Portrait of an American Family”. The first few Manson videos actually had
Marilyn Manson with virtually no makeup, although he did have his contact
lenses. This was the first Manson video for him to feature heavy amounts of
makeup, and looking like the Manson we all know and love/hate. The video is
pretty much the boat ride from the Willy Wonka film, with some of the images in
the background being slightly more vivid than those in the original film. The
funny thing is, the original scene in the Willy Wonka film was quite scary in
the first place, despite it being a children’s film, and this is only a slight
notch above that. The video does insinuate that these vivid images are all to
do with drug use, hence the title “Dope Hat”. The CGI isn’t great, especially
the awful looking ‘chocolate river’, but still I like this video and it was the
first time Manson used his imagination on a visual basis.
#1 - "Just” by Radiohead
This is one of the best music videos of all time. Of all
time. If you’ve never seen this video before, watch it above. Seriously.
It’s such a simple video, a simple message but it hooked
every person that saw it. It doesn’t matter if you like Radiohead; you wanted
to know what was said at the end of the video. The idea behind one man, just
one guy, falling to the floor and lying there for no reason in the middle of a
road astounds everyone around him. Everyone questions why he’s lying there,
doing nothing and the man tells everyone to leave him alone as they wouldn’t
understand. They beg of him to explain his actions, and he warns them, that if
he tells them, God help them all as they don’t know what has been asked of him.
And then the man tells them. By the way, the entire dialogue of the video is
subtitled… apart from the last line! So when he tells them, you the viewer,
hasn’t a clue what was said. And the consequence of him telling everyone? They
all fall to the floor too, and join the man. WHAT MADE THEM DO THAT?! WHAT DID
HE SAY?! GAARRGGHH! It’s just a brilliant yet simple story.
The Top 10 Most
Impactful Songs of 1995
As I said, I'm NOT calling it the 'important' list, although
it's more than just popularity as well. Anyway, here are the 10 songs of the
year. It's an unbiased list.
#10 - "Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails
This was a promotional single rather than a commercial one,
but it doesn’t matter, it was a single and it more than deserves entry in this
list. No the song didn’t chart well, it got to #54 in the Radio Songs Chart in
the US, and never charted here, and yes, the excellent Johnny Cash cover version
was and is more popular. But the original, by Nine Inch Nails, is still well
thought of today and remains one of the most amazing songs of the nineties. The
song deals with self harm and self destruction and is the amazing finale to one
of the best albums of all time, The Downward Spiral. Many people interpret the
lyrics as a suicide note for the character portrayed in the album while others
find the song dealing with the long hard road of life, battling through the
scars and blood and falling to the depths of destruction only to finally accept
life and finally accept that live is worth living for. I personally interpret
the song as the latter and find the song a real inspiration for those who
struggle with their demons in their personal lives. I’ve been fortunate not to
have many struggles, and as such don’t appreciate the song as much as many
other people do. But I know a lot of people who have had hard times in their
lives, and find comfort in this song knowing they’re not alone. These reasons
are the simple reason of its inclusion in this list, and the justification for
me to call it one of the most impactful and most important songs of all time.
While “Stupid Girl” became Garbage’s signature track the
year later, “Only Happy When it Rains” was the new platform that Garbage set
for themselves. It was not only their first major hit, but it was also a decent
hit in America and got them noticed over there. The song only got to #29 at the
time but it was a major step forward from the previous two singles and made the
band go onto bigger success. In America it got to #16 in the Modern Rock
Charts, #11 in Canada’s Alternative Chart, #36 in the Netherlands and #41 in
New Zealand. All these facts and figures don’t relate to the real story in
which the song is still played a decent amount today and is still considered
one of Garbage’s best songs. The fact that “Stupid Girl” became such a big hit
later on shows the strength this song had, if it wasn’t for this “Stupid Girl”
wouldn’t have done so well.
#8 - "Down by the Water” by PJ Harvey
Similarly, “Down by the Water” didn’t chart too well but as
many PJ Harvey fans are also aware, not many of Polly Jean’s songs do. Similar
to Nick Cave, there’s an injustice in popular music where the artist and the
quality of music isn’t associated with chart success. PJ Harvey’s work is
always appreciated critically, but it never turns into cash and chart success
which is a damn shame. Still, this song is considered one of PJ Harvey’s
biggest and best songs and still gets a decent amount of airplay today. The
song may have only got to #38 here in the UK but it did pretty damn well in
America, getting to #2 in the “Alternative Songs”. PJ Harvey has had better
chart success in the UK since, but not many of her songs are fondly thought of
and played as often as this.
#7 - "Connection” by Elastica
Elastica’s story is so sad. They had so much potential, such
a kickass sound and they had a decent period of success too. Everything was
going so well. “Connection” is the song that people fondly remember by Elastica
and it’s still played today. It was brilliant. The song got to #17 here in the
UK and #2 in the US Modern Rock Charts, quite a feat for such a new band. And
then, the horrible happened. They got accused for stealing certain parts of
certain songs by a band called Wire and many court settlements ensued. After
that, the band turns to drugs, and lead singer Justine Frichmann admitted she
was a “sad junkie” for long periods of time. They never released a new album
for five years, despite announcing in 1996 they were to release new material.
The band just self imploded after that. What a shame. “Connection” as a song
was fantastic and the band successful at one point. Then that potential was
lost to drugs. Again.
#6 - "It’s Oh So Quiet” by Bjork
What a cover version. The original is barely remembered
while Bjork has made this her signature song. It’s difficult to label Bjork
anywhere, she’s a bit of an enigma. But this song is the one most people
remember of her, with the fantastic video and her cute looks, combined with the
fun and musical elements of the song itself. The song got to #4 here in the UK
while elsewhere it got to #5 in Finland, #6 in Australia, #7 in Ireland #19 in
the Netherlands and #20 in Belgium. I
don’t know if Bjork thinks as high of this song as her other tracks, I mean it
was a cover version after all and there are many sides and variances in her
career that I’m sure she’d like to remembered more for. But she took a song
that was at the time 44 years old and was forgotten about and resurrected.
Great stuff.
Now now. If you’re going to complain about me putting a pop
song in this list then forget about it. It’s my rules and I can break them
because I’m a hypocrite. No, the reason why I’m including a pop song is purely
because of the artist. Michael Jackson is bigger than pop music. His legendary
career is among the elite in the world of music and deserves mention in these
lists. If (and it’s still an if) I start covering the eighties and seventies, I
may have to include more and more pop music, as certain pop music is well
received in the rock and metal scenes.
Anyway, the “Earth Song” needs no introduction really. It’s
an epic track. In terms of presentation, lyrics, message and sound, it can be
argued no song is bigger and grander than the “Earth Song”. Michael Jackson
pleads to the world to start thinking about the devastation humanity is doing
to the world. He pleads for us to think about the environment, the treatment of
animals amongst other things. The video also is grand and further emphasises
this. Because of Jackson’s fame and wealth, he was able to portray a message
that broke all blockages in communication in the world. Regardless of your race
or language, you understood the message of the song. In its grandeur, this song
is one of the greatest. It got to #1 in many many MANY countries, at least
fourteen to be exact. But there’s one major negative feeling about the whole
thing and many people feel this way. It just felt over exaggerated and pompous
for Michael Jackson to preach about morality like that. It’s the only
criticism, and the live performances and the video, which in certain elements
make Michael Jackson look like a modern Jesus, adds to this frustration.
Regardless of the negative connotations to the song, it was incredibly
successful and full of grandeur, and deserves a mention as one of the biggest
songs of the year and decade.
#4 - "Country House” by Blur
As I mentioned earlier, I was six years old when these songs
came out. 1995 is the earliest year really that I thoroughly remember as a kid
rather than as an adult looking back on the history of music. 1994 backwards is
going to be an odd challenge for me. Anyway, I clearly remember the battle between
Oasis and Blur, the “Battle of Britpop” as it’s dubbed, and I remember “Country
House” beating “Roll With It” for the #1 spot. You can debate what the bigger
song between those two is, but “Country House” was still a huge hit. Blur have
had songs before and after this song that are more popular, but this is only
one of two #1 hits the band has had (the other being “Beetlebum”). “Country
House” might not have the long term airplay as other tracks but you can’t deny
that this song is a classic, and it’s still catchy and sounds good today.
#3 - "Alright” by Supergrass
“We are young! We are free! We have teeth! Nice and clean!
See our friends, see the sights, feel alright!” What a great song this was.
It’s a shame though as it’s been misinterpreted as a song about young lads
having a good time, but it was actually about young teenagers starting to
discover the joys of adolescence. Supergrass will always be associated with
this song even though they grew up and matured as a band, and it’s a shame
really, that other songs didn’t get the same reception as this. Supergrass
aren’t a bad band at all, I’ve seen them live, but they’ll never beat this
track, a song that got to #2 in the charts. “Alright” still gets played today
and is featured on many soundtracks even today, sixteen years after its
release. This song is a brit-pop classic and is a staple in the history of the
nineties in music.
#2 - "Common People” by Pulp
I’ve only just realised but the Top 3 songs of 1995 are all
#2 hits. It goes to show that getting to #1 isn’t always the best thing for
longevity, as I really put my foot down when I say that the Top 3 in this list
are songs that have made a bigger long term impact than “Country House” and
“Earth Song”.
Anyway, allow me to copy and paste the last sentence in the
previous entry. This song is a brit-pop classic and is a staple in the history
of the nineties in music. Now that was lazy on my part but that sentence fits
perfectly. “Common People” is one of the biggest tracks in brit-pop history, in
the nineties and possibly, of all time. “Common People” was just so amazing,
describing the idea of rich and upper class people trying to fit in with the
common. It’s something that does and has happened, and I think it’s something
that has become more of a thing of the past now. 1995 was definitely a
transitional year, not only in music where brit-pop was in its prime, but also
in society. The difference in attitude between upper and lower class doesn’t
really exist as much as it did in the eighties, and parts of the early
nineties. This song definitely describes that subtle change. And the song
itself is just fantastic, it’s very catchy and Pulp are responsible for the
imagery and putting these changes into song format. Not only is the song
important, but it made a phenomenal impact and is easily considered Pulp’s
finest moment in the eyes of many people.
Well I was going to put the Mike Flowers version as #1 but
last minute I decided against it. Okay seriously, I’ve covered 1995 to 2009 on
this website now in this format and I can quite easily say this song is the
biggest song to come out in this time period. “Wonderwall” can’t be beat in
terms of impact, at the time and long term. The song is one of the most covered
tracks in recent history with Mike Flowers above doing it, as well as Ryan
Adams, Jay-Z, Robbie Williams, Richard Cheese and Radiohead all having a bash
at it, some for comedy value, others because of the greatness of the track.
“Wonderwall” joins #2 and #3 in this list as the threesome of tracks to get to
#2 at the time, but then excelling many other songs, if not every other tracks
to be released in the year of 1995. “Wonderwall” doesn’t really need any
introduction, it’s the song Oasis will always be associated with, it’s a
classic, it’s anthemic, it’s just unavoidable. “Wonderwall” will live forever
in music history as one of the greatest songs of all time, if you like it or
not.
The Year 1995 Mixtape
Just in case you didn't know by now...
"A Mixtape is a playlist of a certain genre, band or
era. The list is generally 80 minutes long, the same length of a blank CD, with
further recommendations if some of the songs aren’t to your taste. Remember
kids, downloading is wrong!"
So here we go! My favourite songs from the year 1995. Yes,
this is a biased list.
It's
Oh So Quiet – Bjork
Common
People – Pulp
Just
– Radiohead
Lump
- The Presidents of the United States of America
And there we go! The year 1995 in review! I hope you've
enjoyed this. So that’s half the nineties covered, next month naturally I’ll be
covering 1994 and continue my descend into music history. What we your favourite
songs and albums from 1995? Any other comments or queries? Raise them below.
Thanks for your time.
For the latest updates on my work, 'like' me on Facebook here!
*Note - I'm away for 6 days now on an important trip. You'll find out in due course what I'm up to. Enjoy 1996 in Music Review.*
Hey everyone, welcome to the fourth edition in a series of
reviews of a year in music. So far I have covered all the 2000s together as the
Noughtie series,
and so far monthly, the year 1999,
then 1998,
and then last month, 1997.
Just in case you’re not familiar with it, here’s the format.
It will be done in five parts. I'll do a brief history of what happened in that
year, followed by my five favourite albums of the year, then what I think the
five best videos are. I'll then do a Top 10 most impactful (still refraining
from using the word important) songs from that year. To wrap it up, I'll do my
favourite songs in a mixtape format. So now that you know where I'm going with
this, let's get to it!
By the way, I’d like to wish all of these albums, singles
and music videos a happy 15th year anniversary.
Brief History of the
Year 1996 in Music
The
Sex Pistols reunite for the first time in eighteen years for a tour.
The
Ramones split after a legendary 22 year punk career.
MTV2
is launched, providing a further platform for alternative rock music.
Jay-Z
releases his debut album. It would be the start of a legendary rap career.
Rapper
Tupac is shot in what is reported as a drive-by. He died six days later.
Linkin
Park form. They were not to release their first major release for another
four years however.
My Top 5 Albums of
1996
#5 – “Evil Empire” by Rage Against the Machine
Released: 16/4/96
Rating: ***3/4 stars
Stand-out tracks: "Bulls on Parade", "People
of the Sun", "Year of tha Boomerang"
This was Rage Against the Machine’s second album and their
first in four years before their explosive first hit the scene. The pressure
was on for Rage to capitalise on their unique and innovative sound and praise
first time round and they definitely delivered. That being said, out of all
three of their original albums (Renegades being the covers album) I personally
think this is the worst. I’m not saying this is a bad album, after all, it’s
made this list, but it’s just a step down from the uncontrolled frenzy of the
first album, and the quality of the third. What this album is though, is a huge
amount of experimentation. Tom Morello is one of the most unique guitarists of
all time, and his work with the guitar in this album is astounding. Some of the
riffs are out of this world, and that’s what stands out most in “Evil Empire”.
#4 – “To the Faithful Departed” by The Cranberries
Released: 30/4/96
Rating: ***3/4 stars
Stand-out tracks: "Will You Remember", "The Rebels",
"Hollywood"
Ah, this is an album from my childhood. My father, despite
all his detriment in my life, did have decent taste in music and his favourite
band from the nineties was The Cranberries. While “To the Faithful Departed” is
not their best work, The Cranberries were on form with this effort, and it
sounds great. Dolores O'Riordan's fantastic and distinctive vocals carry the
album and the music is decent too. “Hollywood” is a great opener and the main
single, “Salvation” is a decent track too. But the song that stands out the
most for me is the short yet memorable “Will You Remember”, which is a simple
yet effective play on children’s playground tunes, not too far off The Magic
Roundabout. “To the Faithful Departed” is an album that doesn’t get the credit
it deserves, it’s better than other albums in the nineties that get all the
credit to their contribution to the decade.
#3 - “Gravity Kills” by Gravity Kills
Released: 5/3/96
Rating: ****1/4 stars
Stand-out tracks: "Guilty”, “Inside”, “Never”
Haha, I love Gravity Kills. They’re such an awful yet good
band I can’t help but like them. Why are they crap? Well, if they ever did an X
Factor for industrial metal and Gravity Kills entered, they’d win the entire
competition. They just feel like an industrial band that is pumped out
commercially. Their lyrics are absolutely awful. All eleven track titles are
won word and dimensional. The vocals are poor at times. But their sound… is
actually quite good. It’s Gravity Kills’ music that makes them stand out a
little, even if it is diluted Nine Inch Nails. I like this album a lot, I enjoy
listening to it, and some of the industrial metal on here sounds pretty damn
good. “Inside” is basically “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails but tweaked and changed
lyrically. But it sounds fricking cool. “Guilty” has a great sound too, even if
the song feels like it’s too long and loses steam quickly. A lot of these songs
are catchy and simple, and if you like industrial metal, give it a go. It’s not
bad at all, it just feels cheesy.
#2 – “Murder Ballads” by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Released: 5/2/96
Rating: ****1/4 stars
Stand-out tracks: " Stagger Lee”, “The Curse of
Millhaven”, “Where the Wild Roses Grow”
What an album the “Murder Ballads” is. It’s arguably Nick
Cave’s most famous piece of work, both as an album and also the single “Where
the Wild Roses Go”, was Nick Cave’s biggest hit, where he worked with pop
singer Kylie Minogue. The “Murder Ballads” is only ten tracks long, but most of
these songs are long, and none longer than the penultimate track “O'Malley's
Bar", which is a monstrous fourteen minute killing spree where a man kills
an entire pub full of people. As you can tell, the album is a selection of
murder ballads, where Nick Cave sings and speaks the stories of many murders, apparently
totalling in sixty four in the entire album. Musically the album is just
brilliant, none better than “Stagger Lee”, which is just a badass song in sound
and in style. If you’ve never heard the magic that Nick Cave has, give this
album a listen, it’s full of it.
#1 - “Antichrist Superstar” by Marilyn Manson
Released: 8/10/96
Rating: ****3/4 stars
Stand-out tracks: "Mister Superstar”, “Angel with the
Scabbed Wings”, “Minute of Decay”
Of course this was going to be my #1. I reviewed this album
a good seven or eight years ago and you can read that here.
The review doesn’t do the album justice, I was just starting to write at the
time but in a few months from now I’m going to pay a complete homage to Marilyn
Manson, including reviewing all his albums so this album naturally will get a
full revision when I do.
This album is on top of a large pillar in terms of my
favourite albums. When people ask me what my favourite albums are, three albums
come to mind. They are “The Downward Spiral” by Nine Inch Nails, “Mechanical
Animals” by Marilyn Manson, and this. While I prefer the work of NIN on the
whole to Manson, between the years of 1996 and 1998 Manson was the best thing
around in my eyes. He was untouchable. And Antichrist Superstar was the moment
where he was at his best. This album is just phenomenal. It’s Manson in his
heaviest, filthiest, and most gifted phase. There are some absolute crackers in
here; “Mister Superstar” is one of my favourite songs of all time, the build up
is just extraordinary. Say what you want about Manson as an icon, but there’s
no doubt that as an industrial artist in the mid nineties, he was almost
unstoppable. Antichrist Superstar to me is one of the best metal albums of all
time.
My Top 5 Music Videos
of 1996
#5 - "Firestarter” by The Prodigy
Firestarter was The Prodigy’s first ever #1 hit and arguably
brought the dance music boom forward in the UK (along with other nineties
artists like The Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim). But what the song is perhaps
most famous for is the video. It’s bizarre really, as the video isn’t really
innovative, and not much really happens in it. But it stands out visually; it’s
hard to take your eyes off the screen when it’s on. It’s basically filmed in an
abandoned underground tunnel in Aldwych, London, and is essentially Keith
Flint, the singer in the track, pratting about. The video is completely in
black and white and Flint has a Mohican and striking clothes. He does weird
poses, snarls, pulls his tongue out, pats himself on his head to the beat of
the track and flips out in tune to the music. It apparently was considered
controversial and children were scared of the video. I was seven years old when
this song came out and I don’t remember being scared of it. Don’t get me wrong
Keith Flint has an unusual appearance, but he doesn’t do anything that wasn’t
done in the seventies in the punk era. But still, the video is striking and
stands out very well.
#4 - "Big Me” by the Foo Fighters
I’ve said many times before, but the Foo Fighters are the
best music video band of all time, due to consistently bringing out fantastic
music videos. This was probably the first great video really, which mocks a
Mentos advertisement in the nineties. It’s just really cheesy and shows the
band’s great sense of humour, mocking the “Footos” brand they made. There’s
nothing much more to say about it really, it’s a good song and a better video.
#3 - "Amish Paradise” by Weird Al Yankovic
I’m a big Weird Al fan. That being said, he hasn’t had the
most consistent of careers; he has had some duds in his long career but he
always makes great comebacks. You can argue this was one of them. “Amish
Paradise”, a parody of the rap classic “Gangster’s Paradise” by Coolio. That
being said, this was Yankovic’s last entry in the Top 100 in the US for another
ten years (with “White and Nerdy”). Anyway, the video is excellent, where
Yankovic dresses up like an Amish man and praises his fantastic lifestyle. He
does loads of things in the video, it’s really worth a watch if you
haven’t seen it before, but my
favourite bits are the churning of lots of butter, and the mock of LV, (the
person who sings the song in the original Coolio version) who in their video is
sweating a lot. Yankvoic overdramatically sweats even more than LV, much much
more. It’s just really funny.
#2 - "Street Spirit (Fade Out)” by Radiohead
One of Radiohead’s best videos was directed by Jonathan
Glazer, who would go on to also do the video for “Karma Police”. It’s just
simply one of those videos that is harder to explain than to watch. The whole
video is in black and white and it shows things happen out of time, out of
synch, things happening like a bucket of water being delayed to allow passage
of the band members. The song itself is really harrowing, and this video, while
it doesn’t add to the depth of sorrow the song brings, it justifies it well
enough. It’s just artistically a great video, and if you’ve not seen it, watch
it below.
#1 - "The Beautiful People” by Marilyn Manson
It may not be a video associated with many “greatest music
videos of all time” listings but for me, this is a fantastic video. Like the
song itself, it’s the epitome of Manson, as a musician and an art icon. There’s
a lot going on in this video, it crams more odd and grotesque themed imagery
than some full feature films do. And the presentation is great too. The video
was filmed in what looks like an abandoned lab class in a school, and has lots
of medical instruments around, some that Manson uses himself. One of the most
iconic scenes is the piece of dental equipment Manson poses in, exposing his
gums and teeth fully, emphasising on the metal plates on the fronts of his
teeth. Other great scenes are the bizarre outfit Manson wares to make himself
stupidly tall, and the Hitler-esque crowds that appear to cheer the Antichrist
Superstar on. It’s just a fantastic video, one of my personal favourites, and a
must if you like this industrial/shock horror genre of music.
The Top 10 Most
Impactful Songs of 1996
As I said, I'm NOT calling it the 'important' list, although
it's more than just popularity as well. Anyway, here are the 10 songs of the
year. It's an unbiased list.
#10 – “Place Your Hands” by Reef
Reef aren’t really a band that are associated often with the
greats of the nineties but they weren’t bad either. “Place Your Hands” is
pretty much the only song in their back catalogue that has remained popular,
for its catchy chorus and almost modern Rolling Stones influence it became
their biggest hit, reaching #6 in the UK charts. They did get a few more song
in the Top 20 but none of those songs are really played anymore. All that
remains really for Reef in the modern day is “Place Your Hands”, which is a shame,
but that being said, it’s a damn good song and one that won’t be forgotten.
#9 - "Female of the Species” by Space
It may not have charted higher than some of the songs they
released afterwards but there’s no doubt that this track is the staple song of
Space. The Brit-pop band released this as their second single off their debut
album after the “Neighbourhood", the debut single, barely reached the UK
charts, yet this got straight to #14. The impact? They re-released “Neighbourhood"
and it got to #11. This song was also used as the main theme in a TV series
called “Cold Feet” which was huge at the time. It’s just safe to say that if
Space are remembered for one song, this is it. And it’s pretty damn good too.
#8 - "Virtual Insanity” by Jamiroquai
Getting to #3 in the UK Charts, Jamiroquai has barely had a
song that made the impact this did. He’s had moderate success since (Deeper
Underground, a very good song, got to #1), but nothing matches the popularity
this song had and has; it’s still played somewhat today. One of the main
reasons this song is so popular is definitely the video, which was innovative
at the time, where it shows Jamiroquai in a relatively plain room with plain
furniture, and the objects and Jamiroquai himself appear to be moving at a whim
in different directions. The video won many awards and the song was the
breakthrough that Jamiroquai needed to cement himself as one of the more
unusual artists of the past fifteen years.
No song by the Smashing Pumpkins is as well thought of in
this country as this one. “1979” is usually the song associated with the band
in the States (and “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” for those who like their
heavier stuff) but in the UK this song is the most popular, the most played,
and also charted the highest, getting to a very respectful #7 in our chart.
“Tonight, Tonight” is also well thought of because of the music video, which
pays great homage to a silent film made in 1902 called “A Trip to the Moon”. It’s
just a beautifully crafted song with a 30-piece string section done by the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra. It’s just a masterpiece of a song and still gets
played more than any song by the Pumpkins in this country today.
#6 - "The Beautiful People” by Marilyn Manson
Trust me; I’m not being biased with this entry. I try to get
the best of all rock and metal genres in these listings and “The Beautiful
People” was THE metal song of 1996. “The Beautiful People” as mentioned
earlier, is the epitome of Manson, it’s the song strongly attached to him as a
singer and is a staple in metal history. Not many songs touch this in the
nineties as a classic metal anthem. It only got to #18 in the UK, a placement
that has been beaten by “The Dope Show” (#12), “Disposable Teens” (#12),
“Tainted Love” (his highest UK placement of #5), “mOBSCENE” (#13) and “Personal
Jesus” (#13), but this song has outlasted all of these tracks. This song may
not have charted too well, but it was groundbreaking for Manson, as an artist
at the time only associated with shocking stage antics and chaos, performed one
of the best industrial metal tracks of all time. That’s why this song is in
this list, it’s simply a metal classic.
#5 - "Don’t Speak” by No Doubt
Gwen Stefani is known nowadays as the hot slim RnB artist
who looks ridiculously young for 42. But in the nineties, she was the lead
singer of post ska rock band No Doubt who had a very good run in both the
States and the UK. “Don’t Speak”, similar to “Female of the Species” above, is
arguably the staple track in No Doubt’s catalogue. No Doubt had a few big hits
but this was the only track to actually hit #1 in this country. The song is a
modern ballad and tells the tale of the real-life breakup between Gwen Stefani,
the lead singer and Tony Kanal, the bass player, who were together for seven
years. Don’t Speak is still steadily played even today, and is probably played
more than most No Doubt tracks, which is why it’s made it onto this list.
Another band that has unfortunately disintegrated into rock
history are Ocean Colour Scene. This is another song that carries the band into
modern times, as a relic from the nineties, while most of the other work by the
band has been forgotten about. “The Day We Caught the Train” is a classic
nineties brit-pop track, with its really catchy chorus and its feeling of
nostalgia, Ocean Colour Scene really got everything right in this song. Peaking
at #4, no song has charted higher (although “Hundred Mile City” also got to
#4), and one thing is certain, this song won’t go away either, like it or not.
For me, there’s three songs from 1996 that will never die,
that are classics and that appeal to many people across a variety of genres.
The first of those songs is “Stupid Girl” by Garbage. There are many words to
describe “Stupid Girl”; cool, enticing, personal, awesome, I could go on. While
I prefer other Garbage songs to it, there’s no denying that “Stupid Girl”
follows a similar theme that many songs on this list does, and that is, it’s
the staple song by the band. There are songs released before and after this
that were well received and charted well but when people think of Garbage, they
tend to think of this song. It’s a great song, a classic now as I said, and
will forever live as one of the best songs of the nineties.
#2 - "Firestarter” by The Prodigy
We’ve already spoken about the video for Firestarter above
but the song itself was fantastic, and as previously reported, got The Prodigy
their first of two #1 hits. It’s hard to say more about this track that wasn’t
said before, but I’d just like to emphasise that this song had a huge impact on
techno/dance music, as it was definitely on the rise at this point in the nineties.
In the eighties, dance music was a completely different animal, but this ‘club’
music scene was gathering momentum since the early nineties and then this song
is arguably one of the first #1 dance songs to get into the UK charts. The rest
is history, as club and techno music has a multi million fan following and has
really developed into an art of its own.
#1 - "Street Spirit (Fade Out)” by Radiohead
In at #1 is another song that was featured in my video
listing above. I debated whether to put this or “Firestarter” as #1 but I’ve
gone ahead with this. This didn’t get to #1, it got to #5, in fact, Radiohead
have never had a #1 hit so far in this country (their biggest hit is “Paranoid
Android”, which got to #3). They have only had #1 hits in Canada, with “Knives
Out” and “There There”. It’s a shame really as Radiohead really deserve a #1
hit due to their influence and inspiration to many bands in the past decade.
And “Fade Out”, as it’s often called, is one of those songs that tug on the
heart strings and give you goose bumps. It has a strong place in the history of
music, arguably more so than “Firestarter”. “Street Spirit” for what it is, is
actually an anthem too, and it’s a difficult task to make such a sad and
emotional song into an indie anthem. Listening to “Street Spirit” live is an
experience I’d love to experience, watching Radiohead perform it on Glastonbury
on the television a good few years ago made me very envious of the people who
saw that gig in person. This song is unparalleled in certain dimensions, and
that’s why it’s my #1 in terms of impactful in 1996.
The Year 1996 Mixtape
Just in case you didn't know by now...
"A Mixtape is a playlist of a certain genre, band or
era. The list is generally 80 minutes long, the same length of a blank CD, with
further recommendations if some of the songs aren’t to your taste. Remember
kids, downloading is wrong!"
So here we go! My favourite songs from the year 1996. Yes,
this is a biased list.
Amish
Paradise - Weird Al Yankovic
Peaches
- The Presidents of the United States of America
And there we go! The year 1996 in review! I hope you've
enjoyed this. So that’s four years covered from the nineties, next month
naturally I’ll be covering 1995. What we your favourite songs and albums from
1996? Any other comments or queries? Raise them below. Thanks for your time.
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