Chords for The 10 Best Albums of 1998

_ _ _ [Gb] _ _ From [Ebm] the outside, popular music [Gb] in the late 1990s
might have seemed to be in a [Ab] doldrums,
from [Db] the dregs of the post-Nirvana alternative [D] gold rush
to a wave of bland mainstream hip hop [Eb] and rap metal.
But [Dbm] 1998 sowed the seeds [Gb] for a new century of sound to come. _ _ _
[Em] _ _ _ _ Introspective and subdued,
PJ Harvey's fourth solo studio [E] album
pushed into eerie atmospheric [D]
realms,
[Em] an idiosyncratic path she's followed ever since. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[A] Arguably the craziest [Eb] band signed by a major label
in the [A] wake of Nirvana,
[Em] Japan's boredoms created the sonic [Dbm] equivalent
of a rollercoaster [G] ride with no lap bar.
[Abm] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Bbm] _ _ _ _ _ _
[Abm] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _
_ [D] _ Chock full of vintage synths,
the French duo Air [C] stylishly reconfigured the sounds
of the space age bachelor [G] pad for a new generation,
[D] gazing back to reimagine the future of electronic music.
_ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ Balanced between the sensuous and [A] desolate,
trip hop pioneers Massive Attack
utilized the distinct voices of reggae legend [Dm] Horace Andy
[G] and goth soprano Elizabeth Frazier [A] of Cocteau Twins
to shine beams of [D] light onto their dark tracks.
_ [A] _ _ _ _ [Dm] _ _ _
[Db] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
On her fourth album,
the songwriter also known as Sean Marshall
refined her sound to its emotive haunting essence,
reclaiming her own fragility
as one of her greatest strengths. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Gb] _ _ _ _ _
While much pre [A]-millennial electronic music
looked to the future,
[D] _
Scotland's elusive Boards of [E] Canada
[D] used their atmospheric eats [B] and fog shrouded synths
to conjure an evocative [Gb] past
that was equally [B] dreamy and unsettling.
_ [A] _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _
[Bb] In certain [F] indie circles,
there's what came before neutral milk hotels
[C] in the aeroplane over the sea [Bb] and what came after.
[F] Cryptic, emotionally naked,
and bursting [C] with ambitious lo-fi [Bb] production and arrangements,
[C]
songwriter Jeff Mangum's singular [Bb] surrealistic vision
made it a masterpiece. _
_ [F] _ _ _ _ _ _ [Bb] _
_ [Eb] On his major label debut,
[Bb] lo-fi hero Elliot [Eb] Smith's stark acoustic [Dm] sound
bloomed [C] into heartbreaking technicolor,
allowing the Portland-based songwriter
an even [Bb] more widescreen range
of melancholy and [Gm] bittersweet beauty. _ _ _ _
_ [Bb] _ _ _ [F] _ _ _ _
_ [Em] _ _ [Gm] _ _ _ [F] Still Lauren Hill's only solo studio album to date,
[Gm] _ Miseducation captures an [F] artist
already at the height of her formidable powers,
blending [Eb] the ex-Fugees' love of [Gm] hip hop,
[C] dancehall, and soul into a statement of empowerment.
[Dm] _ _ [Ab] _ _ [E] _ _ [Dbm] _
_ Nevermind the East and West Coast binary,
on their third album,
Outkast's potent [Abm] stew of slow-cooked [Eb] soul,
jazz, [Dbm]
psychedelia, old-school funk,
and various other foot-stomping roots
forever shifted hip hop's power center to the Dirty City. _ _
_ [Abm] _ _ _ _ _ [Dbm] _ _
_ [Ab] _ _ [Dbm] _ _ _ _ _
_ [Ab] _ _ _ [Abm] _ _ _ _