ALL THINGS MUSIC
PAGE 4 • GO! MAGAZINE
Her jazzy, arty sensibilities are on full
display on her breakout hit, “Criminal,”
a deceptively catchy and ominous piano
dirge that subtly grapples with sexuali-
ty-as-a-weapon.
<...BABY ONE MORE TIME,= BRITNEY SPEARS
musical world with his 1994 breakout single
“Loser,” from the album “Mellow Gold.” Al-
most every avenue Beck would later explore
surfaces on this track: nonsequitur lyrics
(here disguised as very ’90s self-loathing),
folk melodies and danceable hip-hop beats.
<LOSING MY RELIGION,= R.E.M.
Similarly to boy bands, women pop sing-
ers experienced a golden age in the late ’90s,
and Britney Spears led the pack. “...Baby
One More Time” and its massive earworm
chorus sounded familiar yet fresh when it
first dropped on Spears’ 1998 album of the
same name, and still holds up today.
<DOO WOP (THAT THING),= LAURYN HILL
R.E.M. has created more iconic songs
than any band has a right to, and “Losing
My Religion,” from 1991’s “Out of Time”
album, might be its most iconic. It’s the
catchiest hit single that doesn’t have a sin-
gle verse, chorus, break or bridge, just one
stream-of-consciousness rant over a cycling
mandolin figure.
<THUNDER ROLLS,= GARTH BROOKS
Continued from previous page
Elusive and influential rapper Lauryn
Hill got her start in The Fugees, but sealed
her impressive legacy with her debut (and
to date, only) solo album, 1998’s “The Mise-
ducation of Lauryn Hill.” “Doo Wop (That
Thing),” the album’s first single,
takes a hard look at relation-
ships, with Hill demon-
strating her considerable
vocal chops over a neo-
soul backdrop.
<LOSER,= BECK
The poster child
for ’90s genre-mash-
ing, Beck offered the first
glimpse into his mixed-up
Garth Brooks may be the name most
associated with country music’s pop take-
over in the ’90s. “Thunder Rolls,” from his
second album, 1990’s “No Fences,” makes a
great case as to why that is. The song, first
recorded by Tanya Tucker, starts with
ominous thunder before launch-
ing into an equally ominous gui-
tar figure that points to South-
ern rock as much as Nashville
twang, while the chorus is pure
pop.
<MAN! I FEEL LIKE A WOMAN!=
SHANIA TWAIN
Garth Brooks brought country
music into the ’90s pop mainstream, and
Shania Twain helped keep it there with
“Man, I Feel Like a Woman.” The single, re-
leased in 1999 and taken from Twain’s third
album, 1997’s “Come on Over,” was ines-
capable for the rest of the decade thanks to
its full-throated celebration of womanhood,
delivered over huge hooks and guitar riffs.
<FREAK ON A LEASH,= KORN
Nu-metal (or rap-rock, or whatever you
want to call it) dominated heavy music in
the tail end of the ’90s, combining streetwise
hip-hop grooves and swagger with sludgy,
downtuned guitar riffs. Korn pioneered this
musical mix, and in 1998 crossed over into
the mainstream with its album “Follow the
Leader” and the single “Freak on a
Leash.”
<O.P.P.,= NAUGHTY BY NATURE
Naughty By Nature’s break-
out hit, from the trio’s 1991,
self-titled second album, cel-
ebrates other people’s … er,
personal effects with subver-
sive, sexually progressive lyr-
ics. The chorus chant (you know
the one, unless you’re not down
with O.P.P. I guess) is still one of the
catchiest hooks to ever hit airwaves.
<LONGVIEW,= GREEN DAY
Punk and ska also hit the mainstream in
890s mixtape honorable mentions
2021
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Honorable mentions:
“Foolish Games,” Jewel
“The Unforgiven,” Metallica
“21st Century (Digital Boy),” Bad Religion
“Rooster,” Alice in Chains
“Drunken Butterfly,” Sonic Youth
“Self Esteem,” The Offspring
“Soul and Fire,” Sebadoh
“Bulls on Parade,” Rage Against the Machine
“Let Her Cry,” Hootie and the Blowfish
“Going Back to Cali,” The Notorious B.I.G.
“Fell on Black Days,” Soundgarden
“Insane in the Brain,” Cypress Hill
“Sabotage,” Beastie Boys
“You Oughta Know,” Alanis Morissette
“Foolish Games,” Jewel
“A Shot in the Arm,” Wilco
“Come to My Window,” Melissa Etheridge
“Say it Ain’t So,” Weezer
“When I Come Around,” Green Day
“Feel the Pain,” Dinosaur Jr.
“You Get What You Give,” New Radicals
“Linger,” The Cranberries
“Macarena,” Los Del Rio
“Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It,” Will Smith
“Smooth,” Santana feat. Rob Thomas
“Truly Madly Deeply,” Savage Garden
THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2021 • THE BULLETIN
the early-to-mid ’90s (don’t call it a revival,
the music never stopped post-Sex Pistols).
Green Day was one of the biggest new punk
bands to hit the scene post-Nirvana, and
“Longview” is quintessential ’90s: A bored
kid singing about how even his favorite,
ahem, hobby won’t alleviate the boredom.
<1979,= SMASHING PUMPKINS
Combining goth sensibilities with hard
rock riffs and pop hooks, The Smashing
Pumpkins were one of the more esoteric
alternative rock bands of the ’90s. “1979,”
from the band’s sprawling, 1995 double-al-
bum “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sad-
ness,” smooths out some of the band’s raw
edges, and is one of frontman Billy Cor-
gan’s most personal statements.
<KEEP YA HEAD UP,= 2PAC
Tupac “2Pac” Shakur
would revolutionize hip-
hop over the course of
just four studio albums in
his lifetime, and “Keep Ya
Head Up” is a great exam-
ple of what set the rapper
apart from his contemporar-
ies. The 1993 song condemns
violence against women, specifically
the abuse suffered by Black women, with a
sensitivity not often found in the genre.
e e
Got local music news to share? Drop me a line
at brian.mcelhiney@gmail.com.
“The Boy is Mine,” Monica and Brandy
“Bittersweet Symphony,” The Verve
“Wonderwall,” Oasis
“Don’t Speak,” No Doubt
“Two Princes,” Spin Doctors
“Shoop,” Salt-N-Pepa
“Tearin’ Up My Heart,” *NSYNC
“No Diggity,” Blackstreet
“Semi-Charmed Life,” Third Eye Blind
“Smells Like Teen Spirit,” Nirvana
“Strawberry Wine,” Deana Carter
“Fancy,” Reba McEntire
“Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” Brooks & Dunn
“Wide Open Spaces,” The Chicks
“Web in Front,” Archers of Loaf
“Flagpole Sitta,” Harvey Danger
“Divine Hammer,” The Breeders
“I Try,” Macy Gray
“American Music,” Violent Femmes
“Laid,” James
“Radiation Vibe,” Fountains of Wayne
“Friends of P,” The Rentals
“Cut Your Hair,” Pavement
“Girl from Mars,” Ash
“The Impression That I Get,” Mighty Mighty
Bosstones
“Bound for the Floor,” Local H
“If it Makes You Happy,” Sheryl Crow