The summer of 2002 - at least, in a musical sense - was not really all that hot. I am still trying to wash out the bad taste of watching the 2002 MTV Music Awards. What the heck was Michael Jackson thinking when he accepted, "the artist of the millennium" award, an award that did not even exist, when all MTV was trying to do was give him a birthday present? Justin Timberlake is sadly disillusioned if he believes solo stardom is ahead and thinks that his Michael/Janet Jackson inspired performance was anything but lame. And we finally got to see the revamped Guns N' Roses lineup - yawn.
Anyway, without giving more ink to the current saviors of rock (the Strokes, Hives and Vines), the summer did garner some decent (and some not so decent) CD releases. Here is a sample of what made up the radio waves during the balmy days of 2002:
Avril Lavigne, Let Go
The brightest light in the current crop of young performers who have talent (e.g. Michelle Branch, Vanessa Carlton etc.) is most definitely Avril Lavigne. Lavigne is only 17, yet she can bang out some pretty decent electric guitar chords and some fairly angst filled lyrics. "Complicated" was a cool "be yourself" radio hit but her follow-up "Sk8ter Boi" and "Losing Grip" have a semi-punk feel to them that is reminiscent of early No Doubt.While her wise-beyond-her-years appearance makes it is easy to compare her to fellow Canadian Alanis Morrisette, Lavigne has youthful energy and talent to burn - something the once great-Canadian-hope Morrisette had before wandering off into introspection and banality.
A*TEENS, Pop Till You Drop!
Don't be fooled by the resurgence of the singer/songwriter teenager. The pop fluff is still around. A former ABBA cover band, A*TEENS represents the most saccharine and candy coated example of the genre.A cover of Alice Cooper's "School's Out" was supposed to probably give the band some credibility, as Cooper makes a cameo on it. It doesn't work and is kind of an embarrassment. (And what was Cooper thinking?) A*TEENS almost makes one long for harder pop bands, like...Ace of Base.
Nelly, Nellyville
Trick Daddy, Thug Holiday
Mary J. Blige, Dance For Me The two most anticipated hip-hop releases of the past few months were the new releases by Trick Daddy and Nelly. Starting the summer of right, Nelly offered up a great single from Nellyville with the sweltering "Hot In Here." Its May release - which was an obvious and calculated, yet really clever ploy - became the libido shaker anthem on all dance floors.As pelvises grinded to "Hot In Here," Nelly also outdid himself with the clever sweet ode to adulterous lust with "Dilemma." While Nelly's rapping is appropriately restrained and sensitive, the song owes almost everything to overshadowed Destiny's Child sweetie, Kelly Rowland. Rowland must be in her glories as she easily blew away her much hoopla'd partner Beyonce Knowles, who tanked with her funk solo disaster "Work It Out." The public relations machine that's been pushing the inevitable solo career of Knowles should think twice. And Rowland has nothing to worry about if she does lose the Diana Ross-syndromed Knowles.
Trick Daddy has actually outdone himself again and came up with a wonderful follow-up to last years Thugs Are Us. Unlike Nelly, Trick Daddy still revels in the gangsta genre and his powerhouse tracks as "Money & Drugs" and "Rags To Riches" verify his authenticity. Trick is not a mainstream MC. His lyrics are streetwise and the beats are severe and passionate. While he has not delved into NWA territory fully, he does hearken up the better solo days of Ice Cube.
Thug Holiday may sound like a misnomer. But when you scope a song like "Ain't No Santa," it all makes sense. Mary J., however takes a misstep with her dance remix album. "Family Affair" was the best hip-hop dance tune of 2001 and surely did not need a Techno tune up. Neither did the other revamped songs from the No More Drama CD. Will record companies ever stop messing with a good thing and not milk it for every penny?
Various Artists, Off Tha Hook
Various Artists, This Is Ultimate Dance
Various Artists, The Best Of Ultimate Dance Party These three compilations were scattered though the summer amidst a myriad of compilations. While comps are a dime a dozen, these are amongst the best of the genre.Off Tha Hook shines with the Ludcris/Jermaine Dupri duet "Welcome To Atlanta"; Bow
Wow's "Take Ya Home" (which almost makes up for his performance in "Like Mike");
Aaliyah's posthumous "More Than A Woman," which just makes us miss her more; and Petey Pablo's still amazing "Raise Up (All Cities Remix)."
Both This Is Ultimate Dance and The Best of Ultimate Dance Party offer great club dance mixes. This Is Ultimate Dance gets extra points for adding in Kylie Minogues "Spinning Around" (which is not on her "Fever" CD) and a re-mixed take of Daft Punk's "One More Time." Overplayed? Yes. Still effective? Definitely.
Best OfUltimate Dance Party spans the club day of the 1980s with sort-of-forgotten Taylor Dane numbers, which fit in surprisingly well with more updated dance grooves as Next's "Too Close."
Various Artists, Like, Omigod! The '80s Pop Culture Box (Totally): The '80s Culture Box
Not to harp on compilations, but there were two very interesting and well put together comps which really summed up the '80s on a pop as well as a dance level. Rhino Records had the last word on '70s compilations in 1998 when they unloaded their shag rug adorned classic multi-disc Have A Nice Decade on the box set market.
Not to be outdone (even by themselves!), the brainy record company has now given the same treatment to the decade of Gekko's, Boeksy's and all the other fun excesses with, Like, Omigod! The '80s Pop Culture Box (Totally).
A seven-CD, 142 song mega-set, the collection is not just some run-of-the-mill grouping of schlock-rockers. While it has plenty of the mainstream hits ("Come On Eileen," "Jessie's Girl," "Maneater"), chunk of novelties ("Pac Man Fever," "Valley Girl") and metal ("Come On Feel The Noize," "Rock You Like A Hurricane"), the set also hits on some of the brightest and more interesting pop moments and one hit wonders of the '80s. These include Billy Idol's (hardly a one hit wonder) self love-fest "Dancing With Myself"; the Talking Heads side project - Tom Tom Club - and their infectious, "Genius Of Love"; Missing Persons, led by falsetto queen Dale Bozzio and the synthesizer drenched "Words"; Bow Wow Wow's hot remake of the Strangelove's "I Want Candy"; Dave Wakeling's post-English beat combo, General Public, who scored big time with "Tenderness"; and Toni Basil's cheerleading epic, "Mickey" (which just never seemed to go away. And - thanks to the flick Bring It On, it won't be going anytime soon).
Another highlight from the set is the now overlooked Madness whose sole Top 5 US hit, "Our House," was a departure from a band that was primarily a ska outfit. And a
forgotten gem of a one-minor-hit-wonder called Martin Briley whose spectacular "The
Salt In My Tears," barely (and unjustly) scrapped the Top 40 in 1983.
While its sculpted black and pastel adorned rubber cover is not as original as the shag rug from the '70s set, it is a fun and indispensable time capsule of another decade that looks better the further you get away from it.
Various Artists, Freestyle Summer Quick Mixx (Box Set)
Funny that there was a time when the dance music of the '80s was unjustly labeled as stale and dated. But then techno reared its ugly little head a few years back. Now, several years later, the Techno beat still hasn't changed (as those of us who frequent clubs know). But the poppy and energetic tunes of ten-plus years ago are now experiencing renewed enthusiasm.It was always damn hard not to smile back in the '80s (and now) when the opening synthesizer/drum machine notes of Expose's "Point of No Return" was unleashed... a song that just sounds like it was conceived on a dance floor.
As did the repertoire of their then-biggest competitor, the Cover Girls. The threesome is represented by a trio of their better grooves ("Show Me," "Inside, Outside" and "Because Of You").
"I Want You" is an almost forgotten flashback from a one-almost-hit-teen-wonder Shana, who had a lot more moxie to offer than most of her teen peers of the day while Noel's "Silent Morning" still gets stuck in your cerebellum. The set gets extra points for exhuming the gifted chanteuse Saffire who, while mostly remembered for her ballad "Thinking Of You," scored a kick-him-to-the-curb anthem with "Boy I've Been Told."
Thanks to the re-mixing by DJ's and the continuous mix of the discs, the tunes sound fresh enough to stand along side any prevailing jackhammer-mixed club tunes.
