The five hundred and ninety-fifth album: #595 George Michael - Faith

It's really impressive how George Michael here builds on what he did at Wham!, having the same pop background but mixing in large amounts of funk and other influences. The tracks are distinct, with different focuses on each - Father Figure builds more on vocals while I Want Your Sex has its lyrics be almost perfunctory while the dance sound and other parts are more important. A lot of the album revolves around love songs, and in hindsight some of it, like the talk about danger in One More Try, has a deeper meaning, but it is clearly also the topic he wants to write about here.

The two hundred and fourteenth classical recording: #446 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Manfred Symphony

Tchaikovsky's dream-like music comes through in this symphony as well, with the movements swaying, lengthy passages taking their time to convey their emotion, often more thereal than most. There's some darker parts in it, but it's still mostly varied and gives quite a lovely, evocative atmosphere.

The five hundred and ninety-fourth album: #594 The Sisters of Mercy - Floodland

Floodland is a dark album, the gothic music creating that sense of darkness and depression. There's a lot of beautiful, synth-heavy work in this and the build up is great for it. It feels bleak a lot of the time, but the energy contained in it is really powerful, a good counter balance for an album that really does something well.

The seven hundred sixty-third song: Cop Killer - Body Count

There's something in the anger of this song that doesn't only transfer to today, but seems more present. Especially in the US, there have been major issues with law enforcement and this is the anger that's been there for some time. The song itself is an interesting metal song, but it's so open and blatant about how it feels that its ban doesn't surprise me - even if not out of nowhere.

The seven hundred sixty-fourth song: Pretend We’re Dead - L7

More innocent, perhaps, Pretend We're Dead is a song about life with a fatalistic, dark bend, with the flat vocals leaning into the boredom and dislike that comes through as the feeling of the song. It's more energetic in its music, but there's still that flat mood that it describes really well.

The seven hundred sixty-fifth song: My Drug Buddy - Lemonheads

The maudlin sound of this track creates a sadder love song, a story about what connects them clear from the title alone, but there's something very tender about it as well. The wistful, slow rock is quite pleasant and it ends up being a really sweet song.

The seven hundred sixty-sixth song: Shake Your Head - Was (Not Was)

We have another house remix of a rock song, as we've been having some before, and here it really feels like a new song - the new vocals help with that, together with with the dominant beat. It's a good dance track to listen to, although I wonder what the point is of referencing the original song at this point. It's a style that feels a bit overdone now, but especially with Ozzy Ozbourne's contrasting vocals, there are places where it really works.

The seven hundred sixty-seventh song: Motorcycle Emptiness - Manic Street Preachers

While there's a hint of anthemic sounds in this track, it feels like it tells a smaller story, sticking to an empty feeling that appears to dominate a bit at this point in music. It's a soft rock, alternative story, but properly sweet to listen to.

The seven hundred sixty-eighth song: Creep - Radiohead

The opening of this song follows its title. The lyrics are obsessive. The vocals are subdued, not whispered, but somehow holding back. The instruments are constrained, keeping things simple for the most part. It bursts out in attacks of aggression from time to time, but, as feels appropriate, a lot of the threat lurks brilliantly. It's genuinely an amazing debut.

The seven hundred sixty-ninth song: Killing in the Name - Rage Against the Machine

If I look at what music really formed my musical tastes growing up, Rage Against the Machine sits on the side. Emotional and overblown as a teenager, this burst of aggression really works to try to leave your stamp on the world. Even now, the burst works, the messages and feelings connect and there's a metal and rock attitude that still works for me.

The seven hundred seventieth song: Connected - Stereo Mc’s

On the other side, we're getting something relaxed, something more chill to change the mood. This is a simpler song about human connections, setting up a good melody with some nice and welcoming lyrics. It's a nice electric hip hop track.

The five hundred and ninety-third album: #593 Depeche Mode - Music for the Masses

There is a darkness to Music for the Masses that fits its avant garde new wave aesthetic, an underlying menace to what otherwise would be a more upbeat sound. Lyrically it's especially dark, often featuring haunting vocals with a text that has some dark interpretations from time to time. It's incredibly engaging, with more depth than it feels new wave tracks generally have, and something like Little 15 strays so far, it's hard to see the connection between the upbeat sounding tracks.

The two hundred and thirteenth classical recording: #615 Reinhold Gliere - Symphony no. 3 "Ilya Muromets"

There is something bombastic about this symphony, creating a large atmosphere from start to finish. It has its story, somewhat recognisable once you read about it, but it is good without it as you can detect your own story and progress in it.

The two hundred and fourteenth TV show: #3 The Lone Ranger

With another Western, today's semi-outlaw is anonymous to most as his squad of rangers was murdered at the start of the series. He's masked for most of the show, although it's almost just a gimmick while it can move between the different stories. It's a clear inspiration for the westerns that followed, more mobile than Hopalong Cassidy's more set location. It's fine considering the era, but obviously quite dated now.

The five hundred and ninety-second album: #592 The Cult - Electric

As a direction to take your band in, I'm not sure whether copying the greats of hard rock and metal in the past works best. Electric does what it wants - create an album of good hard rock - but in a way that this list has made to feel to be a dime a dozen, and I don't really see much in here that makes it stand out or give me anything else special.

The seven hundred fifty-second song: Life Is a Highway - Tom Cochrane

Life Is a Highway is a good rock song, the sounds are all there and the lyrics have enough to it to be interesting. The country influences are there, in a way that really works here.

The seven hundred fifty-third song: Always on the Run - Lenny Kravitz

This is such a strong funk rock song, a good guitar line and solo in there, good lyrics with a hook, and a certain dirtyness that suits the theme of the song. It's not tight, it's not fast, but it continues to have that speedy feeling.

The seven hundred fifty-fourth song: Treaty - Yothu Yindi

Just taking the music here, Treaty is a blend of Australian indigenous music taking the foreground, while a pop beat sits in the background to support it. The treaty is one between white and black Australia, according to what was said, and it comes through in all of this. The combination works and, at least if you're willing to listen, the message comes through.

The seven hundred fifty-fifth song: Unfinished Sympathy - Massive Attack

The eerie opening of Unfinished Sympathy lasts through it, a lamenting sound as it calls out what's going on in the world. It has a darkness to it that becomes haunting and a depression that continues through. With that, it's so well composed that it really keeps being that impactful.

The seven hundred fifty-sixth song: Justified & Ancient - The KLF featuring Tammy Wynette

This is an intentionally bizarre thing, mixing Tammy Wynette's self-referential lyrics with a house track, including some narration from a DJ exactly explaining what's happening. It's an odd mix, but it works somehow and becomes catchy enough, just creating its own experiment.

The seven hundred fifty-seventh song: Enter Sandman - Metallica

Enter Sandman, for the time and groups I grew up with, is a classic, the opening sounds enough to get you set up, following through for that darkness in the track. The lyrics are evocative, but the oppressive music over it overshadows that enough that the threat remains throughout. It turns sleep into a nightmare, tales that make you feel good into something far darker, in a build up that works incredibly well.

The seven hundred fifty-eighth song: Weather with You - Crowded House

There's a certain feel to Australian rock, somewhere near country but with a more dreamy lyrical focus and more hints of the indigenous sound we've heard before. It's relaxed, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have something to say. The chorus is strong, but there's more to it than just chanting "Everywhere you go, always take the weather with you"

The seven hundred fifty-ninth song: You Got the Love - The Source featuring Candi Staton

It's clear why the 1991 remix of this song is on the list. Candi Staton's vocals are strong and clear, but the house beat that has become popular in the years after really elevates and pushes the song to be more. It's a feast for the ears, an impressive performance that's so well supported by the production.

The seven hundred sixtieth song: Blind Willie McTell - Bob Dylan

After the barrage of rock and house tracks, this is a welcome relief. Bob Dylan's sparse accompaniment works as always to support and promote his voice, a folk performance that really shows what he's about. It's nothing complicated, but it hits a spot.

The seven hundred sixty-first song: Move Any Mountain - Progen 91- The Shamen

This is the time of remixes and this is one track that feels like it's natural. The beat works, the rap lyrics really create that sense of urgency and the harmonies and surrounding melody just add a bit of support to the entire thing. The music is what dominates and stands out here, and the remix works well.

The seven hundred sixty-second song: How I Could Just Kill A Man - Cypress Hill

As Latin-inspired gangster rap, I can hear a lot in this song that I believe we're going to get later. The rap vocals stand out as not being the standard tough voice (most of that coming from the chorus instead) and the sounds have some different samples from normal, including an ongoing whistle riff that works to create that atmosphere. Part of it gets into its head a bit too much, and lyrically it's good, but doesn't appeal to me, but I can really hear the skill in this.

The five hundred and ninety-first album: #591 Prince - Sign 'o' the Times

If it's time for another double album, Prince is the artist to do it with. His funk/pop sound is unique, perfected to a T without becoming clinical, the tracks are all catchy and unique without feeling like it goes all over the place. The lyrics and themes are different, from serious world order to admiring a weird girl's ideas back in school. It's strong and compassionate, human and emotional from someone who feels like he might have felt isolated from that. It's all Prince, but there are that many layers to his work.