1,001 songs to listen to before you die...

[Liam]

866.       

‘Doo Wop (That Thing)’, Lauryn Hill (1998)

Influenced by: Together Let’s Find Love • The 5th Dimension (1971)   

Influence on: Video • India.Arie (2001)

Covered by: Devendra Banhart (2006) • Amy Winehouse (2007) • Rihanna (2008)

Lauryn Hill is another person who I’ve come out of this project with a new found respect for in terms of their musical talent. It isn’t necessarily like I ignored it before, but having some focused time to listen to songs she was involved with has really highlighted to me how good her vocal delivery is, whether she is singing or rapping. Catchy as all hell, this is a great song no matter what style of music you tend to enjoy.

867.      

‘Kelly Watch The Stars’, Air (1998)

Influenced by: Zoolook • Jean-Michel Jarre (1984)   

Influence on: Give it Away • Zero 7 (2001)   

Other key tracks: Modular Mix (1995) • Sexy Boy (1998) • All I Need (1998) • Jeanne (1998) • Le Voyage de Pénélope (1998) • You Make It Easy (1998) • Talisman (1998) • Playground Love (2000)

Whenever I hear the name of the band Air or the album ‘Moon Safari’, I always assume that the song I’m going to listen to will be one I’ve heard before but didn’t know it was by them or on that record. Maybe I’ve wildly overstated their popularity when it comes to soundtracks and adverts, but I feel like there was a time they were everywhere. Having said that, this isn’t one of them. Dreamy and repetitive, this is a song that I could imagine quite enjoying at some point in my musical fandom, but I care less for it now. The appeal is clear though, that’s for sure.

868.      

'You Get What You Give’, The New Radicals (1998)

Influenced by: Way Down Now • World Party (1990)   

Influence on: The Game of Love • Santana featuring Michelle Branch (2008)   

Covered by: LMC featuring Rachel McFarlane (2006) • Timo Raisanen (2008)

Just a huge song that I can only imagine still makes the person who owns the rights shedloads of money considering it still gets radio play and ends up on every bargain basement compilation. A brief, but impressive, time in the spotlight was eventually ended by the Gregg Alexander’s desire to write and product – without him you wouldn’t have had a number of Ronan Keating hits, so you can thank him for that. Pop at its best in some ways; it still isn’t really old to me even though I’ve heard it a million times.

869.      

‘Music Sounds Better With You’, Stardust (1998)

Some songs are just good tunes and this is one of them to me. The definition of an earworm, this is simple yet effective. Played and enjoyed in clubs in its embryonic stage, what was released eventually was further streamlined and the lyrics were largely removed outside of the repeated hook. Sometimes, things are all the better for being simplified.

870.      

‘Erase/Rewind’, The Cardigans (1998)

The Cardigans are a hard band for me to judge as they feel like they were everywhere during my youth, so I assume they were perhaps bigger, if not definitely better, than many may think. This is a decent song, though sits behind songs like ‘My Favourite Game’ and ‘Lovefool’ in my thoughts about it. I’m somewhat tempted to go back and check out more of their stuff; I can’t imagine it will be mindblowing, but the moodiness of the sound coupled with Nina Persson’s icy vocals probably made for some good album tracks as well.

871.      

‘Teardrop’, Massive Attack (1998)

Influenced by: Sometimes I Cry • Les McCann (1974)   

Influence on: Kneight Riduz Wuz Here • Krayzie Bone featuring Kneight Riduz (2001)   

Covered by: Elbow (2004) • Newton Faulkner (2006) • José González (2007) • Simple Minds (2009) • Anneke van Giersbergen & Danny Cavanagh (2009)

Whilst not as high up the list as some of them, ‘Teardrop’ was one of those songs (and music videos) that I can attribute to a growing awareness of music beyond that on the radio, or beyond that that was strictly pop and dance music. It, especially when coupled with the video, was mesmerising to listen and watch, and to me it hasn’t lost any of its power over two decades later. A stunning piece of art in my opinion.

872.      

‘Iris’, Goo Goo Dolls (1998)

Influenced by: Piano Man • Billy Joel (1973)   

Influence on: You and Me • Lifehouse (2005)   

Covered by: Ronan Keating (2006) • New Found Glory (2007) • Finley (2008) • Boyz II Men (2009) • Jai (2009)   

Other key tracks: Name (1995) • Black Balloon (1998) • Dizzy (1998) • Slide (1998) • Stay with You (1998)

This is a track that I think will get some of the most flack of any listed so far. It very much is that post-grunge alternative rock balladeering that hasn’t necessarily dated very well and does little to excite anyone. However, when I heard it (probably several years after it was released) for the first time, I loved it. There is also no doubting how huge it still is – nary a year seems to go by in my time working at schools where I don’t hear it churned out in some capacity at a school event or a talent show. Have to give where credit is due for its longevity at least.

Edited February 20, 2021 by Liam

[METALMAN]

That Lauryn Hill song is brilliant, good to see it here. The best of a very good album.

Music Sounds Better With You is alright. Reminds me of being a little kid, so it's got that going for it.

I'm also a bit puzzled why they're using that Cardigans one. They had much better and much more famous songs. I just dunno. I mean this one's alright. In fact, it's pretty good, but they've got better.

Teardrop is nice. Liz Fraser is always a good voice to have on your songs. Bizarrely the first version of this I ever heard was the Jose Gonzalez cover. Which is okay.

Iris is shit and the people who like it are shit. But I don't mind it being here. Shit people are entitled to representation too and this song means a lot to them so it deserves to be here. 

[GoGo Yubari]

I fucking loved "Doo Wop (That Thing)" when it came out but for some reason never gave a thought to actually getting the album, probably some internal biases at play at that age. Whole album rules, brilliant from top to bottom (even if it does make the very frustrating choice of packaging skits in with the songs themselves instead of as separate tracks, at least on the copy I bought).

That Cardigans choice felt a bit like... there's a light pattern of them picking songs from acts that's like "and here's when the band got SERIOUS"-- IIRC they kind of blow off "Lovefool" in their write-up -- but "My Favourite Game" would have been too obvious for them. I do really love "Erase/Rewind," though, so I can't complain too loud. There's a lot of good options with The Cardigans, from a US perspective at least I think they're an incredibly underrated band, particularly considering they noticeably changed their sound multiple times and every shift worked really well for me.

"Iris" is the most anonymous massive hit of the '90s for me. Literally every time it's not on and I don't specifically know that the song playing is "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls I immediately forget which late-'90s adult alternative smash it actually is. This time I actually did eventually recall that it's the "I don't want the world to see me" one after like twenty or thirty seconds so maybe it's finally sinking in after nearly 25 years. Can't really argue too hard with it being in the book, though, there should absolutely be touchstones for what was actually huge on the radio for each year.

[MalaCloudy Black]

I should really give Miseducation.. a fair shout. It's one of those albums I keep saying that about and never getting around to. 

I didn't care a whole lot for "Iris" years and years ago and I still don't now. There was someone that covered it recently-ish (not the Phoebe Bridgers version) and I didn't like it then either. >_> EDIT: Breaking Benjamin. No wonder. Anyway.

Also, gotta remember to look up Iris DeMent's music sometime. She's the namesake for the song and a country/folk singer, sounds up my alley.

"Music Sounds Better With You" rules. I think I first heard it on a GTA game. Shame on me. Similarly, my first exposure to Massive Attack is from "Teardrop" being the theme to House.

Edited February 14, 2021 by How The Cloud Stole Christ

[gunnar hendershow]

Lauryn Hill was at the very top of alternative hip-hop and then neo-soul in the mid 90s and absolutely deserves inclusion here. She's fantastic and it's a shame we haven't gotten too much from her. But what we did get was great.

I've like everything I've heard from The Cardigans but also haven't given them ample time to check out their entire catalog. I should get to that.

"Teardrop" was my exposure to Massive Attack and trip-hop. Overall it's a foundational song in my music tastes and, fortunately, really holds up years later.

"Iris" is certainly a song that sums up an era of radio rock. Probably better this than a random Matchbox Twenty song. I remember hearing it a ton as a kid when my mom or aunt was controlling the radio. It's not a good song but it belongs here because it's of its time. A time when cleaned-up alternative rock was popular with adults.

[Liam]

I missed a couple of songs (I blame sleep deprivation) so will need to do a bit of re-jigging in the next day or two.

[VerbalPuke]

2 hours ago, Liam said:

I missed a couple of songs (I blame sleep deprivation) so will need to do a bit of [b]re-jigging[/b]in the next day or two.

So expect Will Smith in the next entry? 

Gettin' jiggy with it..

[Liam]

Fixed the last post and left it at 7 songs, so here is 3:

873.     

‘Bok Espok’, Kepa Junkera (1998)

Kepa Junkera is apparently a big name in Basque music, with this album in particular an attempt to showcase how Basque music can sit amongst the styles of other cultures. For this song in particular, he performed alongside the Swedish group Hedningarna for a bit of a what sound like a funky, accordion-led jam. It isn’t really the type of music I’d go back to, but this is four and a half minutes that is hard not to enjoy to some extent.

874.      

‘Save Me’, Aimee Mann (1999)

This is a song I’ve never heard from a film I’ve never watched, though seems to be here primarily because not only did it drive the sales of her album Magnolia, but Paul Thomas Anderson was inspired enough to incorporate Mann’s work in multiple different ways. Characters sing songs by her, people snort cocaine off of her album, etc etc. Fun for all the family.  It has a brooding charm, though I don’t quite get why it is on the list outside of the knock-on cultural impact.

875.      

‘No One Will Ever Love You Honestly’, The Magnetic Fields (1999)

’69 Love Songs’ is an album I own, but in keeping with my occasionally short attention span, I’ve never listened to all of it. However, this is one of the songs that I always really enjoyed on the all-too-few times I’ve put on this record. Having read in the book that this was an attempt to capture Tusk-era Fleetwood Mac, you can definitely hear the influence of that band as a whole. The whole project deserves recognition – you have to have some balls to produce something of that scope, and to do it with a number of standout moments…even if I haven’t listened to them all…

 

[MalaCloudy Black]

I don't think I've ever heard any of those songs. Wild.

[METALMAN]

He stuck in You Get What You Give in the last bit though. Another one I remember from WHEN IT ACTUALLY CAME OUT. Wild man, the late 90s. You had to be there.

It's a really good tune. I spent such a long time thinking it was by a British band. it's very melody-based, which was pretty much the case for Britpop, whereas US rock music at the time was a lot more riff/groove based.

[Hobo]

"No One Will Ever Love You Honestly" is... certainly one of the songs from 69 Love Songs.

I mean, there are 69 songs on that album so there's a lot of them but I can't say that is anywhere near one of my favorites tbh

[Colly]

On 13/02/2021 at 19:12, GoGo Yubari said:

I fucking loved "Doo Wop (That Thing)" when it came out but for some reason never gave a thought to actually getting the album, probably some internal biases at play at that age. Whole album rules, brilliant from top to bottom (even if it does make the very frustrating choice of packaging skits in with the songs themselves instead of as separate tracks, at least on the copy I bought).

Drives me mad, I've got Doowop on a couple of Spotify playlists and the outro is so irritating. There's probably a radio edit on there if I could be arsed to look...

[RPS]

14 hours ago, How The Cloud Stole Christ said:

I don't think I've ever heard any of those songs. Wild.

You have defo heard Save Me if you saw the movie Magnolia. 

[METALMAN]

I've listened to 69 love songs a couple of times and No One Will Ever Love You Honestly never really jumped out at me or left a mark. Then again, neither did any of the other 68 songs.

 

Hearing it in isolation for the first time... yeah it's okay.

[Liam]

876.     

‘Surfacing’, Slipknot (1999)

Slipknot are a massive ‘your mileage may vary’ group, and it is likely that if you don’t like them, very little is going to change your mind. It is hard to argue about their influence though, both positive and negative – they have pretty much created a whole identity around being a fan of their music. I actually quite like the odd Slipknot song, but this very much sounds like the type of thing that sounds cool when you are 13 and think you want to be a rebel, only to grow up and feel a bit embarrassed by it all. Even from the same album, ‘Wait and Bleed’ is at least a passable song.

877.   

‘Scar Tissue’, Red Hot Chilli Peppers (1999)

To me, this is probably the album that best merges the funky and pop/rock elements of the Chilli Peppers. Outside of BloodSugarSexMagik, a lot of their early ‘funk’ stuff was uninspiring, whilst a lot of the stuff after this album was also less than exciting. Here, however, they nailed it for me. Maybe it is because this is one of the first CDs I own, so my ideas around it have a sepia-tinged nostalgia to them, yet I do genuinely believe the balance between cool sound and well written pop makes this a good album, and Scar Tissue in particular a good song. What had already been a fun, laid back rock song is kicked into the next gear with the great guitar solo outro; a memorable finish.

878.      

‘Ms. Fat Booty’, Mos Def (1999)

This is an interesting addition as this takes the sexist songs and raps of the time and flips them on their head as Mos Def eventually is blown off by Ms. Fat Booty. Apparently, this came alongside an album that looked at things such as cultural appropriation of black music by white singers as well as the world’s issue with water, so Mos Def was a more socially aware rapper than many. The quality of his rapping is not really for me to decide – I do enjoy it – but I will say that the lyrical content was refreshing, whilst the samples and backing vocals create a song to groove to as well as one to get you thinking.

879.   

‘Caught Out There’, Kelis (1999)

Influenced by: Tyrone • Erykah Badu (1997)   

Influence on: Black Beatles (Beatles vs. Black-Eyed Peas vs. Ludacris vs. Kelis) • Loo & Placido (2005)  

Covered by: Tune Robbers (2006)   

Other key tracks: Suspended (1999) • Good Stuff (1999) • Get Along with You (1999) • Milkshake (2003)

Kelis is a perfect example of a singer that I tend to forget about, but whenever a song of hers ends up on the radio, I really enjoy it. She can sing, but has that alternative edge to her vocals and general aesthetic that I like as well. This was a huge song upon release, propelled I can only imagine by a huge chunk of women who had experienced the same as Kelis had. This is not quite as good of a banger as ‘Milkshake’, but it is a great tune.

880. 

‘Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?’, Moby (1999)

 Influenced by: Pacific • 808 State (1989)   

Influence on: One Perfect Sunrise • Orbital (2004)   

Covered by: Da Capo Players (2002) • The String Quartet (2002)  

Other key tracks: Porcelain (1999) • Honey (1999) • Natural Blues (1999)

Probably the main thing people know about ‘Play’ is that it was the first album to have all of its songs licensed for other media, so it would be a bit redundant repeating it…but it is an insane fact in some ways, as it showed the commercialisation of music for products, films and television, a means to sell things and emotions to people. This song in particular found its way into the Black Hawk Down trailer apparently, and it provides a rather dour lyric for what is otherwise a pretty blissed out chillout track. I like that juxtaposition, though the song won’t be for everyone.

[Bobfoc]

I wouldn't have guessed that Surfacing would be the Slipknot song that made it on the list. I enjoy Slipknot, partly because I've never been part of a "scene" and don't associate them with embarrassing teenage dress styles.

I've always found the middle-class "Oh, woe is me" culture that some nu-metal encourages a bit silly, and Slipknot falls into that category, but I like the music more than the lyrics or life attitudes associated with them. They put on a good live show, at any rate.

[METALMAN]

Ah this is an interesting bunch.

I've never knowingly listened to a full Slipknot song before. I'm not going to start here. 20 seconds is enough. It's very, very shit. But I can understand why people like them:

Spoiler

it's because some people have really terrible taste

So fair enough.

I'm not the world's biggest Red Hot Chili Peppers fan, and I find Californication a real chore to listen to because of the massive compression. There's just no let up and it's quite painful to listen to, particularly with headphones. That being said, Scar Tissue is a really good song and works really well in isolation (also I'm listening to it through speakers right now). John Frusciante is a guitarist I really rate because he always gets the balance between technique and tunefulness just right. Scar Tissue exemplifies that perfectly. Srsly, if I was picking my dream band lineup there's a really good chance I'd have Frusciante in there. I love everything about his style.

The other three songs are good but I don't have much to say about them. They're just good. I had no idea that song was by Kelis. I remember it very clearly - the chorus is obvs unforgettable - just didn't know it was by her.

[VerbalPuke]

28 minutes ago, metalman said:

Ah this is an interesting bunch.

I've never knowingly listened to a full Slipknot song before. I'm not going to start here. 20 seconds is enough. It's very, very shit. But I can understand why people like them:

  Hide contents

it's because some people have really terrible taste

So fair enough.

I'm not the world's biggest Red Hot Chili Peppers fan, and I find Californication a real chore to listen to because of the massive compression. There's just no let up and it's quite painful to listen to, particularly with headphones. That being said, Scar Tissue is a really good song and works really well in isolation (also I'm not listening to it through speakers). John Frusciante is a guitarist I really rate because he always gets the balance between technique and tunefulness just right here. Scar Tissue exemplifies that perfectly. Srsly, if I was picking my dream band lineup there's a really good chance I'd have Frusciante in there. I love everything about his style.

The other three songs are good but I don't have much to say about them. They're just good. I had no idea that song was by Kelis. I remember it very clearly - the chorus is obvs unforgettable - just didn't know it was by her.

We don't agree on everything musically but I don't think I could have summed up my thoughts on Slipknot any better.

[gunnar hendershow]

Slipknot are a band that many, many people in my age group absolutely loved. I was less "these guys suck" and more "meh" about them. They didn't get me into metal so I don't have that nostalgic bond to them a lot of people do either. And I don't think their music is much beyond being loud for loud's sake. They definitely took the kind of "fan of this band IS my identity" concept from ICP and ran with it though.

RHCP, and especially "Californication" were a gigantic part of my life for years. Really as soon as I started listening to music they were there. "Scar Tissue" is the best pick for a Chilis song because, frankly, it's their best one. Frusciante is the glue and backbone for that band and without his guitar-playing their music is just standard 90s Cali alt-rock (or maybe they're just still making substandard funk music without him, who knows). And anyway "Scar Tissue" is Frusciante at his very best.

Mos Def is great. I'm not always the biggest fan of his music but I love that he's an activist first and foremost. "Ms. Fat Booty" is a really, really good tune and has been in my musical rotation for years. I'm glad he made the list, and this is the right song of his to pick.

Surprised to see Kelis, and perhaps more surprised it's not "Milkshake". But great inclusion, I too forget about her but when her music comes on shuffle or the radio it's always good.

Moby is a big ol' bucket of meh. There's just boatloads of other electronic artists around at this same time who did it better than him. He just got smart about licensing out his music at a record clip so it would be everywhere.

[Colly]

I remember seeing Slipknot on the main stage at Leeds in maybe 2002, and they played a mid afternoon slot. There were about 10 rows at the front going absolutely mental, then the entire rest of the field just looking on confused. Yep, that's a clown hitting a bin with a baseball bat.