Write Back Weekend "Smells Like The Nineties"
I've always said that the eighties were my decade. It doesn't matter that during the actual eighties I was the ages 3-12.
But then as I sat down to write about the nineties, something happened. I realized that I had strong feelings about more nineties bands than I realized. In fact, I even had more significant memories of the nineties than I realized. This all came flooding to me as I went clothes shopping the other day and saw that oversized flannel shirts were making their return to the fashion world. So while my feelings for the eighties are still the strongest, that doesn't mean I can't "date" artists from other decades.
What lies ahead is a list that is much longer than I had ever anticipated. So buckle up, strap in and dial your time machines back ten to fifteen years or so ago...
1. Jellyfish- I'm starting with a rather obscure artist because reveling in obscurity doesn't necessarily mean an artist is worthy of such obscurity. I first discovered Jellyfish in the very beginning of the nineties. They had a minor hit called The King Is Half Undressed, but their entire two album career was in a word, brilliant. They only had two albums, but their impact has stayed with me all these years. They are still one of my favorite artists ever, obscure or not.
2. Better Than Ezra- Better Than Ezra had a lot of attention in the nineties that seems to have dissipated over the years, along with many other nineties artists. Their first album was good to start to finish. Hell, it even contained a song called Good. The albums to follow were also good, but with each subsequent release, their popularity started to deflate just a little bit more. Songs like King of New Orleans, At The Stars and This Time of Year though are still classics in my book.
3. No Doubt- Although I more or less dubbed No Doubt's Gwen Stefani as a ripoff of other angry pop chick rock acts that came before, that doesn't mean that what Gwen does she doesn't do well. She just happens to be paying homage to a movement that started just before. Does this make her Just A Girl? Maybe. But it doesn't make her music, any less influential in some very pivotal moments in the soundtrack of my life.
4. Tonic- I will never, ever, ever understand why Tonic, namely lead singer Emerson Hart, did not get more recognition. If You Could Only See remains one of the most heartbreakingly beautiful songs, in my eyes, of the decade. But really Tonic was so much more that just that one song. The entire Lemon Parade album was great. And Tonic, unlike other many other artists, just kept getting better with age. Now I hear Emerson is off trying to do his own thing and more power to him. He's like the everyman's Rob Thomas. It's just a shame he isn't as "pretty", cause the talent is definitely there.
5. Third Eye Blind- In the nineties, 3EB was one of my favorite bands. I nearly wore out my copy of their debut album which was a healthy mix of hits (Semi Charmed Life, Jumper) and equally, if not better songs, that were not hits. It also didn't hurt matters that I had a huge crush at the time on their lead singer, Stephan Jenkins. Unfortunately Stephan hasn't looked or sounded the same for years.
6. Vertical Horizon- Vertical Horizon might be a particulary peculiar choice to some people who remember them, but their swift acting success is equally as pecuiliar. This is because it seems as quickly as Vertical Horizon came on to the scene, they were gone. They made it big with their hit, Everthing You Want. It was the song you could not escape in the summer of 1999. For the year or so after that (making them a borderline 00's artist) you could not get away from the powerhouse debut of Vertical Horizon. You're A God. Best I Ever Had. The entire album, though technically not their debut, was excellent. After doing a little research it seems that Vertical Horizon was one of many unfortunate casualties in the wake of turning tide of musical trends. Record exec's didn't know what to do with them and by the time someone did, many had forgotten. I'm one fan though who hopes the tide turns again eventually.
7. Live- Whereas Vertical Horizon only could hold on to the angst for a record, Live held on for a few more than that. Live was a very influential band back in the nineties, especially to me personally. Songs like Lightning Crashes and I Alone remain crucial components of my late teens. When AI's Chris Daughtry hooked up with Live on their latest release last year I was ecstatic. Songs like their new one, Mystery, prove the boys of Live still have it, even if some fair-weather friends have moved on.
8. Alanis- Alanis was so influential to me in the nineties that I have contemplated writing an entire post about her music before. I never got around to it though so I might as well just say what I have to say here. In fact, You Outta Know was every scorned chick's anthem back in the mid to late 90's. Jagged Little Pill, her rebirth of a debut album, single handedly redefined angry chick rock. It didn't matter to me that she was coming off of an unsuccessful try at being a pop princess. To me this didn't make her a poser, it made her songs all the more powerful. She had reason to be angry. If you wore that much hair gel and sang crappy tunes, you'd be angry, too. The best part of the Alanis revolution is that she managed to survive past Jagged Little Pill. She doesn't have as many consistently new hits anymore, but now she has something much more important than that, respect.
9. Cake- The boys of Cake manage to take novelty rock to a whole new level. Most of their songs aren't really "sung" and their lyrics not that deep, and yet their music still manages to move you. Wit their tongue in cheek, sarcastic delivery of the disco classic, I Will Survive , Cake made the impossible seem possible. The entire Fashion Nugget album, released in 1996, remains one of my favorites.
10. Celine Dion- As always, no list is complete without the one artist I am sure to take heat for. Enter Celine Dion. Here's the thing about Celine. I probably would never pay to see her live because I most defintely would be bored to tears. However if I want to hear someone sing the hell out a love song like nobody's business, I know Celine is the broad to call. Back in 1990 I remember hearing a song called Where Does My Heart Beat Now? and instantly loving it. I wrote the artist's name down phonetically and went to the store in search of the mysterious singer. The guy in the music store looked at me as if I had two heads considering he had never heard of this "Celine" person before. It was a look I had gotten used to receiving after requesting many an unusual purchase over the years. Little did they, or I know what tour de force Celine would go on to become. There's not much to say about her other than this. Love her or hate her, there's no denying the girl can sing.
11. Greenday- When Greenday first came out I can say with confidence that a lot of critics probably considered them a flash in the pan. They were punk rock with a pop edge. It's hard to make punk rock be proactive and popular at the same time. Not to mention how to take the predictable sound and weave it into an actual career. In 1994 I wasn't thinking about longevity but I knew when I heard Longview that I loved it. Now some ten plus years later, Greenday is still going strong. Think of them as the little pop punk band that could....and did. Even I wouldn't have predicted that.
12. Weezer- Speaking of bands that I never would have predicted to have continued success. The first time I heard Weezer I was down the shore (as we say in Jersey) with some friends when Undone (The Sweater Song) came on. I remember us laughing hysterically to the lyrics "If you want to destroy my sweater, hold this thread as I walk away..." It was ridiculous, but it was catchy and so when it became a bonafide hit, we were pleased. Still we figured that's all it would be. A one hit wonder, never meant to be heard from again. But then Weezer managed to make a career out of silly pop with a purpose, going on to make songs like Beverly Hills and Island In The Sun, and to be one of my favorite bands still to this day.
13. Letters to Cleo- Letters To Cleo never had much fame in the nineties, or ever for that matter. But for a brief moment in time I loved them. They were the quintessential chick rock band when I was in college and had a brief, secret longing to be the lead singer in a band like LTC. She was cute, alternative and edgy all at the same time, all so very, very nineties. I suppose their biggest hit was Awake or their turn as "the" band in 10 Things I Hate About You, but I'd still hold a hairbrush and sing to them anytime.
14. Del Amitri- When I was a freshman in high school a band called Del Amitri released a song called Always The Last To Know. It was good enough for me to go out and buy the whole album, but then again, that wasn't a hard thing to accomplish back in those days. Besides their hit single I fell in love with the melancholy, Be My Downfall. It wasn't until a few years later when they released Twisted though when I really got into all things Del Amitri. Twisted was an excellent album and showed promise for the boys of Del Amitri. They had subsequent releases after that, but it's been a few years since that mid career promise has shown through.
15. Dave Matthews Band- I don't think it would be right for me to go through a recap of the nineties without including the Dave Matthews Band. In high school a close friend's brother went off to college. At the time, preppy simultaneous sock and sandal wearing rock was in. Enter "college band" Dave Matthews. Initially it was all about the bootlegs. He introduced her to Dave and she introduced me and well, the rest was history. She was always a bigger fan, but I will always have a sore spot for a band that managed to create a Grateful Dead like following. Over the years Dave has arguably gone much more mainstream, but my favorite tune still remains the early release of earnestly romantic, I'll Back You Up.
16. Barenaked Ladies- In a word, the Barenaked Ladies were just F-U-N. The first song I remember hearing of theirs was Be My Yoko Ono (you can be my Yoko Ono, you can follow me whereever I go...) But Be My Yoko Ono would prove to be but a blip on the radar to the further success these Canadian nerds would have with songs like One Week, If I Had A Million Dollars and Pinch Me. They even had a serious side, when they tried that created some of their best music in songs like Break Your Heart and Call and Answer. They were the nerds who took the Weird Al vibe to mainstream pop and it actually, believe it or not, worked.
17. Pearl Jam- If you had asked me in the nineties how I felt about big bands like Pearl Jam or Nirvana I would have told you they were overrated. It wasn't until years later that I really appreciated how infuential Pearl Jam was and how Eddie Vedder was more than I originally had chalked him up to be. Born out of the Seattle grunge explosion, I wrongfully lumped Pearl Jam in with many other bands that had the same sound at the time. To this day I don't know. Did Pearl Jam do it first, did they do it best or were they just in the right place at the right time? We may never know the answers to these questions. All I do know is that songs like Alive, Jeremy and believe it or not, even a song titled Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town managed to stand the test of time.
18. New Kids On the Block- Some might say listing NKOTB after Pearl Jam is sacrilege but my choices are often nothing if not controversial. NKOTB is a curious inclusion I almost didn't make. Hindsight is 20/20 after all. But then I thought about what the nineties music meant to me and realized I would be wrong if I didn't give the boys of NKOTB the credit they deserved. Deep they were not, but influential in my life, most definitely. I mean really. With bedsheets, bedroom posters and bubble gum, how could any preteen or parent of a preteen, avoid them?! I can still remember an 13 year old me arguing with my dad that they COULD be around as long as The Beatles. Ahh, youth.
19. REM- I didn't know quite where REM fell in all of this, but I knew they had to be included. They had tons of hits in the eighties and continue well on into today, but I listed them in the nineties just to acknowledge them, period. Besides some of my favorite REM tunes like Everybody Hurts, Strange Currencies and What's The Frequency Kenneth? fell in the nineties chapter of their career. I never did get the popularity of Losing My Religion though, or what the hell that song was about, period. I still don't.
20. Jude Cole- And I'm bringing it full circle by ending with another rather obscure artist. If you've been reading AOGB for anytime now you've most definitely heard me refere to at least three artists before: Rick Springfield, Jellyfish and the man, the myth, the legend, Jude Cole. Jude never got the credit he deserved though he made some of the best pop rock male artist recordings from the early nineties. I suppose his biggest hit was probably Baby It's Tonight but chances are you don't know of the song, just like you don't know of Jude. That doesn't stop me from continuing to mention him though. If just one new person has heard about Jude from this blog and checks him out and becomes a fan? I figure then my work is done.
Honorable Mentions: Matchbox 20, Fountains of Wayne, Toad The Wet Sprocket, Indigo Girls, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Hootie and the Blowfish, Sarah McLachlan, Spin Doctors, Radiohead, Counting Crows, Lenny Kravitz, Sublime, Stone Temple Pilots, Foo Fighters, Jewel and Gin Blossoms
But then as I sat down to write about the nineties, something happened. I realized that I had strong feelings about more nineties bands than I realized. In fact, I even had more significant memories of the nineties than I realized. This all came flooding to me as I went clothes shopping the other day and saw that oversized flannel shirts were making their return to the fashion world. So while my feelings for the eighties are still the strongest, that doesn't mean I can't "date" artists from other decades.
What lies ahead is a list that is much longer than I had ever anticipated. So buckle up, strap in and dial your time machines back ten to fifteen years or so ago...
1. Jellyfish- I'm starting with a rather obscure artist because reveling in obscurity doesn't necessarily mean an artist is worthy of such obscurity. I first discovered Jellyfish in the very beginning of the nineties. They had a minor hit called The King Is Half Undressed, but their entire two album career was in a word, brilliant. They only had two albums, but their impact has stayed with me all these years. They are still one of my favorite artists ever, obscure or not.
2. Better Than Ezra- Better Than Ezra had a lot of attention in the nineties that seems to have dissipated over the years, along with many other nineties artists. Their first album was good to start to finish. Hell, it even contained a song called Good. The albums to follow were also good, but with each subsequent release, their popularity started to deflate just a little bit more. Songs like King of New Orleans, At The Stars and This Time of Year though are still classics in my book.
3. No Doubt- Although I more or less dubbed No Doubt's Gwen Stefani as a ripoff of other angry pop chick rock acts that came before, that doesn't mean that what Gwen does she doesn't do well. She just happens to be paying homage to a movement that started just before. Does this make her Just A Girl? Maybe. But it doesn't make her music, any less influential in some very pivotal moments in the soundtrack of my life.
4. Tonic- I will never, ever, ever understand why Tonic, namely lead singer Emerson Hart, did not get more recognition. If You Could Only See remains one of the most heartbreakingly beautiful songs, in my eyes, of the decade. But really Tonic was so much more that just that one song. The entire Lemon Parade album was great. And Tonic, unlike other many other artists, just kept getting better with age. Now I hear Emerson is off trying to do his own thing and more power to him. He's like the everyman's Rob Thomas. It's just a shame he isn't as "pretty", cause the talent is definitely there.
5. Third Eye Blind- In the nineties, 3EB was one of my favorite bands. I nearly wore out my copy of their debut album which was a healthy mix of hits (Semi Charmed Life, Jumper) and equally, if not better songs, that were not hits. It also didn't hurt matters that I had a huge crush at the time on their lead singer, Stephan Jenkins. Unfortunately Stephan hasn't looked or sounded the same for years.
6. Vertical Horizon- Vertical Horizon might be a particulary peculiar choice to some people who remember them, but their swift acting success is equally as pecuiliar. This is because it seems as quickly as Vertical Horizon came on to the scene, they were gone. They made it big with their hit, Everthing You Want. It was the song you could not escape in the summer of 1999. For the year or so after that (making them a borderline 00's artist) you could not get away from the powerhouse debut of Vertical Horizon. You're A God. Best I Ever Had. The entire album, though technically not their debut, was excellent. After doing a little research it seems that Vertical Horizon was one of many unfortunate casualties in the wake of turning tide of musical trends. Record exec's didn't know what to do with them and by the time someone did, many had forgotten. I'm one fan though who hopes the tide turns again eventually.
7. Live- Whereas Vertical Horizon only could hold on to the angst for a record, Live held on for a few more than that. Live was a very influential band back in the nineties, especially to me personally. Songs like Lightning Crashes and I Alone remain crucial components of my late teens. When AI's Chris Daughtry hooked up with Live on their latest release last year I was ecstatic. Songs like their new one, Mystery, prove the boys of Live still have it, even if some fair-weather friends have moved on.
8. Alanis- Alanis was so influential to me in the nineties that I have contemplated writing an entire post about her music before. I never got around to it though so I might as well just say what I have to say here. In fact, You Outta Know was every scorned chick's anthem back in the mid to late 90's. Jagged Little Pill, her rebirth of a debut album, single handedly redefined angry chick rock. It didn't matter to me that she was coming off of an unsuccessful try at being a pop princess. To me this didn't make her a poser, it made her songs all the more powerful. She had reason to be angry. If you wore that much hair gel and sang crappy tunes, you'd be angry, too. The best part of the Alanis revolution is that she managed to survive past Jagged Little Pill. She doesn't have as many consistently new hits anymore, but now she has something much more important than that, respect.
9. Cake- The boys of Cake manage to take novelty rock to a whole new level. Most of their songs aren't really "sung" and their lyrics not that deep, and yet their music still manages to move you. Wit their tongue in cheek, sarcastic delivery of the disco classic, I Will Survive , Cake made the impossible seem possible. The entire Fashion Nugget album, released in 1996, remains one of my favorites.
10. Celine Dion- As always, no list is complete without the one artist I am sure to take heat for. Enter Celine Dion. Here's the thing about Celine. I probably would never pay to see her live because I most defintely would be bored to tears. However if I want to hear someone sing the hell out a love song like nobody's business, I know Celine is the broad to call. Back in 1990 I remember hearing a song called Where Does My Heart Beat Now? and instantly loving it. I wrote the artist's name down phonetically and went to the store in search of the mysterious singer. The guy in the music store looked at me as if I had two heads considering he had never heard of this "Celine" person before. It was a look I had gotten used to receiving after requesting many an unusual purchase over the years. Little did they, or I know what tour de force Celine would go on to become. There's not much to say about her other than this. Love her or hate her, there's no denying the girl can sing.
11. Greenday- When Greenday first came out I can say with confidence that a lot of critics probably considered them a flash in the pan. They were punk rock with a pop edge. It's hard to make punk rock be proactive and popular at the same time. Not to mention how to take the predictable sound and weave it into an actual career. In 1994 I wasn't thinking about longevity but I knew when I heard Longview that I loved it. Now some ten plus years later, Greenday is still going strong. Think of them as the little pop punk band that could....and did. Even I wouldn't have predicted that.
12. Weezer- Speaking of bands that I never would have predicted to have continued success. The first time I heard Weezer I was down the shore (as we say in Jersey) with some friends when Undone (The Sweater Song) came on. I remember us laughing hysterically to the lyrics "If you want to destroy my sweater, hold this thread as I walk away..." It was ridiculous, but it was catchy and so when it became a bonafide hit, we were pleased. Still we figured that's all it would be. A one hit wonder, never meant to be heard from again. But then Weezer managed to make a career out of silly pop with a purpose, going on to make songs like Beverly Hills and Island In The Sun, and to be one of my favorite bands still to this day.
13. Letters to Cleo- Letters To Cleo never had much fame in the nineties, or ever for that matter. But for a brief moment in time I loved them. They were the quintessential chick rock band when I was in college and had a brief, secret longing to be the lead singer in a band like LTC. She was cute, alternative and edgy all at the same time, all so very, very nineties. I suppose their biggest hit was Awake or their turn as "the" band in 10 Things I Hate About You, but I'd still hold a hairbrush and sing to them anytime.
14. Del Amitri- When I was a freshman in high school a band called Del Amitri released a song called Always The Last To Know. It was good enough for me to go out and buy the whole album, but then again, that wasn't a hard thing to accomplish back in those days. Besides their hit single I fell in love with the melancholy, Be My Downfall. It wasn't until a few years later when they released Twisted though when I really got into all things Del Amitri. Twisted was an excellent album and showed promise for the boys of Del Amitri. They had subsequent releases after that, but it's been a few years since that mid career promise has shown through.
15. Dave Matthews Band- I don't think it would be right for me to go through a recap of the nineties without including the Dave Matthews Band. In high school a close friend's brother went off to college. At the time, preppy simultaneous sock and sandal wearing rock was in. Enter "college band" Dave Matthews. Initially it was all about the bootlegs. He introduced her to Dave and she introduced me and well, the rest was history. She was always a bigger fan, but I will always have a sore spot for a band that managed to create a Grateful Dead like following. Over the years Dave has arguably gone much more mainstream, but my favorite tune still remains the early release of earnestly romantic, I'll Back You Up.
16. Barenaked Ladies- In a word, the Barenaked Ladies were just F-U-N. The first song I remember hearing of theirs was Be My Yoko Ono (you can be my Yoko Ono, you can follow me whereever I go...) But Be My Yoko Ono would prove to be but a blip on the radar to the further success these Canadian nerds would have with songs like One Week, If I Had A Million Dollars and Pinch Me. They even had a serious side, when they tried that created some of their best music in songs like Break Your Heart and Call and Answer. They were the nerds who took the Weird Al vibe to mainstream pop and it actually, believe it or not, worked.
17. Pearl Jam- If you had asked me in the nineties how I felt about big bands like Pearl Jam or Nirvana I would have told you they were overrated. It wasn't until years later that I really appreciated how infuential Pearl Jam was and how Eddie Vedder was more than I originally had chalked him up to be. Born out of the Seattle grunge explosion, I wrongfully lumped Pearl Jam in with many other bands that had the same sound at the time. To this day I don't know. Did Pearl Jam do it first, did they do it best or were they just in the right place at the right time? We may never know the answers to these questions. All I do know is that songs like Alive, Jeremy and believe it or not, even a song titled Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town managed to stand the test of time.
18. New Kids On the Block- Some might say listing NKOTB after Pearl Jam is sacrilege but my choices are often nothing if not controversial. NKOTB is a curious inclusion I almost didn't make. Hindsight is 20/20 after all. But then I thought about what the nineties music meant to me and realized I would be wrong if I didn't give the boys of NKOTB the credit they deserved. Deep they were not, but influential in my life, most definitely. I mean really. With bedsheets, bedroom posters and bubble gum, how could any preteen or parent of a preteen, avoid them?! I can still remember an 13 year old me arguing with my dad that they COULD be around as long as The Beatles. Ahh, youth.
19. REM- I didn't know quite where REM fell in all of this, but I knew they had to be included. They had tons of hits in the eighties and continue well on into today, but I listed them in the nineties just to acknowledge them, period. Besides some of my favorite REM tunes like Everybody Hurts, Strange Currencies and What's The Frequency Kenneth? fell in the nineties chapter of their career. I never did get the popularity of Losing My Religion though, or what the hell that song was about, period. I still don't.
20. Jude Cole- And I'm bringing it full circle by ending with another rather obscure artist. If you've been reading AOGB for anytime now you've most definitely heard me refere to at least three artists before: Rick Springfield, Jellyfish and the man, the myth, the legend, Jude Cole. Jude never got the credit he deserved though he made some of the best pop rock male artist recordings from the early nineties. I suppose his biggest hit was probably Baby It's Tonight but chances are you don't know of the song, just like you don't know of Jude. That doesn't stop me from continuing to mention him though. If just one new person has heard about Jude from this blog and checks him out and becomes a fan? I figure then my work is done.
Honorable Mentions: Matchbox 20, Fountains of Wayne, Toad The Wet Sprocket, Indigo Girls, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Hootie and the Blowfish, Sarah McLachlan, Spin Doctors, Radiohead, Counting Crows, Lenny Kravitz, Sublime, Stone Temple Pilots, Foo Fighters, Jewel and Gin Blossoms
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