902. Agaetis Byrjun

Agaetis Byrjun
Sigur Ros
1999

Tracks
1. Svefn - G - Englar (Intro)
2. Svefn - G - Englar
3. Staralfur
4. Flugufrelsarinn
5. Ny Batteri
6. Hjartao Hamast
7. Viorar Vel Til Loftarasa
8. Olsen Olsen
9. Agaetis Byrjun
10. Avalon

And with that, we polish off the 20th century! Based on what I've read online, the general consensus from the 1001 album community seems to be that the List lost its way post 1999. This is either because of a worldwide shortage of good music or because the Listmakers felt compelled to include modern mainstream artists with no staying power. So stay tuned!

This was a pretty worthy finale to the 90s. Sigur Ros creates beautiful soundscapes and a sort of dreamy pop that manages to be really complex and soothing at the same time. So much good music comes out of Iceland. The darkness must be a real inspiration.

And now, let's see what the 21st century has in store...

RATING: 4/5

901. Californication

Californication
Red Hot Chili Peppers
1999

Tracks
1. Around The World
2. Parallel Universe
3. Scar Tissue
4. Otherside
5. Get On Top
6. Californication
7. Easily
8. Porcelain
9. Emitremmus
10. I Like Dirt
11. This Velvet Glove
12. Savior
13. Purple Stain
14. Right On Time
15. Road Trippin

Only 100 albums to go! We can actually celebrate with a pretty fun album.

This probably isn't the most innovative album on the List, but it's fun enough that it doesn't matter. I am sure the singles are recognizable to many people, who can appreciate this album for its nostalgic value. And "Road Trippin" is the perfect car song.

We only have one more 90s album to go. I hope we can bid the century a proper farewell, in a non metallic or electronic way. I know that's a big ask though.

RATING: 4/5

900. Remedy

Remedy
Basement Jaxx
1999

Tracks

1. Rendez-vu
2. Yo Yo
3. Jump N' Shout
4. U Can't Stop Me
5. Jaxxalude
6. Red Alert
7. Jazzalude
8. Always Be There
9. Sneakalude
10. Same Old Show
11. Bingo Bango
12. Gemilude
13. Stop 4 Love
14. Don't Give Up
15. Being With U

The 900 mark! As you may or may not noticed, I am ready to be done with this project. But we have 101 more to go before that moment arrives, and knowing the List as intimately as I do, 87 of those albums will be electronica. So let's get to it!

House music isn't my cup of tea, but I still moderately enjoyed this. There was enough variation to keep it interesting, with "Always Be There" standing out as my favorite. Even if the interludes were unnecessary. And "Same Old Show" was eye roll worthy.

I also liked how the pulled in Latin influences. Worth listening to.

RATING: 3/5

899. H.M.S. Fable

H.M.S. Fable
Shack
1999

Tracks
1. Natalie's Party
2. Comedy
3. Pull Together
4. Beautiful
5. Lend's Some Dough
6. Captain's Table
7. Streets Of Kenny
8. Reinstated
9. I Want You
10. Cornish Town
11. Since I Met You
12. Daniella

I'm happy to report that we are moving away from the Oasis sound, which seemed to dominate every britpop album that came our way for awhile. 

This had a very unique sound. They seemed to take a less commercial friendly approach on the second half, but I enjoyed it all. There was a good mixture of retro and modern britpop (which in my opinion could always do with some dilution).

Also, you have to like a band from Liverpool. They are called Liverpudlians, after all. 

RATING: 4/5

898. I See a Darkness

I See a Darkness
Bonnie "Prince" Billy

1999

Tracks
1. Minor Place
2. Nomadic Revelry (All Around)
3. I See A Darkness
4. Another Day Full Of Dread
5. Death To Everyone
6. Knockturne
7. Madeline Mary
8. Song For The New Breed
9. Today I Was The Evil One
10. Black
11. Raining In Darling

It says something about the recent quality of albums that I am so grateful for these relentlessly depressing songs.

It's pretty much guaranteed that I am going to like an indie folk album. I really admired how consistent it was with its style and vibe. The songs complemented each other very well. It was varied but stayed true throughout to the larger vision. Which was apparently a pretty bleak one. 

Also, it's 1999 in List-year, so I'm desperate.

RATING: 4/5

897. S & M

S & M
Metallica
1999

Tracks
CD 1:

1. The Ecstasy Of Gold
2. The Call Of The Ktulu
3. Master Of Puppets
4. Of Wolf And Man
5. The Thing That Should Not Be
6. Fuel
7. The Memory Remains
8. No Leaf Clover
9. Hero Of The Day
10. Devil's Dance
11. Bleeding Me

CD 2:

1. Nothing Else Matters
2. Until It Sleeps
3. For Whom The Bell Tolls
4. Human
5. Wherever I May Roam
6. Outlaw Torn
7. Sad But True
8. One
9. Enter Sandman
10. Battery

Another concert album, which means over two hours of Metallica. Either music was really dreadful in 1999, or the List is choosing to punish me for getting this far. It's like a final level in a video game, where you have to defeat all the enemies you've had along the way. I thought we were done with Metallica but I guess not.

Metallica is accompanied by an orchestra for this concert. It felt like they called it a day after the first few tracks, and I forgot all about them until the band acknowledged them at the end. I don't really like recordings of concerts anyway, unless it's part of a larger story, like how you could hear people heckling Bob Dylan.

Avoid if possible. Make it possible.

RATING: 2/5

896. ...Baby One More Time

...Baby One More Time
Britney Spears
1999

Tracks
1. Baby One More Time
2. You Drive Me Crazy
3. Sometimes
4. Soda Pop
5. Born To Make You Happy
6. From The Bottom Of My Broken Heart
7. I Will Be There
8. I Will Still Love You
9. Deep In My Heart
10. Thinking About You
11. Email My Heart
12. Beat Goes On

We are smack in the middle of the unholy trinity of artists: Eminem, Britney Spears, and Metallica. But at least her presence on the List seems justified. It would be odd if the List pretended she didn't have an impact on the early 2000s music scene, for better or for worse. In this case, worse.

Every song on this album sounds the same, with the same vapid lyrics that teach girls their sole purpose for breathing is to be somebody's girlfriend (see the not so subtle "Born to Make You Happy"). The most cringey track was "Email My Heart," whatever that means. But I guess whoever wrote these songs didn't speak English very well. 

It's also nauseatingly produced. I suppose it's to distract from the airhead lyrics, but it would have been nice to hear her actual voice. Not the voice of a sexy robot. There are a few Britney Spears songs I can stand, none of them are on this album.

RATING: 2/5

895. The Slim Shady LP

The Slim Shady LP
Eminem
1999

Tracks
1. Public Service Announcement
2. My Name Is
3. Guilty Conscience
4. Brain Damage
5. Paul
6. If I Had
7. Bonnie & Clyde
8. Bitch
9. Role Model
10. Lounge
11. My Fault
12. Ken Kaniff
13. Cum On Everybody
14. Rock Bottom
15. Just Don't Give a Fuck
16. Soap
17. As The World Turns
18. I'm Shady
19. Bad Meets Evil
20. Still Don't Give a Fuck

I remember my mom outlawed Eminem in our house, which obviously didn't have much of an effect on me (when she forbid Desperate Housewives, that was when the lady didst protest). This was directed at my brother, but I am pretty sure it didn't affect him either. It's pretty silly when you think about it. I know she didn't expect my brother to insist on turning off Eminem music when his friends played it, crying "Mother says it's forbidden!" Personally, I think that would have been creepier than listening to Eminem.

Eminem is trying to be as misogynistic and shocking as possible. The best response to that is to not make eye contact and cross the street at the earliest opportunity. So I guess this album allowed dorky teenaged boys to feel like they are gangsters. I suppose my mom was attempting to will my brother into having better taste, but we all have terrible taste when we are teenagers (see above re: Desperate Housewives).

Anyway, this doesn't deserve a place on the List; there's nothing original about hating women and gay people. 

RATING: 0/5

894. Le Tigre

Le Tigre
Le Tigre
1999

Tracks
1. Deceptacon
2. Hot Topic
3. What's Yr Take On Cassavetes
4. The The Empty
5. Phanta
6. Eau D'bedroom Dancing
7. Let's Run
8. My My Metrocard
9. Friendship Station
10. Slideshow At Free University
11. Dude Yr So Crazy!!
12. Les And Ray

A female pop group with feminist, political lyrics. If you have any doubt as to what my reaction to this album is going to be, you obviously are new here. In that case, hi, I'm Amanda. Welcome to my blog.

So this is a very short album that packs quite a punch. Some people might find the name dropping annoying, but I thought it was funny. It also makes it very much a product of its time, but it's still enjoyable. 

A great album, but it might be the last good one we get for awhile. 

RATING: 4/5

893. Darkdancer

Darkdancer
Les Rythmes Digitales
1999

Tracks
1. Dreamin'
2. Music Makes You Lose Control
3. Soft Machine
4. Hypnotise
5. (Hey You) What's That Sound?
6. Take A Little Time
7. From: Disco To: Disco
8. Brothers
9. Jacques You Body (Make Me Sweat)
10. About Funk
11. Sometimes
12. Damaged People

Who here was missing disco music? Anybody? Just checking.

So this is yet another electronica album that is heavily influenced by the 80s. Yeah, I was pretty horrified too. This is another album that would play better in a club and dance setting. When you are listening to it while working on a laptop, it just becomes annoying, not infectious. Like super obnoxious, with the possible exception of "Sometimes."

Definitely a skippable entry.

RATING: 2/5

892. The Soft Bulletin

The Soft Bulletin
Flaming Lips
1999

Tracks
1. Race For The Prize
2. Spoonful Weighs A Ton
3. Spark That Bled
4. Slow Motion
5. What Is The Light
6. Observer
7. Superman
8. Suddenly Everything Has Changed
9. Gash
10. Feeling Yourself Disintegrate
11. Sleeping On The Roof
12. Race For The Prize (2)
13. Superman (2)

I am welcoming every non electronica/metal album that comes along with open arms, just because it is such a refreshing change of pace. I think I would have really enjoyed this even if I wasn't starved for other genres.

I really enjoyed the lyrics in this album, and the use of catchy hooks throughout. It actually gave me prog rock flashbacks, which are less traumatic than they sound. Not every song was especially engaging, but there were enough quality tracks sprinkled throughout to keep the album consistently good. 

A four star album in 1999 is a rare find indeed.

RATING: 4/5

891. Play

Play
Moby
1999 

Tracks
1. Honey
2. Find My Baby
3. Porcelain
4. Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?
5. South Side
6. Rushing
7. Bodyrock
8. Natural Blues
9. Machete
10. 7
11. Run On
12. Down Slow
13. If Things Were Perfect
14. Everloving
15. Inside
16. Guitar Flute & String
17. Sky Is Broken, The
18. My Weakness

I think this album got a lot of play when it was first released. But you don't meet many self-proclaimed Moby fans nowadays. Actually, you don't meet many people in general.

Ongoing apocalypse aside, this was actually a pretty decent album. I know I have complained loudly and often about electronica music, but this is much more coherent than normal electronica. For one thing, the tracks aren't 12 minutes long. For another, the songs clearly build up to something. It's not just endless loops designed to pad the runtime for god knows what reason.

Still not the most engaging style of music, but more enjoyable than your average electronica album.

RATING: 4/5

890. The Contino Sessions

The Contino Sessions
Death in Vegas
1999

Tracks
1. Dirge
2. Soul Auctioneer
3. Death Threat
4. Flying
5. Aisha
6. Lever Street
7. Aladdin's Story
8. Broken Little Sister
9. Neptune City (Andrew Weatherall Mix)

We continue to slog our way through electronica albums that occasionally do something different enough to be passably interesting. This was not one of those times.

I am sure there are those that will go gaga over the presence of Iggy Pop in one of the songs. I don't know if the appearance of this particular pedophile really enhanced my experience very much. His was one of my least favorite tracks. 

Just not very interesting to me. I think there was an effort to be commercial, which might displease electronica fans as well.

RATING: 2/5

889. Beyond Skin

Beyond Skin
Nitin Sawhney
1999

Tracks
1. Broken Skin
2. Letting Go
3. Homelands
4. The Pilgrim
5. Tides
6. Nadia
7. Immigrant
8. Serpents
9. Anthem Without Nation
10. Nostalgia
11. The Conference
12. Beyond Skin

A few entries ago we had Talvin Singh blending techno music with Asian and Indian sounds. I would say I preferred this album over Singh's, but that could be because Singh prepared me for this style.

I really liked the lyrics to "The Pilgrim," which was definitely the most engaging track of the album. Other times the album kind of settled into being background music, and became less interesting. 

Still, the album demonstrates enough range to be more entertaining than your average downtempo entry. It really got obnoxious at the end though.

RATING: 3/5

888. Central Reservation

Central Reservation
Beth Orton
1999

Tracks
1. Stolen Car
2. Sweetest Decline
3. Couldn't Cause Me Harm
4. So Much More
5. Pass In Time
6. Central Reservation (Original Version)
7. Stars All Seem To Weep
8. Love Like Laughter
9. Blood Red River
10. Devil Song
11. Feel To Believe
12. Central Reservation (The Then Again Version)

We've witnessed many unholy unions of styles on this blog, but we've yet to see a concoction of folk and electronica. I knew my fondness for the album would depend on which genre Beth Orton decided to lean into more. Folk for the win!

So I didn't enjoy this quite as much as I was expecting to. Orton has a lovely voice, but it wasn't really enough to engage me in the songs. I think that was because of the electronica presence in the album, which made it sound kind of dated.

An interesting concept that didn't really deliver.

RATING: 3/5

887. Slipknot

Slipknot
Slipknot
1999

Tracks
1. 742617000027
2. Sic
3. Eyeless
4. Wait and Bleed
5. Surfacing
6. Spit It Out
7. Tattered and Torn
8. Me in Side
9. Liberate
10. Prosthetics
11. No Life
12. Diluted
13. Only One
14. Scissors

Another heavy metal album, and by now I am certain I have nothing new to say about the genre. I don't think Slipknot has anything new to say either.

Just one more metal album that is a relentless onslaught of noise and yelling, where you can't distinguish one track from the next. Now, I know there are subgenres of metal: Thrash, death, and whatever other ugly word they manage to incarnate. I guess they are blending a lot of those, to make a really unpleasant nu metal album. Hurray for innovation.

Should be avoided at all costs.

RATING: 1/5

886. The Man Who

The Man Who
Travis
1999

Tracks
1. Writing To Reach You
2. Fear
3. As You Are
4. Driftwood
5. Last Laugh Of The Laugh
6. Turn
7. Why Does It Always Rain On Me
8. Luv
9. She's So Strange
10. Slide Show

After the amazing album that was 69 Love Songs, everything will sound a bit dull in comparison. Travis brings us a britpop album, right at the tail end of the britpop trend. 

And it doesn't really bring anything new to the table. I feel like every britpop band wants to be Oasis, when they should aspire to be Blur instead. This isn't terrible, but it's not particularly memorable either.

And the vocals got on my nerves. 

RATING: 3/5

885. 69 Love Songs

69 Love Songs
The Magnetic Fields
1999

Tracks
Disc: 1

1. Absolutely Cuckoo
2. I Don't Believe in the Sun
3. All My Little Words
4. Chicken With It's Head Cut Off
5. Reno Dakota
6. I Don't Want to Get Over You
7. Come Back from San Francisco
8. Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side
9. Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits
10. Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be
11. I Think I Need a New Heart
12. Book of Love
13. Fido, Your Leash Is Too Long
14. How Fucking Romantic
15. One You Really Love
16. Punk Love
17. Parades Go By
18. Boa Constrictor
19. Pretty Girl Is Like
20. My Sentimental Melody
21. Nothing Matters When We're Dancing
22. Sweet-Lovin' Man
23. Things We Did and Didn't Do

Disc: 2

1. Roses
2. Love Is Like Jazz
3. When My Boy Walks Down the Street
4. Time Enough for Rocking When We're Old
5. Very Funny
6. Grand Canyon
7. No One Will Ever Love You
8. If You Don't Cry
9. You're My Only Home
10. (Crazy for You But) Not That Crazy
11. My Only Friend
12. Promises of Eternity
13. World Love
14. Washington, D.C.
15. Long-Forgotten Fairytale
16. Kiss Me Like You Mean It
17. Papa Was a Rodeo
18. Epitaph for My Heart
19. Asleep and Dreaming
20. Sun Goes Down and the World Goes Dancing
21. Way You Say Good-Night
22. Abigail, Belle of Kilronan
23. I Shatter

Disc: 3

1. Underwear
2. It's a Crime
3. Busby Berkeley Dreams
4. I'm Sorry I Love You
5. Acoustic Guitar
6. Death of Ferdinand de Saussure
7. Love in the Shadows
8. Bitter Tears
9. Wi' Nae Wee Bairn Ye'll Me Beget
10. Yeah! Oh, Yeah!
11. Experimental Music Love
12. Meaningless
13. Love Is Like a Bottle of Gin
14. Queen of the Savages
15. Blue You
16. I Can't Touch You Anymore
17. Two Kinds of People
18. How to Say Goodbye
19. Night You Can't Remember
20. For We Are the King of the Boudoir
21. Strange Eyes
22. Xylophone Track
23. Zebra

69 tracks, and almost three hours of music. That's a crazy length for an album, and I fully expected to this to wear me out quickly. 

But it didn't! The Magnetic Fields is keenly aware that they are asking a lot from their listeners, so they are constantly shifting sounds and offering bite size, delightful songs. The lyrics are really funny too. They say everybody has their own love language. Well, this band is fluent in my love language. Romantic, without being sappy. 

It's hard to select the best track when there are so many great choices, but some of my favorites were "I Think I Need a New Heart," "If You Don't Cry," "Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side," and "Papa Was a Rodeo." A wonderful album.

RATING: 5/5

884. Make Yourself

Make Yourself
Incubus
1999

Tracks
1. Privilege
2. Nowhere Fast
3. Consequence
4. The Warmth
5. When It Comes
6. Stellar
7. Make Yourself
8. Drive
9. Clean
10. Battlestar Scralatchtica
11. I Miss You
12. Pardon Me
13. Out From Under

Another nu metal album, but this one is slightly more accessible than the other albums of this genre on the List. This likely means that metal fans despise this album, and see it as some sort of artistic compromise. 

But it does make it more bearable, if not particularly remarkable. It is very much of its time, not at all complex, and nowhere near as annoying as other metal entries on the List. 

I am not really sure who the intended audience is supposed to be. Like I said, it is probably too mainstream-friendly for true metal heads, and normies will think it is too metal influenced for their taste. So it just kinds of sits in the middle. 

RATING: 3/5

883. Post Orgasmic Chill

Post Orgasmic Chill
Skunk Anansie
1999

Tracks
1. Charlie Big Potato
2. On My Hotel TV
3. We Don't Need Who You Think You Are
4. Tracey's Flaw
5. Skank Heads
6. Lately
7. Secretly
8. Good Things Don't Always Come To You
9. Cheap Honesty
10. You'll Follow Me Down
11. And This Is Nothing That I Thought I Had
12. I'm Not Afraid

And...we're back. After the brief respite, brought to you by XTC, we return to our not so sacred duty of listening to metal or electronic albums.

This album distinguishes itself slightly by featuring a black woman, which is extremely rare in the metal genre. But I don't like the genre no matter who is screaming, I mean singing, the lyrics I've never heard of this band before, so I would imagine that most people have forgotten about this album by now.

Not very memorable and completely skippable.

RATING: 2/5