This is a bonkers and pretty funny metal album that defies categorization a little bit, which is probably one of the reasons nobody seems to like it.
Tag: 1997
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997)
When I was younger and had recently fallen in love with serialized TV dramas, I had this idea that I was going to write a book about the antecedents of the Golden Age of Television. (At first this was going to be about the Golden Age of Television, but that book already exists.) This book …
Devotion + Doubt (1997) by Richard Buckner
I stumbled upon this because of my father. He gave it to me and I had no idea what it was. He didn’t really explain either. By the cover I think I mistakenly thought it either was “classical” initially – I must have read “Bruckner” rather than Buckner – and then I think I thought …
The Great Adventure (1997) by David Cruise, Alison Griffiths
I normally read a book through and finish it before starting another. But, with this one, I kept finding books I wanted to read at the library and they would show up before I finished this. So my reading of it became extremely disjointed. Some of this, perhaps most of this, had to do with …
The Divine Wings of Tragedy (1997) by Symphony X
Dream Theater remains the only prog metal band I’ve listened to on the progressive side of the spectrum. And I can’t help but hearing their (massive) influence here, for good or ill. (This includes at least one reference in the lyrics to the only Dream Theater album I know well, and I’m sure there are …
Mi media naranja (1997) by Labradford
This is my first Labradford record and so I have no idea how it compares to their earlier or later work. I hear their earlier work was more electronic, but I have no idea.
Come On Over [Original Version] (1997) by Shania Twain
In Canada we have “Canadian Content” rules that necessitates radio DJs (and music video VJs!) play 35% Canadian music. As a Canadian alive in 1997, I have heard at least 7 of these songs ad nauseum. This album was gigantic in the US, yes, but I’m not sure it was as omnipresent as it was …
Spiceworld (1997) by The Spice Girls
No, I have not seen the movie. (Actually, I may have seen parts of it…)
Mogwai Young Team (1997)
By 1997, post rock had existed for some time but I think you could make a compelling case that the sounds we most associate with post rock were still not that common within this horribly named genre, which is really a bunch of different genres. The grandeur and epic scale of much post rock was …
Joya (1997) by Will Oldham
Though I have heard far from all – not even half – of Will Olham’s music, I think it’s safe to say that Oldham is one of my favourite songwriters to debut in the 1990s. He may be my favourite. Something about his lyrics connect we me, even though I don’t always recognize his situations, …
Around the Fur (1997) by Deftones
Whenever I first heard the Deftones, I thought they were Nu Metal. I thought that because a) they were definitely marketed as part of that moment in time by the music video channels and b) I wasn’t one who was going to discern – it was all noise to me. Later on, I read some …
So Much for the Afterglow (1997) by Everclear
I don’t know this band save for “Wonderful” so I cannot tell you whether the Beach Boys-esque opening to the title track is a giant left turn or not. If it is, that’s brave of them. But, for those of us who do not know this band, it’s the wrong note to start the album. …
The Velvet Rope (1997) by Janet Jackson
I had a very, very fixed idea of Janet Jackson before listening to that record. It was an idea essentially created by music videos (Janet Jackson is attractive) and the odd accidental radio exposure, but also created by the music industrial complex, which has generally marketed female performers in a particular way for quite a …
Tone Soul Evolution (1997) by The Apples in Stereo
I am not very familiar with Elephant 6 but, to the extent that I am, I am familiar with weird, idiosyncratic indie pop bands, with a big emphasis on the “indie.” I assumed that Apples in Stereo would be along the same lines as the other Elephant 6 bands but, at least based upon this …
Four Minute Mile (1997) by The Get Up Kids
Picture the sound of At The Drive-In. Now, remove all ambition to me more than just another emo band. What do you get? The Get Up Kids.
Urban Hymns (1997) by The Verve
I have made no bones about my dislike of Oasis, a band nearly everyone else seems to love (or at least enjoy). I don’t like their songwriter’s songs, I don’t like their sound and I find their biggest hit to be poorly produced. So what the hell am I supposed to do when I have …
Portishead (1997)
If we force an artificial divide onto the trip hop spectrum, I am very much on the zany, insane, unpredictable Bjork side of it, rather than the moodier, “darker” but more uniform side that Portishead finds itself in.
Homogenic (1997) by Bjork
It’s been a while since I sat down and listened to all the Bjork records I own at once time so you should really take what I say with a grain of salt because, maybe if I had done that recently, I wouldn’t be so damn blown away by this record. But, without having listened …
Dots and Loops (1997) by Stereolab
Stereolab do their thing. It’s a very particular thing that sounds like no one else and, for that, they should be commended. They invented this kind of fusion of lounge, krautrock and pop, and that’s to their credit.
Butterfly (1997) by Mariah Carey
I find myself increasingly in this position, while I listen to things outside my comfort zone for my podcast: I am not the target demographic for this music and I have a really hard time putting myself in the shoes of the target demographic.
When I Was Born for the 7th Time (1997) by Cornershop
I really appreciate the genre-bending of this record. Even though mixing Indian music with western popular music was a thing a full thirty years before this record came out, it feels like that part of psychedelia was the least popular (or accessible) to all the bands that were influenced by the genre. For the most …
Tubthumper (1997) by Chumbawamba
If you were alive in 1997 you heard “Tubthumping.” You’ve probably heard it even if you weren’t very old then. It came out of nowhere and, unless you were in the UK, the band then vanished from the public eye soon after.
My Own Prison (1997) by Creed
I thought this was their big record until I listened to it. It was still (sadly) a pretty big record, but the big hits I was expecting are not here. That means I don’t know these songs. But that doesn’t make it any better.
Be Here Now (1997) by Oasis
The first time I heard this was like a revelation. Who was this band? Even though it’s the same producer, this album sounds so much more “rock” than Morning Glory. I thought I might have finally figured out what everyone else has.
Backstreet Boys (1997, 1998 Re-Issue)
I am listening to this for my podcast. (Well, not exactly this album, but close. I’ll get into that.) But I don’t know what to do with it for a number of reasons. I don’t like pop music like this and I don’t spend time listening to it. Here are some reasons why:
Fabulosos Calavera (1997) by Los Fabulosos Cadillacs
In 1997, I fell in love with Grosse Pointe Blank, the only romantic comedy that was violent enough for my 15 year old soul to feel okay about liking. I liked it so much I went out and bought the soundtrack. (Well, the first soundtrack as there’s a Volume 2 I never purchased.) It was …
The Fat of the Land (1997) by Prodigy
Like everyone on the planet I have heard the three singles more times than I can count. The only reason those tracks don’t sound so dated is because I’ve heard them so much; they were so much a part of my late ’90s high school life even though I didn’t even understand what electronic music …
OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 – 2017 by Radiohead
I don’t normally review reissue editions of albums, whether or not I like them. And I wouldn’t review this either only I am going to record a podcast episode about OK Computer shortly and I was advised to listen to the rarities disk. So here goes…
Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival featuring Refugee Allstars (1997)
I have literally no idea what to do with this.
Glee (1997) by Bran Van 3000
I love genre-bending. A number of my most favourite bands are bands that can play a wide variety of genres well, and make these genres sound like their own – or, alternatively, convince you they are an entirely different band. So I should like this. I should like this even though it is based in …