The six hundred and sixteenth album: #616 Living Colour - Vivid

This feels like an album of good decisions or skills. Splitting it up, musically it's a strong rock track that does what it does incredibly well, really hitting that hard rock vibe. Lyrically, it's a socially and politically conscious album that includes a lot of good commentary and really has something to say. The funk influences from the band's African-American roots come through in places, creating a unique sound but it's also clear that's not a direction they're fully interested in - it's enough to give us the metal/rock sound and make you sit up and listen, which it what it really did for me.

The eight hundred sixty-seventh song: Doo Wop (That Thing) - Lauryn Hill

There's a really catchy chorus that anchors this track, while the rap verses have their message but go at such a speed that the R&B chorus, with their doo wop feeling, get their chance to stand out a lot more.

The eight hundred sixty-eighth song: Kelly Watch the Stars - Air

Oddly enough, the start of this song sounds more like a mid-90s adventure game soundtrack, something like Day of the Tentacle, than a 1998 song, but it's clear the electronic music from this track takes from a similar sound palette. The vocals are simple, their distortion to the musicality of them, but it's a fairly gentle, straightforward electronic pop sound through it. Lovely to listen to, but possibly fading into the background a bit too much.

The eight hundred sixty-ninth song: You Get What You Give - New Radicals

I've talked about the influence of Green Day on my music tastes earlier, and I'll be hitting more, but You Get What You Give had an earlier, bigger impact on me that I can't quite attribute. There's some association with the first time I tried acting, and it being a song in the play, but there's a joyful atmosphere that I've enjoyed anyway, something dreamy and out there while also keeping something fun about it. It's very personal, but this is really good.

The eight hundred seventieth song: Music Sounds Better with You - Stardust

Why does 1998 only have eight songs featured? I might be a bit biased, but there are so many good songs in this era that it suddenly feels really underserved compared to what came before - and maybe even after. We have the Daft Punk beat here, evocative lyrics - perhaps not deep, but it works - and a combination of instruments that's stripped back just enough to give you everything you need without feeling the need to add or produce anything more. Stripped down to its essentials, something good really came out here.

The eight hundred seventh-first song: Erase/Rewind - The Cardigans

There's a bit of a back to basics here - there's certainly some electronic effects in this, in particular with the amount of distortion much, but we're also back to a more classic alternative rock sound. I suppose it shows how the nineties changed music, hearing how electronic music got integrated into these sounds and built further. It's a strong showing here that's captivating to listen to.

The eight hundred seventh-second song: Teardrop - Massive Attack

Continuing the feeling of dreamlike songs being released this year, there's something otherworldly about Teardrop. The electronic beat is heavy, sitting deep in you through the song, but the slight, nervous vocals add some emotion to it that both contrasts the sound but also embodies a fear of that dark sound. The lyrics are abstract enough that you can read a lot of different things into it, but they set a tone and feeling for the song that complements it just as much. It's a track where everything mixes together as they should.

The eight hundred seventh-third song: Iris - Goo Goo Dolls

To follow my praise we get to this soft rock song, almost a ballad when it starts. You can sing along so well, there are moments where it feels real and raw and it still touches me that well.This is, again, so gorgeous and well put together.

According to studies, your music tastes start to form in your early teens, and while I did get some more addition in punkier and harder rock in the next few years, it's been eye opening to see how much 1998 made that true.

The eight hundred seventh-fourth song: Bok Espok - Kepa Junkera

This is what feels like the lyrical oddity of the year, a Basque-Irish waltz that has its modern influences but stays classic in how it sounds. Still, it's a nice party atmosphere and something new to hear here.

The six hundred and fifteenth album: #615 Everything But the Girl - Idlewild

The pop ballads of Idlewild are incredibly pleasant, incredibly easy to listen to while getting immersed in the lyrics. There's nothing high minded in them, but the approachable feeling of them works well with all of those. It's a simple album, but works well with how focused it is.

The two hundred and twenty-fifth classical recording: #770 Karol Szymanowski - Violin Concerto no. 2

This concerto builds up to something epic, a large journey that makes you feel like you're flying through a nature landscape, enjoying the air and seeing it from high above. It swoops, going up and down, and creates this feeling of adventure, of both excitement and at times menace, loud to quiet as you explore. 

The two hundred and twentieth TV show: #814 Better Off Ted

Sixteen years on, Better Off Ted's workplace comedy still feels right, with an grounded absurdism that fits with 30 Rock and other comedies of their day. The company being an evil multinational - literally inviting death machines - adds to the heightened feeling of the setting, even as everything else is still towards real life. At the same time, there are so many things that follow office politics we know from everyday life. The performances are all spot on. It's so good, it's clear the show was cancelled too soon.

The two hundred and nineteenth TV show: #17 Make Room for Daddy

Later known as the Danny Thomas show, this is always a vehicle for its leading man, a comedian here playing a nightclub entertainer... yeah, pretty much himself. It follows all the tropes you'd expect from a fifties sitcom, with the gender politics, a daddy who feels like he's right a bit too often (even when the viewpoint he represents doesn't sound right in the modern world) and things that wrap up too neatly. It doesn't help that every episode needs to include a song or two related to the topic, but otherwise often coming out of nowhere, and it mostly seems to be to meet the variety credentials. For msot, this will just feel too outdated to be worth it.

The one hundred and twelfth comic: #266 Corto Maltese: Ballad of the Salty Sea

Oh boy, this didn't do the job. Over the years, I had started to enjoy the black and white, European action based comics, the dramatic adventure stories like this. For Corto Maltese's first entry, however, it doesn't work. The lead character doesn't feature into the story as much for a long time, and is an enigmatic charaacter for longer - he knows more about the world, but seems intent on not letting us in. The real leads, instead are these cousins who get kidnapped and dragged around, but they lack agency for so much in the story that it isn't any more interesting. It just doesn't really add up to anything I find enjoyable. I'm due another story in the series, which I want to cover soon, and I only hope that'll work better.

The six hundred and fourteenth album: #614 Fishbone - Truth and Soul

It feels like Truth and Soul is an album that Fishbone was happy to record. There is a variation of styles - from punk to ska, with ballads and funk in different places, but there's an enthusiasm in each aspect of the performances that really strike me as a willingness to try everything and see where it goes. It's infectious, where you don't get bored listening to the album no matter what direction it veers off in. 

The eight hundred fifty-ninth song: Given to Fly - Pearl Jam

There's a build in this track that almost sneaks up on you. The song starts as a ballad and the vocals feel like they stay that way, but there are crescendos in it that feel really powerful.

The eight hundred sixtieth song: Paranoid Android - Radiohead

Referenced as inspired by Bohemian Rhapsody, amongst others, I'd argue this is a more coherent work, with sections that properly attach. Both title and some of the lyrics invoke the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but there's also a genuine disorienting feeling running through the different emotions. It's haunting at times, depressed at others, with a total impression that stays incredibly strong.

The eight hundred sixty-first song: Come to Daddy (Pappy Mix) - Aphex Twin

I've never thought about the link between metal and electronic music, but the distorted vocals feel like they could be straight in a metal beat, both lyrically and with its vocal distortion. The underlying music produces that unsettling effect using purely electronic sampling, but the hardcore vibe really hits here. It's dark and unsettling, not something that works for a casual listen, but the haunting darkness works quite well in the mood it sets. It wouldn't be my choice in a club, but you can see how it would fit.

The eight hundred sixty-second song: Never Ever - All Saints

The contrast to all of this is this lost love ballad, lovely vocals over a sparse arrangement instead focussing on the harmonies from the group. It's a lovely combination, really sweet even if it's pretty sad here.

The eight hundred sixty-third song: Song 2 - Blur

There's something really giddy about this over the top punk song - the guitar is on point, the lyrics suitably simple and open to meet the expectations of the way post-punk poppy tracks came in. Even so, there's the elements of a parody in here, going so over the top to the point that it works on its own. It's still gorgeous and glorious.

The eight hundred sixty-fourth song: Time of Your Life (Good Riddance) - Green Day

Green Day is one of the bands that cemented my love for post-punk of the era. I'm not heavily into the scene or anything like that - selling out discussions don't really appeal to me - but there's some accessible in Green Day's emotions, their anger, and their engagement with modern topics. Time of Your Life hits that personal level, a ballad I want to sing along to and lyrics that probably hit home for most. And the strings... the strings elevate it to be that much more impactful.

The eight hundred sixty-fifth song: Broken Heart - Spiritualized

While the topic of this song is clear from the title, the way it's brought out is incredibly impactful. The string orchestra plays slowly, creating a depression that comes through in the lyrics. They're simple, but the depression is so clear in the sound and tone of it that it's unmistakable and bores straight into your heart. 

The eight hundred sixty-sixth song: Into My Arms - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

There's an emotional core in Into My Arms that builds itself around its religious views. It's a sweet and loving interpretation that creates a loving ballad that is powerful because it doesn't try to say or do too much.

The six hundred and thirteenth album: #613 The Waterboys - Fisherman's Blues

This is a pretty straight forward folk rock album - it's got a good mix of harder, rockier tracks and more folksy sounds, but it still has that feeling of folk supported with a rock instrument palette most of the time. It's a nice sound, one that leads to a number of earworms. It's a charming album, one that accomplishes what it wants really well, and that is just incredibly listenable.