Top 75 of 1997

1997 was the year I turned 19, starting the last year of my teens and my second year of my Maths degree at the University of Teesside. Musically, it was also the year that two bands who would later join my unholy triumvirate of favourite bands entered my life - Feeder and A.

It was the year I went to my first full weekend music festival at Reading (this was just before they would introduce the closer option for me of Leeds), with that great rock Sunday of Metallica, the year's big rock hype Marilyn Manson (plus surprise guest Jonathan Davis), Bush, 3 Colours Red and Feeder among others.  Not to mention a legendary headline set on the Saturday from the Manics with Nicky discarding their recent 'Man at C&A' image and busting out the camo dress.

My gig count for the year was 21, if you count Reading as one big gig, most of them coming from bands playing around the weekly indie night at Middlesbrough Arena.  Some of them were excellent, some of them were made up of fifth division indie bands, lost to the mists of time (I mean Travis, who are they?!).  The full list is below:

17/01/97 Groop Dogdrill, Soul Bossa (@Middlesbrough Arena)

31/01/97 Gold Blade, TC Hug (@Middlesbrough Arena)

07/02/97 Perfume, Spacemaid (@Middlesbrough Arena)

11/02/97 Suede, Mansun (@Middlesbrough Town Hall)

14/02/97 Space Monkeys, Hardbody (@Middlesbrough Arena)

21/02/97 Silver Sun, Grass Show, Montrose Avenue (@Middlesbrough Arena)

07/03/97 18 Wheeler, Formula One (@Middlesbrough Arena)

14/03/97 Speedy, Rude Club (@Middlesbrough Arena)

18/04/97 Travis, Spacemaid (@Middlesbrough Arena)

25/04/97 Smaller, Montrose Avenue (@Middlesbrough Arena)

09/05/97 Corduroy, Mantaray (@Middlesbrough Arena)

16/05/97 Jesus Jones, A (@Middlesbrough Arena)

23/05/97 Carter USM, Midget (@Middlesbrough Arena)

06/06/97 David Devant and his Spirit Wife, The Smiles (@Middlesbrough Arena)

13/06/97 The Hybirds (@Middlesbrough Arena)

01/07/97 Teenage Fanclub (@Newcastle HMV)

03/08/97 China Drum, Velma, Helter Skelter (@Stockton Festival)

22/08/97 Sick of it All, Symposium, James, Millencolin, Silver Sun, Kenickie, A, Incubus, Carrie, Strangelove + Suede, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Dust Junkys, Period Pains (@Reading Festival)

23/08/97 Manic Street Preachers, Space, Super Furry Animals, Republica, Gold Blade, My Life Story, Stereophonics + Wannadies, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, Lemonheads, Rude Club (@Reading Festival)

24/08/97 Metallica, Marilyn Manson, Terrorvision, Bush, 3 Colours Red, Descendents, Dog Eat Dog, Feeder, Radish + Bis (@Reading Festival)

12/09/97 China Drum, Cable, Carrie (@Middlesbrough Arena)

18/10/97 3 Colours Red, Bullyrag (@Middlesbrough Arena)

06/12/97 Teen Spirit, White Negroes (@Middlesbrough Arena)

After me and my brother met Dave from China Drum at Stockton Festival in August, he got us in on the guest list for their Boro gig a month later, where we ended up meeting Gerry from Mega City Four who was roadie for Cable and I also had a chat with future Kerrang editor Paul Brannigan who was doing an on the road feature of the tour.

In terms of my own music I moved away from my two main solo bands during that year (in fact Spraypaint still haven't released anything since), completing the third Uranium album (my industrial act) and the only Vein album (grunge, some great songs that I must upload at some point) as well as two Pyf Belly Machine albums and a Personnel EP with my brother.

I also worked on some new metal-based ideas, basically picking several bands or sounds (Cradle of Filth, My Dying Bride, Napalm Death, Korn, Megadeth, Gabber with guitars - kind of an Atari Teenage Riot type thing) and recording two songs each in their style to see what came out.  The results can be found here with the two Cradle of Filth-style songs going under the name of Beneath Utopia, a name I swiftly moved across to take the place of my main metal band, then called Oakenshield.

That name change coincided with the first of my 5 appearances in national rock/metal magazines (he says in the style of Les McQueen), consisting of TWO demo reviews by Dan Silver in the October 1997 edition of Metal Hammer. Harsh but fair comments too.

But back onto chart matters again, 1997 was obviously a year of me digging deeper below the surface for new music, delving into the black metal world on the Feuersturm double CD compilation starring Emperor, Dark Funeral, Immortal and many more, plus the Cacophonous compilation The Unholy Bible, which introduced me to Bal-Sagoth, Abyssos, Vergelmer and more.  The 21st Century Media Blitz compilation was also a great introduction to The Gathering, who would eventually rise pretty high among my favourite bands, plus other-worldly metal from Strapping Young Lad and Samael.

But quite a lot of the chart came to be dominated by British rock bands, A, 3 Colours Red, Feeder, Silver Sun, Reef, Paradise Lost, Stereophonics and Ash all took either several places or prominent placings in the chart.  And my first festival was pretty influential too, 24 of my top 75 came from bands that played Reading festival, 30 more were on the shortlist.

The competition seemed even more ridiculous than usual this time, the songs that just missed out seemed more than deserving of a place but it wasn't to be.  So honourable mentions this time to the bands that made the shortlist but not the chart as follows: Chemical Brothers, James, The Ataris, Chumbawamba, In Flames, Nightwish, Rollins Band, Deftones, Sigh, China Drum, Dimmu Borgir, Blackstar and Coal Chamber.

1. Foo Fighters - Everlong

2. A - No. 1

3. Paradise Lost - Say Just Words

4. 3 Colours Red - Nuclear Holiday

5. Paradise Lost - One Second

6. Faith No More - Ashes to Ashes

7. 3 Colours Red - Sunny in England

8. Emperor - With Strength I Burn

9. Silver Sun - Lava

10. Mighty Mighty Bosstones - The Impression That I Get

11. The Gathering - The Earth Is My Witness

12. Stereophonics - Local Boy in the Photograph

13. A - Foghorn

14. A - Bad Idea

15. Will Haven - Mason

16. The Gathering - On Most Surfaces (Inuit)

17. Mindset - Nosebleed

18. Ash - A Life Less Ordinary

19. Life of Agony - Weeds

20. The Gathering - Third Chance

21. Shelter - Whole Wide World

22. Shelter - Refusal

23. Strapping Young Lad - All Hail the New Flesh

24. Mindset - ihateudon'tleaveme

25. Metallica - Fuel

26. Will Haven - I've Seen My Fate

27. Metallica - The Unforgiven II

28. 3 Colours Red - Pure

29. Foo Fighters - Monkey Wrench

30. Napalm Death - Breed to Breathe

31. Green Day - Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

32. A - Cheeky Monkey

33. Paradise Lost - Another Day

34. Napalm Death - Lowpoint

35. Mindset - Psycho Sound Wave

36. Feeder - My Perfect Day

37. Symposium - Drink the Sunshine

38. Symposium - Fairweather Friend

39. Vergelmer - Her Harvest is my Prey

40. The Gathering - Nighttime Birds

41. Machine Head - Struck a Nerve

42. Abyssos - As The Sky Turns Black Again (Love Eternal)

43. Machine Head - Take My Scars

44. Megadeth - Trust

45. Silver Sun - Dumb

46. Foo Fighters - My Hero

47. Feeder - Tangerine

48. Green Day - Redundant

49. A - Winter of 96

50. A - Out of Tune

51. Green Day - Nice Guys Finish Last

52. Feeder - Cement

53. Emperor - The Loss and Curse of Reverence

54. Metallica - The Memory Remains

55. The Prodigy - Breathe

56. Rammstein - Du Hast

57. Silverchair - Abuse Me

58. Reef - Come Back Brighter

59. Reef - Place Your Hands

60. Supergrass - Richard III

61. Blur - Song 2

62. Charlatans - One to Another

63. Machine Head - Ten Ton Hammer

64. Paradise Lost - Cruel One

65. Metallica - Prince Charming

66. Lacuna Coil - Falling

67. Emperor - Ye Entrancemperium

68. Will Haven - Foreign Film

69. Immortal - Mountains of Might

70. Strapping Young Lad - Underneath the Waves

71. Silver Sun - Wonderful

72. Faith No More - Last Cup of Sorrow

73. Feeder - Polythene Girl

74. Feeder - Crash

75. Helmet - Like I Care

Top 75 of 1996

1996 was the year that, in terms of age, I became an adult, although we all know that still hasn't actually happened yet in most ways.  It was the year I sat my A levels, the year I started university, the year I had some money that wasn't just pocket money.

When I received my grant money (it was lucky timing that I managed to get a grant to cover my costs and not need to rely on loans like anyone that came after me) I allowed myself £38 a week, almost half went on bus fares and most of the rest on free periods wandering around Middlesbrough's record shops.

Back then I had a choice of HMV and two independents, Playback and Alan Fearnley's. Playback was pretty small, but a great source for cheap CD singles and albums I could take a chance on for a fiver. Alan Fearnley's was more vinyl-oriented but still got plenty of bargains.  There was many a time where I'd spend a full hour browsing and walk up to the counter with only a 50p CD single!

My source of hearing new music had to change too, in terms of rock and metal I had been introduced to loads of new music by videoing Raw Power/Noisy Mothers overnight, but when that was axed I was reliant on free CDs with Kerrang and, starting with the December 96 issue, Metal Hammer.

That covered new rock and metal bands but I also got new indie/rock sounds from gigs, mostly from the weekly indie night at Middlesbrough Arena, doubling my tally of 10 gigs in 1995 to 20 in 1996:

19/01/96 Shed 7, Soda (@Middlesbrough Arena)

02/02/96 Cecil, Bullyrag (@Middlesbrough Arena)

06/02/96 Honeycrack, Schtum (@Middlesbrough Cornerhouse)

23/02/96 Perfume, Cooper, 1941 (@Middlesbrough Arena)

08/03/96 Sultans, Mansun  (@Middlesbrough Arena)

05/04/96 Bis, Kenickie (@Middlesbrough Arena)

30/04/96 60ft Dolls (@Middlesbrough Cornerhouse)

03/05/96 Inaura, Helter Skelter (@Middlesbrough Arena)

24/05/96 Manic Street Preachers, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci (@Middlesbrough Town Hall)

24/05/96 Sneaker Pimps (@Middlesbrough Arena)

28/06/96 Octopus, Geneva (@Middlesbrough Arena)

02/08/96 Senser, Agent Provocateur (@Middlesbrough Arena)

04/10/96 Kenickie, Gold Blade (@Middlesbrough Arena)

11/10/96 Salad, Brassy (@Middlesbrough Arena)

25/10/96 Urusei Yatsura, Eska (@Middlesbrough Arena)

01/11/96 Catatonia, Diggers, Big Leaves (@Middlesbrough Arena)

08/11/96 Symposium, Speedy (@Middlesbrough Arena)

05/12/96 Northside (@Middlesbrough Arena)

06/12/96 3 Colours Red, Symposium (@Middlesbrough Arena)

13/12/96 Rachel Stamp, Circus (@Middlesbrough Arena)

Between finishing my A levels and starting university, in the summer of 96 I had the longest holiday from education I'd ever had and it resulted in a prolific year in terms of making my own music.  Over the year there were 2 albums and 2 EPs from my pop-punk band Spraypaint (then called Marvin), an album by my industrial band Uranium, 4 albums by me and my brother's band Pyf Belly Machine, 2 EPs by the masters of the sub-minute classic The Personnel and a few odds and sods including an anarcho-punk album going under the name of Land Army.

The best Spraypaint songs can be found here with virtually all of them apart from the first 3 being from 1996 (the first 3 being 1995). Bad singing, fizzing guitars and bubbling Senseless Things basslines were the order of the day.

There was also a bizarre appearance by Pyf Belly Machine on a benefit tape alongside a handful of anarcho-punk bands and some bands we'd actually heard of. Our song just happened to be a cover of Blame it on the Boogie we'd recorded the previous year, which was an interesting choice amid the "proper" bands, but can be found on the Spraypaint link above.

But the most important development was the creation of my first metal band, Oakenshield (later to become Beneath Utopia). A mini-album recorded when I really should have been revising for my A levels and a full album a few months later saw a prolific start.  Initial Bolt Thrower influences dominated, but other favourites of the time such as Fear Factory also crept into the mix.  If you're intrigued you can find the results in the discography here as Oakenshield and Something to Fear. They're not amazing but they're also not bad for a 17/18 year old writing metal for the first time.

It might sound strange to some but 1996 is probably the year where I start to consider albums as being "new". So Roots, Great Southern Trendkill, Load, Everything Must Go etc. they're not albums that formed my love of a band, they're NEW ones. And yes, I do know that they're now 23 years old.  And quite a few of those albums were a little bit disappointing compared to what came before.  Pearl Jam, Bush, Soundgarden, Sepultura, Pantera, Metallica, Rage Against the Machine - all released albums in 1996 that were good, but weren't up to the high standards that they'd set previously.  But other bands moved in to stake their claim.

As far as this chart goes, Cradle of Filth, Feeder and Bal-Sagoth took some prominent places and due to my extra spending money some bands I was now able to take a chance on like Floodgate, Gravity Kills and Pist.on appeared from nowhere.  But the Manics took the honours with their triumphant return from the disappearance of Richey Edwards.  It could have been the end, but with a complete reinvention and the sentiment that "Everything Must Go" they returned from the brink in a blaze of hits and awards.

The honourable mentions for bands that made the shortlist this time but don't feature in the final 75 are Cathedral, Will Haven, Bluetones, Arch Enemy, Kerbdog, Darkthrone, Pearl Jam, Placebo and Bush.

1. Manic Street Preachers - A Design For Life

2. Cradle of Filth - Queen of Winter, Throned

3. Feeder - Descend

4. Cradle of Filth - Funeral in Carpathia

5. Soundgarden - Burden in my Hand

6. Lightning Seeds - Three Lions

7. Cradle of Filth - Dusk and Her Embrace

8. Bal-Sagoth - The Splendour of a Thousand Swords Gleaming Beneath the Blazon of the Hyperborean Empire

9. China Drum - Can't Stop These Things

10. Manic Street Preachers - Enola/Alone

11. Babylon Zoo - The Boy With the X-Ray Eyes

12. Republica - Ready To Go

13. Suede - Trash

14. Manic Street Preachers - No Surface All Feeling

15. Soundgarden - Pretty Noose

16. 60ft Dolls - Pig Valentine

17. Republica - Drop Dead Gorgeous

18. Gravity Kills - Enough

19. Bal-Sagoth - Starfire Burning Upon the Ice-Veiled Throne of Ultima Thule

20. Shed 7 - Getting Better

21. China Drum - Wuthering Heights

22. Manic Street Preachers - Australia

23. Pantera - Suicide Note Pt. II

24. Bal-Sagoth - As the Vortex Illumines the Crystalline Walls of Kor-Avul-Thaa

25. Korn - Good God

26. Cradle of Filth - Malice Through the Looking Glass

27. Metallica - Ain't My Bitch

28. Pist.on - Grey Flap

29. Cecil - No Excuses

30. Honeycrack - Sitting at Home

31. Manic Street Preachers - The Girl Who Wanted to be God

32. Catatonia - Bleed

33. Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go

34. Cradle of Filth - The Forest Whispers My Name

35. Suede - Beautiful Ones

36. Shed 7 - Where Have You Been Tonight?

37. Cradle of Filth - Heaven Torn Asunder

38. Feeder - Sweet 16

39. Feeder - Shade

40. Manic Street Preachers - Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky

41. Sepultura - Roots Bloody Roots

42. Napalm Death - Greed Killing

43. Dark Funeral - When Angels Forever Die

44. Manic Street Preachers - Sepia

45. Rage Against the Machine - People of the Sun

46. Rage Against the Machine - Bulls on Parade

47. Feeder - Stereo World

48. Marilyn Manson - The Beautiful People

49. China Drum - Fall Into Place

50. Babylon Zoo - Spaceman

51. Marilyn Manson - The Reflecting God

52. Metallica - King Nothing

53. Metallica - Bleeding Me

54. Type O Negative - My Girlfriend's Girlfriend

55. Honeycrack - Go Away

56. Kula Shaker - Hey Dude

57. Bal-Sagoth - To Dethrone the Witch-Queen of Mytos K'unn (The Legend of the Battle of Blackhelm Vale)

58. Bal-Sagoth - In the Raven-Haunted Forests of Darkenhold, Where the Shadows Reign and the Hues of Sunlight Never Dance

59. 60ft Dolls - Stay

60. Manic Street Preachers - Interiors (Song for Willem de Kooning)

61. Shed 7 - On Standby

62. Soundgarden - Blow Up the Outside World

63. Floodgate - Till My Soil

64. The Blood Divine - Aureole

65. Ash - Lose Control

66. Feeder - World Asleep

67. Bal-Sagoth - And Lo, When the Imperium Marches Against Gul-Kothoth, Then Dark Sorceries Shall Enshroud the Citadel of the Obsidian Crown

68. My Dying Bride - For You

69. Metallica - The Outlaw Torn

70. My Dying Bride - A Kiss To Remember

71. Ocean Colour Scene - The Riverboat Song

72. The Divine Comedy - Becoming More Like Alfie

73. Samael - Jupiterian Vibe

74. Honeycrack - I Hate Myself & Everybody Else

75. Napalm Death - My Own Worst Enemy

Feeder Top 50

After the 90s top 50 started it all and I then moved on to my favourite band, Manic Street Preachers, there was only one logical band to turn to next for the top 50 treatment.....my second favourite band, Feeder.  I think I had heard the odd song beforehand but my real introduction came through seeing them early on the main stage at Reading in 1997.  There were a lot of good bands that day but I was familiar with most of them, so Feeder were the band I came away from the festival thinking they were my new "find".

Sixteen years later and they still haven't disappointed, from the early Smashing Pumpkins-isms, through the attempts at superstardom, to the more introspective post-Jon Lee material there has never been a duff period of their career.  Like the Manics they're another band who have an embarrassment of riches in B-side material, even to the extent that they released two of them as A-sides and they made my top 10!!  There will be more top 50s to come, but until then I hope you enjoy the Feeder Top 50!!

1. Just a Day

2. Descend

3. Buck Rogers

4. Tumble and Fall

5. Come Back Around

6. Yesterday Went Too Soon

7. We Can't Rewind

8. My Perfect Day

9. Shatter

10. Call Out

11. Insomnia

12. Cement

13. Tangerine

14. Sweet 16

15. Turn

16. Feeling a Moment

17. Stereo World

18. Crash

19. Pushing the Senses

20. Shade

21. Just the Way I'm Feeling

22. Lost and Found

23. Oxygen

24. Day In Day Out

25. Moonshine

26. Polythene Girl

27. We Are the People

28. Tender

29. Hole in my Head

30. Opaque

31. Waiting for Changes

32. Forget About Tomorrow

33. Comfort in Sound

34. Seven Days in the Sun

35. Can't Dance to Disco

36. Paperfaces

37. High

38. The End

39. Feel it Again

40. Radiation

41. Satellite News

42. Burn the Bridges

43. Forgive

44. Find the Colour

45. Miss You

46. Pilgrim Soul

47. Tinsel Town

48. Calling Out for Days

49. Suffocate

50. Victoria

By Era

Swim 4

Polythene 9

Yesterday Went Too Soon 8

Echo Park 7

Comfort in Sound 8

Pushing the Senses 7

Silent Cry 3

Renegades 2

Generation Freakshow 0

Others 2