1997 Classic or Dud?

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I have 1997 in my head as a great year for music - something to do with the 67, 77, 87 continuum). But now I come to think of it, the only thing I think that backs up the pro-97 argument is OK Computer (without looking at any lists, that is).

So overall, was 97 a particularly good year?

― the next grozart, Thursday, 3 May 2007 11:02 (6 years ago) Permalink

Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space

― tom, Thursday, 3 May 2007 11:05 (6 years ago) Permalink

MO MONEY MO PROBLEMS FTW

― acrobat, Thursday, 3 May 2007 11:10 (6 years ago) Permalink

welcome back DL

― blueski, Thursday, 3 May 2007 11:11 (6 years ago) Permalink

i thought DL was posting as That One Guy That Quit

― acrobat, Thursday, 3 May 2007 11:11 (6 years ago) Permalink

That One Guy That Quit = Enrique.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 3 May 2007 11:13 (6 years ago) Permalink

The Next Grozart is actually T✧✧@K✧✧.E✧✧.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 3 May 2007 11:13 (6 years ago) Permalink

previously on Lost (in the 90s)

http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=35695
http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=20928

― blueski, Thursday, 3 May 2007 11:13 (6 years ago) Permalink

dig your own hole, blur by blur, daft punk homework, all great

It was a pretty good year, although these are all albums which i didn't notice at the time, i just realised. hmmmmm...

― BenTyler, Thursday, 3 May 2007 11:17 (6 years ago) Permalink

Didn't we just do this year? Well, who cares...

Some (but not all) good 1997 albums (in order):

1997
Budgie – We Came, We Saw… (Pilot reissue)
Kiss – Greatest Kiss (Mercury reissue)
Black Oak Arkansas – Hot And Nasty And Other Hits (Flashback reissue)
Mindy McCready – If I Don’t Stay The Night (BNA)
Faithless – Reverence (Arista)
Michael Jackson – Blood On The Dancefloor: History In The Mix (Epic)
Girlschool – King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents (King Biscuit Flower Hour reissue)
Fat Boys – The Best Of: All Meat No Filler (Rhino reissue)
Daft Punk – Homework (Virgin)
The Notwist – 12 (Zero Hour)
Everclear – So Much For The Afterglow (Capitol)
Toby Keith – Dream Walkin’ (Mercury)
Monks – Black Monk Time (Infinite Zero/American reissue)
C-Bank – Greatest Hits (Next Plateau reissue)
David Holmes – Let’s Get Killed (Go! Beat)
The Gathering – Nighttime Birds (Century Media)
The Brain Surgeons – Malpractice (Cellsum)
Junkie XL – Saturday Teenage Kick (Roadrunner)
Aqua – Aquarium (MCA)
Artificial Joy Club – Melt (Crunchy/Interscope)
Dropkick Murphys – Do Or Die (Hellcat)
The Dandy Warhols – Come Down (Capitol/Tim Kerr)
Cobra Verde – Egomania (Love Songs) (Scat)
Night Ranger – Neverland (Legacy/Sony)
Mark Morrison – Return Of The Mack (Atlantic)
MC Solaar – Paradisiaque (Island)
My Dying Bride – Like Gods Of The Sun (Mayhem/Fierce)
DJ Shadow – Preemptive Strike (Mo Wax/FFRR)
Kelly Marie – Feels Like I’m In Love: The Best Of (Success/Elap reissue)
In Flames – Whoracle (Nuclear Blast)
Los Van Van – Best Of (Milan Latino reissue)
Gina G – Fresh! (Warner Bros.)
A3 – Exile On Coldharbour Lane (Geffen/Elemental)
Fabienne Shine – No Mad Nomad (FB Music)
Missy Misdemeanor Elliott – Supa Dupa Fly (The Gold Mind/East West)
Cornershop – When I Was Born For The 7th Time (Luaka Bop/Warner Bros.)
Dose One – Slow Death (The Permanent Cry) (Dose One)
Midnight Oil – 20,000 Watt R.S.L. (Columbia reissue)
The Dead Milkmen – Death Rides A Pale Cow: The Ultimate Collection (Restless reissue)
Tim McGraw – Everywhere (Curb)
Kim Richey – Bitter Sweet (Mercury)
The Elevator Drops – People Mover (Time Bomb Recordings)
Lila McCann – Lila (Asylum)
Days of the New – Days of the New (Outpost)

― xhuxk, Thursday, 3 May 2007 11:18 (6 years ago) Permalink

computer says...

Björk - Homogenic
Kenickie - At the Club
Daft Punk - Homework
Carl Craig - More Songs About Food and Revolutionary Art
Erykah Badu - Baduizm
Autechre - Chiastic Slide
Mouse on Mars - Instrumentals
Plaid - Not for Threes
Photek - Modus Operandi
Smog - Red Apple Falls
Stereolab - Dots and Loops
That one radiohead album
That one blah Pavement record

was my '97 (lies, some of those heard much later)

:/

― fandango, Thursday, 3 May 2007 11:23 (6 years ago) Permalink

my zing attempt = fail

― acrobat, Thursday, 3 May 2007 11:34 (6 years ago) Permalink

My top ten 1997 albums not yet mentioned in this thread:

Catherine Wheel - Adam and Eve
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Boatman's Call
Hum - Downward Is Heavenward
Low - Songs for a Dead Pilot
Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West
Mogwai - Young Team
Primal Scream - Vanishing Point
Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
U2 - Pop...yeah, I said it
Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One

...those are all pretty fuckin great albums, and that's not counting the ones mentioned above that I love unconditionally - Bjork, Radiohead, Spiritualized, Daft Punk, Smog, Pavement, Stereolab, Blur...and that's leaving out a bunch of really good albums (Built to Spill, the Apples in Stereo, Arab Strap, Depeche Mode, Portishead, Guided by Voices, SYR1, SYR2) that are stuck in a year with a bunch of other great albums to knock 'em to the bottom of my post

― stephen, Thursday, 3 May 2007 13:18 (6 years ago) Permalink

1997 was without question my favorite year for records in the last 20. My top 10:

Built To SPill: Perfect From Now On
Sleater-Kinney: Dig Me Out
Yo La Tengo: I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One
Whiskeytown: Stranger's Almanac
Radiohead: OK Computer
Modest Mouse: The Lonesome Crowded West
Bob Dylan: Time Out Of Mind
The Verve: Urban Hymns
Belle & Sebastian: If You're Feeling Sinister
Jayhawks: Sound of Lies

Never mind the fact that 1997 was also the year they came out with the mother of all reissues, the Anthology Of American Folk Music.

― kornrulez6969, Thursday, 3 May 2007 14:15 (6 years ago) Permalink

"OK Computer", "Radiator", "Ultra"..

Sure more classic than most other 90s years.

― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 3 May 2007 20:16 (6 years ago) Permalink

I'll be the first to call dud. I can't think of any piece of music off top of my head from '97 that I really, really cherish and would be totally fucked without.

― The Reverend, Friday, 4 May 2007 02:20 (6 years ago) Permalink

Here's the list I made for 1997 for the The Best Year for Heavy Metal thread. So, take it as you will:

Emperor - Anthems to the Welkin at Dust
Strapping Young Lad - City
Arcturus - La Masquerade Infernale
Symphony X - the Divine Wings of Tragedy
Bruce Dickinson - Accident of Birth
Ulver - Nattens Madrigal
In Flames -Whoracle
Gorgoroth - Under the Sign of Hell
Enslaved - Eld
Fates Warning - a Pleasant Shade of Gray
Dimmu Borgir - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant
Iced Earth - Days of Purgatory
Pain of Salvation - Entropia
Borknagar - The Olden Domain
Gamma Ray - Somewhere out in Space
Solefald - The Linear Scaffold
Deftones- Around the Fur
Hypocrisy - the Final Chapter
Tiamat - a Deeper Kind of Slumber
The Gathering - Nighttime Birds
Stratovarius - Visions
Children of Bodom - Something Wild
Fu Manchu - the Action Is Go
Sigh - Hail Horror Hail
Rammstein - Sehnsucht
Paradise Lost -One Second
Destroyer 666 - Unchain the Wolves
Machine Head - the More Things Change
Rhapsody - Legendary Tales
Dark Tranquillity - The Minds I
Immortal - Blizzard Beasts
Today Is the Day - Temple of the MorningStar
Hammerfall - Glory to the Brave
Seven Dust - Seven Dust
Nightwish - Angels Fall First
Guano Apes- Proud like a God

― Jeff Treppel, Friday, 4 May 2007 02:44 (6 years ago) Permalink

It was the year I graduated high school... I'm sure I could find some decent albums, but based on the mixtapes that I've riffled here near my desk... Nope. Sucked. And also had an inexplicable amount of ska punk. DAMN YOU 1997 SELF!

― I eat cannibals, Friday, 4 May 2007 04:58 (6 years ago) Permalink

As stated in the other 1997 thread, 1997 was the greatest year for singles since 1981. Witness (in order of greatness):

B-Rock & The Bizz: "My Baby Daddy" (LaFace 1997)
Cornershop: "Brimful of Asha (Norman Cook remix)" (Wiija 1997)
Stretch 'n' Vern present "Maddog": "Get Up! Go Insane!" (Grandslam 1997)
Chumbawamba: "Tubthumping" (Republic/Universal 1997)
The Notorious B.I.G.: "Mo Money Mo Problems (Bad Boy 1997)
Belle and Sebastian: "Lazy Line Painter Jane" (Jeepster 1997)
OMC: "How Bizarre" (Mercury 1997)
Hanson: "MMMBop" (Mercury 1997)
Puff Daddy featuring Faith Evans and 112: "I'll Be Missing You" (Bad Boy 1997)
Red Rat: "Dwayne" (Opera House 1997)
Somethin' For The People: "My Love Is The Shhh!" (Warner Bros. 1997)
Aqua: "Barbie Girl" (MCA 1997)
Spice Girls: "Wannabe" (Virgin 1997)
House Heroes: "Magic Orgasm (Funk Mix)" (Twisted 1997)
Aquarius: "Find The Groove" (Submarine 1997)
Sneaker Pimps: “Spin Spin Sugar (Armand’s Dark Garage Mix)” (Virgin 1997)
She Moves: "Breaking All The Rules" (Geffen 1997)

Best album - Shania Twain: Come On Over

― Kevin John Bozelka, Friday, 4 May 2007 07:02 (6 years ago) Permalink

That should be Shania Twain: Come On Over

― Kevin John Bozelka, Friday, 4 May 2007 07:02 (6 years ago) Permalink

Some of those singles (Aqua, Spice Girls....) are more examples of what would make 1998 and 1999 such dissapointing music years.

― Geir Hongro, Friday, 4 May 2007 08:24 (6 years ago) Permalink

Seems like I spent '97 listening to '96: Endtroducing..., ATLiens, Ginuwine's The Bachelor, Walking Wounded... Didn't get into If You're Feeling Sinister and Black Monk Time until years later. I was sick of big-money rap outside of Timbaland, and didn't see Atmosphere or go back down to New Orleans until '98, which got me excited about hip hop again. I still haven't picked up the Radiohead, and those Stereolab, Smog, U2, Sleater-Kinney, and a bunch of others seemed like steps downward. Granted, I wasn't getting the freebies yet that come with steady rock-writing, and Erykah Badu sounded good at parties, and that Yo La Tengo was wonderful throbbing through my roommate's wall. The Dylan album reminded me he was alive, and it was fun to hear "Tubthumping," "Barbie Girl," "Wannabe," and "Too Close" on the radio. But '97 seems like a nadir in many ways, particularly for independent and local music just beginning to get on CD.

The big exceptions were the remix of Mundo Civilizado by Arto Lindsay and As Is by We, which are still amazing.

― Pete Scholtes, Friday, 4 May 2007 19:51 (6 years ago) Permalink

Let's not forget Robert Wyatt's Shleep.

― o. nate, Friday, 4 May 2007 20:00 (6 years ago) Permalink

Some of those singles (Aqua, Spice Girls....) are more examples of what would make 1998 and 1999 such dissapointing music years.

Huh??

― Kevin John Bozelka, Saturday, 5 May 2007 06:56 (6 years ago) Permalink

1994-1997 were all crowded with great Britpop. Spice Girls are to blame for the (thankfully short-lasting) decline of that genre.

― Geir Hongro, Saturday, 5 May 2007 22:31 (6 years ago) Permalink

Pavement- was on the downside
Modest Mouse- peaked that year
Sonic Youth- were in that no man's land i hardly wanted to hear
Built to Spill- were packin mad heat!
and i wondered who the hell this ICP was and why am i seeing so much of it???

― edde, Sunday, 6 May 2007 17:12 (6 years ago) Permalink

RADIATOR

― Just got offed, Sunday, 6 May 2007 17:19 (6 years ago) Permalink

Just dug out a mix tape I made circa April-May 1997 (senior year of high school!) this weekend -- amidst the more classic rock material, I was apparently big on Brighten The Corners, I Can Hear The Heart Beating, Perfect From Now On and Son Volt's second album. I think I saw all of these bands around this time too (maybe all at the Troubadour in LA?)...I think Son Volt's second album is the only one I'm not still in love with today...

― tylerw, Sunday, 6 May 2007 17:19 (6 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

Didn't anyone like the Portishead album? I was just re-listening to that, and wondered if I should have rated it higher way back when.

Then got on a kick and brought these out:

Laika - Sounds of the Satellites
Arto Lindsay - Mundo Civilizado
Finley Quaye - Maverick A Strike
Richard Horowitz & Susan Deyhim - Majoun
Labradford - Mi Media Naranja
Sixteen Horsepower - Low Estate
Orang' - Fields And Waves
Helium - The Magic City
Built To Spill - Perfect From Now On
Roni Size - Reprazent: New Forms
Mouse On Mars - Autoditacker

Most of it sounds good, there's definitely much more good music than what was mentioned. What a trip, I hadn't listened to some of these albums in over five years.

― Fastnbulbous, Monday, 6 October 2008 05:00 (4 years ago) Permalink

'97 = super for singles

semi-charmed life, everlong, bittersweet symphony, triumph, elektrobank, u make me wanna, put your hands where my eyes could see, volcano girls, hypnotize, if your girl only knew/one in a million, miss modular, deadweight

― billstevejim, Monday, 6 October 2008 18:48 (4 years ago) Permalink

― internet person, Monday, 6 October 2008 19:47 (4 years ago) Permalink

Hate to say it, but 97 for me remains:

― tony orlando and dawng (PappaWheelie V), Monday, 6 October 2008 21:00 (4 years ago) Permalink

along with this:

― tony orlando and dawng (PappaWheelie V), Monday, 6 October 2008 21:05 (4 years ago) Permalink

i am nostalgic for 1997 70s nostalgia.

― internet person, Monday, 6 October 2008 21:56 (4 years ago) Permalink

1997, like the two years before it, was an excellent year. 1994-97 was the best part of the 90s, due to a lot of great Britpop and Britpop-ish music being influenced and becoming successful then.

― Geir Hongro, Monday, 6 October 2008 21:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

geir, if you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends...

― I write in different languages. The music you heard is not what (PappaWheelie V), Monday, 6 October 2008 22:03 (4 years ago) Permalink

3 years pass...

So I made a sequenced Spotify playlist of 120+ tracks from 1997:
http://open.spotify.com/user/seaworthyset/playlist/7stpSWSBIVaFri3GchWGaq

Not hugely comprehensive on a broad scale, but I think it's a good representation of what I was listening to (or aware of) at the time, along with a smattering of songs I've discovered since. Probably could use more R&B...

My favorite album of the year, btw, remains Dots and Loops.

― Trewster Dare (jaymc), Wednesday, 1 August 2012 13:14 (9 months ago) Permalink

Of course, I had to omit a number of songs not on Spotify: Dismemberment Plan, Broadcast, Jim O'Rourke, Future Bible Heroes, Flaming Lips, Arto Lindsay, Timbaland and Magoo, Mark Morrison, Sonic Youth, Pulsars, etc.

― Trewster Dare (jaymc), Wednesday, 1 August 2012 13:18 (9 months ago) Permalink

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