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 | Album: 1 of 10 Artist: Suede Title: Coming Up Released: 1996-09-02 Tracks: 10 Duration: 42:35 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples AlbumCover Mercury Prize Nominee 1997 | 1 Trash (04:06) 2 Filmstar (03:25) 3 Lazy (03:19) 4 By the Sea (04:16) 5 She (03:38) 6 Beautiful Ones (03:50) 7 Starcrazy (03:33) 8 Picnic by the Motorway (04:45) 9 The Chemistry Between Us (07:04) 10 Saturday Night (04:35) |
 | Album: 2 of 10 Artist: Spice Girls Title: Spice Released: 1996-10-29 Tracks: 10 Duration: 39:47 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover Mercury Prize Nominee 1997 | 1 Wannabe (02:52) 2 Say Youll Be There (03:57) 3 2 Become 1 (04:00) 4 Love Thing (03:35) 5 Last Time Lover (04:08) 6 Mama (05:03) 7 Who Do You Think You Are (04:00) 8 Something Kinda Funny (04:02) 9 Naked (04:20) 10 If U Can’t Dance (03:46) |
| Spice : Allmusic album Review : Spice doesnt need to be original to be entertaining, nor do the Spice Girls need to be good singers. It just has to be executed well, and the innocuous dance-pop of Spice is infectious. None of the Girls have great voices, but they do exude personality and charisma, which is what drives bouncy dance-pop like "Wannabe," with its ridiculous "zig-a-zig-ahhh" hook, into pure pop guilty pleasure. What is surprising is how the sultry soul of "Say Youll Be There" is more than just a guilty pleasure, and how ballads like "2 Become 1" are perfect adult contemporary confections. The rest of the album isnt quite as catchy as those first three singles, but it is still irresistible, immaculately crafted pop that gets by on the skills of the producer and the charisma of the five Spices. Sure, the last half of the album is forgettable, but it sounds good while its on, which is the key to a good dance-pop record. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 10 Artist: Beth Orton Title: Trailer Park Released: 1996-10-14 Tracks: 10 Duration: 59:38 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover Mercury Prize Nominee 1997 | 1 She Cries Your Name (04:46) 2 Tangent (07:28) 3 Dont Need a Reason (05:04) 4 Live as You Dream / Sugar Boy (07:20) 5 Touch Me With Your Love (07:26) 6 Whenever (03:54) 7 How Far (04:26) 8 Someones Daughter (04:16) 9 I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine (04:43) 10 Galaxy of Emptiness (10:09) |
| Trailer Park : Allmusic album Review : A folkie for the electronica age, Beth Orton brilliantly bridges the gap between acoustic songcraft and digital dance beats with her extraordinary debut album, Trailer Park. Fusing the plaintive emotional power of the singer/songwriter tradition with the distanced cool of trip-hop rhythms, Orton creates a fresh, distinct, and surprisingly organic sound without obvious precedent; blessed with a warm, ethereal voice capable of adapting comfortably to Spartan folk ("Whenever," a touching cover of the Spector/Greenwich/Barry-penned "I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine"), buoyant pop ("Live as We Dream," "How Far"), and spacy, densely layered electronica ("Tangent," "Touch Me with Your Love"), she shifts gears with remarkable ease, the depth and clarity of her unique perspective connecting even the most disparate tracks together into a unified whole. Simply put, Trailer Park is one of the most promising and innovative debuts of its era. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 10 Artist: Mark-Anthony Turnage Title: Your Rockaby Released: 1996-08-12 Tracks: 6 Duration: 55:34 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover Mercury Prize Nominee 1997 | 1 Your Rockaby (21:49) 2 Night Dances: Prelude (01:21) 3 Night Dances: Dance 1 (04:40) 4 Night Dances: Nocturne (03:34) 5 Night Dances: Dance 2 (03:33) 6 Dispelling the Fears (20:37) |
 | Album: 5 of 10 Artist: The Chemical Brothers Title: Dig Your Own Hole Released: 1997-04-07 Tracks: 11 Duration: 1:03:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover Mercury Prize Nominee 1997 | 1 Block Rockin’ Beats (05:13) 2 Dig Your Own Hole (05:27) 3 Elektrobank (08:18) 4 Piku (04:55) 5 Setting Sun (05:28) 6 It Doesn’t Matter (06:14) 7 Don’t Stop the Rock (04:49) 8 Get Up on It Like This (02:46) 9 Lost in the K‐Hole (03:52) 10 Where Do I Begin (06:56) 11 The Private Psychedelic Reel (09:21) |
| Dig Your Own Hole : Allmusic album Review : Taking the swirling eclecticism of their post-techno debut, Exit Planet Dust, to the extreme, the Chemical Brothers blow all stylistic boundaries down with their second album, Dig Your Own Hole. Bigger, bolder, and more adventurous than Exit Planet Dust, Dig Your Own Hole opens with the slamming cacophony of "Block Rockin Beats," where hip-hop meets hardcore techno, complete with a Schoolly D sample and an elastic bass riff. Everything is going on at once in "Block Rockin Beats," and it sets the pace for the rest of the record, where songs and styles blur into a continuous kaleidoscope of sound. It rocks hard enough for the pop audience, but it doesnt compromise either the Chemicals sound or the adventurous, futuristic spirit of electronica -- even "Setting Sun," with its sly homages to the Beatles "Tomorrow Never Knows" and Noel Gallaghers twisting, catchy melody, doesnt sound like retro psychedelia; it sounds vibrant, unexpected, and utterly contemporary. There are no distinctions between different styles, and the Chemicals sound as if theyre having fun, building Dig Your Own Hole from fragments of the past, distorting the rhythms and samples, and pushing it forward with an intoxicating rush of synthesizers, electronics, and layered drum machines. The Chemical Brothers might not push forward into self-consciously arty territories like some of their electronic peers, but they have more style and focus, constructing a blindingly innovative and relentlessly propulsive album thats an exhilarating listen -- one that sounds positively new but utterly inviting at the same time. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 10 Artist: Radiohead Title: OK Computer Released: 1997-05-21 Tracks: 12 Duration: 53:27 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover Mercury Prize Nominee 1997 | 1 Airbag (04:44) 2 Paranoid Android (06:23) 3 Subterranean Homesick Alien (04:27) 4 Exit Music (for a Film) (04:24) 5 Let Down (04:59) 6 Karma Police (04:22) 7 Fitter Happier (01:57) 8 Electioneering (03:50) 9 Climbing Up the Walls (04:45) 10 No Surprises (03:48) 11 Lucky (04:19) 12 The Tourist (05:24) |
| OK Computer : Allmusic album Review : Using the textured soundscapes of The Bends as a launching pad, Radiohead delivered another startlingly accomplished set of modern guitar rock with OK Computer. The anthemic guitar heroics present on Pablo Honey and even The Bends are nowhere to be heard here. Radiohead have stripped away many of the obvious elements of guitar rock, creating music that is subtle and textured yet still has the feeling of rock & roll. Even at its most adventurous -- such as the complex, multi-segmented "Paranoid Android" -- the band is tight, melodic, and muscular, and Thom Yorkes voice effortlessly shifts from a sweet falsetto to vicious snarls. Its a thoroughly astonishing demonstration of musical virtuosity and becomes even more impressive with repeated listens, which reveal subtleties like electronica rhythms, eerie keyboards, odd time signatures, and complex syncopations. Yet all of this would simply be showmanship if the songs werent strong in themselves, and OK Computer is filled with moody masterpieces, from the shimmering "Subterranean Homesick Alien" and the sighing "Karma Police" to the gothic crawl of "Exit Music (For a Film)." OK Computer is the album that established Radiohead as one of the most inventive and rewarding guitar rock bands of the 90s. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 10 Artist: John Tavener; Steven Isserlis Title: Svyati Released: 1997 Tracks: 12 Duration: 1:10:05 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover Mercury Prize Nominee 1997 | 1 Svyati "O Holy One" (13:58) 2 Eternal Memory: I. With great peace and serenity (03:06) 3 Eternal Memory: II. Slightly grotesque; dance-like; rough and an illusion of motion (03:12) 4 Eternal Memory: III. With great peace and serenity (04:22) 5 Akhmatova Songs: I. Dante (02:12) 6 Akhmatova Songs: II. Pushkin and Lermontov (01:53) 7 Akhmatova Songs: III. Boris Pasternak (01:50) 8 Akhmatova Songs: IV. Couplet (02:12) 9 Akhmatova Songs: V. The Muse (03:15) 10 Akhmatova Songs: VI. Death (04:19) 11 The Hidden Treasure (25:31) 12 Chant (04:09) |
| Svyati : Allmusic album Review : Since the composition of The Protecting Veil in 1987, the cello has played an important role in John Taveners music. Even when he was writing for instruments during the 1989-1995 period when the music on Svyati originated, Taveners works carried strong overtones of Russian Orthodox church services, and the cello here, as Tavener himself points out, sometimes seems to stand in for the voice of a priest. These pieces have been recorded before, but cellist Steven Isserlis, who premiered The Protecting Veil and some of the works included here, sheds valuable light on this phase of Taveners career by bringing them together on one disc. The five works included are quite diverse, with the cello playing a slightly different role in each. The most typical of Taveners predominantly choral output, as well as perhaps the most successful of the five, is the opening work and title track; Svyati is based on a segment of the Russian Orthodox liturgy known as the Trisagion ("O holy God, holy and strong, holy and immortal, have mercy on us") that carries special impact during a funeral service. Tavener wrote the work after the death of a friend, and it gradually brings the intonations of cello and choir together over each of its two halves. The Kiev Chamber Chorus is just one of several fine Russian ensembles performing the English-Russian music on this disc. The veteran Moscow Virtuosi under Vladimir Spivakov excel in the three-movement Eternal Memory, which rises in an Ivesian fashion from calm to disorder and then returns to its opening mood. Taveners five Akhmatova Songs, settings for soprano and solo cello of texts by the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, are more dramatic and varied in mood than most of his other works; concise and intense, they are beautifully realized here by Isserlis and the soprano with whom he premiered them, Patricia Rozario. The disc is rounded out by the less instrumentally successful string quartet The Hidden Treasure and by a solo cello piece, Chant. Like Arvo Pärt, Tavener has been known for reworking pieces into new forms and new media, and The Hidden Treasure is related to Taveners The Resurrection. RCAs engineers unite performances recorded at different times and in different places into a coherent whole, and the disc may serve as a good introduction to Taveners music for those who would rather avoid his explicitly religious large choral works. One complaint in the presentation: if just one less artsy abstract photograph had been included, that would have made room for Russian and transliterated texts of the Akhmatova Songs. Svyati is recommended for lovers of Taveners music and especially for instrumentalists and presenters who are curious about his ability to write music on a smaller scale. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 10 Artist: Prodigy Title: The Fat of the Land Released: 1997-06-30 Tracks: 16 Duration: 1:23:34 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover Mercury Prize Nominee 1997 | 1 Smack My Bitch Up (05:42) 2 Breathe (05:34) 3 Diesel Power (04:17) 4 Funky Shit (05:16) 5 Serial Thrilla (05:11) 6 Mindfields (05:39) 7 Narayan (09:05) 8 Firestarter (04:40) 9 Climbatize (06:36) 10 Fuel My Fire (04:18) 11 Smack My Bitch Up (Noisia remix) (05:53) 12 Firestarter (Alvin Risk remix) (03:18) 13 Breathe (Zeds Dead remix) (04:36) 14 Mindfields (Baauer remix) (03:51) 15 Breathe (The Glitch Mob remix) (04:25) 16 Smack My Bitch Up (Major Lazer remix) (05:05) |
| The Fat of the Land : Allmusic album Review : Few albums were as eagerly anticipated as The Fat of the Land, the Prodigys long-awaited follow-up to Music for the Jilted Generation. By the time of its release, the group had two number one British singles with "Firestarter" and "Breathe" and had begun to make inroads in America. The Fat of the Land was touted as the album that would bring electronica/techno to a worldwide audience (Of course, in Britain, the group already had a staggeringly large following that was breathlessly awaiting the album.) The Fat of the Land falls short of masterpiece status, but that isnt because it doesnt deliver. Instead, it delivers exactly what anyone would expect: intense hip-hop-derived rhythms, imaginatively reconstructed samples, and meaningless shouted lyrics from Keith Flint and Maxim. Half of the album does sound quite similar to "Firestarter," especially when Flint is singing. Granted, Liam Howlett is an inventive producer, and he can make empty songs like "Smack My Bitch Up" and "Serial Thrilla" kick with a visceral power, but he is at his best on the funky hip-hop of "Diesel Power" (which is driven by an excellent Kool Keith rap) and "Funky Shit," as well as the mind-bending neo-psychedelia of "Narayan" (featuring guest vocals by Crispian Mills of Kula Shaker) and the blood-curdling cover of L7s "Fuel My Fire," which features vocals by Republicas Saffron. All those guest vocalists mean something -- Howlett is at his best when hes writing for himself or others, not his groups own vocalists. "Firestarter" and all of its rewrites capture the fire of the Prodigy at their peak, and the remaining songs have imagination that give the album weight. The Fat of the Land doesnt have quite enough depth or variety to qualify as a flat-out masterpiece, but what it does have to offer is damn good. | ||
 | Album: 9 of 10 Artist: Primal Scream Title: Vanishing Point Released: 1997-06-25 Tracks: 11 Duration: 53:36 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover Mercury Prize Nominee 1997 | 1 Burning Wheel (07:06) 2 Get Duffy (04:09) 3 Kowalski (05:50) 4 Star (04:24) 5 If They Move, Kill em (03:01) 6 Out of the Void (03:59) 7 Stuka (05:36) 8 Medication (03:52) 9 Motörhead (03:38) 10 Trainspotting (08:07) 11 Long Life (03:49) |
 | Album: 10 of 10 Artist: Roni Size / Reprazent Title: New Forms² Released: 2008-04-07 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:12:04 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover Mercury Prize *** WINNER *** 1997 | 1 Railings (2008 re-edit) (02:05) 2 Brown Paper Bag (2008 re-edit) (03:46) 3 New Forms (2008 re-edit) (04:47) 4 Lets Get It On (2008 re-edit) (01:40) 5 Trust Me (2008 re-edit) (05:03) 6 Digital (2008 re-edit) (06:35) 7 Matter of Fact (2008 re-edit) (03:57) 8 Heroes (2008 re-edit) (04:13) 9 Share the Fall (2008 re-edit) (06:09) 10 Heart to Heart (04:50) 11 Less Is More (06:14) 12 Down (2008 re-edit) (05:12) 13 Hi Potent (2008 re-edit) (05:07) 14 Dont Hold Back (02:57) 15 Beatbox (2008 re-edit) (01:07) 16 Encore (04:31) 17 Destination (2008 re-edit) (03:51) |