Chart Chat's Second Annual Anniversary Spectacular: A review of reviews of 30-year-old songs covered in 2024

Chart Chat celebrates its second birthday with a recap of the 49 songs covered in this space from the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart between Jan. 26, 1991, and March 12, 1994

If you’re reading this, odds are good you’re a subscriber to Chart Chat or found me by way of multiple algorithms. Or you’re one of my social media friends in real life and you’re forced to see this clog your newsfeed every week, and have clicked out of curiosity. Whatever the case, thanks for being here to celebrate the two-year anniversary of Chart Chat, which launched officially on Jan. 6, 2023! I appreciate your patronage, and hope you continue to read along!

If you’re new to Chart Chat, it exists primarily to do a chronological review of every Billboard #1 hit on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, which launched in September 1988. I’ve covered these hits in chronological order, offering appraisals of those songs based on both my nostalgia for them (or lack thereof) and how they hold up 30+ years later. I talk a little bit about what inspired my newsletter here in my introductory post. Worth a read if you like introductory posts. Or Trik Turner.

In 2023, I covered 44 songs, beginning Sept. 10, 1988, and ending Jan. 19, 1991. In 2024, I covered 49 songs (with an assist from five guest writers) from Jan. 26, 1991, through March 12, 1994. This year, as I did on the one-year anniversary of my newsletter, I’m going to provide a recap of all the reviews I did from the past calendar year, in reverse rank order.

In 2023, my average review was a 6.7 out of 10. In 2024, that number increased to 7.1 out of 10, though if you remove the highest ranked reviews from my guest authors this year, the number is closer to 6.9 out of 10. Perhaps too generous? We shall see.

Without further ado…

Songs that ranked 0/10

• I’m not a huge fan of some of these songs, but if you make it to #1 on the MRT chart, you deserve at least a 1 out of 10, so none of my reviews have bottomed out completely. Yet. Even if the lead singer shrieks…

Songs that ranked 1/10

• Jesus Jones and “The Devil You Know”: When Jesus Jones released their seminal, amazing “Right Here, Right Now,” I thought for sure that they’d release a killer follow-up. Instead, we got “The Devil You Know,” a song you’ve almost certainly never heard, and even if you did, it’s so forgettable that your brain likely purged it immediately.

Songs that ranked 2/10

• Talking Heads and “Sax and Violins”: In the long history of the terrific Talking Heads, this one is a sad footnote tacked on to the end of an otherwise fascinating and fun career.

• The Sugarcubes and “Hit”: I was being really nice here, because “Hit” is actually not bad when you consider the instruments alone. Once you start throwing in “singing” and “words,” it becomes nearly unlistenable.

• Peter Gabriel and “Digging in the Dirt”: A long stretch from Gabriel’s late ‘80s successes, “Digging in the Dirt” is an interesting thought experiment of a song, but theory doesn’t always translate to success when put into practice.

Songs that ranked 3/10

• Sting and “All This Time”: A heartfelt song featuring Sting reflecting on the passing of his father, “All This Time” is … *fine*, but it’s hardly a well-remembered or much-appreciated classic in the Sting/Police catalog.

Songs that ranked 4/10

• Electronic and “Get The Message”: Bernard Sumner of New Order and Johnny Marr of The Smiths came together to create a band called Electronic, and even though it rated low in my estimation, “Get The Message” is not a bad track, per se. I think for the time, it was somewhat groundbreaking, but with the benefit of hindsight, it feels derivative.

• Lou Reed and “What’s Good”: If you like mayonnaise soda, Lou Reed’s final Modern Rock Tracks #1 hit “What’s Good” might be up your alley. It didn’t resonate with me, though.

Songs that ranked 5/10

• XTC and “The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead”: This is a bummer, because I absolutely love XTC’s other Modern Rock Tracks #1 hit, “Mayor of Simpleton.” But “The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead” lacked a lot of the magic and cohesiveness I appreciated from XTC’s previous album.

• Morrissey and “Tomorrow”: Morrissey is an amazing talent, with a voice that can carry any musical arrangement to greatness. He was terrific with The Smiths and finally broke through to the top of the Modern Rock Track charts with “Tomorrow,” but while it’s fine, it’s not terrifically memorable.

• Soul Asylum and “Somebody To Shove”: Your mileage may vary with Soul Asylum’s first Modern Rock Tracks #1 hit. I can see someone making a case for its greatness, but outside of the music, the vocals and lyrical content failed to connect with me. I think “Black Gold” would have been a better #1 hit.

• Porno for Pyros and “Pets”: Perry Farrell sings “We’ll make great pets” a whopping 24 times during Porno for Pyros’ hit single “Pets,” and it starts to get cloying and awful about halfway through those lines. While I have a lot of nostalgia for this song for some reason, it’s an overall “meh” for me.

• Beck and “Loser”: This feels controversial, but still accurate. If you take this song based on its influence in the cultural zeitgeist of early 1994, this song is likely a 10/10. But from my perspective, “Loser” is a fine cultural touchstone, but not really a terrific song.

Songs that ranked 6/10

• I didn’t rank a single song in 2024 as a 6 out of 10. Strange.

Songs that ranked 7/10

• Simple Minds and “See The Lights”: I’m a child of the ‘80s, so Simple Minds played a big part in all of our collective consciousnesses with “Don’t You (Forget About Me).” That said, I was surprised by “See The Lights,” a song that I don’t think will make the same regular rotation as “Don’t You,” but is a pretty good song in its own right.

• Siouxsie And The Banshees and “Kiss Them For Me”: This feels right. Siouxsie and the Banshees have a special place in the history of the Modern Rock Tracks chart as the first #1 artist for “Peek-a-Boo,” and they followed up that success with another solid track in “Kiss Them For Me.”

• Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians and “So You Think You’re In Love”: One of the finest examples of early ‘90s jangle pop from a band not named R.E.M., “So You Think You’re In Love” by Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians is a fun, upbeat track.

• Red Hot Chili Peppers and “Give It Away”: I’ll be covering a lot of tracks from RHCP, but their first #1 hit “Give It Away” is one of their better efforts.

• Cracker and “Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)”: Cracker seemed to thrive in the early ‘90s by lecturing to the listening audience what they needed to be doing. With “Teen Angst,” they tell people that the world needs more excitement, more passion, and presumably, more sex. Seems reasonable.

• The B-52’s and “Good Stuff”: Guest author

  Jami Smith
  of the superlative Substack newsletter
  Songs That Saved Your Life
  wrote about the last Modern Rock Tracks #1 hit from the B-52’s, “Good Stuff.” She does a terrific job putting this album in the proper context: Not terrible, but nowhere near the juggernaut that “Cosmic Thing” was in the late ‘80s.

• Suzanne Vega and “Blood Makes Noise”: This one surprised me. I wasn’t sure if I’d be getting a retread of “Tom’s Diner,” but what I got instead was a really interesting mix of vocals and percussive beats, which puts “Blood Makes Noise” at the forefront of influential early ‘90s songs.

• Belly and “Feed The Tree”: Tanya Donelly helped start The Breeders, but it was her side project Belly that pushed her into the limelight with the sublime, entertaining “Feed The Tree.”

• The Juliana Hatfield Three and “My Sister”: A song about a sister who never existed, “My Sister” is a solid track from the Juliana Hatfield Three. I appreciated the band’s ability to go into full-on rock-out mode at times in the song.

• The Lemonheads and “Into Your Arms”: I may have undersold “Into Your Arms” by The Lemonheads, but only if I’m going on nostalgia alone. I feel like “Into Your Arms” benefited by being a light, happy song during a time when the angstiest of angst-ridden grunge artists started topping the alternative charts.

Songs that ranked 8/10

• Elvis Costello and “The Other Side Of Summer”: Elvis Costello marries his cynical look at the absurdities of life with a Beach Boys-esque musical package, and the combination just works for me.

• The Cure and “High”: For as much as I’ve been told The Cure is largely morose and deeply goth, I was surprised when I first listened to “High,” a song that’s bubbly, poppy and generally a lot of fun.

• R.E.M. and “Drive”: “Drive” is a solid, introspective track from a band transitioning out of their jangle-pop college radio days into grown-ups with a lot on their minds.

• 10,000 Maniacs and “These Are Days”: I really like 10,000 Maniacs, so it’s sad that these crazy kids couldn’t find a way to keep working together following the success of “These Are Days.”

• Peter Gabriel and “Steam”: I don’t think “Steam” is Peter Gabriel’s finest track, but he does recapture some of the energy and fun that he brought in songs like “Sledgehammer,” including an equally quirky and memorable music video. This song grew on me over repeat listens.

• Depeche Mode and “I Feel You” and “Walking In My Shoes”: Nearly back to back in their time on the charts, both of Depeche Mode’s singles from their album Songs of Faith and Devotion hit #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. They’re not Violator good, but they’re pretty solid.

• Tears for Fears and “Break It Down Again”: I was critical of Tears for Fears and their previous Modern Rock #1 hit “Sowing The Seeds Of Love,” but this one was a vast improvement. Roland Orzabal flies solo for this one, and he does a terrific job bringing the band back to its mid-’80s high point.

• Nirvana and “Heart-Shaped Box” and “All Apologies”: These are not my favorite Nirvana tracks, but they hold high esteem being the last two #1 hits from the band before Kurt Cobain’s suicide in March 1994.

• Crash Test Dummies and “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm”: With 30 years of hindsight, I find I appreciate this song — and the band — far more than I did when their popularity was at its peak.

Songs that ranked 9/10

• Jesus Jones and “Right Here, Right Now”: I’m not sure why this song isn’t a 10/10, and I’m kicking myself for it. It’s one of the best songs of the ‘90s.

• R.E.M. and “Losing My Religion”: I think I oversold this one. Even though it’s one of my favorites and R.E.M.’s highest-charting single on the Billboard Hot 100, I’m not convinced it’s a 9/10. I feel like I let nostalgia guide me on this one, rather than objectively placing it where it should be.

• Big Audio Dynamite II and “Rush”: BAD II was a lot of fun to listen to, and “Rush” is a far better hit than the band’s first chart topper, “Just Play Music.”

• U2 and “The Fly,” “Mysterious Ways” and “One”: Pretty much everything from Achtung, Baby was magic, including “The Fly,” which never got much mainstream radio airplay but is an all-out banger of a track. “Mysterious Ways” and “One” are both all-time classics, and it’s remarkable how great U2 was in this moment … and how they completely pissed it away for awhile with whatever the hell they were thinking making Zooropa.

• The Charlatans and “Weirdo”: Madchester pioneers The Charlatans hit #1 with “Weirdo,” one of a handful of songs I heard for the first time in 2024 and immediately fell in love with.

• New Order and “Regret”: No “Regret” here: New Order’s first and only Modern Rock Tracks chart topper is a solid alt-pop mashup, a final swan song to the band’s efforts to maintain a hold on the rock and pop charts.

• Red Hot Chili Peppers and “Soul To Squeeze”: “Soul To Squeeze” is probably one of, if not the best, #1 hit released by RHCP. Not sure how it managed to get attached to the soundtrack to the major motion picture “Coneheads,” but it gets bonus points for including Chris Farley in the music video as a circus manager chewing on a cigar.

• Blind Melon and “No Rain”: My love of this song has wavered a tiny bit over time, but “No Rain” is a song that you hear and immediately think of the mid 1990s.

Songs that ranked 9.5/10

• Faith No More and “Midlife Crisis”: This track was reviewed by

  Kevin Alexander
  of the fantastic and interesting
  On Repeat Records
  newsletter, and I appreciate his well-written and thoughtful breakdown of Faith No More’s “Midlife Crisis.” For folks like me who really knew the band from its biggest hit, “Epic,” it was good to learn more about some of the lesser-known hits, and remarkable to find they’re pretty good as well!

Songs that ranked 9.8/10

• Gin Blossoms and “Found Out About You”:

  Brad Kyle
  of the wonderfully fun
  Front Row & Backstage
  newsletter joined Chart Chat recently to review my favorite Gin Blossom’s song, “Found Out About You.” Brad weaves a terrific narrative about the band, the tragedies they faced, and how “Found Out About You” came together. Worth a read, though I need to ask him how he landed on “9.8” out of 10!

Songs that ranked 10/10

• The Cure and “Friday I’m In Love”:

  Matt Fish
  of the tremendously entertaining newsletter
  Best Music of All Time
  came on board this year to talk about “Friday I’m In Love,” easily one of my top two or three favorite Cure songs and a definitive 10/10.

• Pearl Jam and “Daughter”:

  Mark Blankenship
  of the well-written newsletter
  The Lost Songs Project
  visited Chart Chat for the second time (having already reviewed The Sundays and “Here’s Where the Story Ends” in 2023) to talk about Pearl Jam’s first MRT #1 hit, “Daughter.” I appreciate the attention Mark gives to the narrative of the song and the inspiration we can glean from it.

• Nirvana and “Smells Like Teen Spirit”: There’s no way this song isn’t a 10/10, even with nostalgia glasses removed. I may be tired of hearing it on the radio, but it’s an all-time banger of a track, and played a massive role in changing the landscape of music going forward.

• Ned's Atomic Dustbin and “Not Sleeping Around”: The biggest shocker of the year! I swear I’d never heard of Ned’s Atomic Dustbin until I started this project, and then out of nowhere, I listen to “Not Sleeping Around” and ask myself how I’d never heard them before! This song is amazing!

Songs that hit #2 but are an easy 10/10

• The Breeders and “Cannonball”: I may have waxed nostalgic more than I should have for a song that peaked at #2 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, but I think “Cannonball” is in the conversation for one of the best tracks of the entire 1990s. I regret nothing about the amount of (digital) ink spilled in crafting this love letter to Kim Deal and the gang for making this timeless track.

There’s a lot more where this came from! Stayed tuned for more #1 MRT hits in 2025, and thanks as always for joining me on this interesting and fun musical history trip. I appreciate you all!

---