Here's my weekly look at the Top 30 from 26 years ago. The plan is for these posts to go out at 17:30 on a Sunday.
Here is the Top 40 in full.
I've decided against repetition from previous weeks moving forward so will only feature the records I'm reviewing for the first time.
Once again my opinions are inevitably going to differ from other people, but I'm not trying to convince anyone something is good or rubbish, I'm simply giving my opinion.
So this is the records new to the top 30 from this week in 1999 with my verdict on each record:
Mercury Rev were one of those bands I'd heard of but not knowingly heard any of their music. This was mainly because a lot of people at university seemed to like them. The intro to this record sounded quite promising, it has similarities to "Strings of Life". It very quickly gets boring though.
Verdict - Rubbish
Leilani is just one of several long forgotten pop singers we'll encounter in 1999. This was her big hit which was followed by a minor hit that scraped into the Top 40 and by the end of the year nobody remembered her. There's nothing to like about this record at all, it's terrible.
Verdict - Rubbish
This was the final Top 40 hit of the 90s for Placebo, but they had many more in the 21st century. It was on the soundtrack to "Cruel Intentions" which was a pretty big film at the time. It suits the film in that it sounds like the sort of rubbish you'd get in these American high school films at the time.
Verdict - Rubbish
It had been over a decade since Inner City made the Top 40 with "Good Life". It had become one of the all time anthems, and with dance music being as popular as it was in 1999 it was given a makeover. It works well and reminds me that I never went to Ibiza in 1999 even though I wanted to.
Verdict - Good
I'm finding myself still humming along to it even though the song has ended. Garbage are really proving themselves to be a sort of forgotten gem of the 90s in that their music sounds a lot better now than I remember it being. Another decent record from them.
Verdict - Good
The biggest hit for The Divine Comedy. By this point I knew to expect the subject matter to be pretty random, but even then a record about a bus company seemed very odd. What was even weirder was the lyrics about the jolly hostess selling crisps and tea. I've never been on a National Express that has had one of those. Always loved this record.
Verdict - Good
The penultimate Top 40 hit to date for Dru Hill and their final one by themselves. It also became their highest charting by themselves. It was written by Babyface who was no longer as prolific with writing Top 40 hits as he'd been a couple of years earlier. It was also written by Damon Thomas and this was his first Top 40 hit as songwriter. It completely passed me by, but retrospectively I think it's pretty solid.
Verdict - Good
I remember this seemed to be around for a while before it actually charted. I may have even taped it off the radio before then, I certainly did at some point. It wasn't really a surprise that it did top the charts given how popular it was. I also remember considering it to be old by the end of the year.
Verdict - Good
If we give the records which were good 1 point each and those which were OK half a point, the final score is 14/30, or 47%. Another big improvement.
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