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On That Note: Gr8ts From The 8s: 1998

I was (who am I kidding? I still am) a big fan of Ska back in the 90s, and 1998 saw the release of some of my personal favorite albums:

"Hello Rockview" by Less Than Jake, featuring awesome tracks like "5 State Drive", "Danny Says" and one of their most famous tracks "History of a Boring Town." I think this is LTJ's best album.


Reel Big Fish released "Why Do They Rock So Hard?" which was their third studio album. Nowhere near as catchy as their first two albums, but featured songs like "She's Famous Now" and "The Setup (You Need This)"





Probably the best ska-punk album to come out in 1998 was Catch-22s debut "Keasbey Nights." Tomas Kalnoky wrote every song on the album and provided the vocals and guitar. When people think of the best "Third Wave" Ska albums, this one comes up in the conversation as one of the top albums. The album was so popular that Kalnoky later re-recorded the entire album with his new band Streetlight Manifesto in 2006.


 
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Born in 98: Jayson Tatum, Shawn Mendes, Ariel Winter, Jaden Smith

Deaths in 98 (some huge losses in the world of music): Frank Sinatra, Tammy Wynette, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Carl Wilson, Phil Hartman, Eddie Rabbit, Sony Bono, Falco, Lloyd Bridges, Harry Caray, Ray Nitschke
 
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I don't have much to offer but something pretty obvious.

The biggest mainstream rock/pop album of the year was Goo Goo Dolls "Dizzy Up The Girl". Their first big hit was Name from their previous offering, A Boy Named Goo.

Four Big hits including Iris, which was #1 for 17 straight weeks and was nominated for several Grammies, but did not win.







 
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Semisonic, Feeling Strangely Fine (March 24, 1998, MCA)

Example of an album that goes deeper than its hits. Of all the LPs on my '98 list, this yielded the largest crop of songs to post. (I narrowed it to 5).

Everybody knows the opening track, Semisonic’s only top 20 single in the U.S. A cool twist on the storyline: frontman Matt Wilson later said the lyrics have a dual meaning, summarized here.





An ode to the mix-tape era.
“Got your tape and it changed my mind/Heard your voice in between the lines.”













 
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The Billboard Top 100 song from 1998 was "Too Close" by Next (although the song was released in 1997



It includes great lyrics such as

Baby, when we're grindin', I get so excited
Ooh how I like it, I try but I can't fight it
Oh, you're dancin' real close, 'plus it's real, real slow
You're makin' it hard for me
Click to expand...

(Step back, you're dancin' kinda close)
(I feel a little poke comin' through on you)
Now girl, I know you felt it
But boo, you know, I can't help it
You know what I wanna do
Click to expand...

I like the way you move
You're making me want you oh the way you move
I like those things you do cause you're a little too close, yeah
Click to expand...
 
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MeanDean said:
I don't have much to offer but something pretty obvious.

The biggest mainstream rock/pop album of the year was Goo Goo Dolls "Dizzy Up The Girl". Their first big hit was Name from their previous offering, A Boy Named Goo.

Four Big hits including Iris, which was #1 for 17 straight weeks and was nominated for several Grammies, but did not win.







Click to expand...


This album and ABNG were two '90s LPs that were unfairly dismissed. There was backlash from the ballad saturation, understandably, but that' was short-sighted. Both albums wound up in cut-out bins because listeners expected 10 "Name/Iris" repeats and were surprised when it didn't happen. Their loss.
 
I have to include this one since it went platinum in Belgium and I have a family member with the platinum record proudly displayed in the bathroom at their house.

Ks_Choice-Cocoon_Crash.jpg
 
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cyclonespiker33 said:
The Billboard Top 100 song from 1998 was "Too Close" by Next (although the song was released in 1997



It includes great lyrics such as
Click to expand...


I hope that’s still a party jam for HS and college kids. I remember grinding a boner on my date while that song was playing at the HS homecoming dance and thinking it was so awesome.
 
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R.E.M. released Up in 1998. Not a bad album if you aren't one of those fans that discount everything before Monster.
 
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Painted From Memory - Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach.

Definitely moved on from the punk bad boy mad at the world by this time, Costello was well established as a critic's favorite with a loyal fan base - even though the hits were minimal and the airplay as well.

His most famous collaboration was with Paul McCartney, but teaming up with Burt Bacharach produced more winsome lost-love-toned mixtures. But such was the reception and the pair's mutual respect it seems natural they would work together a bit more. Burt had not released an album of his own for 21 years.

There's no rock and roll here. A far cry from Red Shoes or Lipstick Vogue.

Have a wine and sit back on a rainy Sunday afternoon and enjoy some quality easy music. It's alright. It'll be our secret.







 
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CycloneRulzzz said:
4th is Kid Rock's Devil without a Cause. This version of Kid Rock I could enjoy. Before things like duet ballads with Sheryl Crow and abominations like All Summer Long he did put out some music I enjoyed.






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Had this album. It's right up there with Limp Bizkit for 'what was I thinking?'. Funny stuff.
 
It's interesting (but not surprising), the further we go along, the fewer submissions appear in these threads. I listen to a lot of indie music, so I know good music is "out there", but the overall quantity of solid, mainstream music just keeps decreasing as the decades go by. Not to get too political, but maybe the current state of American politics will be enough to inspire a new group of angry young men and women to breathe some life into the music scene.
 
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This album came out in fall of '97 but this song hit big in 98, it was all over graduation videos for the class of '98
 
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