Hi everyone, and welcome to another one of my Mixtapes. If you're not sure what a Mixtape is, here's an explanation...
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!
As the world has moved on from CDs and we're in a digital age now, I also make the playlist on Spotify and YouTube where possible. Celebrating 25 years of the Foo Fighters! In case you're wondering, this is a list of what I think are the best Foo Fighters songs - that have never been singles. I'm surprised that some of these songs aren't singles, especially as they are regularly played live or even have music videos in some cases. The final song of the list can be argued that it's Dave Grohl as a solo artist rather than the Foo Fighters as it was around the time when Nirvana broke up, but then, the whole first Foo Fighters album is also technically Dave as a solo artist when you think about it!
Without any further delay, here's the Best of Non-Single Foo Fighters! Next to the tracks are what album each song came out on. Where possible, I've also linked each track on YouTube.
To listen to the playlist on Spotify click here! It's missing a couple of tracks unfortunately, but it's mostly there! To listen to the playlist on YouTube click here! In case you're interested, I've done a few of these Mixtapes over the years, if you like the following artists, perhaps give them a listen by clicking the links below!
Hi everyone, and welcome to another one of my Mixtapes. If you're not sure what a Mixtape is, here's an explanation...
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!
As the world has moved on from CDs and we're in a digital age now, I also make the playlist on Spotify and YouTube where possible. In this case, I can only do the Mixtape on Spotify because Rammstein are very protective over their copyrighting on YouTube. So, just in case you're wondering, this is a list of what I think are Rammstein's best songs - that have never been singles. I'm surprised that some of these songs aren't singles, especially as they are regularly played live or even have music videos in some cases. And yes - this list does include their new album released only two days ago. And again, yes - you REALLY should listen to that new album. It's tremendous.
Without any further delay, here's the Best of Non-Single Rammstein! Next to the tracks are what album each song came out on. Where possible, I've also linked each track on YouTube.
To listen to the playlist on Spotify click here! In case you're interested, I've done a few of these Mixtapes over the years, if you like the following artists, perhaps give them a listen by clicking the links below!
"I'm not saying this album is the new "Nevermind" but you know what I am saying? It could be, but time will tell."
Looking at all the Facebook comments about Slaves and the excitement drawn from the hardcore fans of the band I read this statement:
"This album is going to be the biggest album since "Nevermind" by Nirvana".
That's one heck of a statement to make from a very strongly opinionated fan. But the comment made me think. Is this album the biggest rock/alternative album in over twenty years?
The answer is... we'll have to find out. The thing about "Nevermind" by Nirvana is that it was a slow burner. People may forget that. It didn't get released in 1991 and got straight to number one and was considered an instant classic. It took time, and word-of-mouth to spread how good it was.
You want my answer? If you put a gun to my head and demand an answer then the simple answer is "no". I don't think this album, or this band, are going to be even an etch of the legendary status that "Nevermind" and Nirvana have set. But what we have here is an exteremely solid garage punk band who have released their debut album and it packs some fantastic welly.
Am I mentioning "Nevermind" too much in this review? If you think so stop reading now. I am comparing the two albums and for good reason. The truth is there are many similarities to "Nevermind" in this album, "Are You Satisfied?". The first thing I'd say is the first track. Both "The Hunter", by Slaves, and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" are token tracks for both bands. They're also the major single off both albums. They are both brash, catchy, and "in your face" songs that are hard to get out of your head when you hear them for the first few times. They also both have many lyrical weaknesses yet surpass those weaknesses with musical ability. If you're going to take a dig at me for saying that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" isn't lyrically the best song, well, Kurt Cobain did write many many better songs, that's what I mean.
The second track, "Cheer Up London", is only slightly comparable to "In Bloom" by Nirvana. Once again they are both singles, and both contain a very silly side to both bands, video wise especially. The differences stop there mind. "Cheer Up London" is a bizarre track; it's incredibly happy and bouncy to listen to, but the lyrics take lots of digs at London as a city and the citizens that live in it. Still, it's a great highlight in the album because the song, once again, gets stuck in your head for days.
The main thing to compare about this album when it comes to the legendary "Nevermind" album is that the pacing is very similar. We have ups and downs throughout, the tracks range from heavy to silly to calm to punky to heavy again, and it finishes off slightly calmer than its lowest ebb. But so did "Nevermind". And another thing is that like "Nevermind", every single track on this album is listenable, and different. No two songs sound the same, which is actually more difficult than it sounds at times. You want to show variety yet show similarity in your music so not to lose your core listeners. I think Slaves do that to great effect here, in a similar vein to Nirvana did back in the day.
I had a look at some earlier reviews for the album before its release. A lot of them are negative. The people who reviewed the album clearly don't understand what Slaves are about. They tag the "punk" genre on them, assume that they're a rebellious duo of rabbling young men trying to make a massive "fuck you" statement at the country and possibly, the world. That really isn't what Slaves are about.
Sure, throughout the album they do make political statements and show some frustration with certain topics of discussion. Hell, it's in the genre. But if you genuinely listen to them, watch them in interviews and watch their music videos, you can clearly see they are just having a laugh, they seem like really good blokes. They have the sound of a punk rock band but gone are the snarls, the anger, the "we're trying to change the world for the better" type of attitude. Their body language don't give that impression away. They seem to be fans of punk rather than want to be punks themselves. I remember seeing them on Soccer AM and they were talking about how they can tell the differences between all the branded bottles of spring water. That's not punk rock. That's the fucking opposite!
But they are a genuinely fun band. They know how to play music. They know how to pull off punk rock... in style. Times have changed; this isn't the late 70's when the Sex Pistols wanted to piss off as many royalists and snobby British people as they could. This is 2015, most of the very serious problems have gone, yet there are issues in our lives today, that this band try to address. Are they good at addressing them? Not really. But they do sound fantastic and create very catchy punk rock tracks. Just listen to "Do Something" - my favourite 'non-single' on the album. It's lyrically poor in a certain way, comparing life to... a traffic jam? It's a bit bizarre but that amazingly dirty and dirgy guitar and the simply effective chorus make it one of the stand out tracks on the album. This band can play good, catchy yet old school low quality (intentionally, in style) music that's just so much fun to listen.
And you know what? That's enough for me. I don't want to give the impression that this is a band that are like no other, that they are going to be the pioneers of punk rock for the next decade and beyond. But rock music in general is quite stale at the moment. And they are shaking the scenery around enough to make the picture around us a little more colourful. They're a fun, catchy, energetic garage punk rock that are having fun and want everyone around them to have fun as well.
To wrap up, this album isn't perfect. As I said earlier in the review and I want to emphasise, this album may not be the new "Nevermind". But the great thing is, it could be. Frankly "Nevermind" wasn't a perfect album either, but it was released at the right place at the right time and its consistency throughout the album in quality is what made it the album it is today. Every track is great but not perfect. And Slaves have created in effect, a very similar album, in a different genre, to "Nevermind" by Nirvana.
Slaves ask us, "Are You Satisfied?" - the answer is yes. More please!
Rating: ****1/2 stars
Stand out tracks: "The Hunter", "Cheer Up London", "Do Something"
Here's the music video for the first single, "The Hunter":
#25: "In Bloom" - Nirvana Release Date: 1992 Director:Kevin Kerslake Fun Fact: This was actually the second music video for "In Bloom"; the first was the band walking around Manhattan, but was replaced by this one when it was released as a single!
So ten entries ago at #35 I put in "Hey Ya!" by The Outkast, which is a tribute to The Ed Sullivan Show. That trick was used by Nirvana, here, eleven years earlier. The differences I suppose are the fact that The Outkast paid tribute, Nirvana, while paying tribute somewhat, more did a fantastic parody of this era of music, where Rock 'n' Roll bands played music in this way. And in fairness, the video is pretty damn funny. I absolutely love how all three band members look, and in particular, Kurt Cobain's facial expressions are priceless - he looks so gormless! Krist on the bass bops about once in a while as well and looks odd yet great. "In Bloom" is just one of those videos really that once again, are terribly overplayed but if you look beyond the surface and watch the video properly, you'll truly appreciate how damn good it is, and, how damn funny it is also! Note: This is the third and last video from the year 1992 in this list.
Here is the video for your enjoyment!
Click here to see #24 on the list or here for #26!
#52: "Coma White" - Marilyn Manson Release Date: 1999 Director:Samuel Bayer Fun Fact: The giant in the video is Matthew McGrory, who played the character Tiny in Rob Zombie's films "House of 1000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects"!
This is the first and last video by director Samuel Bayer in this list. He also did "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana, and "Wake Me Up When September Ends" by Green Day. Considering this is one of the tamer Marilyn Manson videos, this video and song was released with quite some controversy. The obvious one now is the re-enactment of the assassination of John F Kennedy. But in truth, it's actually quite tame, there's no bullet shot, no blood, Manson, playing Kennedy simply dies in the car. Obviously the topic itself is difficult and can cause controversy but I think Manson didn't really "abuse" the topic as much as he most certainly could have. The other thing is, this was the first Marilyn Manson single released after the Columbine massacre, something that Manson and his music was pointed at as a reason for it happening, which of course is bullshit. But either way, the finger pointing and the controversial video didn't really help Manson at the time, and it actually was only a promo single rather than it seeing a CD release as a consequence. Either way, it's one heck of a great video, shot very cleanly by Mr Bayer, and Manson looks surprisingly good in the video. Not as good as his ex-girlfriend Rose McGowan mind!
Here's the video for your enjoyment!
Click here to see #51 on the list or here for #53!
#98: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana Release Date: 1991 Director: Samuel Bayer Fun Fact: The video was inspired by the film "Over the Edge" and The Ramones rock comedy film "Rock 'n' Roll High School".
I don't know what you're going to think of this video being at #98. The song/video is stupidly overplayed. You tend to find people either think this song/video as one of the greatest of all time or one of the most overplayed/fed-down-our-throats videos. For me it's both. I do think it's overplayed. I think the video itself is overrated. Hell, it's not even my favourite Nirvana video (more on that on a different day). But I do love the song/video all the same.
It's funny actually, comparing it to #99's entry. They're actually complete opposites to each other when it comes to imagery. This video has no vibrancy in its colour. The video is grainy and dirty. And yet it matches the song to perfection. The vibrancy and "power" in this video is in the performance, both by the band and by the audience. It's just pure energy, surged throughout a school gym. It's incredible to watch. So while it's overplayed, and, within time hopefully, will get played less, it's still an amazing video.
Here's the video for your enjoyment!
Click here to see #97 on the list or here for #99!
Happy New Year. After a two week break from doing any DJ shows I've done another one. This one celebrates the year of 2013 in music. All the music in the show (apart from the intro) are from the year 2013. I also had a record amount of requests for the show. Thanks for all the support. The next six weeks I'll be revealing, both on this website, and on Mixcloud, the Mercyside 100. It will count down the 100 most played songs on my personal media player from Jan 1st to Dec 31st of 2013. It'll mix all sorts of music, not just rock and metal, because I have quite an ecclectic taste in music. It's a personal journey this time round but if you want to possibly hear new songs, or want to know what I listened to last year, keep following me on this site or on Mixcloud to find out. Also, if you haven't noticed, I'm doing a listing on this website again. I'm daily, one at a time, revealing my favourite 50 video game villains. click here for the beginning of the listing if you're interested. Anyway, here's the 2013 special show. Any feedback is appreciated if you listen to the show, the link is below!
2013 Special Show: 3/1/14 Track listing: Get Lucky - Daft Punk Suit and Tie - Justin Timberlake When I Was Your Man - Bruno Mars Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke Come Walk With Me - M.I.A. Talk Dirty - Jason Derulo Black Skinhead - Kanye West Work - Iggy Azalea Go Kindergarten - The Lonely Island Bassline Junkie - Dizzee Rascal The Walking Dead Theme (Billy Van Mix) - Billy Van Ingenue - Atoms for Peace Let Her Go - Passenger King City - Swim Deep Evil Eye - Franz Ferdinand GoGoGo - Status Quo Still Into You - Paramore Do I Wanna Know? - Arctic Monkeys Whiskey Saga - The Fratellis Kalopsia (with Trent Reznor) - The Queens of the Stone Age Cut Me Some Slack - Nirvana and Paul McCartney Quack Like a Duck - The Goat and Your Mom Sail - Devildriver Forgotten Arrows - Gorguts All Time Low - Nine Inch Nails It Gets Worse - Mindless Self Indulgence Rock and Roll (in a Black Hole) - Rob Zombie Total running time: 02:01:55 Other entries you might want to read: My Top 50 Favourite Video Game Villains - Listing The Rock and Metal Double Feature Show Christmas Special (20/12/13) - DJ Show Download Festival Special Show - DJ Show
For the latest updates on my work, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!
Why hello there. Back again with another show I am. Don't know why I'm writing like Yoda. Anyways, this show is a Christmas Special. It's a mixture of Rock and Christmas themed songs, then Metal and Christmas themed songs. Any feedback is appreciated if you listen to the show, the link is below!
The Rock and Metal Double Feature Show Christmas 2013 Special: 20/12/13 Track listing: The Rock Show Proper Crimbo - Bo Selecta No Particular Place to Go - Chuck Berry Here Comes Santa Claus - Gene Autry Bad to the Bone - George Thorogood Stop the Cavalry - Jona Lewie Train in Vain - The Clash Power of Love - Frankie Goes to Hollywood Supersonic - Oasis 2000 Miles - The Pretenders Breed - Nirvana Christmas Day - She and Him Lucky You - The Lightning Seeds I Don't Care - Fall Out Boy Fairytale in New York - The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl The Metal Hour Paradise City - Guns 'n' Roses Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End) = The Darkness I Was Made for Lovin' You - KISS Highway to Hell - AC/DC Whiskey in the Jar - Metallica Break Stuff - Limp Bizkit Everywhere I Go - Hollywood Undead Santa Claws is Coming to Town - Alice Cooper The Biggest and the Best - Clawfinger Kidnap the Sandy Claws - KoRn Sucked In - Jerk Redneck - Lamb of God Walking Corpse - Brutal Truth X-M@$ - Corey Taylor Merry Christmas everyone! Other entries you might want to read: The Rock and Metal Double Feature Show (14/12/13) - DJ Show Download Festival Special Show - DJ Show The Rock and Metal Double Feature Show (30/11/13) - DJ Show
For the latest updates on my work, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!
Hey everyone, welcome to the ninth 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 1999,
then 1998,
followed by 1997
and 1996,
1995,
1994, 1993 and 1992.
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!
1991 was an odd year for music. Probably until September, when “you know what” got released by Nirvana, it pretty much felt like the old guard getting rusty from the eighties. Times were changing, the people who found success in the eighties were struggling to take to this change, and people wanted something new, something fresh. Nirvana and the grunge movement brought that, but it didn’t really come to full effect until 1992. So what we have here is a mixture of good and… okay. Enjoy the review!
Brief History of the
Year 1991 in Music
Nirvana
release "Nevermind", one of the, if not the biggest album
released since, and the grunge genre movement explodes to the mainstream
Lead
singer of Queen, Freddie Mercury, dies of AIDS.
Oasis
form, becoming probably the biggest British band of the nineties.
Metallica
release their self titled album (also called The Black Album), their most
successful album in their 31 year career.
Rage
Against the Machine form, starting the nu-metal era of metal, and become
one of the most outspoken and controversial bands of the nineties.
Talking
Heads, one of the biggest post-punk and new wave bands of all time, disband.
They would only play one more time together, in 2002, when they were inducted
into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.
My Top 5 Albums of
1991
#5 – “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Released: 24/9/91
Rating: ***3/4 stars
Stand-out tracks: “Breaking the Girl”, “Give it Away”,
“They’re Red Hot”
I
love the Chilis. They’re a great band. They make music like no other artist out
there. There are have been a few bands that have tried to put their spin on the
funk rock sound that the Chilis have perfected but none have had anywhere near
the success that the Red Hot Chili Peppers have. But my problem with the Chilis
is that their album material is usually a step down from their singles. Quite
consistently in their career. Now I’m sure there are many people who disagree
with me on that of course. It’s just me, I know. Blood Sugar Sex Magik is a
great album though, I thoroughly enjoy listening to it. I mean, it’s the same
pattern, the singles are by far the best songs on the album, but the
non-singles are fun too. If I were to recommend one Chilis album, it’d probably
be this.
#4 – “Out of Time” by R.E.M.
Released: 12/3/91
Rating: ***3/4 stars
Stand-out tracks: “Losing My Religion”, “Shiny Happy
People”, “Radio Song”
Why the Radio Song is not on any Greatest Hits album R.E.M.
have released is beyond me. What a cool track that is.
Anyway, “Out of Time” is an R.E.M. effort that I forgot
about, until I made this article for your pleasure. It surprised me a little
with how good it is. I mean I do prefer “Automatic for the People”, but I take nothing
away from this album, it’s a cracker. One of my favourite non-singles is
“Country Feedback” a song really pulls at the heartstrings, and was so good
that it was released on R.E.M.’s final release of compilation tracks. Michael
Stipe has also called that his favourite ever song, which is quite the
statement. There’s a lot of gold on “Out of Time”, and deserves a lot of
respect as one of R.E.M.’s finest albums.
#3 – “Look Mom, No Head!” by The Cramps
Released: November 1991
Rating: ****1/4 stars
Stand-out tracks: “Bend Over, I'll Drive”, “Dames, Booze,
Chains and Boots”, “I Wanna Get in Your Pants”
Look at Poison Ivy. Man, she was so hot.
Anyway,
I love The Cramps. I don’t swear often on this site but it deserves it here. I
fucking love The Cramps. If I were to list you a set of bands that deserve more
attention for their discography The Cramps would be very high on that list. The
Cramps are a band that started a genre. Psychobilly wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t
for The Cramps. They’re so good, and while their songs going into the nineties
were slowly losing quality, this is their last great effort. There are some
absolute gems on this album; those three songs above are there for starters.
They only released one single off it with “Eyeball in My Martini”, which is
pretty good, but some of the other non-singles are brilliant. Just look at
those song titles. Aren’t they brilliant? You know what you’re going to get
with The Cramps, dirty yet sexy licks, with funny innuendo in their lyrics.
They’re just a band that really deserves more attention; please PLEASE check
them out if you’ve never heard them before. You’re missing out!
#2 – “Metallica” by Metallica
Released: 12/8/91
Rating: ****1/2 stars
Stand-out tracks: “Enter Sandman”, “The Unforgiven”, “Sad
But True”
There are two albums from the year 1991 that probably get
more recognition and praise than any other. It doesn’t matter who you are, what
music you like, or anything else, there are two albums that trumped everything
else in terms of attention and longevity. These two albums are to put simply,
two of the greatest albums of all time.
First
is “The Black Album”, or the self titled “Metallica” album. That’s got to be
one of the coolest album covers ever. I’m not the biggest Metallica fan, especially for their albums, but if you love metal, it doesn’t
matter what type of metal you like, you have to listen to this. It goes without
saying. It’s just from the first track to the last, pure quality in the metal
genre. The Black Album oozes brilliance throughout. It’s amazing how fucking
good this album really is. And as I said, I’m not a huge Metallica fan, and
it’s still damn good. You simply, can’t call yourself a metal fan until you
appreciate this album. It’s a true classic, a true piece of legendary music that
will go down in history as one of the finest albums ever recorded. It’s that
simple.
It’s probably not a surprise that this is my favourite album
from 1991. But what you may find surprising is that I found it very hard to
give this a star rating of ****1/2 stars. It’s one of those albums that for me
is between ****1/4 and ****1/2, but because of the nostalgia, the impact and
the significance of the album, I gave it the latter rating.
This isn’t my favourite Nirvana album. In fact, a case can
be made that it’s my least favourite Nirvana album. But no one can dispute that
this album is great. It’s a fantastic album. It annoys me when a lot of people
talk about this album being crap. It’s not. It’s far from it. But… it was
overplayed. Nirvana as a band, we’re overplayed, overhyped. I wouldn’t say
overrated, but they got so much attention and it was shoved in everyone’s
throats for a long long time. Nevermind was played so much during the nineties,
especially “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. And as I say, rightfully so in a certain
way as it is a great album. But enough was enough.
If
you take away all the hype and attention away and strip this album down to its
core and listen to it, it’s a great effort. It’s not the best, but it’s damn
good. There are some fantastic songs on here, and the music singles were
awesome too. They’re just not my favourite tracks on the album. But if,
somehow, you haven’t heard this album, I do recommend you listen to it at least
once. Regardless of your taste in music, if you like metal, rock, grunge, pop,
dance music, RnB, it doesn’t matter. This is an album that strips musical
barriers, and appeals to a vast audience. Simply at its core, “Nevermind” is a
legendary album that is an album you have to hear before you die. It’s as
simple as that.
My Top 5 Music Videos
of 1991
#5 – “Give it Away” by Red Hot Chili Peppers
I have to be honest 1991 wasn’t really that great for videos
but one that always stands out is “Give it Away” by the Chili’s. How can a
video where half naked men in shiny pants and make up in a black and while
video be considered so popular? It’s beyond me in some ways but no one can deny
how this video became iconic. You have to give credit to the director as the video
matches the song perfectly, it’s lively, it’s a little crazy and it actually
looks fun to direct. Just like the song “Give it Away” is all of those things
to a certain extent. “Give it Away” is just a video you have to see to
understand, and to experience.
#4 – “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana
It may be an odd choice but this was a great music video.
It’s not the best music video in the world, and it doesn’t have much artistic
direction, but it’s so iconic. It’s a legendary music video. And yes, it is
purely because of the attention the song and the band got, but regardless, this
is a good music video. It shows what Nirvana do best, play music in a raw and
hostile environment. I love all the shots of the dirty gymnasium, the greasy
hair, the playing hard, the cheerleaders, everything. It’s just a music video
that does exactly what music videos are supposed to do, promote the song and
promote the band. And it does both of these things perfectly.
#3 – “Shiny Happy People” by R.E.M.
I forgot how hot Kate Pierson is in this video, and at the
age of 43 as well. What? What can I say? I love redheads! Anyway, I can’t help
but love this video. I think it’s just because band members are all trying
their hardest to look happy but all still look discretely despondent, with the
exception of Kate Pierson anyway, of the B52’s, whose smiles just gleam the
video camera lense. The video is just great, it’s just totally watchable
despite not much really happening apart from the above, in front of a large
painting of childrens drawings of ‘happy people’. It’s just an awesome video.
Oh and one more thing, Michael Stipe’s incredibly brown suit and cap turned
sideways is another amazing highlight of the video.
#2 – “Black or White” by Michael Jackson
If you’re wondering once again I’m including Michael Jackson
when I don’t include pop artists as a rule it’s because I think Michael Jackson
is above and beyond genre dividing. Michael Jackson is a member of an elite
elite ELITE set of musicians of probably 5 to 10 bands or performers that are
untouchable.
“Black or White” is possibly an odd choice for some of you.
There’s, of course, the debate about the message of the video anyway,
considering the weird change of skin colour of Michael Jackson throughout the
eighties and nineties. But take that situation out of the way for a moment and
you have a very cheesy, yet entertaining music video.
Macaulay Culkin plays as the kid who loves rock music and
pisses his father off, and when getting told off, retorts by cranking his electric
guitar volume to a ridiculous level, and the father gets blown away by the
noise to what looks like Africa, where Michael Jackson is dancing and singing
the song (so weird to say that sentence). It’s very cheesy but behind the
cheese is a very serious message about equality and diversity amongst the races
of humanity. At the end of the video was quite memorable and innovative at the
time, is loads of people’s faces of different skin colour and complexions
morphing from one person to another. This type of imagery and technology was
rarely used before Michael Jackson used it in this video, so it was pretty
cool. This video is pretty good but cheesy.
Just in case you were wondering, the original video was
quite controversial as it had racial graffiti all over it, but this isn’t the
version I’m placing at #2 in my list, but the revised version now found all
over music channels that cuts this section out.
#1 – “Enter Sandman” by Metallica
What can I say about “Enter Sandman”? It’s just one of the
best music videos of the early nineties. What it lacks in technological quality
it makes up in vivid imagery. The video pretty much follows the lyrics song,
and deals with a child who can’t sleep properly and dreams vividly of the
Sandman, who, in the video, is a very strange old man that is haunting the
little girl. The girl falls from the top of a building, gets covered in snakes,
gets chased by a truck and falls from a mountain while trying to escape the
truck, all the while the Sandman lurks in and around her dreams throughout the
video. And while all of these events are happening, the band is playing in
parts and throughout the entire time, the screen is flickering, only showing
you in parts what’s happening. It’s just a truly magnificent video, especially
when it aired in 1991, and one that really needs to be seen if not seen before.
The Top 10 Most
Impactful Songs of 1991
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.
By trade this is a pop song of course, but it’s status is
legendary as a one-hit wonder of a balanced feeling of cringe and awesomeness.
I mean that. This song is absolutely awesome, but it’s cringe-worthy at the
same time. It’s just a truly remarkable song of cheese, slime and facepalmingly
bad lyrics but I dare you not to like it. This track got to #2 in the UK
charts, but it’s never gone away. It’s too bad not to go away. Right Said Fred
has made a career from this song and you will like it, if you like it or not.
That didn’t make sense. In summary, you love this song so don’t deny it!
Getting to #3 in the UK charts, this GnR song was their highest
charting single in our country until they released “Knockin’ On Heavens Door” a
year later, and the video promoted the classic film “Terminator 2: Judgement
Day”, one of my favourite films ever. It’s tainted nowadays by arguably better
songs like “Paradise City”, “Welcome to the Jungle” and “November Rain”, but
for Guns ‘n’ Roses to get a #3 hit was quite a big deal, and kudos to them for
that. Sorry, I’m not a big fan of Guns ‘n’ Roses or this song! But yeah, you
can’t argue facts, and facts are that in 1991 this was a big hit. A very big
hit.
Probably by today’s standards this song isn’t that popular
in comparison to other U2 songs, but this song got to #1 in the UK and at the
time showed a very different side to the band, a slightly harder edge. The song
is probably more famous for being the song that knocked Bryan Adams’
“Everything I Do (I Do it for You)” off the #1 spot after a 16 week stay up
there. That being said it’s only U2’s second #1 single in the UK, and they’ve
had seven. It definitely showed that U2 are capable of branching their sound to
different genres so kudos to them for that.
#7 – “There’s No Other Way” by Blur
Before the days of “Girls and Boys”, “Parklife”, “Country
House”, “Song 2” and “Coffee and TV” came “There’s No Other Way”, only Blur’s
second single, and the single that brought them huge mainstream attention. The
rest of Blur’s career speaks for itself, but if it weren’t for this song, life
would have been a lot more difficult for the Britpop band that made such an
impact over the course of this decade. It’s one of Blur’s more simple songs,
but it’s still exceptionally catchy, and got to #8 in the UK.
If there’s any song by Queen that’s tragic on a personal
level it’s probably this. The song got to #16, and was written primarily by
legendary guitarist Brian May, and speaks volumes of the pain that Freddie
Mercury was going through in the final year of his life. So much in fact, there
were many concerns whether or not Freddie Mercury could actually sing the song,
but in Brian May’s words, despite all his struggles, Freddie Mercury “he went
in and killed it, completely lacerated that vocal”. So strong is Freddie’s
performance in this song you’d be hard to believe he had any problems at all,
but that was the strength of the man. This was Queen’s last single in the life
of Freddie Mercury. He died six weeks later.
#5 – “Black or White” by Michael Jackson
It may have got to #1 in the UK (and in no fewer than
fourteen other countries) but this song has really tainted over time as a song
that is considered a great Michael Jackson song. It’s not bad don’t get me
wrong, but over his entire career his nineties work is really not taken in high
regard, and even when compared to his other songs of the nineties, this song
still doesn’t really shine ‘brilliance’. Maybe it’s due to the fact that
Michael Jackson is asking us all not to judge a man or woman by the colour of
their skin, yet the mysteries of his skin colour changing over time definitely
questions that logic. Regardless of is Michael Jackson had skin pigmentation
surgery or not, this song and its ethic and moral message, is still important,
and obviously the song had a fantastic impact in 1991.
It was initially hard to choose between “Give it Away” and
“Under the Bridge” as the Chili’s song from the classic “Blood Sugar Sex Magik”
album but after a deeper thought it became very obvious that this song had to
be included in a list of songs that created the most impact. Sure, on a
commercial level, “Give it Away” is the cooler, funkier, more mainstream track,
but deeper down, on a personal level for Anthony Kiedis himself, and as a song
that has created more for the band long term, there’s barely no dispute that
this is one of the Chili Peppers’ finest moments in their illustrious career.
What a song this is. Getting to #13 in the UK, it’s only one of two songs in
the entire Chili’s discography to go platinum in the US (the other being the
far inferior “Dani California”). It’s just a beautifully sad song that deals
with loneliness and depression, and is one of Kiedis’ finest pieces of music.
#3 – “Losing My Religion” by R.E.M.
Once again, another song by another band has been more
successful (this time it’s “Shiny Happy People”) but is omitted for a song that
may not have charted as high, but has had a far larger impact on the career of
the band long term. “Losing My Religion” got to #19, their second biggest hit
in the UK at the time (“The One I Love” got to #16). The song’s lyrics deal
with pining for someone who doesn’t really feel the same way, a feeling I’m
sure we’re all very familiar with. But the song is much more famous for the
riff on the mandolin, an instrument Peter Buck, the guitarist was only starting
to learn at the time. It’s such a beautiful instrument and is the key to why
this song is so memorable. What a song.
#2 – “Enter Sandman” by Metallica
Getting to #5 in the UK is no easy feat for a metal artist,
but Metallica did just that with this blistering effort (they also did it a
second time with “Until it Sleeps”). It’s arguably one of, if not the biggest
Metallica song ever. The lyrics are infamous, the music video memorable, but
nothing can beat the opening intro of the song. It’s absolutely sublime; it’s
one of the best openings to a song ever. “Enter Sandman” is responsible for
turning heads to how good metal can sound, and then “The Black Album”
solidified that foundation. It’s such a huge track, such a brilliant song, and
it’ll forever go down in history as one of metal’s finest efforts.
#1 – “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana
It’s not really a dispute about what was the most
“Impactful” song of 1991. You can easily make a case that this song made a bigger
impact than any song of the nineties. But that’s a conversation for another
day. For today, is the day we celebrate “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, THE song of
the year 1991.
My opening paragraph talks about how the old guard of the
eighties were losing their hold on the change in music. Something was needed to
shake music up, but nothing new was really coming. Until September. “Smells
Like Teen Spirit” changed music history forever.
I don’t even know how or why. It’s not as if it’s the most
amazing song. Nirvana have made much better songs than this. I mean, I really
like “Teen Spirit” but I prefer other songs. But something happened, something
clicked, a bond was made between audience and song, and it changed Nirvana
forever. It changed grunge forever, alternative rock and music changed.
Suddenly bands who were previously considered uncool became cool and it changed
the pop charts for a good amount of time. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is
responsible for that change, and if you like the song or not, you have to
appreciate what impact this song had. It may have only got to #7 in the UK, but
it simply changed everything.
The Year 1991 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 1991. Yes,
this is a biased list.
You can now listen to this playlist on YouTube! Just click here!
And there we go! The year 1991 in review! Next month
naturally I’ll be covering the final year in the nineties, 1990, and continue
my descend into music history. What we your favourite songs and albums from
1991? Any other comments or queries? Raise them below. Thanks for your time.
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