SHINE: 20 Brilliant Indie Hits

so for non UK-ers, the competing compilation brand was The Best... Album In The World... Ever! series which ran from 95-98... volume 1 is

Supergrass – "Alright"
Blur – "Girls and Boys"
Elastica – "Waking Up"
Ash – "Girl From Mars"
Oasis – "Whatever"
Edwyn Collins – "A Girl Like You"
The Charlatans – "The Only One I Know"
Pulp – "Do You Remember the First Time?"
McAlmont & Butler – "Yes"
Morrissey – "Everyday Is Like Sunday"
Radiohead – "High and Dry"
The Cranberries – "Zombie"
The Smashing Pumpkins – "Today"
Manic Street Preachers – "La Tristesse Durera (Scream to a Sigh)"
James – "Sit Down"
The Boo Radleys – "Wake Up Boo!"
Suede – "Animal Nitrate"
The Verve – "This is Music"
Inspiral Carpets – "I Want You"
Therapy? – "Screamager"

The Smiths – "This Charming Man"
The Jesus & Mary Chain – "April Skies"
Oasis – "Supersonic"
The Stone Roses – "Fools Gold" (Original version)
Stereo MC's – "Connected"
The Prodigy – "Out of Space"
The Shamen – "Destination Eschaton" (Beatmasters 7" remix)
New Order – "True Faith '94"
The Chemical Brothers – "Leave Home"
Fluke – "Bullet"
Primal Scream – "Loaded"
EMF – "Unbelievable"
Jesus Jones – "Real, Real, Real"
Depeche Mode – "Personal Jesus" (7" version)
Blur – "Chemical World"
The Levellers – "15 Years"
The Auteurs – "Lenny Valentino"
Skunk Anansie – "I Can Dream"
Dreadzone – "Captain Dread"
The Future Sound of London – "Lifeforms"

some of these songs were released on indie labels fwiw (at least in the UK) so it's not "none"

but yeah, welcome to 1990!

weird how much overlap there is actually... that pumpkins/manics bit RULEZ

ah yeah I had that one too. some nice indie-dance crossover selections too

A lot more good tunes on that one.

my god following the majesty of McAlmont & Butler with moz... the humanity...

Would actually have paid money for that The Best... Album In The World... Ever! one - but we've already established I have a pavlovian response to all that indie-dance crossover stuff - hahaha I mean it has EMF's Unbelievable, but the Shamen track is ridiculous.

the word "indie" means "signed to a subsidiary of warner music group"

Tbf, it never referred strictly to the status of labels on either side of the pond. I don't think a bluegrass artist on an independent label (itself a vague concept) would have been what I'd expect if someone told me about an indie band in 1995. I wouldn't even expect a progressive metal band on an independent label if someone told me about a new indie rock band.

Stuff like Dreadzone makes me quite fondly nostalgic, even though I was indifferent at best at the time.

If there is only one vote for Jesus Jones, it me.

Although not the most anachronistic inclusion, I'm more than a little baffled at the inclusion of a track from Doubt on a compilation from 1995. Jesus Jones felt like they'd happened eight million years ago at that point, IIRC.

Unless the hits from that album had just kept on a-rollin' in the UK? They most certainly did not in the US.

unfortunately there were only 8 Brilliant Indie Hits in 1995 so the numbers had to be made up

From worst to best

The Cranberries - "Zombie"
Shed Seven - "Speakeasy"
The Wonder Stuff - "The Size of a Cow"
Electronic - "Getting Away with It"
James - "Sit Down"
Green Day - "Welcome to Paradise"
Jesus Jones - "International Bright Young Thing"
The Farm - "All Together Now"
Dodgy - "So Let Me Go Far"
The House of Love - "Shine On"
Inspiral Carpets - "Dragging Me Down"
Oasis - "Cigarettes & Alcohol"
The Charlatans - "Weirdo"
Blur - "Parklife"
Dinosaur Jr. - "Feel the Pain"
Suede - "Animal Nitrate"
New Order - "Regret"
The Smiths - "How Soon Is Now?"
Elastica - "Connection"
Pulp - "Do You Remember the First Time?"

this kind of music as played by Indie DJs at Indie discos

is this a thing that happened in the u.s.? probably accounts for the different usage of the word on either side of the ocean

maybe it would help if you think of it like indie (UK) = alternative (US)?

ah yeah I had that one too. some nice indie-dance crossover selections too

Oh god, you've just reminded me I owned this one

https://img.discogs.com/QalHdwQrg9jhgMsf5S1VRGghFag=/fit-in/504x492/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-895370-1185321628.jpeg.jpg

https://img.discogs.com/VuCoc9kUWLZ0pHePTpfm-lEbo8g=/fit-in/564x439/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-895370-1185321658.jpeg.jpg

I had Happy Daze vol 2. tbh there are some classics on that one fuiud

to give it it's strictest definition, if you can tippex the band name on a pencil case AND find it in camden market on a badge BUT NOT A WOVEN PATCH then it is indie, anything else is pop or metal and not for you.

i hear some College Rock wasn't made by Colleges either

i think "getting away with it" just edges out "regret"

Same

Same

Same

since my brain worked out the melody lift from Love My Way, i can't listen to Getting Away With It any more :-(
always thought Disappointed was superior actually!

Connection

"Getting Away with It."

green day feels very out of place here

Getting Away With It or Animal Nitrate.

On a compilation that features The Cranberries, Shed Seven and Dodgy it's something to say that Parklife is the most annoying thing here.

if you google "getting away with it", guess what you get? a song by james! which is quite good, actually.

btw i also voted for it.

Tbf, it never referred strictly to the status of labels on either side of the pond. 

iirc the NME's weekly Indie chart referred strictly to distribution, so if Food Records didn't go through EMI's in-house distributor, Jesus Jones and Blur would have counted, but if a fanzine cassette got into shops bc a mate worked at Warners and helped them out, it was disqualified

this definitely meant that Kylie Minogue records frequently topped the Indie chart, being on the sole-ownership concern Pete Waterman Limited

although ironically, "Indie" Kylie's records never troubled that chart

Ha, yeah, I thought of stating that chart as an exception. "Indie" DID always have that economic meaning but it was also used as a shorthand for a style of rock music on both sides of the Atlantic.

Back in the early 90s people used to tell me 'alternative' was just the American name for 'indie'.

But I think of like, Faith No More and I dunno Primus being 'alternative'.

this is almost the same tracklist as the naked chef compilation which is real

This was the first compilation I ever bought! on tape. don't think I'd heard Suede before that point and Animal Nitrate just blew most of the rest away, but I have overwhelming fondness for nearly all other tracks on here purely for nostalgic reasons. except Cigarettes and Alcohol.

and Sit Down, which I hate obviously, but probably didn't mind the first 3 or 4 times i heard it

hang on, when was Now 26? that had Laid on it, maybe that was my first comp.

If there is only one vote for Jesus Jones Zombie, it me.

I think Now 26 was about 1993... is that the one with Creep on it?

Is the "How soon is now" a mid 90s remix or something?

green day

Cigarettes and Alcohol

best Oasis song, basically perfect tune

DL, yes, that's the one. 1993! And Play Dead right after So Natural!

I swear I will take some of those Now tracklistings to my grave. Have we ever put lord the UK Nows? Vaguely remember a US one happening

“Put lord” = polled

I went through a phase of listening to them all in order until it hit approx the year 2000. The year 1999 was the absolute nadir for chart music.
Madonna never on any Now btw. Probably other obvious exclusions too?

Suede or Electronic probably.

Never particularly cared for Suede but saw what must have been several of their earliest gigs when they'd be first on at the Bull & Gate with about five people watching. Then very quickly they'd have this posse of enthusiastic female supporters who'd stand by the stage even when the place was mostly empty, which was pretty unusual for third on the bill, or.indeed any 'indie' groups then.

Madonna never on any Now btw. Probably other obvious exclusions too?

Think Michel Jackson only has one appearance for similar reasons

Yeah, was thinking of MJ. I revise my former statement btw, I think I only listened to all the Nows of the 90s.

The Hits Album often featured songs by artists such as Madonna, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and other big international artists that did not appear on rival Now compilations, and it was probably for this reason the albums were equally popular throughout the 1980s.

i think "getting away with it" just edges out "regret"
Same

Same

Same

The opposite

This reminds me of the p4k britpop albums list where they prefaced half the entries with a disclaimer of "this isn't really a britpop album, but..."
And it's no wonder I mean no way we're there 50 good britpop albums. There may not have been 20 good britpop albums. Still, I attribute at least some of the confusion to the first name that ppl associate with the style also being the band that killed it off almost instantaneously.

Xxp The Juantrip album on F Communications was another. Capitol K etc

sorry, but do not get how that's relevant here.
one of the most strange dance infused psych excess albums ever.

Oh right, I forgot he was French. Nevermind. Not that strange a record tho imo.

He sings like John Lennon doesn't he? Can't understand a word of it but as I recall it's all gibberish anyhow 😅