Friday Music Day

FMD — It was 20 years ago today

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Freealonzo taking over FMD this week…

This year reminded me that we are hitting the 20-year anniversary of a lot of very good and influential albums.  In a way it makes sense, Nirvana’s Nevermind went huge in 1992 and the result was that a lot of “alternative” bands were “discovered” and promoted by the major labels and music consumers were more open to explore the music environment.  I think 1994 was the baby boom generated by the phenomena that was Nevemind.    In fact I would argue that 1994 was one of the greatest years ever for popular music.  Do you agree?  What about 1984? Or 1968?  1971?  Those years can make a case for best ever as well.

After the break see the list of influential (imho) albums released in 1994 and let us know what year you think was the “greatest ever.”  Best thing is there is no wrong answer (listing does not mean endorsement, athough I would swear by most of these albums).  Oh and don't forget to drop your lists.

Jar of Flies  -- Alice in Chains

Too High to Die -- Meat Puppets

Under the Pink -- Tori Amos

Dookie -- Green Day

Crooked Rain, Crooked -- Rain Pavement

Mellow Gold  -- Beck

The Downward Spiral -- Nine Inch Nails

Superunknown -- Soundgarden

Vauxhall and I -- Morrissey

Smash --The Offspring

Live Through This -- Hole

Foolish -- Superchunk

American Recordings -- Johnny Cash

G. Love and Special Sauce -- G. Love & Special Sauce

Weezer ("Blue Album") -- Weezer

Ill Communication -- Beastie Boys

Bee Thousand -- Guided by Voices

Bakesale -- Sebadoh

Grace -- Jeff Buckley

Without a Sound -- Dinosaur Jr.

Definitely Maybe -- Oasis

Stranger Than Fiction -- Bad Religion

American Thighs -- Veruca Salt

Pulp Fiction soundtrack -- Various Artists

Ruby Vroom -- Soul Coughing

MTV Unplugged in New York -- Nirvana

Vitalogy -- Pearl Jam

 

56 thoughts on “FMD — It was 20 years ago today”

  1. O.k. Maybe Veruca Salt didn't really deserve to be in that list but you gotta give credit to a great album name.

    1. The Wanderer -- U2 -- Zooropa
    2. Vagabond Lover -- Guided By Voices -- Suitcase 3: Up We Go Now
    3. Happiness Is A Warm Gun -- The Beatles -- The Beatles (White Album)
    4. Sulk -- Radiohead -- The Bends
    5. To Here Knows When -- My Bloody Valentine -- Loveless
    6. Hare Krsna -- Hüsker Dü -- Zen Arcade
    7. Desolation Angels - 1.77 -- Jack Kerouac -- Readings By Jack Kerouac On The Beat Generation
    8. Bulldog Skin -- Guided By Voices -- Mag Earwhig!
    9. Johny Hit and Run Paulene -- X -- Los Angeles
    10. He Stopped Loving Her Today -- Johnny Cash -- Unearthed III: Redemption Songs

    B1. The Mollusk -- Ween -- The Bootlegs Vol. 1 - Celebrating 35 Years at First Avenue
    B2. Are You Lonesome Tonight -- Elvis Presley -- Top Ten Hits

    1. I enjoyed the Veruca Salt album mightily.
      I'd always thought that 1991 was the year everything happened though, 1994 was the follow-up.
      Nevermind, Badmotorfinger, "Jesus Built My Hotrod", The Reality of My Surroundings, Ten, "Man in the Box", Cypress Hill, O.G. Original Gangsta, Death Certificate, 2pacalypse Now, We Can't Be Stopped, Bandwagonesque, Out of Time, Blue Lines.

      1. iTunes assist:
        1991: Love's Secret Domain, Screamadelica, Gish, Naughty By Nature, Blue Lines, I Wish My Brother George Was Here, I Need a Haircut, Goo, Confessions of a Knife, Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld, Low End Theory

        1994: The Brooklyn Side, Blowout Comb, Amplified Heart, Teenager of the Year, Pomme Fritz, Systemisch, Days in the Wake, Hope EP, Musik, Weight, Music for the Native Americans, Experimental Jet Set Trash and No Star, Wildflowers, Dubnobasswithmyheadman, Zebra.

        I'm still feeling 1991

    2. Absolutely hated the song "Seether". HATED it. And the album title was lifted from "You Shook Me All Night Long."

      Sorry, dude. If your list is an argument for the music of 1994, it loses to '91, '71, '67... Hell, pick a year. What it does do, however, is remind me why REV105 wasn't as great as I'd like to remember.

      You also forgot Built to Spill's There's Nothing Wrong With Love.

        1. One aspect of the REV that I will always be grateful for was Peter Jesperson's Shakin' Street, every Monday night from 10 to midnight. Like Rock and Roll Grad School. When he wasn't turning me onto new/old music, he was validating my (admittedly obscure) record collection.

  2. 1. Merle Haggard and The Strangers “If You Want To Be My Woman” I'm a Lonesome Fugitive
    2. !!! “One Girl” Daytrotter Session 5/29/2013
    3. Merle Haggard “Always Wanting You” 40 #1 Hits
    4. Pan Sonic “Askel” A
    5. Bastille “Flaws” Daytrotter Session 5/22/2012

    6. The Holocene “Snowball Earth” eis
    7. Yello “Move Dance Be Born” Zebra
    8. Oval “Com” Ovalcommers
    9. Bonnie "Prince" Billy “Wolf Among Wolves” Master and Everyone
    T. Pan Sonic “Telemiitit” Kesto (Disc 2)
    E. Actress “Image” Ghettoville

  3. 1. When the Circus Comes to Town - Los Lobos - Kiko
    2. The Scarecrow - Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
    3. Temptation - New Order - Movement
    4. I Don't Want What You Got - Ike Reilly - Sparkle in the Finish
    5. Somedays - Paul McCartney - Flaming Pie
    6. Silas Stingy - The Who - The Who Sell Out
    7. You Don't Care Nothin' - Rancid - And Out Come the Wolves
    8. Till the End of the Day - The Kinks - The Kink Konktroversy
    9. Gun Crazy - Sax & Violence: Music from the Dark Side of Screen
    10.Shine On - Badfinger - Badfinger
    B. Continuing - Michael Nesmith - And the Hits Just Keep on Coming

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kmUbSud9Jk

    1. Definitely those are missing, and I get your 1991 argument.

      Actually I kinda think 1984 was the ur-year for what I'm trying to get at here. Reckoning, Double Nickels on the Dime, Zen Arcade, RHCP, Let it Be, Unforgetable Fire all had big influences on those bands that came out with the albums in 1994 (and 1991) I listed above.

  5. 1. "After Glow" - Foals Total Life Forever
    2. "Black Water Falls" - The War on Drugs Slave Ambient
    3. "Not for You" - Pearl Jam Vitalogy
    4. "Feel the Love" - Cut Copy In Ghost Colours
    5. "Snap Out of It" - Arctic Monkeys AM
    6. "About Today" - The National Cherry Tree
    7. "Marla" - Grizzly Bear Yellow House
    8. "Renegade Princess" - Sonic Youth NYC Ghosts & Flowers
    9. "Pure Narcotic" - Porcupine Tree Stupid Dream
    10. "All Hands and the Cook" - The Walkmen A Hundred Miles Off

    1. DK - Any interest in coming up to The Myth to see Foals/Cage the Elephant/J. Roddy Walston? May 15 - $32.

      1. CoC - Interested, yeah. I'd have to think about if I could make it work timing-wise, since it's a Thursday I'd still have to get back home in time to get to work. Two openers might make that tougher (to stay for the part I'm most interested in, I mean). I'll keep you posted.

    1. Remember back in 1987 when every article about the 20th anniversary of SPLHCB began with that phrase?

      2. Bootsy will have a great take on this I know. I think he's made the argument for 1971 in the past. That's why I listed that year in the write-up.

          1. ...Sly There's a Riot Goin' On, T Rex Electric Warrior, Joni Mitchell Blue, Van Morrison Tupelo Honey, Flamin' Groovies Teenage Head, Marvin Gaye What's Going On, Who's Next...

            1971 really was a banner year for pop music.

  7. Betty by Helmet was released in 1994 and was probably the single most important album to forming my musical taste growing up. Also, Chocolate and Cheese by Ween which is right up there as well.

    1. Again more proof that 1994 was the year. Man I loved Betty when it came out. I might have to go track that one down, you'll probably see it on my Spotify list tonight.

    2. I never had anything from the band, but Meantime got more play in the vehicles in which I used to ride. (But not as much as Pantera's Far Beyond Driven, another 1994)
      I saw them in concert once. Opening for... Korn? Can that be right? Or maybe RATM or Metallica (1991) but I think it was Korn (another 1994).

  8. 1994 was... not the best year for metal. There weren't really any landmark or revolutionary albums, although there was some good stuff and In Flames and Symphony X released their first albums and Bruce Dickinson would release his first solo album after leaving Iron Maiden. But it was just a couple years away from Metallica going full on suck. From my collection:

    Corrosion of Conformity - Deliverance
    Dio - Strange Highways
    Dream Thater - Awake
    Overkill - W.F.O.
    Pantera - Far Beyond Driven
    Running Wild - Black Hand Inn
    Skyclad - Prince of the Poverty Line
    Slayer - Diving Intervention
    Testament - Low

    1984 though? Now there's a year. Debuts from Anthrax, Celtic Frost, Armored Saint, Bathory, Destruction, Grave Digger, Jag Panzer, Metal Church, Overkill, Queensryche, Running Wild, Slayer, Sodom, W.A.S.P, and though they didn't release an album, Annihilator, Atheist, Blind Guardian, Death, Nuclear Assault, Stratovarius and Sepultura were all formed. Dio's The Last in Line, Metallica's Ride the Lightning, Iron Maiden's Powerslave, Judas Priest's Defender's of the Faith, Mercyful Fate's Don't Break the Oath, and This is Spinal Tap all came out that year. Man, that must have been a good time.

    01. Iron Maiden - "Genghis Khan", Killers
    02. Kamelot - "Soul Society", The Black Halo
    03. Iron Maiden - "Different World", A Matter of Life and Death
    04. Fintroll - "Aldhissla", Jaktens Tid
    05. Epica - "Memory (Acoustic)", We Will Take You With Us
    06. Running Wild - "Chains and Leather", Branded and Exiled
    07. Tankard - "Metal Magnolia", A Girl Called Cerveza
    08. Judas Priest - "Judas Rising", Angel of Retribution
    09. Dark Tranquillity - "Through Smuged Lenses", Character
    10. Blind Guardian - "Into the Storm", A Nightfall in Middle Earth

  10. This story seems to make sense for FMD: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/video-captures-amazing-moment-deaf-woman-hears-time-article-1.1736982

    The list:
    An Introduction To Music, curated by Tremayne Crossley
    Ken Boothe – Everything I Own
    Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – She’s the One - Live at Hammersmith Odeon
    Paul McCartney – Silly Love Songs
    Joni Mitchell – Black Crow
    Steely Dan – Peg
    Electric Light Orchestra – Mr. Blue Sky
    Gary Numan – Are ‘friends’ Electric?
    The Specials – Do Nothing
    Soft Cell – Tainted Love
    The Jam – Town Called Malice
    Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
    Prince – When Doves Cry
    Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)
    The Smiths – Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
    Fleetwood Mac – Big Love - Live (Lindsey Buckingham solo acoustic version)
    Tracy Chapman – Fast Car
    The The August & September
    Deee-Lite – Groove Is In The Heart
    Ozric Tentacles – Sploosh!
    INXS – Baby Don’t Cry
    Nirvana – All Apologies
    Richard Thompson – King Of Bohemia
    Pulp – Common People - Full Length Version / Album Version
    Everything But The Girl – Missing
    Foo Fighters – Everlong
    Massive Attack – Teardrop
    Jimmy Eat World – For Me This Is Heaven
    The Avalanches – Frontier Psychiatrist
    Daft Punk – Digital Love
    The Streets – Turn The Page
    Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Maps
    Beastie Boys – An Open Letter To NYC
    Nine Inch Nails – The Hand That Feeds
    Arctic Monkeys – I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
    Radiohead - Jigsaw Falling Into Place
    Elbow - One Day Like This
    Maximo Park – Tanned
    Gruff Rhys – Shark Ridden Waters
    The Joy Formidable – Whirring
    Bat For Lashes – Laura
    Haim – Don’t Save Me

  11. I've said it a few times around here, but Nirvanachanged my world and Weezer (The Blue Album) was the first CD I ever purchased. 1994 was huge for me in terms of realizing music was not limited to commercial radio standards of the time: SWV, Jon Secada, Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, UB40, Bell Biv Devoe...etc. /yikes!/ I wouldn't have looked for 1971 or 1984 if not for what I learned.

    1. Mad Hatter - Lynyrd Skynyrd
    2. Rocky Raccoon - The Beatles
    3. I’m Slowly Turning Into You - The White Stripes
    4. Necromancer - Gnarls Barkley
    5. Singled Out - New Found Glory

    6. Tourniquet - Evanescence
    7. Sweet Thing - Van Morrison
    8. I’m Dancing In The Show Tonight - Ween
    9. Mind Mischief - Tame Impala
    10. Possiblity - Lykke Li

    B. Can’t Fade Me - 311
    B2. Nymp - Jay-Z

    1. And my experience was pretty much the opposite. Heck, that was pretty much when I got into commercial radio standards (having listened largely to oldies prior to that). I went back and looked at '94 much later, even though I lived through it.

  12. Oh, 6 Feet Deep by Gravediggaz is another great one from 1994.

    I'm pretty partial to 1997 as one of my favorite years ever. The Mollusk, Funcrusher Plus, Fake Can Be Just As Good, Wu-Tang Forever, Homogenic, Sex Style, Tone Soul Evolution, Dig Me Out, Happy End of the World...

  13. Short night last night due to DBT/Blitzen Trapper. Got to cross Can of Corn off the list of WGOM'ers I have met in person.

    BTW CoC, you were right about Blitzen Trapper. Until the last half of the DBT set I thought the opening act was going to be more memorable than the headliner.

    1. The New Pornographers - "From Blown Speakers" - Electric Version
    2. The White Stripes - "In the Cold, Cold Night" - Elephant
    3. MGMT - "A Good Sadness" - MGMT
    4. Passenger - "Life's For the Living" - All the Little Lights
    5. The Avett Brothers - "Salina" - Emotionalism
    6. Ha Ha Tonka - "Lessons" - Lessons
    7. Fountains of Wayne - "Hung Up On You" - Welcome Interstate Managers
    8. Japandroids - "Press Corps" - No Singles
    9. Eels - "Losing Streak" - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations
    10. Eddie Vedder - "More Than You Know" - Ukelele Songs

    1. Great to meet you in person too!
      Re: Blitzen Trapper, they definitely brought the heat - my wife thought they were more memorable than the headliner! That first tune from DBT blew my mind and they definitely went out with a bang, but I agree, it seemed to take a while for them to get warmed up...also, Nice List today!

  14. Green Day Dookie and Nirvana Unplugged in New York are the two albums I gravitated to during 1994. Later, I discovered that Weezer would influence my music listening world in a huge way. I dont know if 1994 is 'the best ever' (probably not), but its in the conversation.

    'Special' - Garbage Version 2.0
    'Reason to Believe' - Rod Stewart Every Picture Tells a Story
    'Ive Been Working' - Van Morrison His Band and Street Choir
    'Femme Fatale' - The Velvet Underground & Nico The Velvet Underground & Nico
    'Mr. Whirly' - The Replacements Hootenanny

    'Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps' - Cake Fashion Nugget
    'Stubborn Love' - The Lumineers The Lumineers
    'Banditos' - The Refreshments Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy
    'Walk of Life' - Dire Straits Brothers in Arms
    'Be My Somebody' - Norah Jones Not Too Late

  15. I dont know if 1994 is 'the best ever' (probably not), but its in the conversation.

    You could be right. My intent wasn't to make a legal case for 1994, but to generate discussion with 1994 arguably in the mix.

            1. I have to admit, every time I hear the 'hoof, I think of Cibo Matto (featured in a Buffy episode in season 2).

              live version of "Sugar Water"

              httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PSirPbrWr4

              httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGuMglk9zHo

                2. I should probably find and rip my copy of Viva! La Woman!
                  I wonder how well it's aged to my ears.

    2. I turned 13 in 1994. The only ones that I knew about at-the-time were Green Day, Weezer, and Nirvana. I liked Green Day and Weezer's radio hits. I didn't like Nirvana.

      None of them really influenced me until much later.

        1. Eh, that one was just background noise to me compared to the other 3. It was there, but it wasn't like those other 3.

  16. * Heartbreaker - Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
    * Tonight is the Last Night of the World - Leyland Kirby - Sadly, the Future is No Longer What it Was
    * Fire - The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced?
    * Monkey!!! Knife!!! Fight!!! - Minus the Bear - Highly Refined Pirates
    * The Lung - Dinosaur Jr - You're Living All Over Me
    * No Pun Intended - The Hives - Tyrannosaurus Hives
    * Frozen Angels - Zoe Keating - Natoma
    * If You See Her, Say Hello - Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
    * Thomas - A Perfect Circle - Mer de Noms
    * Swayed by the Wind (Awakening) - Field Rotation - And Tomorrow I Will Sleep

    No 1994 tracks there. Not even anything from the '90s there.

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