Daft Punk

"Around The World"

To be honest, like half the reason I chose to review this song was so I could listen to it while I wrote this website. Emerging from Paris in 1993, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter formed Daft Punk, an electronic music group achieving major popularity in recent years. This type of music isn’t normally my cup of tea, but there’s something about it that just makes me bop my head. Daft Punk released "Around the World" in 1997, becoming a major club hit around the world soon after. The way they manage to make a repetitive song of only three words, sound unique and inventive in each “verse”, with the clever use of base and funky synth sounds blows my mind. I also love the use of the talk-box in lue of more modern effects; I prefer the sound far more. Usually, I stay away from the genre of electronic music as a whole, but it's songs like this that make me want to give it another shot.

Nirvana

"Lithium"

Coming together in 1987, Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Aaron Burckhard (eventually replaced by Dave Grohl for the majority of the decade) formed the grunge band Nirvana. Although many people associate Nirvana with the advent of coffee shops, plaid shirts, and grunge, many of the bands songs had incredibly deep meanings. “Lithium” for instance, is about a man turning to religion after the death of his girlfriend, in an attempt to avoid becoming suicidal. Given the songs loud, yelling nature, it comes as somewhat of a surprise to me that a mainstream rock musician is singing about turning to religion, rather than away from it.

Eminem

"My Name Is"

Marshall Mathers, more commonly known by his stage names, Eminem or Slim Shady, has set out to prove that music is truly for everyone, regardless of genre and race. Making his way into the predominantly black industy of rap, Eminem blows listeners away with his first studio album, The Slim Shady LP, released in 1999. Masterful beats produced by the legendary Dr. Dre in conjunction with Eminem's complex, yet catchy lyrics, are what truly set this white rapper apart from the sea of Vanilla Ice wannabees. "My Name Is", becoming one of Eminem's most successful songs off of the album, is more of a lighthearted, funny song. While it is very catchy and fun to listen to, I feel that many of Eminem's more serious songs often get sidelined for the comedic ones.

Weezer

"Buddy Holly"

Getting their start in Los Angeles, California in 1992, Patrick Wilson, Brian Bell, Rivers Cuomo, and Scott Shriner came together to form Weezer. They released, in my opinion their best work, the Blue Album in 1994. Pitchfork described the album as containing “geeky humor, dense cultural references, and positively gargantuan hooks”, and they did not lie. My personal favorite song off the album is “Buddy Holly”. Not only is the song absolutely a jam, but the music video takes the band back in time to Happy Days, and does so quire well.

No Doubt

"Don't Speak"

One of the more interesting bands I’ve heard in a while, No Doubt, masterfully blends aspects of rock and pop. My favorite work by the group is their 1995 album Tragic Kingdom. Lead vocalist Gwen Stefani sings over intense songs with a wide range of tone, going from more intense songs like “Just a Girl”, to more calm songs like “Don’t Speak”. Originally written as a love song, Gwen eventually settled on a breakup song as she had just been dumped by her band mate and boyfriend of seven years, Tony Kanal. I find the music video to be an interesting blend between beautiful and disgusting, and if you don’t know what I mean, go look it up.. I mean catch it on TRL.

Britney Spears

"...Baby One More Time"

I hate to love her music. It’s just so damn catchy. I must hand it to the room full of suits that created her image because they clearly knew what they were doing. Britney Spears hit the ground running, releasing “…Baby One More Time” as the debut single, from her debut album in 1998. This song was such a hit, it’s actually one of the best-selling singles of all time (over 10,000,000 sold). The song is about what a girl feels after going through a breakup. I’m not sure why as a guy I find the song so catchy, but this is a song I will never skip turn the dial on. Confession time, I actually had the biggest childhood crush on Britney Spears lol.