Hold Your Applause

The Annotated VH1 "Greatest Songs of the '90s", From Someone Who Remembers the Whole Damn Thing

100. "Rico Suave," Gerardo: Do they not want us to watch the last 4 hours, 55 minutes of this? Get serious, you guys.

99. "The Rain (Super Duper Fly)," Missy Elliott: I think Missy really likes her pot.

98. "Unbelievable," EMF: Good riff. Holds up.

97. "Gett Off," Prince and the New Power Generation: Eh, not his best decade.

96. "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection," Nelson: Only nostalgia for MTV cheese can explain how anyone voted for this.

95. "This Is How We Do It," Montell Jordan: A theme song for the 1995 Cleveland Indians, but otherwise I never cared for it.

94. "The Way," Fastball: I'm surprised anyone remembered this.

93. "Stay," Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories: Nah.

92. "911 Is a Joke," Public Enemy: Kind of a throwaway by their standards, but hell, it's Public Enemy.

91. "Building a Mystery," Sarah McLachlan: I always did like her voice, even if the Lilith Fair thing was a little obnoxious.

90. "You Get What You Give," New Radicals: Greg Alexander really wasn't Todd Rundgren?

89. "Never Said," Liz Phair: Everyone who bought Exile In Guyville must have voted. I don't think I've ever once heard this on the radio. That obviously doesn't make it bad, but it never crossed over into even the broader rock scene, much less pop culture in general.

88. "Barely Breathing," Duncan Sheik: Nice little song, but one I'm surprised anyone still recalls. Sheik is now winning Tonys, of all things.

87. "Achy Breaky Heart," Billy Ray Cyrus: No comment.

86. "Linger," The Cranberries: We'll still be hearing it in 50 years.

85. "Insane in the Brain," Cypress Hill: Excuse me, I have to go slug a cop.

84. "Informer," Snow: They were too embarrassed to honor "Macarena," but had room for this?

83. "Cannonball," The Breeders: You can't have a list like this without an Ohio State dropout on it.

82. "Mind Playing Tricks on Me," The Geto Boys: I knew time would be kind to this one when it was a current hit. A true genre classic.

81. "I Don't Want to Wait," Paula Cole; "Say a little prayer for I"--what the hell was that all about?

80. "I'm Too Sexy," Right Said Fred: I'm going to have to hurt somebody.

79. "Bitch," Meredith Brooks: You can't deny it was catchy.

78. "Are You Gonna Go My Way," Lenny Kravitz: Totally derivative, but it can't be denied.

77. "It Was a Good Day," Ice Cube: For most of the real prolific acts on this list, VH1 didn't nail down their best hit, but I do think this was Cube's all-timer.

76. "Runaround," Blues Traveler: Meh.

75. "Jump," Kris Kross: Underrated because these kids fell off the face of the earth, but holds up as classic pop 15 years later.

74. "Believe," Cher: Overrated because this woman refuses to fall off the face of the earth.

73. "Sex and Candy," Marcy Playground: "Disco lemonade." This song still makes me giggle.

72. "One Week," Barenaked Ladies: My sister told me once she was tired of "quirky Canadians." I believe she had this song in mind.

71. "Tennessee," Arrested Development: The band that named itself after its future career path. This sound was destined not to take over hip-hop, to put it mildly.

70. "Virtual Insanity," Jamiroquai: Inexplicable.

69. "Freak on a Leash," Korn: I never really got into this sound, though they were definitely influential.

68. "Gettin' Jiggy With It," Will Smith: This was hardly his best hit of the decade, but I think it's held on to our memories because, well, it's a ridiculous phrase.

67. "Groove Is In the Heart," Deee-Lite: Definitely one of the best songs on this list.

66."I'll Be," Edwin McCain: Pleasant enough. It has certainly tugged at the heartstrings of many.

65. "The Humpty Dance," Digital Underground: Probably not the song these guys would want to be remembered for.

64. "Peaches," The Presidents of the United States of America: I'll always stand up for silliness.

63. "Mo Money Mo Problems," Notorious B.I.G. feat. Puff Daddy & Mase: Biggie hardly even appears in this one. I'm not sure why VH1 picked this to represent him instead of his previous single, "Hypnotize."

62. "I Alone," Live: Ed Kowalcyzk was the singer for those who felt put off by Michael Stipe's macho posturing.

61. "All I Wanna Do," Sheryl Crow: I liked most of her '90s singles (not so much since).

60. "Poison," BellBivDeVoe: I always liked the general sound these guys represented, but they were pretty lame.

59. "Buddy Holly," Weezer: What's with these homies dissing my girl? As a card-carrying Weezerphile, I can't object to this.

58. "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover," Sophie B. Hawkins: One of the weirder songs on this list. She scared me a little.

57. "Can I Get A..." Jay-Z feat. Amil & Ja Rule: I have to dock Hova some points here for introducing the world to Ja Rule.

56. "Mama Said Knock You Out," LL Cool J: With the prespective of time, the fact that LL was complaining about being written off in his early 20s is sort of funny. Great song.

55. "Criminal," Fiona Apple: Probably a little underrated. I don't have much use for anything about Fiona Apple except her music.

54. "One Of Us," Joan Osborne: She had her magic moment with this one.

53. "O.P.P," Naughty by Nature: Those clever, dirty boys.

52. "Fly," Sugar Ray: I didn't have much use for Smash Mouth, who were always sort of confused with these guys, but they had several singles better than "Fly" and are nowhere to be seen on this list.

51. "California Love," Tupac & Dr. Dre: Gangsta rap's greatest moment even though it's not actually a gangsta song. Singles don't come much cooler.

50. "Man In the Box," Alice In Chains: This isn't the song from these guys I would have picked (I would have gone with something from Dirt), but I turn it up every time I hear it.

49. "Who Will Save Your Soul," Jewel: Revenge of the poetry-scribbling teenage girls. What were we thinking?

48. "3 AM," Matchbox Twenty: Why this and not the world-conquering "Smooth" or their first hit "Push"? It's just not very memorable.

47. "Good Vibrations," Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch: See comment at #96.

46. "You're Still the One," Shania Twain: You can win a lot of bar bets by asking people what the best-selling album of the '90s was: it's the one this song appeared on.

45. "Only Wanna Be With You," Hootie and the Blowfish: Is it time to forgive Hootie yet?

44. "Killing Me Softly," The Fugees: I liked them. I'll let Lauryn Hill know when she returns from Alpha Centauri.

43. "My Lovin' ("You're Never Gonna Get It)," En Vogue: I thought En Vogue would become what Destiny's Child became about 8 years later. Good song.

42. "Shine," Collective Soul: I won't say how it is I know this, but a couple of these guys' songs are great in strip clubs.

41. "Two Princes," Spin Doctors: Jesus, people.

40. "I Wanna Sex You Up," Color Me Badd: Consider yourself colored. Because your music sure wasn't.

39. "Iris," The Goo Goo Dolls:  I'm just getting depressed now.

38. "Genie in a Bottle," Christina Aguilera: Xtina may have disavowed her early hits in her pursuit of skank, but I always liked this song and it really holds up.

37. "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," Green Day: Admit it: you like it too.

36. "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)," C&C Music Factory: Really the best example of the little Eurodisco flurry we had in the early '90s.

35. "Wonderwall," Oasis: This was hardly their best hit, but I think Oasis became a bit underrated because the Gallaghers were sort of jerks. Enough time has passed that we can look back with affection.

34. "Semi-Charmed Life," Third Eye Blind: I used to like to compare different radio stations to see how much of this song they censored. The oral sex stuff got through most of the time, surprisingly.

33. "Wannabe," The Spice Girls: Their second U.S. single, "Say You'll Be There," was one I really liked, but it's inevitable that this cheese is the one people remember more.

32. "No Diggity," Blackstreet: Had the good sense to be released at a time when it really stood out on the radio. Which it still would today.

31. "Creep," Radiohead: They've spent nearly 15 years running away from it.

30. "Tearin' Up My Heart," N' Sync: Even then they were sort of turning into a one man band, weren't they? That J.C. Chasez couldn't be denied.

29. "Ice Ice Baby," Vanilla Ice: See the link to the left for the apology I'm expecting.

28. "Livin' La Vida Loca," Ricky Martin: For about 9 weeks in 1999 everybody suddenly had to pretend this stuff was interesting.

27. "Mr. Jones," Counting Crows: I never did find these guys commercial, and apparently everyone agreed with me after a while.

26. "My Name Is," Eminem: Few songs have done a better job of introducing the artist.

25. "Black Hole Sun," Soundgarden: I like it. I'm a sucker for Chris Cornell, although there was a picture of him with his children in Newsweek a few weeks ago, and that concerns me some.

24. "Jump Around," House of Pain: I remember when we went through a phase where every summer there was at least one big rap hit that made you want to go hit someone. This was probably the best of those songs.

23. "Whatta Man," Salt-n-Pepa & En Vogue: This is one of those songs where I can understand why it was popular, but I never got into it myself. Salt-n-Pepa was cool, though.

22. "Loser," Beck: I think once this guy proved he wasn't a novelty act, this song started getting respect again. Weirdest song on this list by a long shot.

21. "My Heart Will Go On," Celine Dion: I guess you have to rank it.

20. "MMMbop," Hanson: See #23. Should we blame these guys for the boy bands? And if so, can we go back in time and keep their parents from ever meeting, or something?

19. "Sabotage," Beastie Boys: I still turn it up whenever I hear it.

18. "Enter Sandman," Metallica: Their original fans never forgave them for writing a catchy song, but I imagine they've gotten over it by now.

17. "Say My Name," Destiny's Child: WHAT??

16. "U Can't Touch This," MC Hammer: This song has gone through the entire cycle of perception: phenomenon to overplayed novelty to fondly remembered artifact of a bygone time. You can't deny this.

15. "Under the Bridge," Red Hot Chili Peppers:  I don't know that there's any band I "like"  that has a higher ratio of crap to good stuff than the Peppers, but this deserves all its kudos.

14. "Vision of Love," Mariah Carey: Good song, though if we knew what it would lead to we all may have prevented it from becoming a huge hit.

13. "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang," Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Doggy Dogg: Highly influential, and of course it gave us Snoop.

12. "You Oughta Know," Alanis Morrissette: Alanis is polarizing as hell and most of the time I find her pretty unbearable, but this song fully deserves its reputation.

11. "Jeremy," Pearl Jam: Hardly their best song and I'm sure they would agree, but the show is airing on VH1 and they need a video to illustrate it.

10. "Nothing Compares 2 U," Sinead O'Connor: You knew it would be huge when you first heard it, even though no one knew who Sinead was.

9. "Losing My Religion," R.E.M: For a brief moment, these guys really did write good pop songs.

8. "Waterfalls," TLC: Nothing about them wasn't overrated, sorry. That documentary about the final days of Left Eye was really engrossing, though.

7. "...Baby One More Time," Britney Spears: Oooh baby, baby. We're coming up on the 10-year anniversary of this song infecting America. And infecting is a word that just seems to fit Britney anymore.

6. "Baby Got Back," Sir Mix-A-Lot: Yes, according to VH1 this was the greatest rap hit of the decade. It is legitimately funny, though. Its reputation has risen in recent years--a similar list made the day the '90s ended probably wouldn't have mentioned it.

5. "Vogue," Madonna: I'm the farthest thing from a knee-jerk Madonna basher, but the reputation of this song has always puzzled me. I think it's one of her less interesting major hits.

4. "I Will Always Love You," Whitney Houston: I can respect it without being much interested. Right?

3. "I Want It That Way," Backstreet Boys: The singles on their first album were better, but this song cemented them as a phenomenon so here it sits. Scarily, we're overdue for another boy band infestation.

2. "One," U2: Seeing this song's slow rise to standard-hood has been an interesting experience. When it was new, I remember thinking, "OK, the new U2 single." The idea it would be as revered as something like "Imagine" 15 years later would have struck me as incredible.

1. "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Nirvana: Well, yeah.

Maybe the One Time Adam Levine Was Glad To Be White

There's not much reason for someone like me (i.e., someone who not only remembers the first President Bush, but was old enough to vote for him--or not) to watch MTV these days, but I recently caught the current Maroon 5 single "Wake Up Call" on the channel and paused to listen to it, since I find it a welcome change from their typical pale soul thing. But I was struck by something: unless I completely overlooked something, the video played essentially without any deletions or bleeps in the song itself. Considering the song is about taking revenge on a girlfriend by killing the man she's cheating with (and it's implied, revenge on the woman too) and the video features a gun, this surprised me some.

At some point in MTV's life cycle, the channel began censoring not only the usual things that get censored on television--language and nudity--but references to drug use and violence. Until the Maroon 5 video, I had assumed this policy had no wiggle room because a lot of the things that have been bleeped out over the years have really been pretty innocuous and hardly "glorfiying" (I hate that expression) of drugs or mayhem--the use of the word bong in the Breeders' "Cannonball", Rihanna likening being "Unfaithful" to shooting her boyfriend in the head, Sean Kingston's use of suicidal in the obviously non-depressive "Beautiful Girls."

Needless to say, this sort of censorship has been most prevalent in hip-hop, to the point where you even wonder why MTV bothers playing certain videos. I'm not sure where I would draw the line if I ran the network, but you'd have to be pretty dim to think that the reference to robbing jewelry stores in the silly Nelly single "Grillz", which MTV has never let pass, is a real invitation to crime. Which brings up Maroon 5, which is to put it mildly not a particularly threatening band. Could a band made up of actual black people and not wannabes like Adam Levine and co. actually get a song with the lyric "Came without a warning so I had to shoot him dead/He won't come around here anymore" played on MTV with the lyrics unbleeped? This question is of course rhetorical.

Merely the Latest Sign That I'm Getting Older

Today I heard "The Hustle" on my local easy listening station.

The Hibernating Hit Phenomenon

I'm currently vacationing in a part of the country where, if you're lucky, you can pick up two or three radio stations at a time that are both 1) English language and 2) not trying to convince you that you're on the sinful path (which in my case was old news). I was in the car for a big chunk of yesterday and had the radio on the same station most of the time; and during my drive I heard Pink's "U + Ur Hand" about every couple of hours. It turns out that even though the song title hits uncomfortably close to home, it's a great summer single. But what's weird about "U + Ur Hand" is that it could have been a great single last summer too. Over a year after the release of Pink's I'm Not Dead, the record company finally came up with a song from the CD that radio was interested in, even though the disc got generally good reviews at the time of its release. Looking back on it, it appears obvious that "U + Ur Hand" was the best potential single off I'm Not Dead, but a lot of smart people must not have thought so. The album's first single, "Stupid Girls," got a lot of attention for its message and perceived targets, but purely as a song it was a mite lacking.

Is it my imagination, or are we seeing more of this sort of thing lately? Traditionally, singles are released in rough order of what their perceived commercial potential is. There are deliberate exceptions that usually have to do with re-establishing an artist with their base before releasing a single with wider appeal. We used to see this sort of thing back in the heyday of hair metal, where the first single would usually be a screamer for the core audience (i.e. guys), and then the second single would be the radio-ready power ballad for the girls. Even back then, record companies didn't always know what they had--Def Leppard's biggest-ever hit, "Pour Some Sugar On Me," was the fourth single from Hysteria.

But some of the biggest singles of the last few years came along relatively late in the life cycle of the albums they came from. The biggest hit of the past 12 months, Beyonce's "Irreplaceable," was the third single from B'Day even though its commercial potential was almost comically obvious, especially compared with the eccentric jazz-like first single "Deja Vu." And Gwen Stefani's first solo album was almost killed in the cradle by leadoff single "What You Waiting For"--which I actually like a lot, but was probably too out there for pop radio (come to think of it, I'm not sure I've ever heard it on the radio). The second single was the hookier "Rich Girl" before the CD really kicked into the stratosphere with "Hollaback Girl," the biggest hit Stefani has ever been associated with. I've learned that "Hollaback Girl" is a real argument-starter; a lot of people still think it's absolutely idiotic. But to me, it's clearly the most commercial song on the record, so you wonder why it took several months to get it on the radio.

The latest example of this phenomenon, on a smaller scale, has come from Amy Winehouse. "Rehab" was the big hit in the U.K., but Island tried to push "You Know I'm No Good" as the first single stateside off Back to Black. That probably would have been my choice too, but radio said no no no and has jumped on "Rehab" instead, possibly because its title gives it a certain novelty element.

Now I'm thinking that the Kevin Federline CD might not be dead, but only hibernating till its hidden gem of a single is discovered.

The Hibernating Hit Phenomenon

I'm currently vacationing in a part of the country where, if you're lucky, you can pick up two or three radio stations at a time that are both 1) English language and 2) not trying to convince you that you're on the sinful path (which in my case was old news). I was in the car for a big chunk of yesterday and had the radio on the same station most of the time; and during my drive I heard Pink's "U + Ur Hand" about every couple of hours. It turns out that even though the song title hits uncomfortably close to home, it's a great summer single. But what's weird about "U + Ur Hand" is that it could have been a great single last summer too. Over a year after the release of Pink's I'm Not Dead, the record company finally came up with a song from the CD that radio was interested in, even though the disc got generally good reviews at the time of its release. Looking back on it, it appears obvious that "U + Ur Hand" was the best potential single off I'm Not Dead, but a lot of smart people must not have thought so. The album's first single, "Stupid Girls," got a lot of attention for its message and perceived targets, but purely as a song it was a mite lacking.

Is it my imagination, or are we seeing more of this sort of thing lately? Traditionally, singles are released in rough order of what their perceived commercial potential is. There are deliberate exceptions that usually have to do with re-establishing an artist with their base before releasing a single with wider appeal. We used to see this sort of thing back in the heyday of hair metal, where the first single would usually be a screamer for the core audience (i.e. guys), and then the second single would be the radio-ready power ballad for the girls. Even back then, record companies didn't always know what they had--Def Leppard's biggest-ever hit, "Pour Some Sugar On Me," was the fourth single from Hysteria.

But some of the biggest singles of the last few years came along relatively late in the life cycle of the albums they came from. The biggest hit of the past 12 months, Beyonce's "Irreplaceable," was the third single from B'Day even though its commercial potential was almost comically obvious, especially compared with the eccentric jazz-like first single "Deja Vu." And Gwen Stefani's first solo album was almost killed in the cradle by leadoff single "What You Waiting For"--which I actually like a lot, but was probably too out there for pop radio (come to think of it, I'm not sure I've ever heard it on the radio). The second single was the hookier "Rich Girl" before the CD really kicked into the stratosphere with "Hollaback Girl," the biggest hit Stefani has ever been associated with. I've learned that "Hollaback Girl" is a real argument-starter; a lot of people still think it's absolutely idiotic. But to me, it's clearly the most commercial song on the record, so you wonder why it took several months to get it on the radio.

The latest example of this phenomenon, on a smaller scale, has come from Amy Winehouse. "Rehab" was the big hit in the U.K., but Island tried to push "You Know I'm No Good" as the first single stateside off Back to Black. That probably would have been my choice too, but radio said no no no and has jumped on "Rehab" instead, possibly because its title gives it a certain novelty element.

Now I'm thinking that the Kevin Federline CD might not be dead, but only hibernating till its hidden gem of a single is discovered.

You Know She's Damn Good

Rock critics are used to seeing their recommendations ignored, especially when it comes to artists from outside the United States. So it's a bit of a surprise to see that Back To Black, the second album by British singer Amy Winehouse (but the first to get a wide release in the U.S.), has really caught on here. It debuted in the Billboard Top Ten, a fine showing for what was essentially a debut album. But instead of taking the quick tumble down the charts that's become commonplace for CDs in the iTunes era, Back To Black continued to sell steadily, and last week it jumped back to #6 on the Billboard chart. The record has gone gold, which has to be beyond the highest expectations of her label Universal Republic.

Winehouse is just now beginning to show up on the radio in a significant way, so how is it that she's sold so well, without an especially commercial (for 2007) sound? For starters, she's attracted a lot of attention outside the normal circles available for young musicians. This attention has come for what might be considered the wrong reasons in most contexts--her history of heavy drinking and onstage word-slurring (photos of her with an equally sloshed Kelly Osbourne on her first trip to the U.S. made the rounds of all the gossip blogs); and her on-again off-again on-again relationship with the boyfriend (and as of 3 weeks ago, husband) who inspired most of the songs on Back To Black. As far back as last winter, before the record was released over here, Winehouse was the subject of a long profile in the Washington Post, acknowledging her immense talent but setting her up as The Next Great Rock Tragedy in the making.

She's also been a hard worker in promotion of the record, popping up in nearly as many contexts as KT Tunstall did last year (Winehouse most recently had a high-profile appearance on the MTV Movie Awards, ironic since she's precisely the type of artist MTV shows no interest in these days). The Coachella Festival was another key moment in giving the album a second wind. For all her reputation for unreliability, Winehouse seems to have been more diligent about promoting herself stateside than fellow Brit Lily Allen, who hasn't made many friends with her frequent cancellation of shows (including in my city, dammit).

And of course, there's the record itself, which I won't necessarily call the best of 2007, but is certainly the one that's closest to my heart. I had been looking forward to this record since the first time I heard "Rehab" last fall; it's rare that I get this intrigued on a first listen to a song, but her voice insists you take notice (my biggest single oversight since I started this blog was not posting about Winehouse back then). Back To Black came out at an extreme low point in my life (a different sort of heartbreak than Winehouse sings about); and trite as it no doubt sounds, it was easy to imagine, as the winter lingered on, that she was singing for me. The album has the timeless sound of a true classic--unlike, say, "Umbrella", there's nothing about it that necessarily screams 2007--with its curious pastiche of '60 soul, Spectory girl groups, and jazzy phrasing supplied by Winehouse.

So will success spoil Amy Winehouse, or will a happy marriage turn her into a Spice Girl? It will be interesting to see; Back To Black was reportedly not an easy album to write, as Winehouse took an unusually long time between first and second records. Of course, she's still quite young (23), and might not yet have come into her own as a writer. The hope here is that she can put together the sort of decades-long career that's not dependent on chart fads (don't ask me how her tattoos are going to look 40 years down the road...shudder).

What We've Needed All This Time Without Even Realizing It

A "Jump" for the new millennium. (Until Kris Kross makes a comeback, this will have to do.)

40: That's Middle Age, Right?

Pretty much all newspapers and magazines are struggling these days, what with competiton from the Internet in both immediacy and price. If you haven't seen Time since its redesign at the beginning of ther year, you might be surprised by how little the original newsweekly deals with actual news. They assume their readers already know what happened last week (fair enough), and are looking for deeper insight and analysis. As a writer, I'm all in favor of magazines doing well and its writers being paid for their efforts, but even I'm not sure the new Time really justifies its cover price.

And then there's the case of Rolling Stone, which loves its anniversary issues and is currently celebrating its 40th. The new issue is the first of 3 that will deal with the big date, and it features interviews with folks that veteran RS readers and detractors will recognize as Usual Suspects: Jackson Browne, Michael Moore, George McGovern, Bob Weir, and a bunch of others. Browne hasn't been a chart presence in over 20 years and Weir's band disappeared over 10 years ago, but as far as Jann Wenner is concerned they're still a very big deal.

Rolling Stone has spent most of its existence in an identity crisis. It's inextricably linked to the 1960s, and no doubt will be 20 years from now when an ocotgenarian Wenner is chatting with the octogenarian Weir. But as a pop culture magazine with a concentration on rock music, it has to go where the audience is, and the original Rolling Stone readership began checking out of new music about 30 years ago. Punk was the first real test of whether Rolling Stone would stick with its core audience or cover punk as the next big thing, and they tried to have it both ways, covering the Clash and Bob Dylan with equal fervor (Rolling Stone never did pay much attention to disco, but disco was a baby boomer art form and don't let anyone tell you differently). Rap was an even bigger test for RS, and I think it's undeniable that the mag has never given hip-hop its due.

As time has gone on, this dichotomy between the RS past and pop music's present has become ever more stark. Rolling Stone has famously featured Britney Spears on its cover in various states of tease and undress, but I'm not sure that anyone who still reads the magazine, even the younger readers, ever cared to see more about Britney. In this environment of increasingly narrow focus for magazines and economic uncertainty, it's hard for me to believe there's an appreciable number of people who want to read a Fall Out Boy cover story one week and an interview with the 1972 Democratic candidate for president the next, and it makes me wonder how many people are subscribed to Rolling Stone out of inertia. One thing's for sure, as long as Wenner is calling the shots, this isn't going to change; he's been walking that tightrope between covering his old friends and those his kids (and now grandkids) care about for 3 decades now.

You Know What's Ironic?

When you have a 20 million selling record in your not-so-distant past, and yet the most buzzworthy thing you've done in the new century is a novelty cover of a novelty song.

Yeah, I'm the last one on the Internet to link to this, but what the hell: Alanis Morrisette's "My Humps". I don't know if she quite ascends the heights of meaning and emotion as dramatically as will.i.am and Fergie did, but that may have been too much to ask for.

Elliott Yamin: Better Late Than Never

The most notable trend in American Idol over the last 2 years has been the increasing professionalism of the contenders, a result of the rise in the age limit to 29. The winner of Season 5, Taylor Hicks, and last season's most successful alumnus, Chris Daughtry, were both seasoned veterans (if not terribly successful) before they ever met Paula Abdul, and Hicks had even released an album of some note.

But it's still possible for a true diamond in the rough to sneak in there and fulfill the show's original Cinderella appeal, and last year it was Elliott Yamin, a 27 year-old from Richmond, Virginia with no real career path but with a vocal talent that recalled the soul singers of a previous generation. Despite the real handicap of not having his audition shown to the audience, and only being seen in Hollywood as a bit player in the drama of the Brittenum Brothers, he survived the early weeks and then just kept picking up steam, having very few off weeks (he really couldn't afford any), and finishing the season third. If you can possibly picture Haley Scarnato finishing third this current season, that's about the magnitude of what Yamin accomplished, although unlike Haley, Elliott was actually handicapped by his appearance if anything.

I thought Elliott, despite his somewhat awkward stage presence, had the best pure voice among the Season 5 contestants, or among the males at any rate. But it didn't surprise me or even anger me that much that 19 Entertainment showed none of the interest in Elliott that it did in the singer who finished right in front of him (Katharine McPhee) and the one he beat out (Daughtry). Because apart from the cosmetic issues for Yamin (and it's not like Daughtry and Taylor Hicks are matinee idols either), his artistic sensibility seems very 1973. While I liked him, I never thought he was all that commercial.

Yamin did eventually get a deal, and his still-ravenous online fanbase has been slavering with anticipation for weeks. The finished product came out earlier in the week, and while it finds our old favorite in excellent voice still--it really did feel great to hear him again after 10 months--there's not much in it aside from the initial single "Wait For You" that sounds especially contemporary. And the quality of the songs is spotty, though one of Yamin's trademarks is that he puts his everthing into the material, no matter how mediocre. The result is an album that will no doubt please the superfans, but as both Taylor and Katharine have discovered as of late, there are fewer of them in the record-buying population than the Idol brass may have realized.

More than ever on Elliott Yamin, the singer seems infused with the spirit of mid-period Stevie Wonder; this is especially apparent on "Movin' On". "Wait For You" is something I could imagine a young soul crooner like Omarion singing, or perhaps even Usher. "Free" is a strong song with a nicely delivered chorus. "Alright" is a bit grittier, and while it's not a great song it was definitely fun to hear that Norman Whitfield-style production associated with the Temptations on a record released in 2007. A few of the songs on this record ("One Word", "Take My Breath Away") fall into the realm of the generic, though there's never been a first release from an ex-Idol yet that didn't have that particular problem. And of course, Elliott wouldn't have denied his fans "A Song For You", for my money the best performance of Season 5.

I hope Elliott does better with this record than I fear he'll do; it's so difficult to sell anything in the current market, much less an album of old fashioned soul (albeit by an already well-known name). Perhaps he'll get a higher caliber of collaborator on a second album. No one who has ever been on American Idol would deserve it more.