8B - The Michigan Daiy Weeken( Magazine - Thursday, January 15, 1998 0 The Michigan Daily Weekeni ThVihia alyW ee Music 1997: Rock in Review MARGARET MYERS/Daily SAR STLMAN/Daily The Daily music staff picks the year's best and worst albumS Five Best Albums of 1997 1. Radiohead - "OK Computer" 2. Ben Folds Five -"Whatever and Ever Amen" 3. The Verve - "Urban Hymns" 4. Oasis - "Be Here Now" 5. Yo La Tengo - "I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One" Five Worst Albums of 1997 1. Bush - "Deconstructed" 2. Spice Girls -- "SpIceworld" 3. Matchbox 20 - "Yourself or Someone Like You" 4. Chumbawamba - "Tubthumper" 5. Aqua - "Aquarium" Soggy recordings leave 1997 in musical limbo By Brian Cohen Daily Music Editor Depending on who you ask, 1997 stood out as a rather significant year in the music industry for a variety of rea- sons. Some were convinced it was the year electronica took listeners by storm. Others maintain that it was the year female musicians finally stepped into the spotlight. And, going by chart posi- tions and sales alone, hip-hop made the most notable impression on 1997. But as we look back on last year's musical climate, it is safe to say that '97 was not the breakthrough year that so many record companies and media moguls hoped it would be. In fact, if nothing else, 1997 showed the music world in limbo, as both executives and artists alike seemed more content to release regurgitated material than to push the envelope with original or cre- ative means of expression. It was a year that both performers and listeners spent waiting patiently - waiting for the "next big thing." Many in the music business thought that "thing" was electronica, a general categorical term used to encompass pretty much every form of music creat- ed with a computer or keyboards, including ambient, drum and bass, trip-hop, house and techno. Things looked good early on for this genre, thanks in part to America's introduc- tion to and increased familiarity with England's electronic pioneers, The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy, who had already made such a musical menagerie in Britain's underground rave culture. The Chemical Brothers' explosive "Dig Your Own Hole" first sparked seri- ous interest in electronica, as it deliv- ered thundering sonic booms of noise and intensity early in the year. The Prodigy 's highly anticipated summer release "The Fat of the Land" followed with a dizzying adrenaline rush and debuted at No. I on the "Billboard" charts. But despite its impressive begin- ning and the strength of singles "Firestarter" and "Breathe sales start- ed trailina off and it soon became clear that the album had failed to live up to its advanced billing as "the sound of the future." Although perfect for dancing, electronica, like The Prodigy itself, sim- ply did not have enough of an identifi- able pop element to attract mass public approval. So if it wasn't electronic music, what else was supposed to provoke wide- spread media attention in the music world of 1997? The answer arose when rapper Biggie Smalls, a.k.a. Notorious B.I.G., was shot and killed in early March, sparking a trail of conspiracy hypotheses trying to link Small's death with that of rapper Tupac Shakur, who was gunned down a year earlier in Las Vegas. The death of Smalls left the door wide open for his producer friend Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs to move from behind the scenes of his own Bad Boy Records label into the spotlight as one of hip-hop's '97 ws most versatile tal- ents yet. breakth Combs released Smalls' previously t so 1 recorded album "Life After Death;' record c and then proceeded g. .i to release his own hoped it two-disc album, "No Way Out," as well as produce a string of top-10 hits with the other artists on his own label. Combs' biggest success came with the Smalls tribute single "I'll Be Missing You," which sampled words and music from The Police's "Every Breath You Take." Despite Combs' prolific prepon- derance in the charts, the world of hip- hop was still in need of a new shot of life, and as with rock, a change could not come too soon. But leave it to the corporate rock geniuses to try to speed things along by coming up with another "new" flavor of musical filler to attempt to hold alterna- tive radio listeners over for yet another year of stale reincarnations. This year, radio delved into the land of ska; No Doubt, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Sublime led the way, with sound- alikes Smashmouth, Less Than Jake and Reel Big Fish clinging tightly to their coattails. To make matters worse, just when listeners thought grunge was dead and buried, its rotting carcass arose to haunt the music world with stale and lifeless guitar riffs in the shod- dy forms of Matchbox 20, Third Eye Blind and Tonic. One positive result of these bands' presence became clear once they started grouping themselves together in the ever-so-trendy summer festivals. Low ticket sales and even lower talent levels for events like the Furthur Festival and the Vans Warped Tour allowed the all- female Lilith Fair to stand out against the rest, backed with sold-out crowds and a massive media blitz. The brainchild of Sarah McLachlan, who both organized not the rough year many om panies would be. and performed in the festival, the Lilith Fair allowed a wide variety of female musicians to showcase their talents in one impressive set- ting. In conjunc- tion with the release of solid debut albums, artists such as The Verve, Oasis and Radiohead. Having reformed after a previous split, The Verve's confident swagger finally cracked America with the single "Bittersweet Symphony" off its latest album, "Urban Hymns." Radiohead proved that a band could rock and be clever at the same time (and get nomi- nated for a Grammy in the process) with its expansive, multi-instrumental mas- terpiece, "OK Computer." Oasis might not control the planet, but its imperious appeal has reached even larger numbers, thanks in part to anthemic singles like "Don't Go Away" and "All Around The World" from its latest album "Be Here Now." Gene, Spiritualized, Jamiroquai and Blur also turned in more than noteworthy efforts, as did The Charlatans UK and newcom- ers Geneva and Travis. As in several earlier years, 1997 was not without its own batch of musical comebacks. Fleetwood Mac and The Rolling Stones donned tights and stitched up their laces one more time while launching two of the year's most successful tours, while Jane's Addiction reformed (with help from Red Hot Chili Pepper bassist Flea) and Bob Dylan released "Time Out of Mind," which showcases some of his most profound work in recent memory. If 1997 left a bad taste in your mouth, then '98 might just deliver the extra minty roll of Certs necessary to relieve this misery. Pearl Jam will release its fifth album, "Yield," on Feb. 3, containing a superb mix of harder- edged Who-tinged rockers ("Brain of J," "Faithful") and moderately paced melodic gems ("In Hiding," "Wish List"). Pearl Jam has also recorded its first video since 1992's "Jeremy" to accompany its first single, "Given To Fly." Sonic Youth, Phair, Nine Inch Nails, Hole and post-rockers Tortoise will also have new material out this year. So as 1997's reheated-versus-freshly- prepared approach to music has now come and gone, we can only hope things will be a little less soggy and a bit more crisp in the new year. Bon appetit. - Compiled by the Daily Music Staff Daily Music Staffers' Top 10 Lists Con Bartos 1. Catherine Wheel - "Adam & Eve" 2. Radiohead - "OK Computer" 3. Pennywise - "Full Circle" 4. Sloan - "One Chord ToAnother" 5. The Promise Ring - "Nothing Feels Good" 6. Discount - "Half-Fiction" 7. Foo Fighters - "The Colour and the Shape" 8. Smoking Popes - "Destination Failure" 9. Superchunk - "Indoor Living" 10. Green Day - "Nimrod" 10. Hoarse - "Happens Twice" (tie) Brian Cohen 1. Radiohead - "OK Computer" 2. The Verve -- "Urban Hymns" 3. Oasis - "Be Here Now" 4. Gene - "Drawn to the Deep End" 5. Sarah McLachlan - "Surfacing" 6. Mark Eitzel/ Peter Buck - "West" 7. Geneva - "Further" 8. Blur - "Blur" 9. Spiritualized - "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space" Gabe Fajuri 1. Ben Folds Five - "Whatever and Ever Amen" 2. Pietasters - "Willis" 3. Mr. T Experience - "Revenge Is Sweet, And So Are You" 4. Hoarse - "Happens Twice" 5. Bouncing Souls - "The Bouncing Souls" 6. Ben Folds Five - "Naked Baby Photos" 7. Sicko - "You Are Not The Boss Of Me" 8. Stubborn All Stars - "Back with a New Batch" 9. The Humpers - "Plastique Valentine" 10. Telegraph (The Skolars) - "Ten Songs And Then Some" Robert Mitchum 1. Ben Folds Five - "Whatever and Ever Amen" 2. Radiohead - "OK Computer" 3. Yo La Tengo - "I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One" 4. Phish - "Slipstitch and Pass" 5. Chemical Brothers - "Dig Your Own Hole" 6. Poster Children - "RTFM" 7. Neil Young - "Year of the Horse" 8. Various Artists - "SubUrbia Soundtrack" 9. Guided By Voices - "Mag Earwhig" 10. Pixies - "Death to the Pixies" Aaron Rennie 1. Radiohead - "OK Computer" 2. The Verve - "Urban Hymns" 3. Led Zeppelin -"Live at the BCC" 4. The Pixies - "Death to the Pixies" 5. Oasis - "Be Here Now" 6. Supergrass - "In It For The Money" 7. Primal Scream - "Vanishing Point" 7. James - "Whiplash" (tie) 9. Bob Dylan - "Time Out of Mind" 10. Yo La Tengo - "I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One" Anders Smith-Lindall 1. Richard Buckner - "Devotion + Doubt" 2. Son Volt - "Straightaways" 3. Built to Spill - "Perfect From Now On" 4. The Jayhawks - "Sound of Lies" 5. Blue Mountain - "Homegrown" 6. Bob Dylan - "Time Out of Mind" 7. Pavement - "Brighten the Corners" 8. Sleater-Kinney - "Dig Me Out" 9. Yo La Tengo - "I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One" 10. Will Oldham -"Joya" Ted Watts 1. Faith No More - "Album of the Year" 2. KMFDM - "" Jewel, Paula Cole and Fiona Apple joined McLachlan and her sensational "Surfacing" album in the limelight for much of 1997. With Lilith dominating most facets of the summer media and music mar- kets, women seemed to have made a tremendous impact on 1997's musical mainstream. But to call 1997 "The Year of the Woman" would fail to rec- ognize more than three decades' worth of previous female pioneering efforts, ranging from Janis Joplin to Liz Phair, and therefore such a moniker is useless and inaccurate. Despite all the listless uninventive- ness of 1997. not everything was quite so bad. Once again, England provided some of the year's most catchy and impressive music, most notably from