" uar >'- 1 i'' ,% The Battalion
Tuesday
January 16,1996
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Whew! Thank goodness 1996 is in full effect
and I am alive.
I just escaped, you see, from an evil creature
named 1995 and the new regime that violently
overthrew those green punk rulers from '94.
The name of my pain was Hootie, and he was
supported by his henchmen — the Blowfish.
Like a drug, the shlock emanating from Hootie
entranced the weak and enraged the strong.
But 1996 has to be better.
Jail your mind and Hootie will follow.
By Rob Clark
The Battalion
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fuch of ’95 seemed like a bad rerun of ’94,
| with alternative stars’ sales, and conse-
-quently egos, soaring, rap stars continuing
to spend more time behind bars than on stage, and
’80s superstars falling flat on their collective ass.
"I like chicks that rock"
Women continued to dominate as they did the
year before. Leading the charge was former Nick
elodeon child star, Alanis Morissette, who jumped
on the groundwork laid by Liz Phair and Tori
Amos with her sexually frank lyrics.
The avenging obsessions of “You Oughta Know”
ripped through conventional breakup songs and
catapulted Morissette into an instant-angst-god-
dess by the media.
More significantly, but much less-reported,
were the efforts of P.J. Harvey, whose To Bring
You My Love rated high with the critics but
achieved sales nowhere near the stratospherical
stature of Morissette.
Two more new artists showed promise at the
end of the year. Joan Osborne dared to question
religion in “One of Us,” and Heather Nova’s
“Walk This World” was one of the strongest sin
gles of the year.
Fronting the latest
installment of the
British invasion was
Elastica, with Jus
tine Frischmann’s ir
resistible guitar
hooks and vocals.
Other female-led
bands scoring big in Elastica
’95 were Belly,
Garbage and Veruca Salt.
TLC became a mainstream staple by trashing
their cartoon image for a sleek, smooth style.
rat$ ! Rap Against the World
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?nson, Linn Bowden,
helle Lyons, Healher
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arry, Kristina Baffin,
homas Dougherty,
LeBas, Amy Prolas,
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Chris Miller, )etnio
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Jniversity in the Di-
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ling, Texas A&M
And while P.M. Dawn and Spearhead defy any
real category, Jesus Wept and Home were two of
the strongest albums of
the year.
Finally, rap said
farewell to one of its pio
neers, Eazy-E, who died of
AIDS in March. Eazy was
the brainchild of the leg
endary N.W.A., who
achieved gangsta rap’s first
classic, Straight Outta
Compton. Money spelled
the disaster of the group,
but former members Ice
Cube and Dr. Dre moved
on to be the kingpins of the
gangsta genre.
Coolio
Smashing Pumpkins
Oh Sen. Dole, those troublemaking gangsta rap
pers were at it again this year.
All cynicism aside, new pressures from politi
cians turned up the heat on rap in ’95. 2Pac was
public enemy No. 1, finding himself in jail on a
sexual assault conviction.
Fellow Death Row Records star Snoop Doggy
Dogg continued his murder trial from a 1993 shoot
ing, and it continues to be a news maker in ’96.
But such controversy translated into record suc
cess, as 2Pac’s Me Against The World and Snoop-
proteges Tha Dogg Pound’s Dogg Food shot to the
top of the Billboard charts.
Most of the news came from those who couldn’t
tell a record scratch from a sample. Dole, William
Bennett and C. Delores Tucker led the revolt
against the “mainstream deviants” and most likely
played a principal role in Time Warner’s dropping
of rap-dominated Interscope Records.
Bright spots came in the form of Coolio, who, de
spite mainstream success, stayed true to the game
with his monster smash “Gangsta’s Paradise.”
Melancholy and the
Infinite Sales
It was another stellar year for the so-called al
ternative supergroups. Trent Reznor spent much
of the year ignoring his newfound title of gloomy
rock god, while Billy Corgan allowed his creativity
to surge past his pretentiousness on Smashing
Pumpkins’ mega-double
decker album.
The head-turning
combo of the year was
the David Bowie tour
with Nine Inch Nails
opening. Reznor’s concert
performances spurred on
another MTV hit, the live
version of his tormented
song, “Hurt.”
Live became the radio
darlings of the year with
singles churning out of
their Throwing Copper album. After months of
release, the album reached No. 1 on the Bill
board charts because of the strength of “Light
ning Crashes” and a tour with P.J. Harvey and
Veruca Salt.
Green Day slipped considerably in ’95 with its
fourth album, Insomniac. While a more mature al
bum than Dookie, their signature sound has be
come tiresome and ridiculously repetitive.
In brighter news, R.E.M. embarked on its first
tour in six years, but it
wasn’t without a big price
tag. Drummer Bill Berry
battled a brain aneurysm,
and lead singer Michael
Stipe suffered a hernia
during the tour. But the
band was in fine shape for
its Texas shows.
And it was a busy year
for Pearl Jam, first helping
out Neil Young on his Mir
ror Ball album, and then
teasing fans with tour R.E.M.
promises and cancellations.
Battling the powerful monopoly
Ticketmaster was more difficult than
Eddie Vedder and company had fig
ured, and alternate ticket agencies
caused confusion and frustration. After
canceling its first show in Austin, Pearl
Jam made up for it in September at
Southpark Meadows. And despite all
the difficulties, Pearl Jam still man
aged to prove they have the best act on
the road.
The summer’s annual altema-fest,
Lollapalooza, had another successful
year, despite the antics of the year’s
biggest media hog...
Digging a Hole
Ah, yes Courtney Love. How could
we forget the year in Courtney? De
spite her talent as a songwriter, Love managed
to annoy just about everyone in the Western
Hemisphere with her nightmarish attitude and
antics. It was a year of paradoxes for Love, who
negated her excellent performances at Lolla
palooza with feuds with Sonic Youth and Cypress
Hill. The classiest move of the tour? Love’s
Tyson-esque one-two assault of Bikini Kill lead
singer Kathleen Hanna. And her intrusion into
Kurt Loder’s interview with Madonna after
MTV’s Video Music Awards was just plain scary.
Don't let the door hit you
HIStory was just that. Michael Jackson’s much-
balleyhooed mix of hits and new material crashed
and burned. A vomit-inducing performance at MTV’s
Video Music Awards was
one-upped only when the
nation shared a collective
shudder at the skin-baring
“You Are Not Alone” video.
But Jackson wasn’t the
only ’80s star feeling the
heat in ’95. George
Michael finally escaped
his Sony contract, then
signed with Dreamworks
SKG. But with a five-year
gap since his last album,
his status of even matter
ing is in jeopardy.
Also fuming from record contract feuds was the
artist formerly known as Prince, whose output is
so prolific that he wants to put out four albums a
year. Warner Bros.’ refusal to do so prompted His
Purple Pompousness to write “Slave” on his face
for all public appearances. And despite releasing
his best album in years, The Gold Experience, criti
cal applause fell on deaf ears.
R&B Rebirth
Reviving the soul genre from its All-4-One/Boyz
II Men image were a new breed of artists. D’Ange-
Best and Worst albums of 1995
Best
1. P.M. Dawn — Jesus Wept
2. Elastica — Elastica
3. Ben Harper — Fight For
Your Mind
4. Smashing Pumpkins —
Mellon Collie and the Infinite
Sadness
5. D'Angelo — Brown Sugar
6/Garbage — Garbage
7. Neil Young — Mirror Ball
8. P,|. Harvey —
To Bring You My Love
9. Spearhead — Home
10. Belly — King
Worst
1. Michael Jackson — History
2. Lenny Kravitz — Circus
3. Mariah Carey — Daydream
4. Collective Soul —
Collective Soul
5. L.L. Cool J — Mr. Smith
6. Ace of Base — The Bridge
7. Morrissey —
Southpaw Grammar
8. Tha Dogg Pound —
Dogg Food
9. Bush — Sixteen Stone
10. Any album by a group
with the word "Hootie" in it
Jackson
lo, Dionne Farris, Rosie Gaines, P.M. Dawn and
the Brand New Heavies led the way with a more
mature sound than the bump and grind of R. Kelly
and Jodeci.
With ’70s soul making a oomeback on sound
tracks like Dead Presidents, D’Angelo’s Brown
Sugar called to mind the soul stylistics of A1
Green, making him the most intriguing soulster
in years.
Grammy Sham
The voters for the Grammy Awards must have
headphones playing adult contemporary music bolt
ed into their heads. This year’s
list of nominees was the
biggest joke of the year,
with Mariah Carey grab
bing six nominations.
Other ridiculous nom
inations included
Michael Jackson, AIM-
One, Hootie and the Blow-
fish and Skee-Lo.
Meanwhile, P.J. Harvey
and D’Angelo were stuck with only two nomina
tions, and P.M. Dawn, Smashing Pumpkins and
Spearhead were left out completely.
Significance of such awards is always in ques
tion, but this year’s crop shows just how behind
the times the nominating crew is.
So now what?
Well, despite ’95’s foul odor, it is a new year
with a lot of promise. Albums from Dr. Dre and
Ice Cube, Pearl Jam, R.E.M. and Liz Phair should
provide some interesting material. ‘
And Tori, yes Tori Amos will be back to rescue
the music world with a new album. That alone
ought to make 1996 a year to remember.
One last thing — petition, march, picket or re
volt in any way that you can to stop the incessant
playing of Deep Blue Something’s “Breakfast at
Tiffany’s.” The world would be a better place.
Morissette sets a new standard for women in rock
H undreds of hung-over music
lovers lined up outside an
Austin-are a IHOP at 7. on
New Year’s morning, eagerly
awaiting a turn to slam two cups
of coffee and try their unsteady
hands at the Operation Game.
There was only one thing that
would make the masses brave such
an odd ritual, not to mention the
headache that the buzzing sound
would cause if they were unsuccessful.
The Operation Game challenge was a
contest put on by a local radio station,
and every successful participant would
receive a pair of tickets to the Alanis
Morissette show in Austin which, like
every other scheduled date on the
Canadian songstress’s tour, sold out al
most instantly.
That’s right. The whining, one-time
cast member of You Can’t Do That On
Television has the hottest ticket on the
planet. Morissette’s tour earlier this
year was met with equal enthusiasm,
thanks to
her multi
platinum
American
debut,
Jagged Lit
tle Pill.
Moris
sette fin
ished the
year with six Grammy nominations,
including one for “Album of the Year.”
Ml of these are good reasons why
this artist would come to mind for
“Artist of the Year,” but the best one of
all is that six months ago, none of us
knew who this chic was.
Morissette took over in 1995, but did
not begin her assault until the summer.
Her first single, ‘You Oughta Know,”
caught on like a California brushfire,
and within a matter of weeks, Moris
sette was a household name.
Let me be the first to shoot holes in
Morissette’s seemingly perfect rise to
the top because I realize that she is far
from perfect. For instance, therapy
would do her well.
Something needs to be done about
her butt-cut hairdo. And she is not by
no means the best singer or songwriter
that ever existed. But never before
have I witnessed such a quick and
powerful rise to the top like Morissette
demonstrated in 1995.
Morissette didn’t just make 1995
the year of women in rock; she made it
the year of self-righteous women in
rock, a year in which women who were
emotionally and sexually candid
weren’t pushed into the closet of alter
native music like they have been in
the past.
Morissette’s candor extends beyond
her infamous sexual references in “You
Oughta Know.” Her lyrics often extend
beyond the bitterness that blasted her
into the spotlight.
“Not the doctor” is one of Morisset
te’s most clever songs, with lines like “I
don’t want to be your other half / I be
lieve that 1 and 1 make 2.” Such witty
phrases appear often on Jagged Little
Pill, allowing it to rise from a male
bashing fest to an impressive display
of thoughtfulness.
I am anxious to see what will hap
pen to Morissette with the release of
her follow-up album. Though no talk of
a second album has yet to surface, she
is in for the challenge of her life when
it does. Following such explosive suc
cess is one of the biggest challenges a
rock star can face, and it leads to the
demise of many artists. After all, rock
’n’ roll, like every other profession, is a
matter of survival of the fittest.
I have a feeling Morissette has quite
a career ahead of her, but we’ll all
have to wait and see what will happen.
For now, though, everything is just
fine, fine, fine.
Amy Uptmor is a senior journalism
major.
Morissette