90's Nostalgia: Garbage - 'Only Happy When It Rains'

I'm only happy when it rains 
I feel good when things are going wrong 
I only listen to the sad, sad songs 
I'm only happy when it rains 

I only smile in the dark 
My only comfort is the night gone black 
I didn't accidentally tell you that 
I'm only happy when it rains 

If you've been reading DailyBOOM for any real length of time, then you already know that I absolutely love Garbage. I'll worship at the feet of Shirley Manson and praise the talent of the rest of the band each and every chance that I get. Finally getting to see them was absolutely everything that I had hoped for and more. It's always risky when you wait years to see a band that you love for the first time. Especially more than 20 years. You run the risk of voices fading, vocal range diminishing, and fingers just not playing the way that they once did.

Not the case with Garbage. I can't imagine them ever sounding better than they currently do. And Shirley has certainly gotten better with some good years under her belt. The performance anxiety she once had has been traded in for a sense of authority and control as she stalks the stage.  There have been so many great tracks over the years, but since it is currently pouring, I'm going to make a fairly obvious choice.

Is "Only Happy When It Rains" their best song? Maybe. Is it their best song played live? Definitely maybe. It has always created or (embraced an already existing) mood. It described the 90's angst perfectly, which is, I'm sure, why it became such a huge breakout (and breakthrough) hit for Garbage. I also think it has one of the best videos of the entire decade to accompany it.  Check it out below! Fabulous still, isn't it?

Daily Boom 90's Nostalgia: Alice In Chains - 'Would?'

"Into the flood again
Same old trip it was back then
So I made a big mistake
Try to see it once my way
Drifting body it's sole desertion
Flying not yet quite the notion"

The early 90's were truly one of the most depressing eras in music history. Grunge replaced hair metal and suddenly everyone was not just introspective, but fairly depressive and that's probably why the sound didn't last for very long. The great thing about grunge was that artists had found their way back to writing real songs again. Between glam rock songs about partying and hot chicks, and dance songs about partying and having a good time, the end of the 80's songwriting lacked depth. It was kind of refreshing to hear artists saying things that mattered again.

I think one of the best examples to come out of the 90's is Alice in Chains' "Would". Sure it embodied the heavy sound that everyone was creating but it also touched on death, addiction and not passing judgment. Jerry Cantrell had been thinking of Andrew Wood (who had died of a heroin overdose a few years earlier) and all of the issues that his untimely death had caused, so he put it to music and people got it. 

The song itself holds up better than most other early 90's tracks. Grunge has a way of sounding dated now and only a handful of tracks seem to have held up as well as "Would?". Check out the video below.

90's Nostalgia: Tori Amos- 'Crucify'

"I've been looking for a savior in these dirty streets

Looking for a savior beneath these dirty sheets

I've been raising up my hands, drive another nail in

Got enough guilt to start my own religion

Why do we crucify ourselves?

Every day I crucify myself

And nothing I do is good enough for you

Crucify myself"

Tori Amos has always been the kind of woman that leaves a lasting impression. Her song "Crucify" was the breakout song from Tori's Little Earthquakes album back in 1992 and it also served as a bit of a calling card. In a sea of grunge bands and flannel, this redhead armed with a unique voice and piano really stood out. She became the alternative to what we already had established as, alternative music. Over the years Amos has always remained true to the style that brought her to our attention in the first place. 

I remember "Crucify" being played like crazy on college radio and wondering if everyone would ever catch on to how great of an artist Tori was. Then one Saturday morning after an episode of Dance Party USA a teen interview show featured a whole segment on her. I don't remember details of the interview but it made me like her even more. Check out the video that kicked off Tori's career below!

Daily Boom Lost Hit: The Afghan Whigs - 'Gentlemen'

90's Nostalgia: Tori Amos- 'Crucify'

"I've been looking for a savior in these dirty streets

Looking for a savior beneath these dirty sheets

I've been raising up my hands, drive another nail in

Got enough guilt to start my own religion

Why do we crucify ourselves?

Every day I crucify myself

And nothing I do is good enough for you

Crucify myself"

Tori Amos has always been the kind of woman that leaves a lasting impression. Her song "Crucify" was the breakout song from Tori's Little Earthquakes album back in 1992 and it also served as a bit of a calling card. In a sea of grunge bands and flannel, this redhead armed with a unique voice and piano really stood out. She became the alternative to what we already had established as, alternative music. Over the years Amos has always remained true to the style that brought her to our attention in the first place. 

I remember "Crucify" being played like crazy on college radio and wondering if everyone would ever catch on to how great of an artist Tori was. Then one Saturday morning after an episode of Dance Party USA a teen interview show featured a whole segment on her. I don't remember details of the interview but it made me like her even more. Check out the video that kicked off Tori's career below!

Daily Boom 90's Nostalgia: R.E.M. - 'Losing My Religion'

"That's me in the corner

That's me in the spotlight

Losing my religion

Trying to keep up with you

And I don't know if I can do it

Oh no I've said too much

I haven't said enough"

If you're an R.E.M. fan, "Losing My Religion" probably helped you to become one. Back in 1991 the Indie alternative band had a huge underground following but it was this unexpected hit that made them a mainstream sensation. The video went a long way in helping to boost the band as it was nominated for numerous awards. "Losing My Religion" was also nominated for several Grammy's.

You know how at different times certain songs really click with whatever you have going on in your personal life? Well when this first came out I was dealing with a bunch of religious conflicts within my family and so it just hit a really deep nerve for me. Looking back so many years later the video is strikingly beautiful, don't you think?

Daily Boom 90's Nostalgia: The Offspring - 'Come Out And Play'

"Like the latest fashion

Like a spreading disease

The kids are strappin' on their way to the classroom

Gettin' weapons with the greatest of ease

The gangs stake out their own campus locale

And if they catch you slippin' then it's all over pal

If one guy's colors and the other's don't mix

They're gonna bash it up bash it up bash it up bash it up

Hey, man, you talkin' back to me?

Take him out

You gotta keep 'em separated"

"Keep Em' Separated"

What do you think of when you hear that?  If you're a music fan then The Offspring's "Come Out And Play" would be the correct answer. It took the band a decade of playing together to break through on a major (national) level with this song. They were a true Indie act back when being an "Indie act" actually meant something. The Offspring was at the forefront of groups that helped to make punk rock popular again back in the mid-nineties.

"Come Out And Play" just reeks of pent-up aggression and frustration, making it a great song to vent right along with as it plays. I remember back in 1994 fans were divided between bands and it was an either/or thing (kinda like people chose between Michael Jackson and Prince the decade before). If you were info The Offspring then it was an unwritten rule that you wouldn't love Green Day. I found that one easy to abide by.

Here's the video for "Come Out And Play". If you have to choose, do you prefer Offspring or Green Day?

Soundtrack Sunday: Singles

Singles, and its soundtrack, will turn 30 in a few months. Thirty! Where has the time gone? Easily one of the most popular soundtracks of modern day pop culture. Singles hit when grunge and alternative music were the biggest thing around and the soundtrack is loaded with tracks from everyone who was anyone back then. Check it out below!

Daily Boom 90's Nostalgia: Garbage - 'Stupid Girl'

"You pretend you're high
Pretend you're bored
Pretend you're anything
Just to be adored
And what you need
Is what you get

Don't believe in fear
Don't believe in faith
Don't believe in anything
That you can't break

stupid girl
stupid girl
All you had you wasted."

Being an unapologetic vinyl junkie I was eventually going to get my hands on Garbage's 20th Anniversary remastered double album set. It took me awhile but my copy finally arrived this weekend and I have to say, it's most definitely worth every penny. The album art, lyrics sheets and detailing alone really does up the quality and really, who doesn't love colored vinyl?

I'll admit, it has been a minute since I've listened to Shirley Manson and the guys and I really don't know why. Their tracks really do stand the test of time and are pretty ageless. I love music that you can't easily put a date on and that is Garbage to a tee. It might be a new song (new music, please???!!) or it could be a decade or two old, it's hard to tell.

This collection offers up all of Garbage's top songs like "Stupid Girl", "Only Happy When It Rains", "Queer" and more. Here's one of my favorites below!

Currently Booming: Nirvana - First Performance With Dave Grohl (Watch)

Currently Booming: Alice in Chains on MTV Unplugged (Watch)

Daily Boom 90's Nostalgia: Pearl Jam - 'Jeremy'

"At home

Drawing pictures
Of mountain tops
With him on top
Lemon yellow sun
Arms raised in a V
And the dead lay in pools of maroon below"

I don't think that anyone really expected Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" to break through quite the way that it did. It was the third single off of their 1992 album Ten, but it was never given a widespread release. In fact when MTV first began airing the video it wasn't even charting on Billboard's Hot 100. That video helped to turn this into one of the most memorable songs of the decade. Lead singer Eddie Vedder penned the lyrics after reading an article about a high school kid that killed himself in front of his classmates and the visuals, well, they leave a lasting imprint. The kind that was strong enough to earn Pearl Jam four VMA's in 1993.

Daily Boom 80's Throwback: Love & Rockets - 'So Alive'

"I don't know what color your eyes are, baby
But your hair is long and brown
Your legs are strong, and you're so, so long
And you don't come from this town

My head is full of magic, baby
And I can't share this with you
The feel I'm on a cross again, lately
But there's nothing to do with you

I'm alive, huh, huh, so alive
I'm alive, huh, huh so alive."

So, I'm recovering from a bad bout with the flu this week and most certainly not at my best, maybe my most grateful, but not my best. I'm not doing live radio for a few days and if you've been reading here for any length of time then you know that radio is my second home. It takes me back to childhood when my dad would take me to the station with him. I called dad yesterday to check-in and I love the fact that just as I'm revisiting the 80's and 90's, so is he. Dad will discover a song that he passed over when it originally charted and his excitement is something that I can totally identify with.

So yesterday dad says that his new favorite song is Love & Rockets "So Alive". It's one that I play on my show fairly often and more importantly, it gives me another song that will remind me of him now every time that I hear it. Love & Rockets first got together in 1985 after their former group, Bauhaus, disbanded. They were an underground British group that fused pop with an old school college radio alternative vibe. "So Alive" went to number three on Billboard's Hot 100 and it spent five weeks atop the Modern Rock charts in 1989. Listen for 20 seconds and I'll bet even if the title doesn't ring a bell, the song itself will.

Daily Boom 90's Nostalgia: Hole - 'Violet'

"And the sky was made of amethyst
And all the stars were just like little fish
You should learn when to go
You should learn how to say no

Might last a day, yeah
Mine is forever
Might last a day, yeah
Mine is forever
Well they get what they want, and they never want it again
Well they get what they want, and they never want it again
Go on, take everything, take everything, I want you to"

I still remember the first time that I listened to Hole's Live Through This album when it was released just days after Kurt Cobain's suicide. It just clicked on the deepest level possible for me. Everything that Nirvana was to other people, Hole became to me. Cobain had reached so many people through his lyrics, but it was his wife Courtney Love, that I connected with. She fearlessly tackled feminist issues, beauty ideals and douche men in a way different from any of the rockers before her. Lyrically, Love easily became the voice for a generation of young women.

"Violet" is rumored to have been about her screwed up love affair witch Billy Corrigan of The Smashing Pumpkins. I was in my mid-twenties when the song first dropped and I totally understood the kind of situation Love was singing about. Check out the video below.

Daily Boom 90's Nostalgia: Garbage - 'Only Happy When It Rains'

I'm only happy when it rains 
I feel good when things are going wrong 
I only listen to the sad, sad songs 
I'm only happy when it rains 

I only smile in the dark 
My only comfort is the night gone black 
I didn't accidentally tell you that 
I'm only happy when it rains 

If you've been reading DailyBOOM for any real length of time then you already know that I absolutely love Garbage. I'll worship at the feet of Shirley Manson and praise the talent of the rest of the band each and every chance that I get. Finally getting to see them perform live last summer was absolutely everything that I had hoped for and more. It's always risky when you wait years to see a band that you love for the first time. Especially more than 20 years. You run the risk of voices fading, vocal range diminishing and fingers just not playing the way that they once did.

Not the case with Garbage. I can't imagine them ever sounding better than they currently do. And Shirley has certainly gotten better with some good years under her belt. The performance anxiety she once had has been traded in for a sense of authority and control as she stalks the stage.  There have been so many great tracks over the years but since it is currently pouring I'm going to make a fairly obvious choice.

Is "Only Happy When It Rains" their best song? Maybe. Is it their best song played live? Definitely maybe. It has always created or (embraced an already existing) mood. It described the 90's angst perfectly which is, I'm sure, why it became such a huge breakout (and breakthrough) hit for Garbage. I also think it has one of the best videos of the entire decade to accompany it.  Check it out below! Fabulous stiil, isn't it?

Daily Boom Soundtrack Sunday- Reality Bites

Daily Boom Lost Hit: Garbage - '#1 Crush'

Daily Boom Lost Hit: Dishwalla - 'Counting Blue Cars'

Daily Boom Deep Cuts: Garbage- 'Cup Of Coffee'

Being an unapologetic vinyl junkie I was eventually going to get my hands on Garbage's 20th Anniversary remastered double album set. It took me a while but my copy finally arrived this weekend and I have to say, it's most definitely worth every penny. The album art, lyrics sheets and detailing alone really does up the quality and really, who doesn't love colored vinyl?

(Photo: Twitter)

I'll admit, it has been a minute since I've listened to Shirley Manson and the guys and I really don't know why. Their tracks really do stand the test of time and are pretty ageless. I love music that you can't easily put a date on and that is Garbage to a tee. It might be a new song (new music, please???!!) or it could be a decade or two old, it's hard to tell.

This collection offers up all of Garbage's top songs like "Stupid Girl", "Only Happy When It Rains", "Queer" and more. The only thing missing is actually one of my very favorites- "Cup of Coffee".  I'm actually not sure why that didn't make the cut so rather than being predictable and going with one of Garbage's critically acclaimed videos, here's "Cup of Coffee" instead.

Daily Boom 90's Nostalgia: R.E.M. - 'Losing My Religion'

"That's me in the corner

That's me in the spotlight

Losing my religion

Trying to keep up with you

And I don't know if I can do it

Oh no I've said too much

I haven't said enough"

If you're an R.E.M. fan, "Losing My Religion" probably helped you to become one. Back in 1991 the Indie alternative band had a huge underground following but it was this unexpected hit that made them a mainstream sensation. The video went a long way in helping to boost the band as it was nominated for numerous awards. "Losing My Religion" was also nominated for several Grammy's.

You know how at different times certain songs really click with whatever you have going on in your personal life? Well when this first came out I was dealing with a bunch of religious conflicts within my family and so it just hit a really deep nerve for me. Looking back so many years later the video is strikingly beautiful, don't you think?