What!? 2004 was ten years ago? Already!? How's that even possible? It was a truly magnificent year for pop music and whenever I hear any of it I'm immediately catapulted back there, like it was only yesterday. It's hard to believe a decade's passed already. 2003 albums by Dido, Jet and Black Eyed Peas kept shifting big numbers in 2004. Anastasia was back after a few quiet years and Maroon 5 finally had a huge international hit on their hands in the form of their slow-burning 2002 debut. There was also a whole bunch of debut albums released in 2004 by artists who'd go on to become some of the biggest acts of the 2000s. So let's revisit ten albums that turn ten this year. I wonder how many of them have stood the test of time?
10. Alanis Morissette - So Called Chaos
RELEASED: 18 May 2004 Without her defining 1995 album "Jagged Little Pill" the world might never have heard of Her Royal Highness, The Queen of Canadian Music. But with each subsequent album sales declined, hits dried up and by the time her sixth studio album "So-Called Chaos" came along, it didn't even go to #1 in Canada. Of the three singles from the album, dull lead single "Everything" was a minor hit worldwide, while both "Out Is Through" and "Eight Easy Steps" sank without trace almost everywhere. There's nothing especially wrong with "So-Called Chaos". It's relatively mainstream and inoffensive, with "Doth I Protest Too Much" a stand-out. This is clearly an album by an older, calmer, happier Alanis. And ten years later? I didn't care for it much ten years ago and I don't care for it any more or less today. It still sounds like an attempted re-imagining of "Jagged Little Pill", which is all well and good except that two key ingredients of "Jagged Little Pill" are missing from "So-Called Chaos": 20 year old Alanis and her breathtaking attitude - the two things that made "Jagged Little Pill" so good.
I'm just a guy who loves words. I discover vast tracts of uncharted enjoyment by chucking words together and coming up with stuff that talks about the things I enjoy and love most. I'm also a massive listaholic, so I'm probably talking about a list, looking at a list or banging away at another What Culture list as you read this. My tone's pretty relaxed and conversational, with a liberal sprinkling of sparkling wit, wilting sarcasm and occasional faux-condescension - with tongue almost always firmly planted in cheek.
What!? 2004 was ten years ago? Already!? How's that even possible? It was a truly magnificent year for pop music and whenever I hear any of it I'm immediately catapulted back there, like it was only yesterday. It's hard to believe a decade's passed already. 2003 albums by Dido, Jet and Black Eyed Peas kept shifting big numbers in 2004. Anastasia was back after a few quiet years and Maroon 5 finally had a huge international hit on their hands in the form of their slow-burning 2002 debut. There was also a whole bunch of debut albums released in 2004 by artists who'd go on to become some of the biggest acts of the 2000s. So let's revisit ten albums that turn ten this year. I wonder how many of them have stood the test of time? 