1997 Top | Songs

The overuse of samples (Puff Daddy made a career of it) and power-ballad formula fatigue . Also, some hits haven't aged well lyrically or morally (R. Kelly, certain "woe is me" rock).

1997 wasn't a revolutionary year for new sounds (that was 1991 or 1999), but it was a perfectly balanced year — sad, silly, angry, and romantic, all on the same radio station. If you make a playlist of these songs, you'll get a vivid time capsule of the Clinton-era '90s. 1997 top songs