With the advent of 2014 upon us we have already been inflicted with The Voice’s third season to scar our musical landscape and the return of Pitbull and Ke$ha to rape our clubs for the next coming weeks. Although with another year comes another chance for artists to cash in on Anniversary tours and for magazine/blogospheres to be lazy journalists and talk about a certain album ten/twenty years on. I shall be doing the latter as I have chosen a couple of albums which will be celebrating their 20th Birthday this year, old enough to be known as a classic but young enough to have its artists still creating music today. 1994 was the year Kurt Cobain’s heroin addiction claimed his life and MTV driven artists such as Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams and Sting were pitted against underground artists in the billboard charts. I have only looked at a couple of great albums and missed albums like Sunny Day Real Estate and what is seen by some as the birth of the ‘emo’ generation, as well as albums from Prodigy, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam. 1994 was really the year for Hip-hop and rap music and a time where music exec’s shifted their focus from the family friendly soft rock stars into edgier and more dividing characters.
Outkast- Southernplayalistcadillacmuzik
After a chance meeting on an airplane with none other than Rev Run, he introduced me and my Dad onto Outkast just before the release of the chart-topping Ms Jackson off of Stankonia. It wasn’t until years later than I turned back onto Outkast debut album coming out just two years after Andre 3000 and Big Boi met at just 16 years old. The album is primarily a southern rap album but with Babyface and Organized Noize as producers there are elements of R&B and Funk which the Outkast sound has become famous for. The beats on tracks such as ‘Funky Ride’ wouldn’t seem out of place on any track released in 2014 and Andre 3000 showcases throughout why he is regarded as one of the best rappers around. Southernplaylist isn’t necessarily a classic, it’s not even necessarily Outkast’s best album, which I would give to Aquemeni. Although it is a mission statement from Outkast and with their reunion tour playing at 40 festivals over the year, the funk, rap and stylish mentalities that are heralded on this album will still be present today.
Jeff Buckley- Grace
Looking back on the nineties and the tragic deaths of some of music’s rising stars, Jeff Buckley’s demise is the most unsettling for me. Admittedly when he went into the water on that fateful night it was three years after the release of the brilliant ‘Grace’ and we have no idea how ‘Sketches for my Sweetheart the Drunk’ would have turned out but his talent that shone through on his debut album suggests the brilliance he possessed. Jeff Buckley’s guitar playing and voice on the album combines folk sensibilities with the popular sound of Alternative Rock at the time and drew numerous admirers including David Bowie who claimed it was one of the best albums ever made. From his haunting cover of ‘Hallejuah’ to his lingering vocals on ‘Lilac Wine’ there was no one like him at the time and no-one like him since. The album still holds up twenty years later and tracks such as ‘Lover, You Should’ve Come Over’ are still as beautiful as the day our tragic hero penned it.
Nas- Illmatic
What can be said about Nas’s classic debut album that hasn’t already been said, twenty years later and this album is still the benchmark for every other rap album. With DJ Premier claiming that his long-awaited collaboration with Nas will be out this year it is a good time to look back to Nas at his hungriest and his choice of beats at its finest. Every track on the album could have been a single with Nas’s poetic delivery and his ability to transcend you to the streets of Queens Bridge, I challenge anyone to listen NY State of Mind and not want to bark out ‘I never sleep, because sleep is the cousin of death’. I go on about Nas too much but Illmatic is a masterpiece, enough said.
Best Tracks of 1994
Jamiroquai- Space Cowboy
The Brand New Heavies- Have a good time
Aaliyah- Back and Forth
Bruce Springsteen- Streets of Philadelphia
Johnny Cash- Let the Train Blow the Whistle
Mary J Blige- I’m going down
Stone Temple Pilots- Interstate Love Song
KJ's Music 