1996 was a fairly uneventful year. Status quo appeared to be the name of the game, personified by the re-election of Bill Clinton for a second term as President of the United States of America. Yes, there were some great things that occurred, such as South Africa’s new constitution. And, to counter-balance that several “bad” things happened as the Taliban seized control of the capital of Afghanistan Kabul as well as ethic-influenced murders taking place in the former Czechoslovakia.
While the music world was still attempting to sort through the demise of the alternative rock that dominated the first half of the decade, everything seemed primed for hip hop to begin exerting its creative muscle. Unfortunately, the whole East Coast versus West Coast rivalry began to come to an ugly and tragic conclusion. For better or for worse, the two coast’s reputations in the hip hop world became associated with two young men whose rapping abilities and songwriting skills were far and away light years ahead of their competitors and colleagues. While source are on the record stating that the two rappers, The Notorious BIG from NYC and 2pac from LA, were friends, the posses each man represented were not.
Things between factions kept the temperature rising until one night Tupac Shakur was gunned down by a drive-by shooter, whose identity remains a mystery. This incidence will not squelch the rivalry until the West Coast plays its revenge card next year with the murder of Biggie Smalls. When the smoke clears next year, the two biggest rappers in the world, both talents for the ages, were gone, perhaps being the final nails in the whole thing that I grew up loving called rock & roll. The three biggest voices of a generation or two (Gen X AND the Millennials) were lost in a matter of four years, combining with new technologies about to emerge to change and, ultimately, kill rock & roll.
Then again, maybe rock & roll is truly evolving into something completely unrecognizable. Who knows, maybe some of our grandkids might discover our record collections, become inspired and start the whole process over again. Yeah! And monkeys might fly out of my butt!
Looking back, 1996 was the last gasp of many of the biggest acts of the past twenty years. REM released its final LP as a quartet with drummer Bill Berry calling it a day as a band member. A Tribe Called Quest and Soundgarden, two of the more innovative artists of the first half of the Nineties, released lackluster albums. George Michael was having trouble maturing his sound as well as being accepted as a gay man. Arguably the biggest star of the Eighties, Prince, changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol and released a triple-CD set of new music under this new moniker. And, for Christ’s sakes, Metallica cut their hair! WTF!?!? What’s happening here?!?!
Bottom line, everything was changing, and, at the time, no one knew how it was going to shakedown. Let’s take a look at my favorite albums of 1996.
50. Dave Matthews Band – Crash
49. DM3 – Road to Rome
48. Soundgarden – Down on the Upside
47. Metallica – Load
46. The Cardigans – First Band on the Moon
45. Backstreet Boys – Backstreet Boys
44. Maxwell – Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite
43. Manic Street Preachers – Everything Must Go
42. Dru Hill – Dru Hill
41. A Tribe Called Quest – Beats, Rhymes and Life
40. Lil’ Kim – Hardcore
39. Spice Girls – Spice
38. Paula Cole – This Fire
37. The Wallflowers – Bringing Down the Horse
36. Kula Shaker – K
35. Eels – Beautiful Freak
34. Susanna Hoffs – Susanna Hoffs
33. Belle & Sebastian – Tigermilk
32. Me’Shell NdegéOcello – Peace Beyond Passion
31. Toni Braxton – Secrets
30. Sublime – Sublime
29. Ash – 1977
28. Aaliyah – One in a Million
27. Pearl Jam – No Code
26. Stone Temple Pilots – Tiny Music…Songs from the Vatican
25. Belle & Sebastian – If You’re Feeling Sinister
24. The Roots – Illadelph Halflife
23. Counting Crows – Recovering the Satellites
22. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Murder Ballads
21. Jamiroquai – Travelling Without Moving
20. OutKast – ATLiens
19. Fiona Apple – Tidal
18. George Michael – Older
17. DJ Shadow – Entroducing…
16. Tool – Ænima
15. Marilyn Manson – Antichrist Superstar
14. Cake – Fashion Nugget
13. Matchbox 20 – Yourself or Someone Like You
12. Reel Big Fish – Turn Off the Radio
11. Fountains of Wayne – Fountains of Wayne
10. 2pac – All Eyez on Me
9. Beck – Odelay
8. Jay-Z – Reasonable Doubt
7. Wilco – Being There
6. Fugees – The Score
5. R.E.M. – New Adventures in Hi-Fi
4. Rage Against the Machine – Evil Empire
3. Sheryl Crow – Sheryl Crow
2. Prince – Emancipation
1. Weezer – Pinkerton
If My Records Could Talk 