In 1994, Collective Soul went to #1 with their debut single Shine. While some derided it as “Bubblegum Grunge,” I quite liked it. It was different, catchy, and had a sense of fun that is rare in the genre.
They had a few more chart-toppers after Shine, including December and The World I Know. While not terrible songs, these always struck me as comparatively uninteresting and derivative. This is solely my opinion, of course, and I don’t begrudge them their success. But If I had never heard anything else from Collective Soul after their first hit, I’d be perfectly fine with that.
Are there any bands or artists you feel this way about?
In 1997, Third Eye Blind burst on the scene with their #1 hit Semi-Charmed Life. Still a hugely popular song to this day. They sort of came back to the limelight with **Jumper **in 1998. But really, after that none of their songs ever did it for me.
I will nominate Alanis Morissette. “You Oughta Know” is great, with vitriol I hadn’t heard before. Everything else is either mediocre or stupid (“Ironic”).
America (the band, not the country). I think that “Sister Golden Hair” is sort of fun, in a pleasant pop way. It was on their fifth album, I believe, but it’s the only song of theirs that isn’t downright painful for me to listen to.
After A-Ha hit it big on their debut album with Take On Me they went on to make a total of 10 studio albums. I guess they had a top 5 hit in the UK back in 2009 but nothing I ever heard.
Bryan Adams: “Run to You” was an early chart single in the U.S. (if not his first). That’s Adams’ only radio hit I like. His later soundtrack work was particularly abysmal: “( Everything I Do) I Do it for You”, “All for Love” with Rod Stewart and Sting, and “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman” all went to Number 1 in the USA. Ugh!!
Celine Dion: “That’s the Way It Is” is her only radio single which doesn’t have me changing the station within nanoseconds. It’s actually uptempo, and with the emoting kept to a minimum.
Whitney Houston: I respect her voice, but “How Will I Know” is the only song of hers I genuinely enjoy.
Backstreet Boys: the lyrics for “I Want it That Way” make zero sense. But damn if it isn’t a catchy tune.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers. If California had never existed they’d have exactly three songs, and if Anthony and Hillel hadn’t dabbled in heroin they’d still be a cornball white rap-funk cover band. The total lack of imagination in their lyrical subject matter is completely off-putting.
He wasn’t the only writer on the song (Jim Vallance co-wrote the song and would have been the right age for the 1969 lyric. There’s a current thread in CS that mentions all this, but I’m having trouble remembering which one it is). Personally, I sure as shit hope it’s not a stupid pun for the sex act because, well, that would just be really stupid. I mean, it really ruins the song for me thinking its just some adolescent double entendre.
They were off the same album, along with “How’s It Going To Be” but that pretty much exhausted their talent.
Sounds about right to me. But to be fair, this is really me saying, “I don’t really like Journey all that much.”
Totally agree.
Gotta disagree here. “Ventura Highway,” “Horse With No Name,” “Tin Man,” “Don’t Cross the River,” “Sandman,” hell, even “Muskrat Love,” are all good songs.
