1997: An ambitious year for music

Somewhere midway through the sprawling, radio-unfriendly, downright creepy single "Paranoid Android," Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke sheepishly utters, "Ambition makes you look pretty ugly."

That lyric has emerged as the irony of the year in the music world, a year in which Yorke and crew released what might be the most focused, ingenious rock record in some time. Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs got involved in just about everything, the Chemical Brothers pushed a whole new genre into the mainstream and female artists such as Sarah McLachlan and Fiona Apple offered credence to the belief that women are the future of rock.

What's the common denominator there? Ambition, of course, and results that were anything but ugly.

OK Computer, Radiohead's third release, has earned the band superfluous praise from fans and critics alike, and stands out as one of the elite, if not the best, album of 1997.

"I don't think it was as monumental a commercial success as it should have been," said Tom Moon, a music critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, "but it was artistically. I expected Oasis to put out the record they did, but I was surprised at the depth and detail that Radiohead achieved."

The band locked itself away from reality in a 400-year-old mansion to record the album, and it was there that Yorke came up with the dark, anti-technology, almost apocalyptic lyrics that pervade OK Computer.

While fellow British bands like The Verve and, of course, Oasis (No, Liam is not dead yet) continued to pump out characteristic third-wave Britpop -- large, loud and sometimes symphonic tunes basically about sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll -- Radiohead explored the depths of misery, isolation and general feelings of insignificance.

"I think they were trying to put out a record that was more than just something to listen to," said Ken Kubala, manager of City Lights Records, 316 E. College Ave. "They tried to be important, but not self-elevating."

Even though none of OK Computer's 12 tracks qualified as a bona-fide hit, the album put Radiohead on the map. Producer/rapper/dancer/Bad Boy Combs, meanwhile, had his name all over the charts. Combs, a.k.a. Puff Daddy, produced hits by the likes of Mase, Lil' Kim, Mariah Carey and the late Notorious B.I.G. He also released his own album, the multiplatinum No Way Out.

Responsible for a litany of radio-friendly ditties such as "Been Around The World" and "I'll Be Missing You," a homage to his friend and Bad Boy cohort Christopher Wallace, Combs has established himself as one the most important -- and sometimes controversial -- acts in the music biz.

Simply put, he could not be avoided in 1997 -- it seemed he was involved in everything, even helping The Police with a remix of "Roxanne." For all the work he did, though, Puffy's talent most clearly manifested itself on Biggie's Life After Death. The posthumous double album is a true hip-hop masterpiece, an important work that has given rap even more respect in the music world. A rapper who earned acclaim from even the elitist music critics, Biggie was a rarity, and Life After Death a gem.

"What you finally saw was a guy like Biggie putting together a complete artistic statement, far above what he did in the past," Moon said. "On top of that, you see Puffy has all this other talent. I think that was masterful. But I don't think all of his work has been as artistic as the work he did on Biggie's record."

Though Puff Daddy, Biggie and Radiohead stand out as the big winners of 1997, the year also saw other young, promising acts step into the music spotlight.

Apple, the 19-year-old singer who is apparently troubled and quite forthright, burst onto the scene with Tidal, a beautiful and haunting debut record. The album produced a number of hits -- most noticeably, "Criminal." A member of folkie Sarah McLachlan's groundbreaking women-only Lilith Fair tour, Apple is one of many female artists stepping to the forefront of rock.

"I think (Apple) deserves to be taken very seriously," Moon said. "And she's also an excellent live performer, though many people haven't seen her yet."

McLachlan followed up her breakthrough 1994 release, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, with this year's very successful Surfacing, which featured the pop hit "Building A Mystery." Also putting out critically acclaimed albums were Erykah Badu, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott and Beth Orton.

If there was a trend to deal with in 1997, it was the genre dubbed "electronica," which some say is the future of popular music, which remains to be seen.

Soon after mass audiences caught wind of the bruhaha surrounding the acid-raving punks known as Prodigy, the whole genre blew up. The band's breakthrough release, The Fat of the Land, sold more than a million copies and promptly announced the arrival of electronica.

But according to Kubala, the Chemical Brothers' Dig Your Own Hole has a better shot of keeping the genre alive. The Brothers, comprised of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, kept themselves rooted in the old school but always pushed forward, and "Block Rockin' Beats" seems poised to stand as the first electronica classic.

Though electronica was a boon for the industry, some question its staying power.

"I don't think it's that great, but that's just me," said Josh Ferko, manager of Arboria Records, 119 E. Beaver Ave. "I think it's just a pop thing. I think people will get tired of it eventually. There's no soul there."

Moon was more optimistic.

"There is a future for electronica," he said, "and it doesn't have to be as media monger-ish as Prodigy or pure as the Chemical Brothers or Moby."

While Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers tried to push a whole new style into the spotlight, some artists, long lost in the shadows, attempted to find their way back. Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Van Morrison, the Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac all came out with new releases. Of these, Dylan's Time Out of Mind was the most surprising and most affecting.

"Bob Dylan's record is one of those things that deserves more than it will ever get," Moon said.

Dylan, famous for inconsistencies both in the studio and on stage, was in rare form on this, his best album in years. Always at his best when dealing with reality, on Time Out of Mind, he comes to grips with that most real of realities -- death.

The record seemed to indicate the birth of an artistically renewed Dylan, who, like many other prominent recording artists, might have realized that with no single movement dominating the music world, plenty of opportunities are available for those with just a little ambition.