Thursday, August 14, 2008
In accordance with this meme, here's my pick for the worst alt-rock classic of the nineties. Maybe it's no classic, but The Cranberries' "Zombie" was Number One for several weeks on the college charts in the fall of 1994, and was inescapable for months afterwards; its "ZOMBIE-AH!" hook segued without a hitch into Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know" the following summer. While "Dreams" and "Linger" were plaintive little morsels somewhat overrated in 1993, "Zombie" launched Dolores O'Riordan into depths of sincerity and meaningfulness not seen since Natalie Merchant tackled white imperialism on 10,000 Maniacs' "Hateful Hate" in 1989. The best example of this song's awfulness is how witlessly O'Riordan's lovely pipes crash against the thud of the power chords: it's like hearing Dusty Springfield backed by KISS. What's this farrago about? I don't know, and neither did its fans, many of whom were so taken that they confused exoticness with originality, as they did a few months earlier with the Crash Test Dummies' "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" (what an awful year for alt-rock number ones).
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4 comments:
I once drove my co-workers in a restaurant nuts by singing that chorus over the PA after closing. What an excellent choice.
But without "Zombie" we might never have an "Umbrella"! Dunno what's supposed to be "exotic" about CTD -- you could maybe say "confusing novelty with originality," but I don't think people were doing that, either...I think it was pretty much liked and then passed over like any other left-field novelty hit.
.I think it was pretty much liked and then passed over like any other left-field novelty hit.
But that's confusing novelty with originality!
I liked "MMM MMM MMM MMM."
You're thinking of 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up," the worst song ever recorded.
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