Volume 9, Track 29
“Starla” by The Smashing Pumpkins (1994) Pisces Iscariot is a collection of outtakes and B-sides, and the fact that this ragtag collection of songs—all of which could have been extraneously kept from daylight—is not only above average but even teeters on exceptional. “Starla,” the B-side of “I Am One” from the debut Gish, clocks in [...]
Volume 9, Track 28
“Superunknown/Head Down” by Soundgarden (1994) While I try to steer clear of including back-to-back songs on this site, I have made one exception before and now I will make one more. I figured that this volume should go out with a bang and what better way to do that than by ending it with back-to-back [...]
Volume 9, Track 27
“Photograph” by R.E.M. with Natalie Merchant (1993) “Photograph” is the first track on the Born To Choose compilation disc[1] and it combines perfectly the easygoing and pretty music of R.E.M. and the easygoing and pretty vocals of Natalie Merchant. But more than anything, though, this song spotlights the wonderful combined writing of Merchant and Michael [...]
Volume 9, Track 26
“Satan’s Bed” by Pearl Jam (1994) Vitalogy seems to inspire a lot of weird passion with people; there seems to be no middle ground with this album: you either love it or hate it. I include myself in the former category and I find “Satan’s Bed” to be one of the best songs Pearl Jam [...]
Volume 9, Track 25
“Possum Kingdom” by Toadies (1994) “Possum Kingdom,” like “Baba O’Riley” before it, is a song wherein the title is never sung (and, the literal meaning of the song is not completely apparent initially) and an alternate title could easily be divined[1]. And not unlike “Mighty K.C.” this song, to me anyway, should have been way [...]
Volume 9, Track 24
“More Human Than Human” by White Zombie (1995) I have no idea what verdict time will ultimately render on White Zombie[1] but hopefully “More Human Than Human” will have a good shelf life. With bass lines that are more or less hammered into you (the pounding), a guitar that arrives via the old sliding-down-the-neck trick [...]
Volume 9, Track 23
“Cut Your Hair” by Pavement (1994) Lyrically, “Cut Your Hair” comes dangerously close to being all-out pretentious but it is ultimately saved because the delivery of the lyrics are kind of funny, and the music itself is top shelf. What do I mean by pretentious? See here: “I remember lying I don’t remember a line [...]
Volume 9, Track 22
“Wonderwall” by Oasis (1995) “Wonderwall” is my generation’s “Wish You Were Here”; a song that is so perfect in every respect: so singable, so mellow, so melodically pitch-perfect that, even if you hated the band (and many people did), you still had to tip your hat to them for this song. Songs like this simply [...]
Volume 9, Track 21
“Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star (1993) Sometimes you just need a lazy, dreamy-sounding song sung by someone with an equally beautifully sleepy voice. Some people might pick the Cowboy Junkies’ cover of “Sweet Jane” to fit this bill—and, to be sure, that song is a fine selection—but I’ll take “Fade Into You” any day [...]
Volume 9, Track 20
“Supernova” by Liz Phair (1994) Whip-Smart, Liz Phair’s follow-up album to the can’t-say-enough-great-things-about-it debut Exile In Guyville, suffers from the same fate that comes with trying to follow-up any great and stunning debut: it not only falls short but you know it will fall short beforehand. It is grossly unfair to think that way but [...]
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