May 13, 201411 yr Author kDjOdcvXr5Q 06/06/1998 Embrace - Come Back To What You Know 5 Weeks 1998 was a shockingly great year for singles - so many of them are decade highlights. And so many clashed with others in multiple weeks of death. This being one - there it's an even more frustrating one coming up in a while. To the song. Considering I never really loved Oasis (a band that Embrace were regularly compared to) Embrace just blew me away. The album this came from The Good Will Out has many great songs. They were a lot better at ballads than the faster songs. Much has been made of Danny McNamara's vocal tone and I can certainly hear why it's not to everyone's taste. This is a soaring, anthemic song which I still bloody love. :D Also released the same week was Brandy and Monica's The Boy is Mine which is among the best things that came out in 1998 and among my favourite RnB songs ever. It's just so smooth, with amazing production. Two awesome voices. Top 3 06/06/1998 1 - Come Back to What You Know - Embrace 2 - The Boy is Mine - Brandy and Monica 3 - Teardrop - Massive Attack 13/06/1998 1 - Come Back to What You Know - Embrace 2 - The Boy is Mine - Brandy and Monica 3 - Teardrop - Massive Attack 20/06/1998 1 - Come Back to What You Know - Embrace 2 - The Boy is Mine - Brandy and Monica 3 - Teardrop - Massive Attack 27/06/1998 1 - Come Back to What You Know - Embrace 2 - The Boy is Mine - Brandy and Monica 3 - Rockafella Skank - Fat Boy Slim 04/06/1998 1 - Come Back to What You Know - Embrace 2 - The Boy is Mine - Brandy and Monica 3 - Rockafella Skank - Fat Boy Slim Edited May 13, 201411 yr by AnthonyT
May 13, 201411 yr Author "Teardrop" is just amazing, the thumping beat at the start, the production throughout, Elizabeth Fraser's vocals. Perfect! I've often thought that it drew influence from Building Steam from a Grain of Salt from DJ Shadow. But I've been crucified for suggesting Massive Attack would be unoriginal :D Edited May 13, 201411 yr by AnthonyT
May 14, 201411 yr Author KODtp--tXSU 11/07/1998 Mansun - Legacy 4 Weeks Not so much of a non-number 1 but it is noteworthy that this is probably the weakest number 1 of 1998 and probably the weakest four-weeker of the whole decade. As strong as 1998 was, there was just very little released in July that was was any way as essential as most of the rest of the years Top 3s. Anyway, I think it's just in comparison to the rest of 1998 that it appears a bit flat. But it's still ace as it was the lead single to their astonishing second album, Six. More of which, later (and better) Top 3s 11/07/1998 1 - Legacy - Mansun 2 - Come Back to What You Know - Embrace 3 - The Boy is Mine - Brandy and Monica 18/07/1998 1 - Legacy - Mansun 2 - Come Back to What You Know - Embrace 3 - The Boy is Mine - Brandy and Monica 25/07/1998 1 - Legacy - Mansun 2 - Gunman - 187 Lockdown 3 - Angel - Massive Attack 01/08/1998 1 - Legacy - Mansun 2 - Viva Forever - Spice Girls 3 - Gunman - 187 Lockdown
May 15, 201411 yr Author OxyI0r4q8GM 08/08/1998 Lucid - I Can't Help Myself 3 Weeks Now this is more like it. Even before I got into trance in 1999 (yeah I know, I'm soooo mainstream) I loved this. Obviously it's all about the riff. Like most dance songs it's been remixed plenty of times. None of them improved on the original. Top 3s 08/08/1998 1 - I Can't Help Myself - Lucid 2 - Viva Forever - Spice Girls 3 - Legacy - Mansun 15/08/1998 1 - I Can't Help Myself - Lucid 2 - Viva Forever - Spice Girls 3 - Strange Glue - Catatonia 22/08/1998 1 - I Can't Help Myself - Lucid 2 - If You'll Be Mine - Babybird 3 - To the Moon and Back - Savage Garden
May 15, 201411 yr Author FPG-kPwWPqU 29/08/1998 Embrace - My Weakness Is None Of Your Business 1 Week Another casualty of the deluge of great singles released in 1998. This only gets one week at number 1 and only two in the Top 3. It takes so long to get to that tear-drenched chorus and it's over nearly as soon as it starts. I've love a much longer version of this. Wonderful. Top 3s 29/08/1998 1 - My Weakness Is None Of Your Business - Embrace 2 - Pure Morning - Placebo 3 - I Can't Help Myself - Lucid
May 15, 201411 yr Author cX8szNPgrEs 05/09/1998 Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next 5 Weeks This took ages to grow on me. Years in fact. At first I was so underwhelmed by it. I was still in total awe of the previous album and this just felt limp - what's worse is that I thought they'd missed their chance at getting that number 1 single that they craved. I kept going back to it because of the critical acclaim and because non-Manics fans liked it too so I assumed I must be missing something. I suppose, perhaps the same thing was experienced by older fans when they came back with A Design for Life (or even Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head on the HELP Album) after The Holy Bible. I think my favourite part is when they uses the chorus melody but change the lyrics to "And on the streets of life an old man plays with newspaper cuttings of his glory days". Bit by bit it all started to click into place. The grace and majesty revealed itself over time and the treated guitar intro now gives me the buzz of them getting that number 1. Unfortunately for Paul van Dyk, he never stood a chance of getting to number 1 in this countdown despite For an Angel being so emotionally amazing. A highlight of 1998. Along with those two, we have Mansun's Being a Girl which was better than Legacy but had to settle for third place in what is probably the best Top 3 of the year. Top 3s 05/09/1998 1 - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next - Manic Street Preachers 2 - For an Angel - Paul van Dyk 3 - My Weakness is None of Your Business - Embrace 12/09/1998 1 - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next - Manic Street Preachers 2 - For an Angel - Paul van Dyk 3 - Being a Girl - Mansun 19/09/1998 1 - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next - Manic Street Preachers 2 - For an Angel - Paul van Dyk 3 - Being a Girl - Mansun 26/09/1998 1 - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next - Manic Street Preachers 2 - For an Angel - Paul van Dyk 3 - Being a Girl - Mansun 03/10/1998 1 - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next - Manic Street Preachers 2 - For an Angel - Paul van Dyk 3 - Being a Girl - Mansun
May 15, 201411 yr Author One man's dull and uninteresting is another man's beautiful and enchanting. It's the chorus that does it - and when Mel C does her harmonies in the final chorus it's the best moment of any Spice Girls song. In general, I disliked their music, though. Edited May 15, 201411 yr by AnthonyT
May 15, 201411 yr Author Gerri's solo work - especially Bag it Up and It's Raining Men - was not great at all. Mel C had some great stuff.
May 15, 201411 yr Author Her best work was on Northern Star - the title track, Never Be The Same Again, I Turn To You (album version) , Closer and Feel the Sun were all great songs. When You're Gone was good too.
May 15, 201411 yr Author No - while pop music was getting better it was still overshadowed by more alternative music - it's one of my favourite years for albums as well as singles.
May 15, 201411 yr Aside of Alex, I don't know anyone who doesn't like Viva Forever. It's one of the best pop songs ever made.
May 15, 201411 yr Aside of Alex, I don't know anyone who doesn't like Viva Forever. It's one of the best pop songs ever made. Utterly utterly boring.
May 16, 201411 yr Author w3mn7EC-skg 10/10/1998 Massive Attack - Inertia Creeps 2 Weeks Perhaps not quite as astounding as Teardrop or Risingson but still quite something. The layers are just wonderfully murky with Eastern touches all over the place. As far as I know it only got released on 12" or promo CD in the UK but I could be wrong there. It certainly didn't chart. Top 3s 10/10/1998 1 - Inertia Creeps - Massive Attack 2 - Adia - Sarah McLachlan 3 - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next - Manic Street Preachers 17/10/1998 1 - Inertia Creeps - Massive Attack 2 - You Don't Care About Us - Placebo 3 - My Favourite Game - The Cardigans
May 16, 201411 yr Author Qq-I4orlEhE 24/10/1998 The Cardigans - My Favourite Game 1 Week A heavier style than they were used to - some likened it to Natalie Imbruglia fronting Garbage. Perhaps as both of those were successful in 1998 this wasn't a bad idea. It was full of Nordic cool and I just love the crunchy bass and that riff which almost sounded like Nina's voice was sampled. :wub: Top 3 24/10/1998 1 - My Favourite Game - The Cardigans 2 - Inertia Creeps - Massive Attack 3 - You Don't Care About Us - Placebo
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