September 3, 2024Sep 3 Coming soon... What do you reckon for the opening tracks? Here's a teaser track from each disc: Disc 1 10. No Doubt - Hey Baby Disc 2 20. Fischerspooner - Emerge Disc 3 18. Interpol - Obstacle 1 Disc 4 23. The Cheeky Girls - Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum)
September 4, 2024Sep 4 Author Delighted that Emerge is on this. I don't have fond memories of 2002. Some of my least favorite songs ever are from that year. This compilation shows that there was plenty of quality, though. It's great to have the opportunity to re-assess a year. Edited September 4, 2024Sep 4 by Colm
September 4, 2024Sep 4 Offering up another 2002 preview here before we launch later this week. Disc 1: 7. Christina Aguilera Featuring Redman - Dirrty 10. No Doubt - Hey Baby Disc 2 2. Puretone - Addicted To Bass 20. Fischerspooner - Emerge Disc 3 3. Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way 18. Interpol - Obstacle 1 Disc 4 16. A1 - Caught In The Middle 23. The Cheeky Girls - Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum)
September 4, 2024Sep 4 2002 is quite difficult to guess what would open the discs... but I would go for... Enrique Iglesias - Hero Elvis vs JXL - A Little Less Conversation Nickelback - How You Remind Me Shakira - Whenever, Wherever
September 4, 2024Sep 4 Author Also, we're engaging advanced graphics software now. We hope you will enjoy somewhat more complex front covers without losing our brand identity.
September 4, 2024Sep 4 Disc 2 looks more my vibe. If Frou Frou's “Breathe In” doesn't appear then I'll be returning my copy x
September 4, 2024Sep 4 Author Disc 2 looks more my vibe. If Frou Frou's “Breathe In” doesn't appear then I'll be returning my copy x Haha. Disc 3 needs to have sone sort of health warning. :(
September 4, 2024Sep 4 2002 is quite difficult to guess what would open the discs... but I would go for... Enrique Iglesias - Hero Elvis vs JXL - A Little Less Conversation Nickelback - How You Remind Me Shakira - Whenever, Wherever I agree, it was a more difficult task than usual to pick the openers and by no means have we gone for the really obvious selections, if there are any that are really obvious. One thing I was sure of was that I didn't want to open with Evergreen, despite the biggest seller of the year often opening these albums.
September 5, 2024Sep 5 I have great pleasure in introducing our second 00s album, 2002, a year that was quite pivotal in pop music and the direction it would go on to take for the next few years. 2000 really felt like a continuation of the 90s and it wasn't really until the second half of 2001 that international pop started to become more beat driven, with the likes of Britney Spears and *NSYNC putting out more 'mature' styles of music than before. This continued into 2002 and was elevated further by what I see as three very influential albums that really made a statement with their production, direction and success - Stripped by Christina Aguilera, Justified by Justin Timberlake and Missundaztood by P!nk as well as seminal British singles from Sugababes and Girls Aloud. These kinds of sounds and production styles would all continue into 2003 and beyond. It was, of course, also the year that the first Pop Idol winner was crowned - and it is that vibe which inspired the artwork of this compilation. But pop - of course - was only one side of the story, which we delve into further across these four discs. Disc 1 We could have started with several songs but it's the turn of rap to lead one of these compilations, and the song that arguably has the biggest global legacy on this album - Lose Yourself by Eminem, the gritty single from the 8 Mile soundtrack that went to No.1 at the end of 2002. Nelly & Kelly's huge duet Dilemma saw Kelly famously texting Nelly on Excel, and that is followed by two other chart-topping ballads, the Valentine's smash Hero by Enrique Iglesias and Simon Cowell's apparent favourite song, If You're Not The One by Daniel Bedingfield. Robbie's mega hit Feel - only a No.4 hit as released as its lead after the album for some reason - and the huge lead singles from two of those earlier mentioned albums - Like I Love You by JT and Xtina's Dirrty follow, and this takes the album into a blend of R&B and hip-hop inspired female-led tracks. Aaliyah's posthumous No.1 More Than A Woman, Missy's influential Work It, No Doubt's comeback single Hey Baby and hits from J.Lo, Madonna's Bond theme, and the often forgotten but hypnotic Addictive by Truth Hurts. Tweet, a double helping from Ashanti including her contribution to Ja Rule's Always On Time, and UK success stories The Streets and Ms. Dynamite follow. This eclectic opening disc is rounded off with a slower section, with a classic from Alicia Keys, a radio staple from Beverley Knight, the piano wonder Vanessa Carlton, and rounding off with one of 2002's album smashes, Norah Jones with the jazzy Come Away With Me. Disc 2 is our customary dance selection, and 2002 was an interesting year for different dance styles doing well - notably the introduction of the successful Clubland compilation series from the label All Around The World, which spun off many hits. But it's a legend that starts things off - Elvis Presley had his last 'new' No.1 this year in combination with JXL on the reworked A Little Less Conversation. Puretone's drum and bass hit Addicted To Bass follows, and then we move onto the Eurodance with the No.1 hit from DJ Sammy & Yanou feat Do with their take on Bryan Adams' Heaven, Scooter's Supertramp sampling No.2 hit The Logical Song, Lasgo's stormer Something, queen of the clubs Kelly Llorenna's cover of Tell It To My Heart and label-mate Flip & Fill's top three smash Shooting Star. Mad'house also hit the top three with a cover of Madonna's Like A Prayer in the production style of Black Legend, ATC's belated release of global 2000 hit Around The World (La La La La La) was a top 15 success that left a lasting legacy on pop music in the way it has been sampled and interpolated ever since. And then the customary December dance hit - this time dating back to 1998, Love Inc's motivational You're A Superstar. Also here are the smashes from DB Boulevard and uncredited singer Moony, X-Press 2 and David Byrne, Jakatta and Seal, Oakenfold and the late Shifty, Jamiroquai, Tim Deluxe, Shy FX, Shakedown and Faithless feat Dido. A few lesser hits that had major critical acclaim from Fischerspooner, Röyksopp, Moby and Rob Dougan round off this disc. Disc 3 is where the indie/rock/alternative selections live on this album and Coldplay were one of numerous acts here who had a couple of songs up for debate, but in the end we went with classic ballad The Scientist, which opens the disc as its status as arguably the most famous song from the seminal A Rush Of Blood To The Head, which would win the group a BRIT for best album. Oasis are next with what became a rare 00s classic for them - Stop Crying Your Heart Out, and Red Hot Chili Peppers were on fire in 2002 and we picked the huge By The Way to feature here. Gravelly voiced classics from Nickelback, The Calling and Puddle Of Mudd follow in quick succession while the more fun and energetic side of rock and pop punk is provided by Jimmy Eat World's anthemic The Middle, and picks from Bowling For Soup, Tenacious D and Liam Lynch. Notice a sandwiched in Without Me by Eminem, which has a comic vibe that kind of fits here. You'll note this is one of the very rare occasions we break our only one lead song per artist rule - Without Me really was just as big as Lose Yourself in a different way and both have a whopping 2.2bn-plus streams on Spotify, so we did want to make an exception on this occasion to include both, especially as Without Me has proved its legacy by going top 40 again recently. Back to the rock groups with Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Swedish band The Hives, classics from The White Stripes and The Strokes and then a few songs that didn't set the charts alight but have either become much bigger over time or had huge critical acclaim - or both: Toxicity by System Of A Down, Obstacle 1 by Interpol and Do You Realize by Flaming Lips. The rock selection was so strong in 2002 that we could easily have included 15 more songs but we round up the disc with the top three hit from Doves, a Libertines classic, the infectious Dreaming of You by The Coral, the beautiful hit from Aqualung, and a highly acclaimed cut from Iceland's Sigur Rós. Disc 4 is where we find the majority of the pop this time. And as mentioned earlier, it was a very transitional year for the genre. Many of the manufactured bands that shot to fame in the late 90s and early 00s were still racking up hits with originals and covers produced in a very glossy and sometimes sanitised fashion, but we had pop with more bite coming through as well. We Get the Party Started on this disc with the single that gave P!nk's career the huge shot in the arm it needed and elevated her to the level of success she has enjoyed ever since this single was released. The belated UK launch of Colombian artist Shakira resulted in a Gloria Estefan co-written hit with very quirky lyrics - Whenever, Wherever - one of the year's biggest but released on the same week as the biggest seller of the year so had to settle for No.2. The opening trio of No.2s closes with Kylie's classic hit Love at First Sight. After that we move onto a run of No.1 singles - an unexpected sexy moment from Liberty X, the fantastic debut and Christmas No.1 from Popstars: The Rivals winners Girls Aloud, and the inspired Gary Numan-sampling Adina Howard cover Freak Like Me from Sugbabes. Another big girlband was Atomic Kitten, who scored their third No.1 with a cover of The Tide Is High, complete with their own new middle eight. Hits from pop/rap collective Big Brovaz, boyband Blue, and debuting pop/rock acts Busted and Avril Lavigne follow. Britney had a slightly quieter year than the previous few but did star in the Crossroads movie - and we include Overprotected here. A few other pop No.1s from Ronan Keating (one of his many country ballad covers), and Pop Idol stars Gareth Gates and Darius follow, before another boyband section with A1's most enduring hit to date, Caught In The Middle, Westlife's surprisingly uptempo World of Our Own, and *NSYNC and Nelly's hit Girlfriend. A few female hits follow, from Christina Milian - one of her two big No.3 smashes, Holly Valance's English Tarkan cover Kiss Kiss and Sophie Ellis Bextor's summer hit Get Over You. And to show that we embrace the novelty too, we have the debut hits from S Club Juniors, The Cheeky Girls, and Las Ketchup with their mega No.1 hit The Ketchup Song. As it didn't feel right to start with the year's biggest seller this time, we conclude with it instead - Will Young's Evergreen/Anything Is Possible sold over a million copies in a week and during the 00s was the biggest seller of the entire decade, although has long since been overtaken in the streaming era. It started a long and successful career for the talented Pop Idol winner.
September 5, 2024Sep 5 Thank you for putting this together! Fantastic to see “Clubbed To Death” included - remember being obsessed with that at the time. That and DJ Shadow's “You Can't Go Home Again” A shame that you couldn't fit in Lange's “Drifting Away”. That was one of my favourite vocal trance hits of the time. <3
September 5, 2024Sep 5 We were quite lucky Clubbed To Death was on Spotify as part of that compilation as it hasn't been uploaded as a standalone release by Rob or his label. Yes Drifting Away was a casualty of Disc 2 sadly but was on the shortlist, the sheer amount of notable dance (as well as rock and indie) that year was quite incredible. Interestingly, considering how big it was in 2003 and beyond, R&B, rap and hip-hop wasn't particularly dominant in 2002.
September 6, 2024Sep 6 :wub: Could probably make a great two-disc Pop Party 2002 using 25 other pop songs from the shortlist. H & Claire, Mad Donna, Appleton, Allstars, Victoria Beckham, Jessica Garlick, Ant & Dec, Hear’say, One True Voice…
September 7, 2024Sep 7 Great list of songs that I have for the most part not heard for about a decade and a half. Really good strong rock selection from what I know of the scene at that time too and Disc 2 looks incredibly strong also.
September 7, 2024Sep 7 Thanks both, really appreciate the comments! 2002 looking real fab. Nice to see 'Tribute' included in there too! Yeah, must admit I had to double check the year as it was pushed a few times but it seems that 2002 was when Tribute was most dominant and always on the music channels! Great list of songs that I have for the most part not heard for about a decade and a half. Really good strong rock selection from what I know of the scene at that time too and Disc 2 looks incredibly strong also. Rock was definitely very strong that year, probably the hardest disc to do this time as I had to leave out a good 15-20 rock songs. I don't think I appreciated how spoilt we were at the time with decent commercial rock.
September 7, 2024Sep 7 Author It was an interesting time for rock with System of a Down and Interpol. Muse were blowing away the competition for me. The Libertines seemed to arrive fully formed with songs that seemed to already exist before they were written.
September 7, 2024Sep 7 The following rock was considered and left off: Chad Kroeger feat Josey Scott - Hero (Nickelback are already on here) Oasis - The Hindu Times / Little By Little (went with Stop Crying Your Heart Out) P.O.D. - Alive (this became very famous over the years) A - Nothing Starsailor - Poor Misguided Fool X-Ecutioners - It's Goin' Down Ozzy Osbourne - Dreamer (huge in Germany, not so much here) The Vines - Get Free Linkin Park - Points Of Authority (very close to making it, they'll be on 2001) Coldplay - In My Place (went with The Scientist) Bon Jovi - Everyday Puddle Of Mudd - She Hates Me (went with Blurry) Manic Street Preachers - There By The Grace Of God Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Zephyr Song (went with By The Way) U2 - Electrical Storm Drowning Pool - Bodies (519m Spotify streams - impressive and I strongly considered it!) Idelwild - You Held The World In Your Arms Papa Roach - She Loves Me Not Other acts I didn't consider also had big rock hits that year. Lostprophets and Marilyn Manson... There's a really strong case for doing separate double disc albums for 2002 pop, dance and rock. But we won't, we just try and do the cream of the crop from each genre.
September 7, 2024Sep 7 Bit of a spoiler because Julian T is about to review every top 40 hit in 2002 but good playlist. I echo the liking for early 2002 trance hits. Drifting Away, Beautiful, Take Me Away (Into The Night), Don't Wanna Lose My Way, On The Run and Close Cover couldn't be included Edited September 7, 2024Sep 7 by TheSnake
Create an account or sign in to comment