1st place - The Fugees - Killing Me Softly

 

7.8

 

 

So far in this thread, I've grown to have new appreciation for some songs that I never really paid much attention to at the time. None more so than this. I remember actually disliking this song back in 1996 - I took to Ready or Not much more readily.

 

This is utter class. The acapella introduction with Lauryn's amazing voice, the harmonic backing vocals! :wub: The effect is rather like when I discovered that Soul II Soul's Back To Life had an unbelievably stunning acapella version on Club Classics Vol. 1.

 

You know you're listening to raw, unadulterated quality.

 

Hands up who thought this would be my 1st place for 1996? No - me neither.

Big fan of Lauryn Hill, saw her last year on tour and she's stil fantastic.

Not a big fan of people doing covers but this is extraordinary.

 

For me it would probably be 1 Kiling me softly 2 Children 3 2 become 1

 

Children is still amazing. They don't do dance tracks like this anymore, sadly.

Was never a fan of Spice Girls, was more into Britpop :D but Wannabe is a good pop song and 2 Become 1 is a great ballad.

 

Spaceman I still remember how much I liked the snippet in the Levis ad, but then listening to the whole song was such a disappointment, the rest didn't live up to the snippet.

didn't Ready or Not do enough to be top 10?

 

24th place for Ready or Not :(

 

I also love Fu Gee La.

-

Edited September 27, 20204 yr by Colm

Lauryn is great, shame about Wyclef with his one time two time nonsense.

 

Glad to see you had Let Loose high, definitely deserved a number one imo

I didn't feel that Wyclef damaged the song too much with his vocals. I didn't mind him in general and sorta liked Perfect Gentleman.

10th place - Teletubbies - Teletubbies Say "Eh-Oh!

 

1.5

 

 

This isn't down here at 10th because I hate it. It just sort of has to go at the bottom when judged on artistic merit.

Edited September 27, 20204 yr by Colm

9th place - Will Smith - Men in Black

 

3.6

 

 

 

And thus continued the musical career of Will Smith where he took the hook of a well known song from the past that the kids probably won't recognise and assume that it's his. I really don't like this song but it's effective.

 

A big jump in score from 10th to 9th - the biggest so far in this thread. The previous biggest increase was from Chesney Hawkes to Queen.

 

8th place - Spice Girls - Spice Up Your Life

 

5.2

 

 

 

1997 is not shaping up how I expected it to. I never thought this would be below Barbie Girl or I'll Be Missing You. I really liked this at the time and thought it was far more interesting than their earlier stuff.

 

_______________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

7th place - Aqua - Barbie Girl

 

5.7

 

 

I often thought about how this song would sound if Neil Tennant sorta dead-panned the following lyrics at a similar tempo to Rent.

 

I'm a blond bimbo girl in a fantasy world

Dress me up, make it tight, I'm your dolly

You're my doll, rock'n'roll, feel the glamour in pink

Kiss me here, touch me there, hanky panky

 

Make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please

I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees

Come jump in, bimbo friend, let us do it again

Hit the town, fool around, let's go party

Edited September 27, 20204 yr by Colm

6th place - Chumbawamba - Tubthumping

 

5.9

 

 

Another song that I loved at the time but has not really aged well with me. The female vocals are the highlight.

Chumbawamba, in hindsight, is an annoying classic :lol:

haha kinda have to agree about Chumbawumba

loved the song back in the day but not sure if I could listen to the end now

I do have a high tolerance for fun stuff and it's not terrible. I just don't get the euphoria that used to get. It's a high score for a 6th place.

I kind of have a soft spot for “Tubthumping”, a charming upbeat song about alcoholism - also one to which nobody knew the name of. Similar to “Chelsea Dagger” and “Chase The Sun” in that it has that drunk sing-a-long riff that has been (partly ruined) and forever associated with Lakeside Darts or other sports!

 

My sister had the Aqua album and I remember the blaring out of “Barbie Girl” and “Doctor Jones”. :lol:

So far this is a good year. Everything is a pretty good example of it’s genre, even songs like Teletubbies and Barbie Girl are fun in their own way.

I don't have fond memories of 1997. It was a bad year for me, personally.

5th place - No Doubt - Don't Speak

 

6.3

 

 

I did not expect 1997 to be the most difficult to put in order. This and the next 3 are all quite close in quality.

 

I thought this would be an easy 2nd place. I do like it but it hasn't connected to me like it used to. In relative terms it's getting a much higher score than most 5th placers.

4th place - Puff Daddy feat. Faith Evans & 112 - I'll Be Missing You

 

6.8

 

 

I can now sense that American r'n'b is having a much stronger impact on than it did in the 90s. I've grown up in the intervening decades and lyrics like those of I'll Be Missing You, while obviously sentimental, mean more to me now.

 

 

love Don't Speak, a 10/10 song for me, love the lyrics and always connected to it

 

on the other hand, Missing You is too saccharine for me and never related to it, Don't Speak is a million times better imho

Edited September 28, 20204 yr by Bjork