The six hundred ninety-eighth song: Opel - Syd Barrett
Six minutes of maudlin folk isn't a great place to start, and while bigger critics see merit in this, I found this track to have little more to offer. Syd Barrett's vocals don't feel strong enough to sustain the track or emotion and the guitar playing doesn't add enough to make it work.
The six hundred ninety-ninth song: Everyday Is Like Sunday - Morrissey
That other side here is a nice, calm rock song, a work that doesn't get aggressive, but has that chill Sunday feeling the title invokes. It's so simple and straightforward, it works incredibly well. Yeah, it might be silent and grey, but there's some comfort in that too.
The seven hundredth song: Orinoco Flow - Enya
Enya still feels like a rare example of this type of new age pop to make it mainstream. I've always loved this sound and Enya is one of the best known with it. There's something magical about the travels described here, something otherworldly that encourages all of this. It's a lovely pearl of a song and it's a shame I won't get more of it for these lists.
The seven hundred first song: One - Metallica
Metallica's metal ballads are among their strongest tracks, imparting an emotion and darkness that's hard to reach otherwise. One has this, a lamenting track encouraged along by the underlying guitars. It's dark and the pleas for god to help hit ever harder because of it. There's a real beauty in it.
The seven hundred second song: The Mercy Seat - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
There are a lot of layers to this song from the start. The dark, gothic rock sets that atmosphere from the start, while the competing vocals add to a sense of uncertainty and imbalance. It's not a restful song, keeping you focused on it all the way through, and it doesn't let go.
The seven hundred third song: Ederlezi - Goran Bregovic
While I've enjoyed previous adaptations of local folk songs, this adaptation doesn't work for the time it was released in. It doesn't lift or elevate it. The performance is capable, but it doesn't have much that it stands out with.
The seven hundred fourth song: Ale Brider - Klezmatics
Sadly, something similar applies here. The upbeat music appeals more naturally, but there's not as much that it offers. It's a fine song.
The seven hundred fifth song: Love Shack - The B-52’s
Love Shack is a pretty standard pop rock song, one that really feels summery to me. The joy, as artificially big as it can be at times, is infectious and it feels like a joy in a way that I don't think you get from many songs in the late eighties, a nice celebration that's just as welcome.
The seven hundred sixth song: A Little Respect - Erasure
We finish 1988 with a nice synth pop track, a nicely composed unrequited love song that manages to hit home that more closely than the basics of the song might indicate. It shows the depths that I've been discovering more in synth pop tracks, digging deeper than they normally would, with this a great example of that.