1.5 years ago I re-started this blog, made two posts...and then abandoned it again! Here's the third post I started, which would have been much more relevant if released in 2024, but, hey, shit happens. This post is now 49 year old me looking back at 18 year old me and that person's musical faves.
A few years ago, I re-found my old writing book from my final year of high school. It is a standard Hilroy notebook with 250 pages. It has a large Tristan Psionic sticker on the front cover, with smaller Hartford Whalers stickers on the corners. My final year of high school spanned 1994 and 95. Some people say the last year of high school is the best year of your life. Or maybe no one says that, and I just made it up. At any rate, my last year of high school was very similar to my first 4 years of high school. I was never cool, this remained the same, but I had great friends, we had good times and I continued to invest heavily in music, namely CDs.
32 years later, I am married, have two great kids, a crazy dog and a job I like. But certain things haven't changed: namely, I'm still not cool, and I am still investing heavily in music, granted mostly vinyl now, with the occasional CD and cassette.
Only the music part and maybe the not cool part is relevant to this blog post because contained within the pages of horrible poetry and stilted fiction was my top 10 albums of 1994.
Behold. I have replicated this list below and as an added bonus, I have included my mini-reviews from said notebook.
10. "Dookie" - Green Day. Ted's Take: 14 two and a half minute toe tappers from the '90's "Punk Rockers".
9. "American Thighs" - Veruca Salt. Ted's Take: Their Nirvana-like guitar sound and amazing vocals are all one can ask for.
8. "Monster" - R.E.M. Ted's Take: Heavy guitars, Michael Stipe's ferocious vocals and kick-ass tracks. Awesome!
7. "Vitalogy" - Pearl Jam. Ted's Take: Wade through the crap and you've got a solid effort from these Seattle rockers.
6. "Whip-Smart" - Liz Phair. Ted's Take: A good mix of rock, punk, folk and country. A welcome addition to any collection.
5. "Definitely Maybe" - Oasis. Ted's Take: These British rockers show you why you should say "Definitely" to purchasing this one.
4. "Amorica" - The Black Crowes. Ted's Take: The first two tracks kick your ass, while the remaining beat the rest of you up. Amazing!
3. "Unplugged In New York" - Nirvana. Ted's Take: A great goodbye gift from the founders of "grunge".
2. "Purple" - Stone Temple Pilots. Ted's Take: Panned by most critics, this disc heated up my player for the whole summer. Powerful.
1. "The Blue Album" - Weezer. Ted's Take: The concert clinched it! Ten pop filled and kickin' tracks. Excellent!
Honorable Mentions: "Smash" - The Offspring, "Wildflowers" - Tom Petty, "Starry" - The Killjoys, "Superunknown" - Soundgarden, "Troublegum" - Therapy?
Two things. One, my mini-reviews are fairly awful and in some cases, inaccurate or misinformed. Two, would I rank these albums in the same order 31 years later? Would I swap any out? Did I make any grave oversights? Let's re-write the past and go on a journey through one of the best years in music.
First, here is a list of other albums released in 1994, which I like, but did not make my list:
- "Ill Communication" - Beastie Boys
- "Dummy" - Portishead
- "Live Through This" - Hole
- "Dog Man Star" - Suede
- "Parklife" - Blur
- "His n' Hers" - Pulp
- "The Downward Spiral" - Nine Inch Nails
- "No Need To Argue" - The Cranberries
- "Jar Of Flies" - Alice In Chains
- "Pisces Iscariot" - Smashing Pumpkins
- "Protection" - Massive Attack
- "Sixteen Stone" - Bush (Bush X in Canada back then!)
- "Throwing Copper" - Live
- "Ready To Die" - Notorious BIG
- "Hallucigenia" - Lowest Of The Low
- "Day For Night" - The Tragically Hip
- "In The Trees" - The Watchmen
- "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain" - Pavement
- "Voodoo Lounge" - The Rolling Stones
Jesus, 1994 really was a great year for music and I'm leaving out albums that I just never connected with and/or have never heard. Maybe the first step in revisiting the top 10 is to figure out which albums from 1994 I still listen to with some regularity.
Still listen to regularly:
- Monster (top 10)
- Definitely Maybe (top 10)
- Amorica (top 10)
- Purple (top 10)
- The Blue Album (top 10)
- Wildflowers (honorable mention)
- Parklife (not on list)
- Jar Of Flies (not on list)
- Dummy (not on list)
Spin a few times a year:
- American Thighs (top 10)
- Vitalogy (top 10)
- Whip-Smart (top 10)
- Unplugged In NY (top 10)
- Troublegum (honorable mention)
- Superunknown (honroable mention)
- Ill Communication (not on list)
- Hallucigenia (not on list)
- Live Through This (not on list)
- Throwing Copper (not on list)
- Pisces Iscariot (not on list)
- Day For Night (not on list)
I would listen to The Watchmen's "In The Trees" more but it is not on vinyl. Come on guys.
In light of all of this information, let's take another look at the top 10.
10. "Dookie" - Green Day
The only top 10 album I rarely spin is "Dookie", mostly because Sirius XM's Lithium plays the key tracks like once an hour and I only have the picture disc vinyl, whose sound is terrible. "Dookie" was my gateway to Green Day but I prefer listening to "Warning", "Nimrod" or "American Idiot". So, I guess we have a vacancy in the top 10.
9. "American Thighs" - Veruca Salt
I like this album, I like this band, but I'm moving this out of the top 10. Sorry Veruca Salt!
8. "Monster" - R.E.M.
R.E.M. is an all time top 5 band, and #8 is too low a ranking. I know people shit on "Monster" but hell, it still rocks 30 years later. This one is moving up the list...
7. "Vitalogy" - Pearl Jam
I may get some hate for this comment, but I haven't liked a Pearl Jam release since "Avocado" in 2006. "Dark Matter" is wildly overrated in my mind and the less said about "Backspacer" and "Riot Act", the better. As a result, Pearl Jam has lost relevancy with me and I find myself skipping their tunes often when they come on Lithium. While "Vitalogy" contains some great songs, I'm going to drop it out of the top 10. Sorry Pearl Jam!
6. "Whip-Smart" - Liz Phair
Still love Liz Phair and this album in particular. This one is staying on the list.
5. "Definitely Maybe" - Oasis
Maybe you've read my previous blog posts and/or seen my Instagram posts to know that I sort of like Oasis. This one is moving up the list...
4. "Amorica" - The Black Crowes
The Black Crowes' first three albums are brilliant. This one may move down a few slots but it's going to stay in the top 10, mostly because "Gone" is one of the best opening tracks on any album and "Descending" is one of the best closing tracks on any album.
3. "Unplugged in NY" - Nirvana
Legendary unplugged set. "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" might the most haunting song of all time. But I don't revisit it too often. This one is staying in the list but will drop.
2. "Purple" - Stone Temple Pilots
One of my favourite albums of all time. Staying in the list, and maybe staying at this number.
1. "The Blue Album" - Weezer
One of my favourite debuts of all time. Will it stay at #1 though?
The 2026 1994 Top 10 (previous position in parenthesis):
I get that this is revisionist history, but the notebook still exists and now the original list is forever immortalized on the interwebs. I think that sometimes you need perspective, and to see what albums, artists and songs grow with you.
10. "Unplugged in NY"- Nirvana (#3). Feels right here.
9. "Parklife" - Blur (*New*). Full confession, I hated Blur in 1994 and most of 1995. They were too British, "Girls & Boys" was annoying, "Country House" beat "Roll With It" in the "Battle of Britpop". For some reason, I decided to buy "The Great Escape" during the first few weeks of University. And I heard "The Universal". And my hatred of Blur dissipated. Now, Blur is one of my favourite bands. "Parklife" is such a fun record but also has great moments of sorrow ("This Is A Low"). It's gotta be on the list.
8. "Amorica" - The Black Crowes (#4). Still a great album, but #4 is too high (get it?!) as there are a couple of filler tracks on this one.
7. "Whip-Smart" - Liz Phair (#6). Only drops 1 spot.
6. "Jar Of Flies" - Alice In Chains (*New*). Maybe my favourite EP of all time. Their unplugged set is my favourite unplugged set as well. The song "Nutshell" is so, so good.
5. "Monster" - R.E.M (#8). R.E.M. didn't miss in the 90's. Or in the 80's for that matter.
4. "The Blue Album" - Weezer (#1). Yes, I dropped my #1 album of 1994 to #4. I was riding a Weezer wave in 1994; my friends and I saw them play the Opera House in Toronto and met the band, they had great b-sides. I still like this album a lot, but I do like "Pinkerton" more.
3. "Definitely Maybe" - Oasis (#5). I know, tt's not #1, even after they crushed their reunion concerts (I saw both Toronto shows, YAY!). I love this album so much, but there are two more from 1994 that I like more.
2. "Purple" - Stone Temple Pilots (#2). I just played this album again last week and it holds up so well. Miss Weiland a lot.
1. "Wildflowers" - Tom Petty (*New*). This is where time and perspective comes in. If you asked me what my 11th favourite album of all time is, the answer would be "Wildflowers". Every few years, I find a new favourite song on this record. Currently, it is "Crawling Back To You". The depth of songwriting is incredible and I spin this album at least once a month.
So, there you go. Only 3 swaps but one was pretty major. Maybe less time between blog posts? Maybe this will be the last one?
Until next time...
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