10 and 1 - We'd Really Be Living In The 90s Again If...



Let's get grunge-y!!!



Is anyone else being smacked in the face with a whole lot of 90s music at the moment? We've had the Vengaboys here, Aqua are coming and so are the New Kids on The Block and The Backstreet Boys. Soundgarden are headlining the Big Day Out Festival, Soundwave is pretty much a 90s tribute tour (s'up Manson, Fred Durst?) and awesome bands like Garbage and No Doubt are gearing up for new releases. As someone who loves a lot of things about music from the 1990s, I couldn't be more excited. What would make me even more excited? If these pieces of 90s goodness were to return to us as well.

Unfamiliar with the '10 and 1' concept? Well, I don't like to leave you feeling too chuffed with life at the end of every post. So we'll be addressing one bit of 90s music we really DON'T want to be seeing ever, ever again. Ever. Seriously. Alright... who's ready to step back in time with me?!

The 10:

ANGRY ALANIS MORISSETTE

We all love Adele. 21 was a great break-up album, heavy on the pain and full of wonderful, catchy future pop classics. Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill was an incredible break-up album, heavy on the, "and are you thinking of me when you f*** her." It went on to become one of the highest selling albums of the decade (in America it was the highest selling) and won Album of the Year at the Grammys. It was another generations 21, but it was just way more... angry. If Alanis Morissette channelled some of that into her music again, I wouldn't be complaining.

A RADIOHEAD ALBUM THAT'S WORTHY OF THEIR 90s CATALOGUE

Let's be honest, with the exception of the exceptional Kid A, Radiohead's albums released since the end of the 90s haven't had anywhere near the impact on your life that their seminal works OK Computer, The Bends and Pablo Honey did. You can love their newer albums as much as you want, but denying your desire to see them release something that has a massive impact on the music industry, challenging our perceptions of music in the process, is ludicrous. Not Ludacris. 

MOVIE SONGS... THE MOST EPIC SONGS IN THE WORLD

"I could stay awake, just to hear you breathing... watch you smile while you are sleeping, while you're far away and dreaming." Sigh. "And I'd give up forever to touch you, 'cause I know that you feel me somehow. You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be and I don't want to go home right now." Double sigh. "YOU'RE HERE... THERE'S NOTHING I FEAR AND I KNOOOOW THAT MY HEART WILL GO ON." Yep. Bring back the movie song in all its former glory. Now... what to listen to next? 'How Do I Live?' 'I Will Always Love You?' 'I Believe I Can Fly,' 'Gangsta's Paradise,' 'Secret Garden,' 'GoldenEye,' 'Tomorrow Never Dies.' The list could go on and on... and on and on and on.

GWEN STEFANI, WOMAN OF ROCK

Superpop Gwen is interesting in her own way, but rock Gwen will always be the Gwen for me. This one could happen this year if we're lucky. 

AUSTRALIAN POST-GRUNGE

Australia has a proud history of housing some of the most rockin' bands in the world. Unfortunately, there's also a history of these bands disbanding long before their expiration date. Silverchair? Faded away quietly into the night last year. Powderfinger? Same. The Superjesus? Madame McLeod can't seem to make her mind up in regards to her careers direction. One minute she's an electro diva and the next she's the mystery woman behind the laidback Screaming Bikini. Just get The Superjesus back together! Killing Heidi? Permanent hiatus. Australia needs to get its post-grunge groove back. Now! 

THE RETURN OF LAURYN HILL/THE FUGEES

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and The Score. If you don't have those two albums, you will want to add them to your collection. You will then want Lauryn Hill to finally make her triumphant return and follow it up by getting The Fugees back together. If Wyclef Jean has time to not be running for the Haitian Presidency or whatever it is he does these days. He can release a solo album too if he really wants. 

A METALLICA ALBUM THAT DOESN'T SUCK

Before you go mental I just need you to know that... everything Metallica has done since the release of St Anger has sucked balls. That's all I had to say. You '4-Life' fans can go berserk if you so wish, but don't you want one more incredible Metallica album that will rock your socks off? 

RAY OF LIGHT MADONNA

Some people like sexy, skanky Erotica Madonna. Some people like like weird armed, super-fit Confessions on a Dance Floor Madonna. Me? I loved Ray of Light Madonna. It wouldn't even be creepy for her to be releasing music in that style today. At the very least, it would be better than her attempts at emulating women thirty years younger than she is.

NICK CAVE AND KYLIE MINOGUE... TOGETHER AGAIN

'Where The Wild Roses Grow' part 2? Who wouldn't love to hear the sequel to arguably the greatest song that Cave and Minogue have ever been a part of? 

GRUNGE RETURNS

Music moves in cycles. It's only a matter or time before grunge returns and assumes its rightful place as the best music genre in the world. When it happens it will be because of a new wave of angry youths protesting about how crappy the world is getting. Sounds like now would be the perfect time for this to happen. Pearl Jam can stick around and release something even better than Ten. Yeah, that would be sweet! They don't exactly qualify as grunge acts, but I want some Courtney Love Hole and Billy Corgan Smashing Pumpkins back too. The good kind. The 90s kind.

The 1:

MICHAEL BOLTON

Say it with me... "Never again." That's some beautiful hair though.