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.

The two hundred and twenty-fourth classical recording: #759 Francis Poulenc - Concerto for Two Pianos

This is a good piece - energetic, two pianos playing together while the orchestra around them encourages them on, leading to crescendos and high energy, impressive sounds. It's complex, but manageable in size and shape, and it hits its targets so well.

The six hundred and twelfth album: #612 Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man

I like to think I know the folk pop of Leonard Cohen and what I'd expect, but the synth-heavy start of the album feels more modern and different from what you expect. The album lyrically still goes between socially conscious songs and love ballad songs, and Leonard Cohen's dark vocals are what you'd expect, but the orchestration varies between tracks in a way that makes each of them a lot more interesting.

The eight hundred fiftieth song: Woke Up This Morning - Alabama 3

Woke Up This Morning comes out of nowhere. There's the nineties dance beat, of course, but the near-spoken rap at the start is a long lecturing blues ramble that gets very little support, which then goes into a more sensual soul song with choral support and a lot more layers. It's something that works quite well and even gets a bit catch, but it's also a fusion I don't think I've really heard before - something you could call a triumph in its own right.

The eight hundred fifty-first song: Block Rockin’ Beats - The Chemical Brothers

Block Rockin' Beats is a classic track - at least for me who, as discussed before, grew up in this era. The hook is catchy and the dance track works for it. I don't care as much for the repetitiveness of some of these tracks, but there are some real highlights in this, especially when it doesn't go too much into a storm of sounds.

The eight hundred fifty-second song: Breakdown - Mariah Carey

The gentle vocals of Mariah Carey work to create a sweet R&B song, a love song that is faster than a ballad would be, but still keeps things simple and quiet. Its hip hop layers work well as support, but Carey's vocals keep feeling much more dominant.

The eight hundred fifty-third song: Chan Chan - Buena Vista Social Club fat. Compay Segundo

When seeing this was a Cuban track, it made more sense to have this throwback here, a gentle Spanish song with its flamenco influences that stays calm throughout. In many places, it would be too much, but you can see how the cultural differences would lead to it developing there, as well as forming a good example of Cuban music. It never penetrated, though, and I can see why - this just doesn't seem to have enough to it.

The eight hundred fifty-fourth song: Between the Bars - Elliott Smith

Between the Bars is a sad ballad, featuring Elliott Smith's wafer thin, delicate vocals on a simple guitar sound. The emotion and depression runs high just listening to it and it's a downer mood that just really grabs you. It's lovely, small and precious.

The eight hundred fifty-fifth song: Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) - Backstreet Boys

And with this, the next boyband hits the scene. In my mind, it feels like Backstreet Boys were the ones dominating at the time, after Take That had disappeared off the scene. This track shows why it works. The production is big and bombastic, grabbing your attention. The vocals feel a bit challenging for its time, the hip hop feel meshing incredibly well with the more traditional vocals and call and response, while staying a bit sexual as well. It's an engaging mix and one that feels produced to perfection to meet what it needs to.

The eight hundred fifty-sixth song: 4,3,2,1, - LL Cool J feat. Method Man, Redman, Canibus & DMX

Back to some more darker rap, not quite as dark as gangster rap gets, but it certainly still feels more serious. Lyrically, it's mostly the drug references and challenges to each other that stand out, while the music stays straight forward. There's a lot of music from the rapping, and it's a style done well here - even if it's not my kind.

The eight hundred fifty-seventh song: Simarik - Tarkan

The late nineties did feature some language crossover hits, and I remember how much Simarik hit. It's got a good beat, some feel good sounding lyrics (not that you'd understand a lot of it) and its fusion of modern pop with Turkish influences sounds like it's modern without sacrificing anything Turkish about it either, making it an excellent showcase as well as a cracking song.

The eight hundred fifty-eighth song: Spice Up Your Life - Spice Girls

The appeal of the Spice Girls is still here in this song, an upbeat track by five women in control, not challenging but just feeling in charge. It's a party, it's something you're enjoying and it's a sound that really just works, even if the lyrics mostly don't make much sense. 

The one hundred and twenty-fourth book: #94 Dead Souls - Mikhail Lermontov

When looking at Dead Souls, there are two parts I need to look at. The first half of the book is an interesting look at Russian bureaucratic life, with landowners selling dead serfs for reasons of taxation. It satirizes many different types of landowners you might see, but runs it in a way that takes time to explore these characters, making them more than just charicatures. And the liberties they take surrounding a beneficial transaction to them flows from that in an interesting way.

The second half is broken up, with chunks omitted and ending mid-sentence. Although this isn't quite as intentional - it seems like he burned the manuscript for it as part of delusions in his last days - but it works for the story. We're hearing the story of a fraudster, but it makes it feels more secondhand as there are parts that are missing and instead you just get fragments as you see passages from his life. It's a decent device here and even though it's not intentional at this point, it ends up enhancing the work further.

The six hundred and eleventh album: #611 The Pogues - If I Should Fall from Grace with God

It feels like as I make it through the years, my appreciation for the Pogues has grown - or perhaps they've moved closer to my sensibilities. While it's easy to discount their sound as just folk, the lyrics have more expletives and their own songs have a far more modern bent, addressing contemporary issues that wouldn't be in the traditional songs. It does so with the upbeat, faster sound of Irish folk, sped up by rock or punk influences, but it's the raw vocals with lyrics that actually look forward that make it work - in the sense that old folk would have been looking at contemporary issues of that day, but set up in a way that works that well for a modern audience, while still having the folk background.

The two hundred and twenty-third classical recording: #543 Maurice Ravel - Sheherazade

Potentially predating more manic lifetimes, these are three lovely, wistful tracks that feel like they can pierce your heart still. it's a lovely, wonderful sound that is just gorgeous. They're short but they really give you that emotion.

The two hundred and eighteenth TV show: #12 This Is Your Life

There's something nice about watching this show - seeing celebrities visited by family and friends, giving an overview of their lives. It's with some overdone enthusiasm sometimes (they clearly don't remember all the guests that visit), but when the guest is on, like with Carl Reiner, it's a lot of fun. If anything, I prefer the later editions as the early fifties edition moves, quite unexpectedly, a bit too quick, at times not giving the guests or anecdotes enough room to breath. A lot of it depends on how well you know the person - which I did select for - but on the whole you can see why it would appeal even if I wouldn't track down too much.

The six hundred and tenth album: #610 Terence Trent D'Arby - Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby

I haven't heard Terence Trent D'Arby's name before, but listening to this album I recognised the strong funk sound of, for example, Dance Little Sister. The rock background modernises the track compared to the earlier funk albums and the development works well for smooth, listenable songs that come from the same direction as Prince's works and other artists I know better. I guess this is as much of a stepping stone, though, and in the development of this sound it works incredibly well, while As Yet Untitled shows he doesn't even need the production, just his voice alone is strong enough.