13 Going On 30: 1994
A bunch of great albums turn 30 this year, here are 13 of my favorites.
I spent a considerable amount of time listening to jazz when I was growing up, mostly because of my dad. My oldest sister went away to college when I was in first grade, and my next oldest sister was kinda doing her own thing without me, so that left me listening to whatever my parents were listening to. Then when I was 13, I heard “Zombie” by The Cranberries for the first time. I don’t know why that song more than any other song by any other artist that had come before was the one that opened up my heart to discovering my own musical interests, but it did and I haven’t stopped since.
Here are 13 albums that I love that turn 30 years old this year. While “Zombie” cracked me open, it would take a few more years to get into everything else that I did, it’s most likely that some of these might not have been fully appreciated until a few years after their release. Nonetheless, one can’t change when one was affected by something regardless of when it came out, so to make it just a little more confusing even, I’m not putting them in alphabetical order by artist or album title, or in Rob Gordon autobiographical order (though that might be a fun exercise), and I’m not doing order of importance to my heart, but rather in the chronological order in which they were released during the calendar year 1994.
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Volume II (March, 1994)
This two-disc collection of ambient music and soundscapes features tracks that are melodic, some soothing, and others are just kind of eerie. The original pressing (or at least the copy that I had) didn’t have track titles, just little pictures that I guess were meant to match up somehow to each track, or maybe get one into a particular head-space for what they were about to experience. Because of this, I only knew of my favorite song as “Disc One, Track Three”, but it would later become known to me as “Rhubarb”.
When I was going through some of my worst depressive moments in high school and college, I would put on “Rhubarb” on repeat and just lay there. It didn’t necessarily make the depression go away, but it did help put me at ease. Thirty-years later, it still does.
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral (March, 1994)
If you’ve only ever heard “Closer” or “Hurt”, then you probably have no idea just how much like the future this album sounded like in the mid- to late-90’s. I absolutely get why someone would not be a NIN fan (and I actually only really like The Downward Spiral and 1999’s The Fragile), but I think what’s kind of remarkable for folks like me is how Spiral still holds up (a) and (b) still sounds like the future. It’s a future that still hasn’t arrived, but maybe that’s a good thing for all of us.
Johnny Cash - American Recordings (April, 1994)
While working on a group project at a classmate’s house my Senior year of high school, one of my groupmate’s put this on and the opener, “Delia’s Gone”, hooked me right away; we ended up listening to this album on repeat until the project got done. I don’t remember either of their names, what the project was, or how we did, but I’ll never forget listening to my first Johnny Cash album.
Weezer - Blue Album (May, 1994)
Despite this album pretty much being pop-rock perfection from soup to nuts, I kinda didn’t expect Weezer to still be making music 30 years later, yet here we are.
Beastie Boys - Ill Communication (May, 1994)
“Sir, this is a Tiny Naylor’s.”
My second-older sister and her friends used to listen to License to Ill all the time the summer that that came out, and I hated it. It wasn’t until Beastie Boys put out three more albums and I heard “Sabotage” for the first time that I decided to give them a fair shake. I still don’t care for License to Ill, but I thank Ill Communication for opening my heart to the B-Boys (Yauch z”l).
Sloan - Twice Removed (August, 1994)
Is Sloan The Beatles of Canada? Sonically maybe, but no, because Sloan’s lasted longer.
Is Twice Removed the Blue Album of Canada? No, because this is Sloan’s second album, and it actually contains a few clunkers (but the good are great!).
Did four friendly guys from Nova Scotia make a deal with the devil to never age and always sound great in exchange for nothing at all? I saw Sloan for, I don’t know, my sixth or seventh time last week, and they may as well have been 20-somethings just rockin’ out, so it certainly seems that way!
Portishead - Dummy (August, 1994)
If Downward Spiral sounds like a future that never happened, then Dummy sounds like a future that came back to the past to haunt us. If you’ve only ever heard “Sour Times” or “Glory Box” and you even sorta liked them, then you should probably give the whole album a whirl, it’s mesmerizing.
Toadies - Rubberneck (August, 1994)
Strong choice for your debut LP to be a concept album, but it works because it’s just really great, pure, unfettered rock. I learned how to drum new and interesting time signatures on my steering wheel to this album, and I still love it to pieces.
They Might Be Giants - John Henry (September, 1994)
While not exclusive to the nerdy band kid in the 90’s, my enjoyment of TMBG likely stems from being a nerdy band kid in the 90’s. Much delighted surprise was found when listening to this album for the first time and - what’s this? A real, full band?! The John’s have done it again!
Ween - Chocolate and Cheese (September, 1994)
While not exclusive to the nerdy band kid in the 90’s, my enjoyment of Ween likely stems from being a nerdy band kid in the 90’s. Much delighted surprise was found when listening to this album for the first time and - what’s this? A real, full band?! Gene and Dean Ween have done it again!
The Cranberries - No Need to Argue (October, 1994)
The pivotal album that kicked off my exploration into musical realms then unknown to me. Weird.
And speaking of depression… this album and another High Fidelity moment created the fork in my life that lead me to where I am now.
Golly.
Korn - Korn (October, 1994)
Look, I can listen to this album now and laugh, hearing how badly this just wants to be something that hadn’t been heard before (for better or worse), and there are still a few songs that really tap into whatever it was that I felt as a teen that just felt raw and powerful (I think it’s just puberty and hormones), but at the end of the day it was something new and exciting, I was open to it, and it lead me to where I am now.
Golly.
Bush - Sixteen Stone (December, 1994)
A lot of great (stupid, complimentary) songs on this album.
Also, I was probably the only kid in high school who thought “Man, the bass line in that song sure sounds like a slowed down version of “Stratus” by Billy Cobham!” (this is about “Comedown”), and likely because I spent a considerable amount of time listening to jazz when I was growing up.
…
Now that’s how you bookend a post!
Two Honorable Mentions
Despite that killer bookend, I’d like to give two quick shout-outs to Blur’s Parklife (April, 1994), because it has a couple good songs but I don’t love the album; and Oasis’ Definitely Maybe (August, 1994), also because it has a couple good songs but I don’t love the album.
Current Mood: Pretty good!
Listening to: Beastie Boys - Get It Together