'90s Party 2

Our second batch of storming '90s party tracks works on the same basic assumption as the first — that everything sounds great if you recreate a millennial state of mind. When these tracks rattled our rafters the first time around, we were all suspended in a blissful state of countdown to the year 2000, which, every now and then, generated a kind of mass euphoria . . . so get happy by recalling the cheeky majesty of Robbie Williams ("Millennium"), the cosmic regality of her highness, Queen Madge ("Ray of Light"), the princely brilliance of Bobby Gillespie and Primal Scream ("Rocks") and the proletarian parody of Blur ("Girls & Boys").

You'll find a bunch of '90s novelty tracks among our party-startin' Next Steps.

No great '90s party really rocked without a dollop of novelty — and we're talking about the kind of songs that sound especially good if you listen to them while doing aqua-aerobics in a holiday resort on the Costa Del Wherever. So, for your dizzying delectation, we give you Right Said Fred with their ever-catchy signature "I'm Too Sexy"; Rednex, who throw a bit of banjo and some dungarees into their party mix with "Cotton Eye Joe"; and Gina G. who bounced into the united states of Eurodisco on the back of "Ooh Ahh... Just a Little Bit". And don't forget Steps, who gave the Bee Gees a perfectly choreographed make-over with "Tragedy".

Northern boys party alongside American girls, in Deep Cuts.

Northern gatecrashers make their presence felt here, adding a touch of swagger to our '90s Party 2 Essentials — Madchester's Happy Mondays kept it chilled n' breezy with Kinky Afro, twisting Labelle's "Lady Marmalade" into something strange and groovy; the Charlatans went big and baggy with "The Only One I Know", and pulled us into their whirlwind of wah-wah and keys, as did Inspiral Carpets with "Dragging Me Down"; Liverpool's Lightning Seeds showcased Ian Broudie's magnificent touch with pop production on "The Life of Riley". And future diva Beyoncé left us one of several classy calling cards (with Destiny's Child), "Bug a Boo".

Rock, roll, rave . . . the '90s had it all, as the party decade that saw the unstoppable rise of the superstar DJ, the glory days of Cool Britannia, and the power-girl proclamations of the Spice Girls and Shania Twain. Whenever you felt the urge to send your pulse into overdrive, you could depend on the Prodigy, who cranked up the bpm with adrenalizers like "No Good (Start the Dance)"; several bands captured the feeling that we were all in this together, hurtling towards the dawn of a new millennium, notably the Farm ("All Together Now") and Pulp ("Disco 2000"); and crowd-pleasers like Kylie ("Better the Devil You Know") and Take That ("Everything Changes But You") satisfied our craving for sheer timeless fun. Y'all ready for this — ain't no party like a '90s party.