The eight hundred twenty-fifth song: Hell Is Round the Corner - Tricky
This electronic hip hop (trip hop?) track prefigures a number of later trends, while also feeling of its time - the beat feels very nineties, while the slow trap supplements the beat for a more relaxed track. It's a style I still hear, but with a different energy, while there's something deeper and relaxing about this, including the lyrics that feel that much more serious. It's a strong vibe that hits really well.
The eight hundred twenty-sixth song: Born Slippy Nuxx - Underworld
Here, too, the electronic music comes to the forefront. It's an iconic track of the era, the electronic beat hitting all those nostalgia centres in my brain, and its shift between the slower and the driving beat works well as it goes through. It's still really good.
The eight hundred twenty-seventh song: You Oughtta Know - Alanis Morissette
There's a lot of power in this alt rock anthem, the lyrics speaking of a really ugly breakup and an anger that keeps going through. It's easy to understand, but in part because it speaks to you on such a basic level.
The eight hundred twenty-eighth song: Back for Good - Take That
We hadn't really hit the boy bands until this point, but Back for Good makes a point for the best of it. Gary Barlow's lead vocals sells it incredibly well, a love song with a lot of emotion. The harmonies that come from the other band members has a feeling of cliche now, but it does the job so well, it's beautiful just to listen to.
The eight hundred twenty-ninth song: Stupid Girl - Garbage
This is a decent, straightforward punky rock track. It's not too hard, but it makes its point, and it sounds decent without much out of the ordinary. It's a fine and pretty fun track, but doesn't feel as special.
The eight hundred thirtieth song: Miss Sarajevo - Passengers
Miss Sarajevo isn't a complicated track. The music is simple and subdued, underlying Bono's strong lyrics about the war that was going on at the time, setting you up for something contemplative. When Pavarotti's solo starts, it's lured you into that atmosphere and it's a goosebumps moment for a bit. The song is sad, but that's what the track sells so well.
The eight hundred thirty-first song: River of Detroit - Mad Season
The blues rock sound of River of Detroit sets its feeling of depression quite well. It's not easy to get into, but there's some beauty in it as well.
The eight hundred thirty-second song: Dear Mama - 2Pac
As his death is part of my cultural consciousness and knowledge of music coming up, 2Pac's death was an early landmark. While there's a lot of bad stuff that happened, this song shows some of the circumstances that would have pushed him to that, while his mother had her own trouble and focus. It's a tough life, and this song of appreciation also builds on that sadness and it stays really quite emotional. It's listed as the peak of the genre, and I can't disagree with that.
The eight hundred thirty-third song: The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall into My Mind) - The Bucketheads
We're ending with just a regular house track. It's a pretty strong one too. The sample that's the song's hook (that I apparently always heard as the correct lyric, rather than the mondegreen that became the song's hook) is incredibly catchy and memorable and it really anchors a good dancing track. It's a good, happy note to end on here.