1994 Was The Awesomest Year For Music
Here’s the definitive 100-song playlist — including The Notorious B.I.G., Nirvana, TLC, and Ace of Base — to prove it.
While it’s true that every year is good for music, 1994 stands out as one of the all-time greatest years in the history of popular music, up there with 1967, 1971, 1987 and 2003. It wasn’t just that the year overflowed with excellent music that has stood the test of time, but that these 12 months established a new crop of stars across all genres who went on to become the foundation of rap, rock, indie, electronic and R&B music as we know it today. Here’s why.
3. A Victory Lap For Grunge!
Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Hole and Stone Temple Pilots released their best records, while Nirvana went out at the top of their game with MTV Unplugged in New York.
4. A Hip-Hop Renaissance!
The Notorious B.I.G., Snoop Dogg, Nas, Outkast, Gang Starr and Method Man broke the mold and set the bar impossibly high for rap fans.
5. Indie Rock Thrives!
Pavement, Guided by Voices, Liz Phair, Stereolab, Sonic Youth, Helium, Sebadoh, Archers of Loaf and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion were the toast of zines and college radio.
6. Britpop Emerges!
England produced a new crop of icons including Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Elastica and Suede.
7. R&B Is Reinvented!
Aaliyah made her debut, while TLC, R. Kelly, Mary J. Blige and Boyz II Men dominated the charts.
8. Alt-Rock Rules The Radio!
Veruca Salt, Weezer, Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, Tori Amos, R.E.M., Beastie Boys and Beck scored idiosyncratic hits.
9. Completely Weird Stuff Could Become Really Popular!
It was a time when a morbid, droning song about childhood trauma sung by a Canadian dude with an absurdly low voice could sell a lot of records.
10. The Best Cheesy Pop!
Ace of Base! Counting Crows! Mariah Carey’s Christmas song! The Lion King soundtrack! Even the super dorky stuff was awesome in 1994.
This 100-song playlist covers the highlights of 1994, with music from across all genres. Major hits are side by side with cult favorites, and stuff you might consider a “guilty pleasure” is slotted along with critical darlings. You can stream it all on Rdio…
1994 was clearly an amazing year for music. Did we miss anything?
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- MissDeemented 1994 Was The Awesomest Year For Music
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villagegrl 9 months agoDinosaur Jr released albums in 93 and 94, Siamese Dream was released in 94 so if you were a senior in college (like me) the tour went well into 94, Afghan Whigs Gentleman was also 93, Lush released Split and the single Hypocrite in 94, Superchunk put out albums in 93 & 94, Soundgarden Superunknown was ‘94, Liz Phair- Exile From Guyvile & Whipsmart were ‘93/94 respectively, PJ Harvey Rid of Me was 93. So- all in all- 93 into 94- pretty damn good.
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CameronHodge 9 months agoHip hop actually peaked in ‘93 but it was definitely still riding high a year later.
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daniellel3 9 months agoKudos on the inclusion of Lush! Split (their 1994 release) was a great album!
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Apequake 9 months agoHere are my favorite albums from 1994: 1. Pavement – Crooked Rain Crooked Rain
2. Beastie Boys – Ill Communication
3. The Divine Comedy – Promenade
4. Parklife – Blur
5. Sonic Youth – Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star
6. Jesus and Mary Chain – Stoned and Dethroned
7. Beck – Mellow Gold
8. Weezer – Weezer (Blue)
9. Nirvana – Unplugged In New York
10. Frank Black – Teenager of the Year -
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Apequake 9 months ago
I blogged this years ago. Here is my Top 50 songs of 1994 (based on Billboard’s Top-40 chart w/ highest chart position) 50. Stay - Eternal (19) 49. Secret - Madonna (3) 48. Can We Talk - Tevin Campbell (9) 47. ‘Round Here - Counting Crows (31) 46. You Know How We Do It - Ice Cube (30) 45. Tremor Christ - Pearl Jam (18) 44. Unbelievable - The Notorious B.I.G. (27) 43. I Wanna Be Down - Brandy (7) 42. Getto Jam - Domino (7) 41. Fall Down - Toad The Wet Sprocket (33) 40. Stay (I Missed You) - Lisa Loeb (1) 39. Sweet Potatoe Pie - Domino (27) 38. Prayer For The Dying - Seal (21) 37. Back And Forth - Aaliyah (5) 36. Funkdafied - Da Brat (6) 35. You Want This - Janet Jackson (8) 34. On Bended Knee - Boyz II Men (1) 33. Without You - Mariah Carey (3) 32. At Your Best (You Are Love) - Aaliyah (6) 31. Whatta Man - Salt-N-Pepa (3) 30. The Sign - Ace Of Base (1) 29. Do You Wanna Get Funky - C And C Music Factory (40) 28. Shine - Collective Soul (11) 27. Because The Night - 10,000 Maniacs (11) 26. Feenin’ - Jodeci (25) 25. Mr. Vain - Culture Beat (17) 24. Player’s Ball - Outkast (37) 23. Wild Night - John Cougar Mellencamp (3) 22. Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm - Crash Test Dummies (4) 21. Mary Jane’s Last Dance - Tom Petty (14) 20. Your Body’s Callin’ - R. Kelly (13) 19. Breathe Again - Toni Braxton (3) 18. What’s The Frequency, Kenneth? - R.E.M. (21) 17. Cry For You - Jodeci (15) 16. Linger - The Cranberries (8) 15. Fantastic Voyage - Coolio (3) 14. Pumps And A Bump - M.C. Hammer (26) 13. All I Wanna Do - Sheryl Crow (2) 12. Bop Gun (One Nation) - Ice Cube (23) 11. Thuggish-Ruggish-Bone - Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (22) 10. Mr. Jones - Counting Crows (5) 9. Keep Ya Head Up - 2Pac (12) 8. Give It Up - Public Enemy (33) 7. What’s My Name? - Snoop Doggy Dog (8) 6. Bump ‘N Grind - R. Kelly (1) 5. Loser - Beck (10) 4. Lucas With The Lid Off - Lucas (29) 3. Cantaloop - US3 (9) 2. Gin And Juice - Snoop Doggy Dog (8) 1. Regulate - Warren G (2)
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Cates Holderness 9 months agoI find the lack of femmy-lesbian-folk-rock in this list very disappointing. “Swamp Ophelia” came out in 1994, as did Ani DiFrano’s “Out of Range”.
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