A DULL, UNINSPIRING POP MUSIC YEAR : THE TONE WAS SET BY THE MACARENA.

Byline: Fred Shuster Daily News Music Writer

When it was announced several months ago that a meteorite from Mars might provide evidence of life on the red planet, we hoped they'd find at least one good band up there.

Because here on Earth, rock music is in one of its periodic doldrums. After all, 1996 was the year of Alanis (again) and the year the KISS army got its revenge.

We know we've said it before, but the previous 12 months were so dull and uninspiring, we couldn't even come up with a proper 10-best-albums list or five outstanding live shows. You knew it was a rough time for rock when the most enjoyable live event in town was the L.A. Opera's production of ``Tosca.''

Records by Morissette and Smashing Pumpkins simply refused to die. Those two acts were as inescapeable as the dreaded Macarena or the year's most annoying single, ``Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand.''

Big moments of 1996

Might as well jump: Among the year's noisiest music stories was the David Lee Roth-Van Halen near miss, thankfully averted in the nick of time to save the world from more dinosaurus rockus.

Tupac: Then, there was the Tupac Shakur death, followed by five minutes of silence at Death Row Records while the posthumous ``Don Killuminati'' disc was pieced together from scraps.

Groovin': Dance music in all its forms gained strength worldwide. More than half the top 20 singles at one point were rhythm workouts, and even Valium-confessional queen Tori Amos got in touch with her groove thing and cut a 12-inch dance remix featuring B.T., a disco megastar from Washington, D.C. MTV, too, began programming more and more dance sounds.

Together again: Reunion fever continued as KISS became the top touring act in a year that saw the Sex Pistols bury the hatchet and hit the road along with the Who, Peter Frampton and REO Speedwagon. In '97, you can count on a ``Rumors''-era Fleetwood Mac trek, a gathering of the Faces (Rod Stewart and Ron Wood) and - who asked for this? - Motley Crue with Vince Neil.

Retreads: Much of the year seemed like the plot to ``Groundhog Day.'' Reruns from '95: Record sales were flat (except for the urban genre), politicians took aim at gangsta-rap and horror-rockers, Babyface churned out endless r&b chart-toppers, mainstream and alternative country continued to flourish, women artists came on strong and drug use took its toll.

Back from the ozone: There were some surprising comebacks - Journey, New Edition and Tracy Chapman. The Beatles hit No. 1 twice with volumes 2 and 3 of the ``Anthology'' series, and Christian-rockers Jars of Clay became one of the biggest success stories of 1996.

Accelerating into reverse: The most-played artists on radio, according to Billboard, were also familiar: Morissette, George Strait, Garth Brooks, Hootie & the Blowfish, Mariah Carey, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam.

Reasons to be cheerful: While our favorite was R.E.M.'s ``New Adventures in Hi-Fi,'' other CDs we played frequently in '96 were ``you?me?us?'' Richard Thompson; ``Costello & Nieve''; ``K,'' Kula Shaker; ``Odelay,'' Beck; ``Walking Wounded,'' Everything But the Girl; ``The Road to Ensenada,'' Lyle Lovett; ``Gone Again,'' Patti Smith; ``Deep in the Blues,'' James Cotton; and ``Looking East,'' Jackson Browne.

Looking forward: Promising albums in the coming months include ``The Healing Game,'' Van Morrison; ``20th Century Blues,'' Marianne Faithfull; ``Coming Up,'' Suede; ``The Story of My Life,'' Irma Thomas; new music from Portishead; ``Pop,'' U2; a Cornell Dupree album; and ``Remembering Bud Powell,'' Chick Corea.

If it doesn't click: Except for Britain's Kula Shaker and Fiona Apple's fine debut, none of the year's most impressive albums came from new or developing acts. That's partly due to the pressure on young artists to write a radio-friendly tune at all costs. And if it doesn't hit, it's back to the beer halls.

Predictions: The return to unabashed pop will grow stronger in the New Year as grunge and other forms of complaint-rock begin to look like last Thanksgiving's ham, turkey and 'taters. Anaheim's upbeat No Doubt, whose ``Tragic Kingdom'' topped the albums chart, point the way to 1997's golden age of pop.

Best buy: CD singles remain music's sturdiest bargain.

Bottom moments of 1996

Video cliches of the year: The crying ballerina, tattered Appalachian children on front porch, white horse wandering aimlessly through scene for no reason, gangstas in formal wear doing the tango.

Funny flavor: American Recordings' newest act is Wesley Willis, the one-joke Chicago street musician who admits he must take medication to control ``the voices.''

Metal merchants: Metallica headlined Lollapalooza and ticket sales dropped. Billboard Live, a high-tech, high-profile and high-rent Sunset Strip club, opened along with a bunch of local blues joints. The cast of ``Friends'' demanded $100,000 an episode, and of all the bands in the world, Jack Mack & the Heart Attack was performing at Atlanta's Olympic Park when a pipe bomb exploded nearby.

Alanis again: Morissette's ``Jagged Little Pill'' was named not only the best-selling debut album of the decade, but the best-selling album of all time by a female artist.

Really gone: Notables who passed on to the endless ``Day in the Life'' E-major chord in the sky included Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Monroe, Gerry Mulligan, William Clarke, Bob Thiele, Tiny Tim, Brownie McGhee, Bernard Edwards, Johnny ``Guitar'' Watson, Don Grolnick, Ray Coleman, Les Baxter, Lola Beltran, Jonathan Melvoin, Faron Young, Wes Farrell, Minnie Pearl, Brad Nowell, Mel Taylor, Art Porter, Mercer Ellington, Tupac Shakur, Gene Kelly, Eddie Harris, Bill Doggett, Chas Chandler, David Briggs, Patty Donohue, Kevin Gilbert, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Doug Bady, Warren Kolodny, Patsy Montana, Ronnie Scott and Jimmy Rowles.

Cheers: It wasn't a great year, especially for those listed above. So, unPtil a galvanizing new album is beamed down from Mars - or at least a catchy cover of ``The Green, Green Gas of Home'' - raise a glass to B.B. King, still going strong at 71. And be happy the Australian Pink Floyd Show hasn't arrived on these shores yet.

Picks of 1996

Album: ``New Adventures in Hi-Fi,'' - R.E.M.Recorded while on tour, this album offers surprising lyrical depth and musical twists at every turn.

Single: (tie) ``Don't Speak,'' No Doubt; and ``You're Makin' Me High,'' Toni Braxton - Two pop songs brimming with emotion that delighted whenever they turned up on radio.

Country album: ``Semi-Crazy,'' Junior Brown - The Texas guitar slinger showed humor can still co-exist with first-rate country music.

Soundtrack: ``Dead Man Walking'' - A head-spinning collection of terrific new material from Neil Young, Steve Earle, Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen that was better and less predictable than the movie.

Debut album: ``Tidal,'' Fiona Apple - A smart New York-bred teen-ager with a stunningly mature worldview and delivery.

Jazz album: ``20th Century Piano Genius,'' Art Tatum - Recorded in two '50s sessions at the Beverly Hills home of a film composer, this twin-CD set beautifully illustrates the reason for Art Tatum's unmatched reputation for dancing on the ivories.

Box set: ``Miles Davis & Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings'' - Witty orchestrations by Gil Evans, crystaline recording quality and Miles Davis' unique tone and note choice on such classic albums as ``Sketches of Spain'' and ``Miles Ahead'' help make this one of the essential and best-packaged box sets of all.

Reggae album: ``Below the Bassline,'' Ernest Ranglin - The storied Jamaican session guitarist emerges with a lissome instrumental collection of fine reggae tunes by Toots Hibbert and Augustus Pablo along with jazzy originals.

Blues album: ``Blessed Blues,'' Johnny Jenkins - The Georgia bluesman and onetime Otis Redding collaborator returns with his first album in 25 Pyears and hits a homerun.

Britpop album: ``Different Class,'' Pulp - Jarvis Cocker's witty lyrics and imaginative arrangements put Pulp head and shoulders above the Small Faces and Kinks-obsessed fray across the Atlantic.

Instrumental album: ``Fuzz Fest,'' Davie Allan & the Arrows - Local biker-rock legend and his sturdy trio plant this revved-up sound firmly in the '90s.

Orchestral: ``The Film Scores of Bernard Herrmann,'' Esa-Pekka Salonen/L.A. Philharmonic - High-definition recording technology helped conductor Salonen render Bernard Herrmann's unconventional and resonant scores to ``Psycho,'' ``Taxi Driver,'' ``North by Northwest'' and other film classics for full emotive effect.

Cover song: ``Who Is He and What Is He to You'' (Bill Withers), Me'Shell Ndegeocello - At the urging of a local disc jockey, Me'Shell Ndegeocello covered this obscure '70s soul gem, transforming it into a perfect slice of funk heaven.

Rock book: ``Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk,'' Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain - Presented as a collection of anecdotes from the well-known and barely remembered, this is the best history of that thing called punk, from the Velvet Underground to the Stooges to the Sex Pistols and the Clash.

Worst album: (tie) ``Evil Empire,'' Rage Against the Machine; and ``Aenima,'' Tool - Pretentious one-dimensional nonsense from two bands that couldn't come up with an original thought if their lives depended on it. Extra pseud-corner points to Rage Against the Machine for unconvincingly lashing out at the corporate hierarchy while recording for international giant Sony.

Pick your dream rock reunion

With a new batch of rock reunions on deck for '97, we wondered what bands of the past you'd like to see get back together and tour. Remember, the members of your group must be living. No ghost bands, please. Please call our Talkline at [phone] and leave your pick.

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos, Box

Photo: (1) R.E.M.'s album ``New Adventures in Hi-Fi,'' recorded while on tour, offerPed lyrical twists and depth.

(2) Fiona Apple, a New York-bred teenager with a mature delivery, had a fine debut album, ``Tidal.''

(3) One of the promising albums due out in the next few months is Chick Corea's ``Remembering Bud Powell.

(4) Kula Shaker - Alonza Bevan, left, Crispian Mills, Paul Winter-Hart and Jay Darlington, had one of the year's finer debut albums, ``K.''

Box: Pick your dream rock reunion (See Text)