1997 music: girl power

 

I had a friend whose family had moved over from England; I met him in Grade 6 and stayed in touch with him until around the time of this album in the late 90s. One of my last interactions with him was after he'd returned from visiting England and he asked us if the Spice Girls were a thing in Canada yet. When we said no, he replied ominously: they will be.

I unironically loved this album. This CD, the best-seller of 97, was full of summer and road trip anthems for my friends and still has some favourites on it after all these years (favourite hit: Say You'll Be There; favourite album cut: If U Can't Dance).

Then, the next album was even better - and then, they were all but gone until reunion tours. But, they were a force of nature in their time.

I definitely slept on this album, which would win the Juno for Album of the Year, because I was a big fan of Fumbling Towards Ecstacy and found this one a little too straightforward and not quite as haunting as the former. I think the first single, Building a Mystery, set that tone for me because, even now, it sounds like it was a engineered to be a single. On the other hand, Adia is my favourite of McLachlan hits so that counts for a lot. 

Then there's Angel, which was featured in a drinking and driving PSA that was used as part of the driver's ed program that I taught, so I can conservatively say that I've listened to that song over 100 times in the classroom, and even now when I listen to it I can hear the voice-over dialogue that went over certain parts of the song. On top of that, I believe it was used in a pet adoption video. And it was used in City of Angels. Suffice it to say, it's a fine song but it simply carries too much extra baggage for me to appreciate it on its own.

This time around, I quite liked a couple of songs from the middle of the album (Do What You Have To Do and Witness), so while it's not surprising for me to learn that there are some gems on here because McLachlin was still in her prime, it's another reminder to revisit works I've dismissed in the past.