This was the year I decided I'd had enough with pop music. I went into 1998 casually listening to music, not really caring that much what it was as long as it sounded good enough, and left the year stuck on the hard rock/metal radio station, a CD stereo of my own, and the beginnings of my crush on Tool. This was an amazing year for me, and everything I do now has roots here... It's when I first used the internet, had my first relationship, and of course began to learn about music.

My favorite song from this year, "Space Lord" is not on this list, and it should be. Dave's voice broke my brain. I bought Powertrip at Fry's, listened to it, thought some of the songs were great. I brought the CD for some car trip to play for my friend/friends, and I remember their reaction. Silence, nothing. My best friend laughed at the lyrics in Baby, but maybe only because I prepped the song with a story about it being odd. That's it. I was really disappointed. A new rule was later enacted: no new friends who don't "get" music. Still in place.

In the meantime...

"Are You That Somebody?" - Aaliyah featuring Timbaland. I thought this was alright. I remember my really hot kind of gay younger male blonde friend with his little red shorts dancing to shit like this. Tease.

"Ava Adore" - Smashing Pumpkins. I don't remember this video at all... I had a friend that looked a lot like BILLAY here.

"Believe" - Cher. do you BEH-LEEEV IN LIFE AFTA LOVE?!

"The Boy Is Mine" - Brandy and Monica. It was amusing the first time. After that, obnoxious.

"Celebrity Skin" - Hole. I avoided this because of Nirvana. Didn't give a crap about the politics involved, just wanted to be far from it.

"Closing Time" - Semisonic.

"Crush" - Jennifer Paige. I made fun of this song mercilessly for a while, and then formed a piece of one of my shows around it. It was really stupid... I didn't even try. But the song is just so gay.

"Doo Wop (That Thing)" - Lauryn Hill. Hate.

"The Dope Show" - Marilyn Manson. I knew of Marilyn Manson about a year. I liked them only just enough, and my boyfriend sent me Mechanical Animals. I hated it at first, and this song gets on my nerves, but they definitely wore off after a while.

"The First Night" - Monica.

"Fly Away" - Lenny Kravitz.

"Frozen" - Madonna. This video was on every morning when I got up for a while. Obnoxious. It's so boring, and Madonna's holier-than-thou bullshit going on around this time made it even worse.

"Got The Life" - Korn. Korn and Tool came in together for me. I still love this song despite wanting to hate Korn so bad. "Freak on a Leash" isn't here, but I recall listening to it one night and, for the first time, being overcome by the need to be in music somehow.

"Gettin' Jiggy wit It" - Will Smith. This was really popular that summer... and therefore annoying.

"Hard Knock Life" - Jay-z. I only heard this a couple of times before I went into radio/tv silence. My friend(s?) liked this a lot... Didn't give a crap. I could watch Annie instead.

"I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" - Aerosmith. TOO SAPPY. My boyfriend saw the movie before I did and was talking about it a lot at the time. Thus, permanently connected, and no thanks.

"I Want You Back" - *NSYNC. Yep, this is exactly why I stopped listening to the fucking radio.

"Intergalactic" - Beastie Boys. Hated despite being not even a hundredth as gay as the previous song.

"Iris" - Goo Goo Dolls. "And I'd give up forever to touch you". Welljesusshit, I think you about covered this year for me there, man.

"My Heart Will Go On" - Celine Dion. She's shown up on almost every year so far... and I was doing a great job of avoiding her until the god damn Titanic. What a bunch of garbage.

"Never Ever" - All Saints. Liked.

"Never There" - Cake. Cake gives me a headache.

"One Week" - Barenaked Ladies. NU rock.

"Ray of Light" - Madonna.

"Save Tonight" - Eagle-Eye Cherry. Best friend liked this for a while.

"Sex and Candy" - Marcy Playground. Another hated song. They played this too god damn much.

"Slide" - Goo Goo Dolls.

"Still Not a Player" - Big Pun feat. Joe. Heh! I'm pretty sure I haven't heard this in ages, but it's like it never left. Still stuck in my head. I'm not a player, I just crush a lot.

"Torn" - Natalie Imbruglia. I tried to write a parody of this song. I ended up listening to it fifty times to write out the lyrics/inflections so I could get my parody right. I never finished it, and I never want to hear this ever again.

"Turn the Page" - Metallica. I loved this song when I heard/saw it. I think I was hearing it a lot when I was having hard times down on the homefront.

"The Way" - Fastball. An-y-one can see that the road that they walk on ....

"When the Lights Go Out" - Five. Another boyband. That's exactly what I wanted.

"Whiskey in the Jar" - Metallica. Uh, no.