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ATRL: BoTB 90s Style Week 7: We Like to Party!
ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 2/19/2003
Posts: 34,484
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BoTB 90s Style Week 7: We Like to Party!
Since I am in a 4 mood, and so many of this week's songs feel like they could have been played at barbecues/picnics/family reunions somewhere in the mid 90s. This week, two of the most important female pop stars go head to head with - funnily enough - songs that were released in 1990. (Speaks a lot about their overall output for the decade, right?) They're joined by one of the longest running number ones in US chart history, Destiny's Child's first HUGE hit, and our only shot of Britpop in this entire competition. Let's see what happens.
Madonna, performing Vogue Youtube link
Destiny's Child, performing Bills, Bills, BillsYoutube link
KoRn. performing Freak on a Leash Youtube link
Outkast, performing Rosa Parks Youtube link
Weezer, performing Buddy Holly Youtube link
Oasis, performing Wonderwall Youtube link
Boyz II Men, performing End of the Road Youtube link
Lauryn Hill, performing Ex-Factor Youtube link
Brandy, performing Sittin' Up in My Room Youtube link
Janet Jackson, performing Love Will Never Do (Without You) Youtube link
Here are the rules: listen to all ten tracks, comment on and rank them. Your favorite song gets a 10, your least favorite gets a 1. Voting closes at Friday?
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 2/19/2003
Posts: 34,484
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And the artists, playing in Week 8, perhaps the weirdest week of the first round, are:
Robyn
Whitney Houston
Garth Brooks
Ace of Base
Paula Abdul
TLC
Nine Inch Nails
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Fiona Apple
Nirvana
I think people are going to be very surprised by Paula's 90s output.
Rules: For any of these artists, send me a PM of your four favorite 90s songs they made. Your number one will get four points, your number four will get one point, etc and so on. Send them to me by Friday?
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 2/19/2003
Posts: 34,484
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FYCs for Week 8:
Fiona Apple
Shadowboxer
Slow Like Honey
The First Taste
Never is a Promise
Limp
Love Ridden
Fast as You Can
Across the Universe
Whitney Houston
It's Not Right, But It's OK
Heartbreak Hotel
I Believe in You and Me
Count on Me
My Love is Your Love
My Name is Not Susan
Run to You
TLC
Diggin on You
Her Story
Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg
Dear Lie
I'm Good at Being Bad
Silly Ho
Let me stop myself before I list TLC's whole discography.
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Member Since: 8/23/2010
Posts: 16,089
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Been a little busy lately, that's why I only did one option for each artist for this week. 4 of the songs that I chose were selected.
Playing later, not sure if i'll be able to send you my choices for Week 8 but I'll try.
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Member Since: 4/7/2009
Posts: 34,961
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99% of my selections made it.
Fave - Least - Lauryn Hill, Ex-Factor
- Oasis, Wonderwall
- Outkast, Rosa Parks
- Destiny's Child, Bills, Bills, Bills
- Brandy, Sittin' Up in My Room
- Janet Jackson, Love Will Never Do (Without You)
- KoRn, Freak on a Leash
- Madonna, Vogue
- Boyz II Men, End of the Road
- Weezer, Buddy Holly
Pretty much like all.
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Member Since: 11/29/2010
Posts: 19,102
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Destiny's Child - Bills Bills Bills really? WRONG choice.
KoRn - Freak on a Leash will do.
Lauryn Hill - Ex-Factor suffices but I would have chosen Nothing Even Matters.
Brandy - Cute song but it should have been Almost Doesn't Count or even Have You Ever.
Janet Jackson - Nope. That's The Way Love Goes or Got 'Til It's Gone
Boyz II Men - Solid
Madonna - She has better songs than Vogue IMO
Weezer - I guess...
Not familiar enough with Oasis' discography
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Member Since: 11/29/2010
Posts: 19,102
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Quote:
Originally posted by Ace Reject
Let me stop myself before I list TLC's whole discography.
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You don't need to. If Diggin' On You doesn't make it, then something is wrong with the ATRL population.
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Member Since: 10/9/2008
Posts: 9,835
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I need to hear 2 songs before voting.
Quote:
Robyn
Whitney Houston
Garth Brooks
Ace of Base
Paula Abdul
TLC
Nine Inch Nails
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Fiona Apple
Nirvana
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Member Since: 2/26/2006
Posts: 62,897
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10. Madonna, performing Vogue ICONIC
9. Janet Jackson, performing Love Will Never Do (Without You): I wanted the Rhythm Nation singles to count for the game just to include this amazing song which it's one of my all time favorites from Janet Jackson.
8. Weezer, performing Buddy Holly: Awesome song. I wish it was "Say It Ain't So" instead though.
7. Boyz II Men, performing End of the Road
6. Oasis, performing Wonderwall
5. Destiny's Child, performing Bills, Bills, Bills
4. KoRn. performing Freak on a Leash
3. Lauryn Hill, performing Ex-Factor
2. Outkast, performing Rosa Parks
1. Brandy, performing Sittin' Up in My Room
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 2/19/2003
Posts: 34,484
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I guess everyone forgot this week.
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Member Since: 10/9/2008
Posts: 9,835
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10. Madonna, performing Vogue
9. Janet Jackson, performing Love Will Never Do (Without You)
8. Oasis, performing Wonderwall
7. Destiny's Child, performing Bills, Bills, Bills
6. Lauryn Hill, performing Ex-Factor
5. Outkast, performing Rosa Parks
4. KoRn. performing Freak on a Leash
3. Weezer, performing Buddy Holly
2. Brandy, performing Sittin' Up in My Room
1. Boyz II Men, performing End of the Road
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 3/18/2009
Posts: 35,164
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Not as great as some previous weeks, but this is still a strong collection of songs. I think there could have been better choices for some of these artists, but I'm only one voter. It's too bad Brandy has to be so low, because she has the catalog to do well in a game like this. Alright, here go my rankings:
Oasis, performing Wonderwall: 10
That opening riff still gets me every time. I'm a little too young to have any real nostalgia for this song, yet I still find it an almost painfully beautiful encapsulation of sonic melancholy. I know "Wonderwall" has become somewhat of a cliche in popular culture, but I think that any time you listen, you're reminded how flawlessly classic this song really is.
Lauryn Hill, performing Ex-Factor: 9
The lilting, soulful vocal here is completely intoxicating. It feels like Lauryn Hill is alternately fighting past her own emotions to get the song out and trying to hold back from her emotionally destructive lover. What a pity and a waste of so much talent that she never released another solo record.
Janet Jackson, performing Love Will Never Do (Without You): 8
Rhythm Nation is one of my favorite albums ever, and "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" is one of its best songs. Sure, that drum machine is so of its time, and Janet's vocals are processed almost to the point of being unrecognizable, but who cares when you have a chorus that epic? The production builds nicely from a simple keyboard progression into a gorgeously inspiring dance anthem.
Destiny's Child, performing Bills, Bills, Bills: 7
How did the bouncy and delightful "Say My Name" get overlooked?! Anyways, "Bills, Bills, Bills" was my first exposure to Destiny's Child and it made me fall in love with them. I don't listen to the song much anymore because I find its melody almost oppressively dim, but I also forgot how superbly interesting the jerky, jumpy production is. A pleasant surprise.
Weezer, performing Buddy Holly: 6
I feel like Weezer is perfectly straddling the line between buoyantly giddy and sell-out poppy garage rock here. No wonder indie music gurus still love the song, despite a clear hook that is not only melodically uptempo, but even, gulp, fun. (The slightly-garbled instrumentals and that genius video probably don't hurt, either.)
Madonna, performing Vogue: 5
I'm disappointed voters didn't choose rollicking techno-fantasia "Ray of Light"—easily Madonna's most effortlessly relevant '90s hit and one of her most transcendent recordings ever. I know "Vogue" is iconic, but while it certainly has the one of the best uses of musical snaps I can think of, it kind of trots along at a high simmer without ever reaching a true euphoric boil.
Outkast, performing Rosa Parks: 4
I absolutely love '00s Outkast, but Rosa Parks is their only pre-Stankonia track I own or listen to. I went digging around on YouTube for more of their early output and found that I just couldn't get into it. Their music feels sleepy—a problem even slightly present on this song, though here it is overcome by an instantly catchy chorus and the fantastic rhymes of both Big Boi and Dre.
Brandy, performing Sittin' Up in My Room: 3
"Sittin' Up in My Room" is a cute little ditty with a host of great throwback influences to Motown soul and doo-wop, but Brandy has other, better songs ("Have You Ever?," "The Boy Is Mine," "Almost Doesn't Count") that might have had more of a chance in this first round.
Boyz II Men, performing End of the Road: 2
This is admittedly the first time I've ever listened to this song, so maybe I'll just offer some stream-of-consciousness reactions as they hit me: The production does not sound extremely dated, unlike a lot of early '90s R&B, but that keyboard is doing it no favors. The individual vocals are strong, but harmonies are supposed to be a Boyz II Men signature, right? Because these are not so interesting. Wow, that guy is really struggling to hit those notes. Are they serious with this talking section right now? And am I sincerely supposed to find it sexy? I'm loving this a capella final chorus with the changed key—a very striking finish. Overall reaction: Pretty meh. This spent how many weeks at #1?
KoRn. performing Freak on a Leash: 1
Considering this is Korn, I guess I was expecting it to be a lot more of an earsore. I've never been a fan of the band, and I don't think I'll be adding this one to my iTunes, but there was a discernible tune and Jonathan Davis has an interesting vocal style, so... not bad?
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Member Since: 11/30/2007
Posts: 26,796
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10. Lauryn Hill - Ex Factor - Prefer other cuts off of Miseducation, but this is still powerful.
09. Destiny's Child - Bills, Bills, Bills
08. Outkast - Rosa Parks
07. Boyz II Men - End of the Road
06. Oasis - Wonderwall
05. Janet Jackson - Love Will Never Do (Without You)
04. Brandy - Sittin' Up In My Room - The fact that my second favorite Brandy song is at #4 tells you how hard it was to rank these.
03. Weezer - Buddy Holly
02. Madonna - Vogue - Ironic that I prefer 90s Madonna and this is one of my least favorite singles from her.
01. KoRn - Freak on a Leash - Never got the appeal.
I'll send in my top fours when I get home.
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 2/19/2003
Posts: 34,484
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The reactions so far might be our most diverse yet.
I'll add mine tomorrow.
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 3/18/2009
Posts: 35,164
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Quote:
Originally posted by Ace Reject
The reactions so far might be our most diverse yet.
I'll add mine tomorrow.
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Can't wait to read what you have to say. I'm curious how your rankings will pan out, because I honestly have no idea.
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Member Since: 3/27/2009
Posts: 30,284
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Sister, you did not really just give me all of the 90's R&B songs that smashed my life. I simply cannot, can-****ing-not...
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 2/19/2003
Posts: 34,484
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at no votes for Paula.
Maybe you all went back and LISTENED to her 90s output.
If you guys want, Paula and Garth (who also has no votes) can be replaced.
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 2/19/2003
Posts: 34,484
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Quote:
Originally posted by supaspaz
Can't wait to read what you have to say. I'm curious how your rankings will pan out, because I honestly have no idea.
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I'm going to correct a grievous wrong that's being done to the highlight of the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack.
That is all I will say for now.
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ATRL Senior Member
Member Since: 6/23/2008
Posts: 14,330
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Janet Jackson Love Will Never Do (Without You)
I have an on-going love-hate relationship with this one. As of late, it's been nothing but love. The major selling point for me has always been the chorus, which is just so brilliant in its simplicity. This would receive the impossible score of 11 were it not for Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis who give us their signature SLAMMING drum machine snare that overpowers all other elements. This tried and true production technique, though mildly annoying because it's all a little been there done that, isn't the real issue; the problem arises when they decide to experiment. This was obviously recorded inside of a tin can and I question the decision to keep the natural acoustics of this makeshift studio. I assume they believed the final mix had something of a futuristic, metallic/spacey, we're-almost-in-the-90s-and-therefore-we-are-in-an-age-of-amazing-technology, quality. It may have fooled listeners at the time, but it sounds incredibly silly now. (10)
Oasis Wonderwall
Supaspaz has said everything I wanted to say and has said it better than I ever could. (9)
Madonna Vogue
So yeah, I sort of agree with what some are saying; this isn't the best of Madonna's musical output during the 90s, and to be completely honest, "Vogue" the musical moment cannot compete with "Vogue" the cultural moment, but at the same time I do not believe that "Vogue" is in any way a weak offering. Pettibone's production is fantastic (as always), Madonna's delivery inticing, and the whole thing is just a whole lotta fun. That's gotta count for something. (8)
Brandy Sittin' Up In My Room
How could anyone dislike this? It's beyond adorable, and that's enough for me. (7)
Lauryn Hill Ex-Factor
What's better than sad songs about bad relationships? Very few things. Lauryn is particularly effective here. (6)
Weezer Buddy Holly
"Buddy Holly" would have placed higher in any other week, but I was forced to rank several long-time favorites and one particularly strong offering from Lauryn, and before I realized it, this very good track had slipped a few places lower than I would have liked.*(5)
Outkast Rosa Parks
Rosa shouldn't have sued. This is very passable/good. (4)
KoRn Freak on a Leash
This is so not something I would seek out, yet I've always been intrigued by this one in terms of musicality. (3)
Boyz II Men End of the Road
I have nothing against it. I have nothing for it. (2)
Destiny's Child Bills, Bills, Bills
The girls really came into their own in the 00s. (1)
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ATRL Moderator
Member Since: 12/21/2002
Posts: 20,569
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10. Korn
9. Madonna
8. Brandy
7. Lauryn Hill
6. Weezer
5. Destiny's Child
4. Janet Jackson
3. Boyz II Men
2. Oasis
1. Outkast
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