2004: The Good Old Days? - October

It's looking like in 2004 we were in the rap and R&B era and then in 2005 we moved into the indie and garage rock era. The last quarter of 2004 suggests this anyway, though we still have a notable amount of indie records too.

We'll begin by looking at the dance records though because this is where the 2 strongest contenders for best record sit. Just missing out are Deep Dish with "Flashdance", a great record but not quite as good as "Drop the Pressure" by Mylo from his excellent "Destroy Rock & Roll" album which is one of my all time favourite albums.

Elsewhere in the dance world it's generally looking good. Danny Howells & Dick Trevor have a decent record in  "Dusk Til Dawn" as does Fatboy Slim with "Slash Dot Dash". We also have Kelis & Andre 3000 do some drum & bass with "Millionaire" which is surprisingly good. The only dance records not to get points are a couple of euro cheese numbers from Alcazar and Angel City.

The worst record for the month is a rap record, not sure that's happened yet. It comes from Khia with "My Neck My Back" which was irritating enough at the time but I feel like it's also influenced a number of god awful modern female rappers.

A full house for the rest of the rap records though, Lil Flip with "Sunshine" which I was very much enjoying at the time, The Streets with "Blinded By The Lights" which is probably the best thing he's done and Terror Squad with "Lean Back" which is solid.

The R&B records to get full marks are "Happy People / U Saved Me" by R Kelly who seems to be quite prolific towards the end of 2004. I quite enjoy "Love Them Ho's" by Eamon, his less known follow up to his controversial chart topper. I also like "Afrodisiac" by Brandy which led me to buy the album on a whim in Tesco when doing the weekly shop one time.

Depeche Mode have a remix of "Enjoy the Silence" which is more in line with their later sound and actually works quite well. Paul McCartney was back in the charts with "We All Stand Together" as part of a double a-side with "Tropic Island Hum" and has always been a guilty pleasure.

Elsewhere there's a few guitar driven records that get half marks including Velvet Revolver, the band that Guns N Roses could have been, with "Fall To Pieces". Not up to Guns N Roses standards though.

Here's a list of the records with the best on top, worst at the bottom and the good ones in green, OK ones in amber and rubbish ones in red (and in no particular order):

Score: 24%

Here's a look at the chart:

That's more like it, the 3rd best month. Still some improvement needed though if we are to declare 2004 the good old days.