Hitting #2 on its first week in the charts, Down on the Upside by Soundgarden is the second Soundgarden album I've reviewed. Following up the massive hit Superunknown was always going to be difficult, and Down on the Upside probably did just about as well as could be hoped. It had a few big hits, including Blow Up the Outside World and Burden in My Hand.

As the final album before a 15 year hiatus, it is a good continuation of Soundgarden's sound. If you're in the mood for some grunge, but you don't want to hear Smells Like Teen Spirit or Black Hole Sun again, this is a decent option.

Debuting at #6 in its first week on the charts, Older by George Michael was his attempt at more mature music (hence the name of the album). According to the Wikipedia page, the album was very successful in the UK and Europe, but less so in the United States.

Personally, I have no use for a more mature George Michael. His catalog of pop music with Wham! is all I really want or need from him. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, Careless Whisper, and Last Christmas (at the right time of the year) are some of the best pop songs ever made. His first solo album Faith is also excellent because he didn't try to get away from his pop roots. Older is trying too hard, and that's not what I want from George Michael.

My recommendation is to skip this album but definitely check out his earlier work.

Hitting #4 in its first week on the charts, The Great Southern Trendkill is the second Pantera album I've reviewed. I closed that review by writing "I could only take one listen to this album. I didn't like it at all. I like various kinds of metal, but not this kind." I feel the same about this album. You can skip it.

Debuting at #2, the album Crash by Dave Matthews Band, has their biggest ever single, Crash Into Me. Thirty years later it continues to have decent airplay and on Spotify, Crash Into Me has 130% more plays than their second most popular song, Ants Marching. The ratio is similar on last.fm.

I have always been pretty neutral about Dave Matthews Band. I find the music inoffensive but not all that moving. It's almost never something I choose to listen to, but I don't skip it when it comes on. Crash is very 90s, and certainly if I wanted some 90s nostalgia, it would be a solid choice. I suggest that if you want to try to capture the 90s for a few songs, you can put it on.

Finally, whatever your opinion is of Dave Matthews Band, they don't rock.

Hitting #1 in its first week, this is the second Hootie & the Blowfish album I've reviewed. I can't recall ever hearing any of the songs off this album before, and according to last.fm, it's entirely likely I'm correct.

My feelings on this album mostly mirror that of Cracked Rear View. It's fine. Extremely 90s. Listen to it, or don't. Whatevs.

I've always preferred Rage Against the Machine's eponymous first album over Evil Empire. That being said, this weeks #1 album is wholly worthy of that position.

Thirty years later, the machine is still very much active. Look at who is in the White House, has control of Congress, and the Supreme Court. We have a wannabe fascist president, a congress that has abdicated their constitutional powers, and a SCOTUS that rules based on desired political outcomes. AI is coming to take our jobs away, only the very rich are getting ahead in this economy, and the US is steadily ruining our democracy via gerrymandering and media that spreads lies and misinformation. Rage Against the Machine is no longer making music, but they remain as relevant as ever. I always enjoy reading stories about idiots (AKA conservatives) who don't understand they're the machine being raged against.

My recommendation is to listen to this album whenever you need to get angry about things you should get angry about. This is unfortunately all the time at the moment.

I don't have much to say about this week's #6 album. I was never all that into Geto Boys, and The Resurrection didn't change my mind. Perhaps the most notable thing about the album is that the second song on the album, "Still", was used in the famous printer smashing scene of the movie Office Space. I have no strong opinions if you should listen to this album, which I suppose means it's probably not worth your time.

I am super late on this review by almost two weeks, so I'll make this short. Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop by Stone Temple Pilots hit #4 in its first week on the charts. Tiny Music is worth your time. Check it out!

According to this web page I found, despite breaking up in 1969/1970, Beatles albums continued to be released fairly regularly in the years since. I've already reviewed two of them, Live at the BBC and Anthology 1. Any new Beatles album has a good chance of reaching the top ten of the charts. Indeed I'll review Anthology 3 in November of this year, and if I'm still doing this in four years, 1 in December of 2030.

This review of Anthology 2 (sitting at #1 on the charts) is basically the same as my earlier ones. This is an album of outtakes, rarities, and live performances that clocks in at over two hours. This is not the way to be introduced to the Beatles. But if you're already familiar with their body of work (and if you're not, how? why? what? where? who? how?), an occasional listen to this is a good idea.

Circa 1999 I went on a road trip with some college friends to the Lava Beds National Monument in Northern California and Crater Lake in Oregon. The Lava Beds is in the middle of nowhere close to absolutely nothing of importance. I can't remember if we forgot to pack enough cassette tapes of music¹, or we wanted to see what was on the radio, but we discovered an all Céline Dion, all the time radio station. It was the only station that came in, so we listened to it for a while. It didn't play any advertisements, so we suspected it was a pirate radio station. It is entirely likely that during that trip was the most recent time I've listened to as much Céline Dion as I did for Falling Into You.

The album hit #2 in its first week on the charts. Apparently it's her most successful album by number of sales and has won many awards. It featured the song Because You Loved Me written for the movie Up Close & Personal. I don't think I've ever heard the song before nor watched the movie (and I won't be remedying the latter).

It may not surprise you that I didn't care for this album, and I will not be listening to it again. I guess lots of people like(d) it, but lots of people can be wrong: there's evidence of that everywhere, just look around.

1. The car didn't have a CD player and 1999 was before iPods and cell phones that played music, kids! ↩︎

A few months ago I reviewed the soundtrack for the movie Dangerous Minds and wrote "the album is defined by and entirely worth the value of (the song) Gangsta's Paradise, and the rest is worth forgetting." While this week's #9 album Gangsta's Paradise by Coolio does have the song of the same name, it contains more hits than the movie soundtrack. In addition to (the song) Gangsta's Paradise, 1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New) charted quite well, as well did a cover of Too Hot.

This album isn't half bad. I'm not sure I'll listen to it much going forward, but I didn't find it objectionable. I suppose that's faint praise, but compared to soundtrack, it's much more worth your time.

This review is a week late. Last week was spring break and I went on vacation. I'll keep this short!

Hitting #3 in its third week on the charts, The Score by Fugees is their second and final studio album.

Despite the popularity of The Score, the only song I think I've heard before is the cover Killing Me Softly. That song was everywhere in 1996. Two of the members of Fugees, Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean, have gone onto even better things post-Fugees. The third Fugee, Pras, did not go onto better things. He is in prison for funneling foreign money to Obama's second presidential campaign.

Overall, it's good hip-hop and worth a listen.

I've always felt that this week's #6 artist, The Presidents of the United States of America, were kind of a jokey band. Their big hits, Lump and Peaches, off of their eponymous album, are odd with not quite sensical lyrics. The songs are fun earworms, certainly, but I would not call them sophisticated. The band are not one-hit wonders¹. However, they are one-trick ponies, and one-trick ponies do not have staying power.

My recommendation is that PotUSA is fine, but nothing essential. Listen to them when you want a taste of the 90s, but only a taste, because they're not a full meal.

1. They are two-hit wonders and should have been featured in this radio show. ↩︎

Hitting #1 in its first week, All Eyez On Me by 2Pac, is one of the most highly-regarded rap albums ever. 1996 was peak Gangsta Rap, 2Pac was a genre-defining Gangsta Rap performer, and All Eyez On Me is one of the best examples of the genre.

I've never been that into 2Pac. I'll enjoy a play of California Love from time to time, but I am not a 2Pac aficionado. The last rap album I reviewed (by Easy-E) I didn't particularly like and I felt it was poorly made. Conversely, I can tell that All Eyez On Me is a high-quality album, and while I don't listen to it very often, I don't think I will never again listen to it. If you want some Gangsta Rap, you can't go wrong with this album.

Hitting #9 after ten weeks in the charts, Enya's The Memory of Trees is boring. I can't even generate the energy to have my own opinions about it. There are very few occasions when I want her music played, and this album did not change my priors. Judging by the popularity of her albums on last.fm, even those who like Enya agree that this album is not her best. There it is the fifth most-listened to album, with one third the listeners compared to her most popular album, A Day Without Rain.

There's no reason to ever listen to this album. It turns out the trees may have memory, but this album is forgettable.