Certain years stand out more than others. When it comes to music, this is no exception, especially given the gift of hindsight. Every few years there seems to be a plethora of fantastic albums that come out which help shape the soundscapes of years to come.
For me, one year particularly stands out: 1994. It may be because I was transitioning from highschool to university, but there was so much great music during that period. 1994 may not have been the best year in terms of groundbreaking artists releasing innovative albums, but it seems to me that so many artists put out brilliant albums that have aged extremely well. Despite no Never Mind The Bollocks, it was one helluva year for music.
What sparked this topic for me was perusing Rolling Stone’s website where they had an article reminiscing about Oasis’ debut album Definitely Maybe, which was released 15 years ago. Oasis’s debut is arguably their best, boasting such classic tunes as “Live Forever,” “Supersonic” and “Rock N’ Roll Star.”
However, Oasis’s album is just the tip of the iceberg. I cannot think of another year before or since where so many essential albums were released... R.E.M.’s Monster, Pearl Jam’s Vitalaogy., Liz Phair’s Whip-smart, Green Day’s Dookie, The Offspring’s Smash, Veruca Salt’s American Thighs, Elastica’ debut, Bad Religion’s Stranger Than Fiction, Weezer’s debut, Jeff Buckley’s Grace, Hole’s Live Through This, Beck’s Mellow Gold, Blur's Parklife, Tom Petty’s Wildflowers, Soundgarden’s Superunknown, Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral, etc etc etc. Let’s just say I spent a lot of moolah on CDs that year!
Of course, 1994 was also the year that Kurt Cobain died. Much like the Beatles breaking up, Cobain’s premature death definitely defined the end of an era in music. The mainstream acceptance of grunge and punk would inevitably lead to watered down versions of Nirvana, unfortunately leading us to the Nickelbacks and Defaults of the world today.
15 years ago was a pretty great time for music. Damn I feel old now. ;-)
Here's a clip of Blur's "Parklife."
...submitted by JJ
I was transitioning from grade 7 to grade 8, being as I wasn't sure of my opinions in music at the time (bizarre, I know hey?) it definitely kickstarted a whole new aspect of Rock N Roll for me. As much as I did and do love some country, Buddy H. was/is my hero, and was/am obsessed with GNR and Motley, here was a group of artists one could actually relate to and believe in. This was probably my most influential time for a fan of music as a whole. I don't think our "MUCHMUSIC" generation will ever see another year like 1994 again. Others may have something like this to hold on to but our generation owns 1994 and I think we hold it dear to us. Excellent write-up J.
ReplyDelete