Albums in My Life: 1995

In this next chapter of albums in my life, I take on 1995. This was my first year in school, and I'm starting to have actual memories of my life at this point. I can't remember a whole lot before that, but then again, I can hardly remember what I had for lunch yesterday.


No Doubt: Tragic Kingdom
Remember when Gwen Stefani was associated with good music? No Doubt was one of the more popular bands in the third wave ska revival, and for good reason. The players were pretty decent, and Stefani's lyrics brought a different perspective than most ska bands at the time; a female voice. I really enjoy the bouncy songs, and it's a little bit more polished than some of the more raw ska punk stuff that was around in the same So-Cal scene. Plus 'Don't Speak' is a stone cold classic.




Oasis: (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
Being an American, I was really only exposed to 'Wonderwall' on the radio, but when some further digging is done, there's a lot more to this album. This is probably the high Britpop watermark, and Oasis definitely deserve to be in that best British bands conversation, based on this album alone. The band adds a little more psychedelia to its overblown guitar anthems here, and Noel Gallagher tightened up his songwriting to improve upon the already great formula they laid out on Definitely Maybe.




Radiohead: The Bends
I, for a long time, was a Radiohead holdout. The amazing amount of hype surrounding the band was a little annoying to me, and I never even gave them a chance. I eventually heard a couple songs here and there, thought they were pretty cool, and decided to check out some of their albums. Though I still can't get into anything past Ok Computer (too abstract and "artsy". If you want to say I don't "get it", Radiohead fanboys, I'm cool with that), their first three albums are pretty cool, and The Bends is definitely my favorite, blending rock guitars with some very melodic and sensitive material. Better than Kid A. Come at me, Radiohead fans.


The Smashing Pumpkins: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
I always go back and forth as to whether this or Siamese Dream is my favorite Smashing Pumpkins album, and that's really a testament to the band. The albums are quite different in approach. Whereas Siamese Dream is pretty cohesive and tight, Mellon Collie is a sprawling monstrosity that plays with tons of different genres and emotions. Billy Corgan described it as "The Wall for Generation X", but I see it much more as their White Album, or Exile on Main St. There's just so much material here, and though it makes for a somewhat cluttered product, it's a beautiful mess, and wouldn't capture the same magic if it were edited down.


Wilco: A.M.
I'm a bigger fan of Uncle Tupelo than I am of Wilco, but the debut by the latter has enough alt country flavor of the former mixed with alt rock to be intriguing. As Wilco drifted further and further from their alt country roots, I started to lose interest, but A.M. is still great. I first found this after I heard 'Passenger Side' played on How I Met Your Mother, and got me a little more interested in country music, as up until then I had avoided the genre entirely, my opinion soured by country radio crossover schlock that plagued the airwaves in the '90s to early '00s. An unlikely gateway drug for country music, but it was mine nonetheless.




In the next post, I'll be looking at some formative albums from the year 1996. I'm also currently working on my year end lists for 2018, so you'll have that to look forward to as well (as if someone is actually reading).




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Albums in My Life: 1994

In 1994, I was still in preschool, so it's no shock that none of the albums on this list were introduced to me in that year.


Alice in Chains: Jar of Flies
I feel like this is Alice in Chains' best record, and as far as I know, it's one of the top selling EPs of all time. Its also Alice in Chains at their most restrained, as a lot of the instrumentation and arrangements are acoustic. I feel like this is the record with some of the band's strongest songwriting, and some of my favorite Alice in Chains songs, like 'Nutshell' and 'No Excuses', are on this EP.






Beck: Mellow Gold
This was the album that put Beck on the map, but also the record that had people calling him a one hit wonder. Apart from 'Loser', most people didn't really give this album a chance, but if you actually give it a fair shake, this project has some great moments. 'Soul Suckin Jerk' and 'Beercan' are just as poppy and quirky, and 'Pay No Mind' and 'Blackhole' indicate some of the folkier directions to come. I feel like pop music audiences weren't quite ready for the genre blending and the slightly dirty, unpolished nature of Mellow Gold. Two years and some hip hop infused Dust Brothers production later, people couldn't get enough of Beck.


Manic Street Preachers: The Holy Bible
This is the Manics masterpiece, in my opinion. The music is strong, and the writing even stronger. This was their last album before the disappearance of lyricist and rhythm guitarist Richey Edwards, who is vastly underappreciated in the world of rock lyricists. The album has such a pessimistic and pitch black world view, and covers a lot of pretty dark subject matter for a mainstream rock record. Let's just say, in the 90's, you didn't see Blur or Oasis singing about prostitution, the holocaust, eating disorders, or serial killers. It also has the best bass tone ever: the disgustingly sludgy opening of 'Archives of Pain'.


Nine Inch Nails: The Downward Spiral
This was the sound of many a disaffected teenagers angst at the time, and for the generations to come. It was also my entry point into Nine Inch Nails, and industrial music in general. The record is so angry and nihilistic and spoke to me to a pretty large degree in my teens and early 20s. I was that kind of kid, I guess. I feel like this album has been discussed and analyzed to death, and yet I can't help but noticed new layers of instrumentation even after listening to it for years. I got the remastered vinyl last year, and it was like becoming reacquainted with an old friend, and yet finding out deep personal secrets from them you never knew.


Weezer: Weezer (The Blue Album)
People see a lot of Weezer material as a bit of a joke, but one listen to this album reminds you that when they're good, that outdoes all the bad. The only weak song on here in my opinion is 'No One Else', and that has more to do with the subject matter than anything else. I love their mix of pop and heavy guitars. Somehow the guitars are mixed to be super fuzzy and heavy, but the melody of the riffs and the rest of the music isn't completely lost, which is a problem I feel occurs all too often. A crowning achievement in '90s pop rock and emo(ish) music, for sure.



Sorry for running a little behind. Holiday stuff has kept me pretty busy. Next time I'll be looking at some formative records from the year I started school (albeit near the end of it): 1995.


"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."