Rolling Stone recently wrote a list of the 40 best alternative albums of 1994, and while they included a ton of excellent albums (Parklife, Weezer's Blue Album, Dookie), I also noticed that a ton of classics were missing as well (and replaced by Korn and Bush, for some reason). Here are eight great albums from 1994 that Rolling Stone must have simply forgotten to add to their list.
1. Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand
Though many up and coming indie bands employ lo-fi recording techniques out of sheer necessity, it was Guided By Voices who turned lo-fi rock into an art form unto itself with its breakthrough LP Bee Thousand. The album was intended to be GBV's last, but after it attracted interest from significant indie labels, the band decided to continue.
2. Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Pavement's debut album Slanted & Enchanted may be a murky tangle of cheap guitar fuzz (not an insult), but the band's follow up Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain is the ultimate indie rock summer album, featuring the best songs Stephen Malkmus ever wrote.
3. Morrissey - Vauxhall & I
After doing his take on glam rock with 1992's near-perfect Your Arsenal, Morrissey returned to his gloomy roots with the darkly atmospheric Vauxhall & I. Though there are some upbeat rockers in the mix ("The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get" sounds like a lost Oasis classic), Morrissey and his band seem to have predicted the ethereal dread of Interpol and the National with incredible songs like "Speedway".
4. Pulp - His 'n' Hers
It's hard to believe that Pulp had been a band for 16 years before finally breaking through to the mainstream with the incredible His 'n' Hers, an album that takes the unabashed sexuality of Prince and filters it through a quirky Britpop lense.
5. Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary
In the midst of the grunge explosion in Seattle, a weird band called Sunny Day Real Estate emerged to give the world a bigger, darker, and more melodic version of emo. The band's debut album Diary is an intense and deeply poetic collection of songs that would inspire a thousand imitators.
6. Sebadoh - Bakesale
After Lou Barlow was unceremoniously ejected from Dinosaur Jr., he went off and expanded his solo project Sebadoh into a full-fledged band. Sebadoh's most perfect and concise album was its fifth, Bakesale, which twisted Dinosaur Jr.'s lo-fi guitar rock until it was more neurotic, punchy, and emotional.
7. Built to Spill - There's Nothing Wrong with Love
In my article on bands who should be on classic rock radio, Built to Spill was one of the first artists to come to mind, in large part because of their sophomore effort There's Nothing Wrong with Love. Whatever quirks and emotions you may associate with classic '90s alternative can be found right here in this album.
8. Portishead - Dummy
The atmosphere that Portishead created on its debut album Dummy is so absolutely perfect that the band could have recorded any song in this eerie, smoky style, and it would have completely worked. The blend of hip-hop beats, soulful singing, and gothic ambience makes this one of the greatest debuts of the '90s, and certainly of 1994.
What are some of your favorite albums of 1994? Let us know in the comments section!
