The seven hundred ninety-fifth song: It Ain’t Hard to Tell - Nas
While a strong rap track, there's something more mellow about it in a way that works quite well - the lyrics are aggressive enough, but the underlying beat quiet enough to compensate for that well.
The seven hundred ninety-sixth song: Inner City Life - Goldie presents Metalheads
The gorgeous soul vocals in this track contrast with the heavy electronic bass that comes through later, a slightly disconcordant mix where I'm not sure the two alway smatch up, instead often having them play as two tracks at a time. Both good, but I'm not sure it's a combination that entirely does what it wants to for me.
The seven hundred ninety-seventh song: End of a Century - Blur
This is a pretty standard pop song, a bit critical of current life and how everyone is aiming for safety, in a way that does feel familiar now but perhaps not saying as much as I could. It's fine.
The seven hundred ninety-eighth song: Connection - Elastica
This is a pretty standard punky pop rock song from the nineties, with a synth intro and some okay lyrics. It goes hard on the guitars, it has good female vocals, and probably serves mostly as a good example of the genre.
The seven hundred ninety-ninth song: Confide in Me - Kylie Minogue
The orchestral opening of this track takes its time to go into the more poppy follow up, a heavy beat sitting under some incredibly sensual vocals from Kylie that features her at her strongest. There's a bit of edge to it, a clear danger in the music, with middle eastern elements adding something seductive to it. It works on several levels, all amazing to listen to.
The eight hundredth song: Your Ghost - Kristin Hersh featuring Michael Stipe
A wonderful ballad, mostly featuring Kristin Hersh's perfect vocals for this song, Michael Stipe's addition feels like a perfect support - never overwhelming, but adding to the the effect and the story in a way that makes a lot of sense.
The eight hundred first song: Doll Parts - Hole
As a grungey love song, this is something that hits that beats quite well, and the build works well enough.
The eight hundred second song: 7 Seconds - Youssou N’ Dour featuring Neneh Cherry
A Wolof-English duet is not something you'd expect at first, but the poppy ballad is gorgeous, everything perfectly placed, and the two voices work well together, the langage barrier suggesting a distance that builds on that. The chorus is one I've heard before and hits, but so does the remainder of this track. It's just worth being in here.
The eight hundred third song: Live Forever - Oasis
This is the next larger name coming in, and Oasis delivers on their anthemmy pop rock, a chorus to sing along to while having a simple set of lyrics. It's all straight forward, but that's also the thing that works here.
The eight hundred fourth song: Cut Your Hair - Pavement
This is a pretty straight forward rock song, making the point of society's expectations but also staying pretty light during it. It's pretty simple and fun, nothing complicated, but it works.
The eight hundred fifth song: All Apologies - Nirvana
Obviously notable as their final single, this track just fits the Nirvana feeling - grungey, angry, a bit depressed, and distancing themselves from life. It's doing its job really well, telling its story and giving you that grunge feeling to enjoy.