Less than a year ago, I saw Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden in concert. 2014 marked the 20th anniversary of two of the most important albums of both bands’ careers.  Most of my students know I am a huge music snob.  And if you have spent any time in my class, you might have had an opportunity to hear some pretty great songs from the days of my youth and listen to me ramble on about their significance in music history. And with 2014 still fresh in our minds, I thought it might be cool to educate students about one of the most important years in music, 1994.

 I have to first say that, of course this is all my opinion, and second, since we are talking about the music I listened to, we are talking purely about ROCK.

 When people ask me about music in the 1990s, I always tell people that there were the big 6 that really changed the face of music: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains (all from Seattle), The Smashing Pumpkins (Chicago), and Stone Temple Pilots (San Diego). In a year that saw albums from all of them, 1994 might have been the turning point in the 90s for music.

 Nirvana had changed the sound in ’91 when they broke into the mainstream with “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, and other bands were expanding on that sound and mixing it with the music of their own upbringing. By ’94, Cobain was dead and several different sub-genres of rock were exploding all over the world, giving birth to grunge, alternative, indie, Brit-pop, industrial, and feminist girl rock.

 1994 saw debut albums from some of the most important bands in history: Weezer, Outkast, Beck (well, major-label debut), Jeff Buckley, Marilyn Manson, Oasis, Korn, Portishead, Veruca Salt, Soul Coughing, Bush and the Dave Matthews Band. It also saw the formation of The Flys, Garbage, Maroon 5, Muse, Sigur Rós, The Sneaker Pimps, Snow Patrol, The Spice Girls, Tenacious D, and The Fugees.

 With that being said, here’s a list of some of the most important albums and songs from 1994.  Make a play list, give a listen, and see what music influenced some of the bands you love and the adults in your life.

 Some of these songs have explicit content. Almost all of them have clean versions, but none of them feature music videos of half naked girls swinging from wrecking balls, Beyonce’s booty, crazy costumes made of meat, or little red solo cups.

 Listen at your own risk.

 Top 10 albums of 1994 [In my opinion, of course].

1. Jeff Buckley – Grace

Notable Songs: “Hallelujah”, “Last Goodbye”, “Lover, You Should Have Come Over”, “Mojo Pin”.

1. Nirvana – MTV Unplugged

Notable Songs: (LOL… pretty much all of them) “The Man Who Sold The  World” (David Bowie cover), “Pennyroyal Tea”, “Dumb”, “Polly”, “Something in the Way”, “Lake of Fire” (Meatheads cover), “All Apologies”

1. Pearl Jam – Vitalogy

Notable Songs: “Nothingman”, “Better Man”, “Corduroy”, “Not For You”, “Spin The Black Circle”, “Immortality”, “Tremor Christ”

1. Green Day – Dookie

Notable Songs: “When I Come Around”, “Longview”, “She”, “Welcome to Paradise”, “Basket Case”

1. Weezer – Weezer (“The Blue Album”)

Notable Songs: “Say It Ain’t So”, “Buddy Holly”, “Undone-The Sweater Song”, “My Name Is Jonas”

1. The Toadies – Rubberneck

Notable Songs: “Possum Kingdom”, “Tyler”, “Away”, “I Burn”, “Backslider”

1. Soundgarden – Superunknown

Notable Songs: “Black Hole Sun”, “The Day I Tried to Live”, “Spoonman”, “Fell on Black Days”

1. Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral

Notable Songs: “Hurt”, “Closer” (very explicit), “Piggy”, “March of the Pigs”

1. The Smashing Pumpkins – Pisces Iscariot

Notable Songs: “Landslide”, “Starla”, “Obscured”, “Hello Kitty Kat”, “Soothe”, “Frail and Bedazzled”

10)  Stone Temple Pilots – Purple

Notable Songs: “Interstate Love Song”, “Vasoline”, “Big Empty”

Runners Up:

1. Manic Street Preachers – The Holy Bible

Notable Songs: “Faster”, “Yes”, “She is Suffering”, “4st 7lb”, “This Is

Yesterday”, “Mausoleum”

1. Alice In Chains – Jar of Flies E.P.

Notable Songs: “I Stay Away”, “Nutshell”, “No Excuses”

1. Bush – Sixteen Stone

Notable Songs: “Everything Zen”, “Glycerine”, “Machinehead”, “Comedown”, “Little Things”

Other Important Albums:

• Folk/Blues Influenced
  • Hootie & the Blowfish – Cracked Rear View (more ’95)
  • Blues Traveler – Four
  • Guster – Parachute

• Electronica
  • Underworld – Dubnobasswithmyheadman
  • Portishead – Dummy

• Hip Hop/R&B Influenced
  • The Fugees – Blunted on Reality

• Soundtracks

• Reality Bites Soundtrack

• The Crow Soundtrack

• Forest Gump

• Pulp Fiction

• Rock
  • Beck – Mellow Gold
  • Our Lady Peace – Naveed
  • Live – Throwing Copper
  • The Offspring – Smash

• Female Lead
  • Veruca Salt – American Thighs
  • Hole – Live Through This
  • The Cranberries – No Need to Argue

• Brit Pop
  • Oasis – Definitely Maybe
  • Blur – Parklife

Just in case you are one of those people who don’t believe in buying a whole album (and shame on you if you don’t believe in whole albums), here are some of the best songs 1994 had to offer so that you can make a boss playlist.

List is alphabetical by song:

1. “About a Girl” (Unplugged) – Nirvana
2. “All Apologies” (Unplugged)– Nirvana
3. “All I Wanna Do” – Sheryl Crow
4. “Basket Case” – Green Day
5. “Better Man” – Pearl Jam
6. “Big Empty” – Stone Temple Pilots
7. “Black Hole Sun” – Soundgarden
8. “Buddy Holly” – Weezer
9. “Closer” – Nine Inch Nails
10. “Come Out and Play” – The Offspring
11. “Corduroy” – Pearl Jam
12. “Creep” – Stone Temple Pilots
13. “Disarm” – Smashing Pumpkins (Album Released in ’93, but single released in ’94)
14. “Dissident” – Pearl Jam
15. “Dreams” – The Cranberries
16. “Fall Down” – Toad the Wet Sprocket
17. “Far Behind” – Candlebox
18. “Faster” – Manic Street Preachers
19. “Fell on Black Days” – Soundgarden
20. “Found Out About You” – Gin Blossoms
21. “Girls & Boys” – Blur
22. “I Alone” – Live
23. “I’ll Stand by You” – The Pretenders
24. “Interstate Love Song” – Stone Temple Pilots
25. “Landslide” – Smashing Pumpkins
26. “Longview” – Green Day
27. “Loser” – Beck (originally released in ’93, but didn’t really get played till ’94)
28. “Low” – Cracker
29. “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
30. “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” – Crash Test Dummies
31. “Mr. Jones” – Counting Crows
32. “No Excuses” – Alice in Chains
33. “Nothing Man” – Pearl Jam
34. “Seether” – Veruca Salt
35. “Self Esteem” – The Offspring
36. “Selling the Drama” – Live
37. “She” – Green Day
38. “Shine” – Collective Soul
39. “Spoonman” – Soundgarden
40. “Stay (I Missed You)” – Lisa Loeb
41. “Undone” – The Sweater Song – Weezer
42. “Vasoline” – Stone Temple Pilots
43. “Welcome to Paradise” – Green Day
44. “What Would You Say” – Dave Matthews Band
45. “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” – REM
46. “When I Come Around” – Green Day
47. “Yes” – Manic Street Preacher
48. “You” – Candlebox
49. “Zombie” – The Cranberries
50. “4st 7lb” – Manic Street Preacher