ITT: /mu/ in 2000
It's December almost time for the holidays, and Boris have just dropped Flood. And the world was happy.
OH GOD, BOYBANDS SUCK
>>127968400where tf is TooL????
britney_spears_first_anal_scene_xxx.exe 64kb
Yo this album is crazy you guys have to check it out.
BYE BYE BYE
I'd wished RHCP would have stayed dead but here we are. Fuck.
It's better than OK Computer
What's going on with Billie Joe is less maturity than the really boring stuff--professionalism, craft, artistic growth. He's abandoning the first person. He's assuming fictional personas. And he's creating for himself the voice of a thinking left-liberal who "want[s] to be the minority" and cautions against caution itself--a voice that scolds rather than whines, a nice age-appropriate shift. Crucially, his knack for simple punk tunes remains unchanged; also crucially, these do fine at moderate tempos, and one even gives off a whiff of Brecht-Weill. There are worse ways to come down off a multiplatinum high--lots of them. A-
>>127968652album where they were turning into AC. it was more of a mompop album and kids didn't really go for it.
Galloping in from the wastes just in time to save us from an onslaught of meaningless pop, it's a Genuine Rock Band here to caterwaul tunefully about the things that truly matter, such as the death of God, the girl you had a crush on, and hearing your favorite song on the radio. Billy Corgan's proclamations are almost as interesting as Al Gore's with the notable distinction of how the latter's might actually affect our lives. But what can it mean when his vocal cadences are sexier? C
>>127968568dumb wigger
>>127968568WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT RAPPER WHITE??
Wow, the fucking Yankees won the World Series again. Someone needs to bomb or blow up New York for justice and ebic lulz.
>>127968936Bent was my favorite song when I was 12.
Good ol' Cube, taking time off from his busy schedule as Hollywood honcho and Backstreet Boys stablemate to produce an unimaginative if not notably hateful marker in the "Keep it gangsta, dog" game while preparing a complex rhyme for Eminem's ass: "I'm still comin' with that underground gangsta shit/No matter how many niggas say we ain't the shit." In a year when hards from Cam'ron to Trick Daddy illed with enough self-critical ambivalence and sly style to keep moralists off balance, Cube's boasts and threats are as utilitarian as Chucky Thompson's emailed-in beats. With faking the gat life no longer a realistic possibility, he's down to pretending his penis is a lethal weapon. And lest you hold his nonexistent sense of humor against him, the honcho orders up a Chris Rock cameo. C+
>>127968957instrumental track was swiped from "Carnival"
>>127969219>>127969163aka it's time to stop
Best 2000 record
Whereas Young's previous bad albums all had some interesting quirk about them--impossible songs, twisted politics, stupid clothes--the ten culled copyrights here (four from the '80s, only one from 2000) portend a disturbing new development in that they're dull and reek of equine methane, the old-fart elitism that fuels alt country, AC radio, and eulogies canonizing Ry Cooder, Spooner Oldham, and Ernie K-Doh. True love isn't this boring, Young must know that. Hell, the Buffalo Springfield weren't this boring either. But they are now. C
Unless you hope to convince the platinum hordes that you live on Mars, there's even less point moralizing about this one than there was with the last. Right, Marshall Whoever is homophobic; right, he breathes. In context, the worst thing about his casual fag-baiting is that it's at once so received--like the shock-horror his boys envision in "Amityville," the one provocation here whose boundaries are predictable--and, because he's a devastating wordslinger in every context, so hurtful anyway. But the real Slim Whoever seems far more deeply disturbed about stardom, drugs, his marriage, and boning his mom--which latter, like it or not, is the fantasy (or whatever) that sets all the rest up, a big fat fuck you to the black culture Eminem respects and owes so explicitly, for if Snoop or Too Short or DMX would never say such a thing, just how bad can they be? Disable your prejudgment button and you'll hear a work of art whose immense entertainment value in no way compromises its intimations of a pathology that's both personal and political, created by one of those charming rogues you encounter so much more often on the page--exceptionally witty and musical, discernibly thoughtful and good-hearted, indubitably dangerous and full of shit. He may yet give a fuck--he has it in him. But not on anyone else's terms or timetable. A
>>127968836not a fan of the nu metal riffs tbqh
>>127969642See previous.>>127969300
His arrogance is earned, but that doesn't make it interesting, especially since his whine isn't--the same habit of childish self-pity that generated cognitive dissonance when he was coming up on the snazziest swizzbeats in the kingdom is annoying pathology with knockoff protégés sending in productions by cellular. And wouldn't Memphis Bleek be more, I dunno, affecting contributing a few answering-machine cameos, from upstate maybe? Right, "Jigga" 's still got "skills." So does LL Cool J, whose more accomplished record means nothing to nobody. This is a major falloff, a lazy cash-in no matter who won't admit it. B
at least as smart as an old-time riot grrrl, at least as rocking as an old-time Blake Baby ("Houseboy," "Let's Get Married") **
Right, I didn't spell their name right--that would be aiding and abetting these been-and-gone scumbags, whose slogan is, "Why wear one if you are one?" That the term they prefer is "dirtbag" says everything we need know about how creamy they cum. I hope the repo man is already on whatever dumb shit they bought with their Kid-Rock-wannabe, David-Allan-Coe-nephew, ooh-now-I'm-really-impressed advance, which I also hope cost some a&r fool his job. Another slogan: "Abuse chicks, smell like hell, and drink Mad Dog." Yet another: "Give this record a spin and don't take it too seriously." Oh, I get it--they were Only Joking. D+
Proof that Korn fans aren't sexist--they were just waiting for four cute teenage girls to come out bellowing "Get Off (You Can Eat a Dick)." Waiting so eagerly, in fact, that whether the girls bellowed loud enough was beside the point. C+
What a weird (dishonest? ironic? clueless?) name for a record that's all literature and arty sound effects. Even the title song, while indeed describing the white South of the artist's putative roots, balances on the fulcrum of a four-syllable word: Meridian, which joins allelujah, sanctuary, Antonia, and great big Michelangelo in reminding us that Harris has put away childish things. Instead we get a record worthy of her (to mush up review gush) "celestial" and "eminent" voice, one that "shimmers with poetic imagery and soul." Mortality, redemption, angels, all the important stuff, adorned with Daniel-Lanois-once-removed soundscape. Nary an antiwar song, yet you know Joan Baez is proud. C
Minimal sexism, doody jokes for corporate America, and the best rapping money can borrow ("Rollin' [Urban Assault Vehicle]," "Getcha Groove On"). *
>>127969833chill out and quit taking it all so seriously, Bob
Simpson is a blonde who got out of cheerleading early to prepare herself for whatever show business offered--game-show sidekick, R-rated remake of Debbie Does Dallas, bond trader seeking trophy wife. What she got was a John Cougar sample and the hard-earned ability to carry a tune. We know teenpop is rarely as vapid, prefab, and faux-wholesome as gatekeepers who've barely listened to it claim. So let's not tell them about this "refreshing blend of pop, R&B and [note copywriter getting desperate] gospel-flavored sounds." D
>>127970004it's a shitty Mariah Carey imitation
Gwen Stefani is forced to battle the perception that she's shallow because shallow is what she is. Like any human being, she has real feelings, but they run about as deep as her hair color and her commitment to ska, and wasn't it polite of me not to bring up her gift for the pithy phrase and the catchy tune? Occasionally her pushing-30 doubts about the single life are touching, like when she imagines Gavin Rossdale would make a good dad. But after five years, two producers, one Spin cover, and one lead review in Rolling Stone, the single Interscope sent her back to the salt mines for is the best thing on her automatic-platinum follow-up. So maybe marriage wouldn't be such a bad idea. No no no, not to Gavin--better she should land a really nice accountant. They have feelings too. C+
>>127970004There's oversinging and then there's Oversinging.
"Now you remember that this is why you loved music in the first place, a love that was without irony, pretense, or posing," declare the postpostrockers as they pursue their lost youths--youths they spent writing the names of hair bands on homeroom desks. This is the essence of those bands, they claim, re-created "with taste, competence, and as kick-assedly as can be." No singers, songs, or blooze to speak of. No solos either. Compositions! And intros aplenty--nay, fanfares, overtures. In short, the true metal--classical music for dummies. I knew it. I always knew it. C
Anybody who denies that Madonna made great singles in the '80s is a boob. Run all together on The Immaculate Collection, they constitute the greatest album of her mortal life. But except for the debut, the albums per se from that period strove for schlock when they didn't stoop to filler. In the early '90s, she essayed great longforms--an ambition that presupposes good songs while cultivating consistency and flow. Then she got scared and discovered God, two not unrelated experiences that rendered her great singles and good songs more middlebrow. So rejoice that from Vocoder to cowgirl suit, she's got her sass back. Pretending to be cheap, she sometimes--as on my favorite moment, the processed-munchkin hook of the perfectly entitled "Nobody's Perfect"--really is cheap, which is essential to the illusion. All the songs are good, all chintzy. Which combo provides just the right consistency and flow. A
I guess the fools who ceded these bummed-out Brits U2's world's-greatest-rock-band slot actually did care about what bigger fool Thom Yorke had to say as well as how he made it sound. Why else the controversy over this bag of sonics? Me, I'm so relieved Yorke's doing without lyrics. Presaging too damn much but no more a death knell for song than OK Computer was for organic life, this is an imaginative, imitative variation on a pop staple: sadness made pretty. Alienated masterpiece nothing--it's dinner music. More claret? A-
Aiming to fill the Queenhole by injecting videogame sci-fi and radio-head sonics into a pop-metal base, the Korn protegees forge a "startling vision of a future world in which communications technology has been turned against us, becoming a tool for government surveillance rather than personal convenience." Gosh, how'd they think of that? Heavy is a mission with them, I guess. Glam too, you should see their costumes--Bowie does Star Trek, 1974. When it gets this silly it can be fun sometimes. So who's laughing? C
The end is getting near but everyone's favorite jazz honking granny isn't quite done yet.
>>127970276Poor Jon needed Max Martin to knit him a sweater.
The only white rapper who's lived enough years to be nice about it--the Beasties excluded, Kid Rock not ("Graves to Dig," "One, Two"). *
Truth to tell, blues isn't his métier ("Fools Paradise," "Texas Flood"). *
On his last album, in CD-cusp 1989, six out of 10 tracks ran over five minutes; on this one, it's nine out of 13, with two others clocking in at 4:49 and 4:50. Since my own suspicions have been on record since the Eagles conquered the air, believe my formerly sympathetic California buddy Greil Marcus in Salon: "While it's well known that as one gets older, one tends to find changes in the world at large unsettling, confusing, fucking irritating, a rebuke to one's very existence, it's generally not a good idea to make a career out of saying so." C-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LeXYpd3iHchttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv1T5q1x6Dghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEy_SJQGdSwWhat a coincidence, I was just listening to these, clicking on /mu/ expecting there to be no suitable thread for it, and then I checked, the game was released exactly in 2000
The song alone ("Nobody," "Before My Time," "Would You Lay With Me [In a Field of Stone]"). **
>>127970348>While it's well known that as one gets older, one tends to find changes in the world at large unsettling, confusing, fucking irritating, a rebuke to one's very existence, it's generally not a good idea to make a career out of saying soso much projection
the beats their statement, the ballads their way of life ("I Thought She Knew," "It Makes Me Ill") *
Those who whine that there are no new rock bands are too square to know where to find them--on commercial radio, they're as hot as teenpop right now. But although many of those that surface come complete with a winner like the sad-versed, jaunty-chorused "Kryptonite," a sure shot for the Y2K'd and Confused remake Steve Case's boy will bankroll in 2020, good new rock bands are admittedly hard to come by. Avoiding the rest of this triple-platinum Mississippi swamp-rock is what Napster is for. "Album track" my ass. Burn yourself a "Kryptonite" now. C+
>>127968836What's up with the triangle and the Hebrew letters inside of it? Is it a reference to an esotericism?
One question: ITT am I supposed to post albums and songs that were released in 2000 or anything that would be discussed in 2000, even from previous years?
>>127970433nah no thanks, I really don't need to hear Kryponite. God knows I heard it enough back then.
>>127970291how many of these damn things did she release? it seems like there's always one in these /mu/ in X year threads.
>>127970658i love Go Let It Out
someone switched out chocolate starfish with jackpot no hands on EDonkey
>>127970645Rosemary Clooney? Since her comeback in '76 she had a vocal jazz album out almost every year until her death and rarely missed a beat, only years she didn't release one were 1989 and '99. She had to make up for all that lost time in the late 60s-early 70s I guess.
>>127970700how about not, we're not 12 anymore and we just got back from the skateboard gear place at the mall
the men don't know what the angry boys do ("Papercut", "Points of Authority") **
Cornell Haynes's St. Louis singsong rolls over an easy mix of N.O. Bounce, Cleveland thug harmony, and L.A. tweedle-twaddle. He remains faithful to Cedric the Entertainer's congenial cellphone-jester intro as he works through some mild dope-slangin' and bitch-mackin' consumer fetishism, and despite all the expensive cars I hope he paid cash for, the jolly diffidence of his heavily accented local color makes his hedonism seem more benign and accessible than the N.O. if not ATLien variety. There's bite to the mild moralism he works through, too, especially the St. Lunatics' detailed report on cannabis addiction. "Blow 30 mill like I'm Hammer," he boasts early on, and he's such a nice guy you hope it is 30 mill--and wish with all your heart he wasn't certain to blow whatever it turns out to be instead. B+
>>127970812Oh boy if only he knew what was coming. He didn't know, none of us did.
I'm not beatwise enough to swear that Timbaland is the first cause of all these tracks, but for sure all articulate a genrewide reaction to the textural overkill of the Wu-Tang imperium--a reaction that's now gone on so long I bet something else replaces it soon. So rather than a key to the future, take this boldly amelodic soundtrack as a summing up and Timbaland's titular executive production as an ascension into the noble realm of middle management. Note that all the lead voices and subproducers strutting their stuff add indispensable variety, and that it's singers rather than rappers--executive producer Aaliyah, Playa hiding the best cut in the 13 slot, the well-monikered Destiny's Child--who provide the high points. Are their half-tunes the future? Or is it possible that the earnest meaning mongers of the putatively old-school underground will pick up on a minimalism every bit as spare and considerably more meaningful than the retreads they're riding? A-
Lou Reed's too easy, Television just wrong--this New York five-piece's three-song preview reminds me of the Vibrators. Who were songfully nonstop Britpunks-of-convenience, slightly trad and not too deep, hence the necessity of IDing them. Their 1978 debut is cherished by many. A-
Having once left Tramps deeming them utter wankers after five songs--maybe four, wandered so much I couldn't tell--I harbored few hopes for this catchall of singles, one-offs, and out-of-print EP. But if Pavement has truly checked out, these Washington State youngsters can carry the noize-toon torch. Although "Sleepwalkin'" is kinda sexy, we understand why Up never released that "Never Ending Math Equation" video. As noize-toon, however, they're irreproachable--dissonant, vulnerable, geeky, and, crucially, sweet where so many other dissonantly vulnerable geeks arm themselves with sarcasm. Maybe that's how they got signed to Epic just when all their club buddies were refurbishing their computer skills. A-
As someone who's about as intimate with modern dance music as the radio jocks and collegiate punters Slim accesses with such drunken disregard for subcultural niceties--and who believes house divas are only slightly smarter, popwise, than Slim's fellow sot Jim Morrison--I say this is where Norman Cook achieves the nonstop stupidity breakbeats alone could never bring him. One great idea per song, from anywhere--embellished, of course, with all the sonic tricks he's filched and made his own. "What duh fuck" muttered to infinity. A retox anthem whose time has come. Macy Gray B-in', C-in' and F-in' ya. And for that essential soupçon of soul: a Wet Willie sample! All shallow, all pure as a result--pure escape, pure delight, and, as the cavalcade of gospel postures at the end makes clear, pure spiritual yearning. Transcendence, we all want it. Good thing Cook knows most of us aren't deluded enough to want it all the time. A-
Forget the Prince and Marvin stuff--this deeply brave and pretentious record signifies like a cross between lesser Tricky and Sly's Riot Goin' On. Accepting his deficiencies in the tune-and-hook department, he leads from strength, a feel for bass more disquieting than bootalicious. His lyrical focus is the social as spiritual, which he ponders honestly and seriously and sometimes bravely, as on the unjudgmental, unsentimental "The Line," in which a young black man lays out the reasons he's ready to die--leaving the listener to wonder why the fuck he should have to think about it. So the pecs and pubes of the video are a feint, one of many; although the music can be sexy and funky and fun and woman-centered, that's just part of the sonic concept. Which is unique. Play it five years from now, when the follow-up comes out, and you'll recognize it instantly. A-
Music went to shit with the 1996 Telecommunications Act. Gen Y teens ("The Millennials") will look back on this crap like Limp Bizkit and Nelly and feel nostalgia for it.
1 "Breathe" Faith Hill2 "Smooth" Santana featuring Rob Thomas3 "Maria Maria" Santana featuring The Product G&B4 "I Wanna Know" Joe5 "Everything You Want" Vertical Horizon6 "Say My Name" Destiny's Child7 "I Knew I Loved You" Savage Garden8 "Amazed" Lonestar9 "Bent" Matchbox Twenty10 "He Wasn't Man Enough" Toni Braxton11 "Higher" Creed12 "Try Again" Aaliyah13 "Jumpin', Jumpin'" Destiny's Child14 "Thong Song" Sisqó15 "Kryptonite" 3 Doors Down16 "There You Go" Pink17 "Music" Madonna18 "Doesn't Really Matter" Janet Jackson19 "What a Girl Wants" Christina Aguilera20 "Back at One" Brian McKnight21 "Bye Bye Bye" NSYNC22 "You Sang to Me" Marc Anthony23 "I Need to Know"24 "Get It On Tonite" Montell Jordan25 "Incomplete" Sisqó26 "I Try" Macy Gray27 "It's Gonna Be Me" NSYNC28 "That's the Way It Is" Celine Dion29 "Country Grammar (Hot Shit)" Nelly30 "Bring It All to Me" Blaque31 "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely" Backstreet Boys32 "Hot Boyz" Missy Elliott featuring Nas, Eve and Q-Tip33 "Back Here" BBMak34 "It Feels So Good" Sonique35 "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" Nine Days36 "With Arms Wide Open" Creed37 "Be with You" Enrique Iglesias38 "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)" Christina Aguilera39 "No More" Ruff Endz40 "All the Small Things" Blink-18241 "The Way You Love Me" Faith Hill42 "I Turn to You" Christina Aguilera43 "Never Let You Go" Third Eye Blind44 "I Need You" LeAnn Rimes45 "Thank God I Found You" Mariah Carey featuring Joe and 98 Degrees46 "Let's Get Married" Jagged Edge47 "My Love Is Your Love" Whitney Houston48 "Then the Morning Comes" Smash Mouth49 "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" Eiffel 6550 "Desert Rose" Sting featuring Cheb Mami51 "The Real Slim Shady" Eminem52 "Most Girls" Pink53 "Wifey" Next54 "Wonderful" Everclear55 "Oops!... I Did It Again" Britney Spears
i had this poster on my wall
>>127969930these guys really make me wanna getma groove on.
Ellen has inspired me to brave to come out as well. Guys, I'm gay. And I really like Radiohead.
>>127972486it's still not that bad yet. i think it was 9/11 that broke everyone's brain and society didn't recover from that.
>>127974165Fuck's a 9/11? Is this some CIA code shit?
Armed with a Day-Glo dye job and some ace Babyface subcontracts, a tough talker diddles teenpop's love button. In a world where the half-word "sh-" teeters on the edge of going too far, she and hers bet-correctly-that a simple "I'm pissed" will pack a wallop, and work from there. When she admits to the loss of her slurred "cherry" in the finale, you can only wonder how sexy she'll be when she shows pink for real. B+
>>127974222awful album cover tbqh
>>127970658Sunday Morning Call is the worst kind of Post Britpop dreck.
KPOP GENERAL
>>127974841Are they japanese?
>>127972653don't forget "Please Remember Me" aka the very worst country song of all if "Nineteen Somethin'" didn't exist. also many of these songs were from 1999 releases so we didn't post the albums in here.
These Kuuss guys splitting off in different directions is producing a lot of cool music. I hope this project doesn't distract nick from qotsa, I wouldnt want them to have to get a different bassist>>127968568I really wasn't convinced of this guy before, but he's proven himself with this one. >>127968652More of a B, but fair assessment of where theyre at. Green Day is probably past their prime. I don't see them coming back to the mainstream any time soon>>127968836Thats how I felt on the first listen, but this is actually kind of a comeback for them, or it would be if they didn't just Release the worst sequel record ever on their website, and announce their breaking up>>127969163Another fucking masterpiece. No Mechanical Animals but close. Genius commentary of today>>127969975These guys are one of the better trendfollowers, but the mommy shit is disturbing>>127970433Surprisingly good album>>127970753When it comes to trend followers these guys are the most interesting since they got themselves a pro vocalist
>>127970611Please someone answer
>>127969833The joke completely went over his head.
When is Chinese Democracy coming out?
>>127976144I assume the second one, I'm not the OP.
>>127976189Ty
>>127975106Yes, the "K" in kpop stands for "Japanese"
>>127970004another outstanding review from a self-identified male feminist
>>127976670praising mindless corposlop has only been "feminist" in the last decade or so, zoom-zoom
