The Collection Vol. 7 (Summer 1998)

Side A
Depeche Mode-Enjoy The Silence
Blues Traveler-Most Precarious
Grant Lee Buffalo-Truly Truly
Everclear-Father Of Mine
Smashing Pumpkins-1979
Green Day-Longview
Third Eye Blind-Graduate
Will Smith-Just The Two Of Us
Pearl Jam-Betterman
Counting Crows-Round Here
Hootie & The Blowfish-Only Wanna Be With You
Wyclef Jean-Gone Till November
INXS-Need You Tonight

Side B
Creed-What's This Life For?
Sublime-Doin' Time
Atrixo-Audacious
Live-Selling The Drama
Nine Inch Nails-Down In It
Barenaked Ladies-One Week
Bush-Swallowed
Soft Cell-Tainted Love
Monica-The First Night
Billie Myers-Tell Me
Dave Matthews Band-Stay
Lauryn Hill-Can't Take My Eyes Off You
snippet of Dovetail Joint's "Level On The Inside"

I probably used up all the summer jams for Vol. 6, which didn't matter to me at the time because I still played the hell out of it. If I had to take a guess, this might have been created in late-July or early August because I remember the Monica and Lauryn Hill songs got airplay towards the end of the season. Overall, this volume felt like summer winding down when I listened to it. As much as I enjoyed Vol. 7, it felt like my vacation had already hit its peak by then and it showed in the music. Following Brandy & Monica's "The Boy Is Mine," was there really room enough for another smash?

New post next week

For those of you wondering why there haven't been any new posts recently, I've been hard at work on my annual Grammy nomination predictions for my other blog, Hectic But Eclectic. If you click the link, you'll see just how extensive they can be and how dedicated I am to covering the Grammys in general. Expect a new post here on Mixed Reaction next week when all of that is taken care of.

ToneMaster Type I Normal Bias (Summer 1998)

Side 1
Smashing Pumpkins-Ava Adore
Harvey Danger-Flagpole Sitta
Blues Traveler-Hook
The Offspring-Gone Away
Savage Garden-I Want You
Dave Matthews Band-Ants Marching
Hootie & The Blowfish-Let Her Cry
Pearl Jam-Alive
Guns N' Roses-Live and Let Die
Metallica-Sad But True
The Verve-The Freshmen (softer AOR version)

Side 2
Garbage-Push It
Semisonic-Closing Time
Lisa Loeb-Let's Forget About It
U2-I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Gin Blossoms-Hey Jealousy
snippet of Blues Traveler-Most Precarious
Alice In Chains-I Stay Away
Red Hot Chili Peppers-Aeroplane
Spin Doctors-Little Miss Can't Be Wrong
Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories-Stay (I Missed You)
The Wallflowers-Heroes
Natalie Merchant-Kind & Generous
snippet of Brandy & Monica's "The Boy Is Mine"

During the school year, I received money from my mother for which I was to use for transportation and lunch, but now that it was summer the stipends slowed down. I still remember being able to buy comic books every week, so I don't think my financial situation was that dire, but I was definitely more careful with my money. One time, I decided to try out a new cassette for recording instead of the usual Sony Hi-Fi Type I that I had been using for The Collection. My new choice was a brand called ToneMaster and was about 30 cents cheaper. It had a running time of 90 minutes so I figured I'd give it a run. When I finished making the mixtape and played it back, I could immediately tell where Sony used that extra money.

The Collection Vol. 6 (Summer 1998)

Side A
Sarah McLachlan-Adia
Veruca Salt-Volcano Girls
snippet of Curtis Mayfield's "Pusherman"
Jimi Hendrix-Crosstown Traffic
Dishwalla-Counting Blue Cars
Vonda Shepard-Searchin' My Soul
Beastie Boys- (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)
White Zombie-More Human Than Human
Sublime-What I Got
Pras feat. Mya and Ol' Dirty Bastard-Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)
Usher-My Way
Aaliyah-Are You That Somebody
Marcy Playground-Saint Joe on The School Bus

Side B
Smash Mouth-Can't Get Enough Of You Baby
Smashing Pumpkins-Perfect
Prince-When Doves Cry
Billie Myers-Kiss The Rain
Red Hot Chili Peppers-Breaking The Girl
Foo Fighters-Walking After You
Big Punisher feat. Joe-Still Not A Player
Beastie Boys-Paul Revere
Beastie Boya-Intergalactic
Nirvana-Smells Like Teen Spirit
The Urge-Jump Right In
Sheryl Crow-All I Wanna Do

My expectations for music seem to always increase whenever it comes to summer. With it being the warmest season of the year, it's deliberate on the part of execs and artists to make sure that their most accessible and sunniest records are available for mass consumption. Due to the time off I had for summer vacation, I always associate the summers of my youth with good music since I had nothing but free time to indulge. All of these factors added up to my favorite mixtape of 1998.