Ten mid-90's songs

Jared wrote: I'm curious, were they great years of music for you at the time, or have they become so in retrospect as you've gradually discovered things you hadn't hitherto known about?

I wasn’t sure how great a year 1997 was for me, until I went back and looked at what I own from that year (most of which was bought in that year). By 1997 the “grunge” boom had largely faded/imploded, and the first waves of what came to be known as post-grunge were becoming popular. I like a lot of music from the ‘90s, but in my mind it was the first half of the decade, and not the second. It was only after I looked back at my collection after your comment that I realised how much music I like and bought was released in 1997.

Now, I guess it depends largely on what you enjoy listening to, and perhaps prog had some lean years around this time. Certainly not much of what I bought and still enjoy from 1997 is in PA, and even that which is is not the “usual suspects”. (I’ve left out a bunch of Kiwi and Aussie bands that I suspect would be unknown outside Australasia.)

Bought in 1997

Blur - Blur

David Bowie - Earthling

Built to Spill - Perfect From Now On

Creed - My Own Prison

Days of the New - Days of the New

Depeche Mode - Ultra

Bruce Dickinson - Accident of Birth

Tanya Donnelly - Lovesongs for Underdogs

Dream Theater - Falling Into Infinity

Faith No More - Album of the Year

Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape

Helmet - Aftertaste

James - Whiplash

Jane’s Addiction - Kettle Whistle

Live - Secret Samadhi 

Love Spit Love - Trysome Eatone

Luna - Pup Tent

Mansun - Attack of the Grey Lantern

Our Lady Peace - Clumsy

Portishead - Portishead

Radiohead - OK Computer

Silverchair - Freak Show

Sky Cries Mary - Moonbathing on Sleeping Leaves

Spawn (Soundtrack)

Suede - Sci Fi Lullabies

The Tea Party - Transmission

Truly - Feeling You Up

Bought in more recent years

(The albums in parentheses as a bonus disc to the reissue of another album)

Arcturus - La Masquerade Infernale

Art Zoyd - Häxan

Bozzio Levin Stevens - Black Light Syndrome

5uu’s - Crisis in Clay

(Galaxie 500 - Copenhagen)

Höyry-Kone - Huono Parturi

In The Woods… - Omnio

King Crimson - The Night Watch

Koenji Hyakkei - Two

Lusk - Free Mars

Dave Matthews Band - Live at Red Rocks

No-Man - Dry Cleaning Ray

Porcupine Tree - Coma Divine

(Porcupine Tree - Insignificance)

Queensryche - Hear in the Now Frontier

Sigh - Hail Horror Hail

Sigur Rós -Von

nick_h_nz wrote: ^^ The funny thing is that DT did experiment with that song and album - which tends to be why so few DT fans like the album. I’m one of the few who appreciate their experiments on this album, if you look at any of the many DT polls/posts over the years on PA (including Paul’s present one). The production isn’t great, though. I’ll give you that. I don’t know why Kevin Shirley is known as The Caveman, but I’ve always wondered if it’s because his productions sound like they were done in a cave with Stone Age technology. I’m not a fan of his production for Iron Maiden or Rush, either.

That's true, and I meant had they done the kinds of experimentation that Portishead did to achieve that sound (which includes loops, samples and perhaps like with the previous album, a fair bit of abuse and whatnot).   DT's is indeed quite different from other offerings by the band, and actually before I decided to do this poll (I had forgotten), I had planned to do a topic on unusual/unique offering by bands, but then I realised that would take more thinking, research and explaining....

I also was thinking of a Swans track from 1996 that is very unique in its oeuvre. That's a topic I'd like to do -- very unique tracks in a band's discography.





Edited by Logan - August 07 2022 at 15:06

^ And to me 1997 (and 1995 and 1996) was a great year in music (not in the more mainstream prog I would say). It really just depends on what you are into. For someone like me who is into Art Rock and Art Pop, and Indietronica, Neo-Psychedelia, the space age Lounge and exotica revival and music influenced by Krautrock, trip hop, chamber pop, dream [pop, indie music, avant prog, dark jazzy music, and lots of quirky music there is so much that is just great to these ears. Probably for someone with more mainstream Prog rock and prog metal tastes, and more AORish melodic rock and metal than me (say those who favour symph prog, Neo Prog, and regular Prog metal, it might be less interesting. For me there is so much wonderful boozy woozy music during that time, but I haven't come from as much of a mainstream kind of rock appreciation background as many here.

Anyway, I love plenty of music of different styles for every year that I have explored, and the internet has been an amazing resource to aid in my travels down so many music rabbit-holes. I often think if one thinks a year or era poor, then one just hasn't diversified one's tastes enough and dug deep enough.

Mormegil wrote: Not About Us.  Dismal selection. Could honestly say none of the music here has been on the turntable in recent memory.

To be honest, I wonder how many of these would have ever graced your turntable, as you chose what might be considered the blandest of these. To each his or her own, however. ;)

Edited by Logan - August 07 2022 at 14:44

Jared wrote: If you had chosen something (literally anything!) from Yes: Talk (94) instead of some utter dross from OyE (97), then you might have given me something to think about.. similarly with Marillion, you've given us one of the blandest tracks from a fairly unspectacular album, whereas (literally anything!) from Brave would have made me pause. You've also chosen something approaching the level of album filler from DT's poorest album, when you could have chosen (literally anything!) from Awake, to make me pause... So, in view of all this, it has to be Rush...

I decided before making the poll and looking up ones that could fit that it would only cover albums from 1995 to 1997 (so no Awake or Talk even considered) and the songs should be approaching 5 minutes in length (about 4:45 to 5:OO). The songs kind of chose themselves once I started with that limitation and decided on my approach (hoped as a way to limit my bias). Mind you, of course I could have thought of different acts but I went with what first sprang to mind (which of course reflect my biases anyway to the approach). I didn't know which songs by which bands would make the cut. One I did question was whether to go with Stereolab's Cybele's Reverie or The Flower Called Nowhere, but hearing Cybele's Reverie on a radio program just had such a big impact on me (and it came closer to the initial 4:45 I thought of).. I liked my approach to this even if it doesn't produce the best song results.

EDIT: Maybe I will do a shorter 1994 poll.

Edited by Logan - August 07 2022 at 14:19

If you had chosen something (literally anything!) from Yes: Talk (94) instead of some utter dross from OyE (97), then you might have given me something to think about.. similarly with Marillion, you've given us one of the blandest tracks from a fairly unspectacular album, whereas (literally anything!) from Brave would have made me pause. You've also chosen something approaching the level of album filler from DT's poorest album, when you could have chosen (literally anything!) from Awake, to make me pause...

Not About Us. 

Logan wrote: They did that very much on purpose. Especially on this Portishead album they tried to make it sound grainer and harsher than the previous Dummy. They would damage the recordings to get a grainy, popping and scratchy sound on Dummy I have read. They wanted an old school sound of crackling vinyl for one thing rather than a clean sound, and it was in part to evoke old soundtrack music. I think it comes across rather more on the track I posted than others off that album. I can imagine for someone with your tastes it would bother you a lot more than me as I would expect you to generally prefer cleaner and smoother music than I often do (and I also appreciate "Noise"). To not hear such sound qualities, live versions of that music would be better. And with Third it has a smoother sound.

Well I suppose hearing is subjective also. I don't hear old school crackling vinyl sounds. I hear new school ear fatiguing sounds.

And yes, I believe mixing/mastering should be part of the listening experience. If the music is stellar but the mix is not, the overall experience can be disappointing.

Rush - The Colour of Right

Dream Theater.

Sonically, the Portishead sounds awful to my ears... tinny, harsh, over-processed. Is this how all their mixes sound?

Logan wrote: nick_h_nz wrote: Speaking of the Radiohead song, I quite like this cover of it - though I will certainly understand if others don’t. I find Postvorta to be a very interesting band. My favourite two albums of theirs are the very different (almost polar opposites, in fact) Porrima and Siderael. https://postvorta.bandcamp.com/track/climbing-up-the-walls Oh, that's my kind of heavy. I really love this! Awesome cover, thanks.