2024 was amazing for music, where we saw amazing success for artists like Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Kendrick Lamar and Tyler the Creator. 

Rewinding 30 years takes us to a completely different time. “Friends” was in its very first season, Taylor Swift was 5 years old, Bill Clinton was the president, there were no Star Wars prequels and Donald Trump was just that rich guy in the second “Home Alone” movie. The world was a simpler place.

It was a transitionary period in America as well. The cultural relevance of grunge was on the decline and hip-hop was on the rise. Nirvana had ended after Kurt Cobain’s death and artists like Nas, Weezer and Oasis were putting out their first of many albums.

So, join me on a journey through 1994, the greatest year of modern music history.

February 1 – “Dookie” by Green Day

After two albums found limited success, Green Day, a trio from southern California, released their breakout album. This release revolutionized pop-punk. 

Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day’s lead singer and guitarist, wrote most of the album.

“Back then, I just wanted to write songs I could be proud of and be able to play in five years,” Armstrong said to Rolling Stone. 

The songs have deeply emotional and political messages, such as “Basket Case,” a song about Armstrong dealing with his sexuality and mental health issues.

“The approach sort of changed where now, the song, it was about panic attacks,” Armstrong said on the podcast Song Exploder.

During his “Song Exploder” appearance, Armstrong talked about the song’s relationship with gender.

“It got me thinking differently about how to approach gender and their roles. And so yeah, I think that’s a big moment on that song, was the decision to switch that from what you hear on the demo,” Armstrong said.

The album has a sense of humor as well. 

Some of my favorite jokes come from “Longview,” like, “Call me pathetic, call me what you will” with the backup vocals responding with, “We will” is just undeniably funny. Or in “FOD” when Armstrong says “Stuck down in a rut of dis-logic and smut.”

The album’s political themes are also very present. 

“She” is an overtly feminist song. Lines like “Are you locked up in a world that’s been planned out for you? Are you feeling like a social tool without a use?” clearly illustrate that social commentary.

Green Day’s breakout album has been important to generations of artists. Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz as well as Billie Eilish each cite Green Day’s “Dookie” as hugely influential to them. 

To say “Dookie” is an important or amazing album would be an understatement. It is genuinely one of my favorite albums of all time and one of the most perfect albums ever written.

March 8, 1994 – “Superunknown” by Soundgarden

Soundgarden was one of the most prominent grunge bands of its time. 

The Seattle-based band emerged with genre contemporaries like Nirvana and Pearl Jam and helped bring grunge to the larger public.

“Superunknown” stands as one of the greatest grunge albums, partially because it is more than just a grunge album. 

In truth, it is an eclectic mix of subgenres that is hard to categorize. It retains the punk influences from previous albums but adds pop and classic rock into the mix.

This album is characterized by weird guitar tunings and time signatures that give the songs a unique feeling and sound. Emotionally, the album deals with themes like substance abuse and depression.

Chris Cornell was Soundgarden’s vocalist and rhythm guitarist who wrote most of “Superunknown.” He cited Sylvia Plath as a huge influence on the album’s lyrics and his writing as a whole. 

This album was defining for Soundgarden. Though they had several albums previously, “Superunknown” was Soundgarden’s breakout album and made them who they are remembered as today.

Soundgarden’s influence is large, with both Nirvana and Alice in Chains citing them as an influence on their music. They paved the way for grunge and alt-rock to break out into the mainstream, and in doing so, gave us countless incredible artists.

“Superunknown” is a special album that I would put among the most important ever, certainly worth the time of anyone reading. 

April 19 – “Illmatic” by Nas

Often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time and a pillar of east coast hip-hop, Nas broke through with his debut album “Illmatic.”

Nas had been trying to break into the rap scene since the late 80s when he finally recorded his first demo “Live at the Barbeque” in 1991. After trying to get it picked up for years, Nas started working with DJ Premier, Pete Rock, L.E.S., Large Professor and Q-Tip on what would become “Illmatic.”

According to Nas, “Illmatic is supreme ill. It’s as ill as ill gets.” He named it after his friend Illmatic Ice who was in jail at the time. 

Nas was 19 when recording for “Illmatic” began, and the fact that I am the same age now as Nas was then gives me several personal crises.

“Illmatic” is an amazing album, a true timeless classic. The importance of this album truly cannot be more vast. 

Nas hits on poverty, gang wars, addiction and artistry. Nas grew up during the crack epidemic in New York City, and that imagery pervades the album. 

Nas is a tried and true artist who is uncompromising in his vision and fought against the growing commercial appeal of hip-hop at the time. He is a revolutionary artist whose music has sadly not been remembered nearly as much as it should.

Other contemporaries of Nas, like Jay-Z, Dr. Dre and Biggie, have legacies that pervade culture so much more, which is truly sad to me. Nas is an artist in the truest sense of the word, a man with vision and lyricism unlike any other.

“Illmatic” has a legacy that extends to the giants of modern rap. Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne, Killer Mike and Ghostface Killah have all cited it as influential for them.

For me, “Illmatic” stands alongside Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly” and Dr. Dre’s “2001” as one of my favorite hip-hop albums and has pushed me to be a better writer and a better musician.

May 10 – “The Blue Album” by Weezer

No one makes music for losers quite like Weezer. 

Founded in 1992 in southern California, Weezer is music by nerds and for nerds. Influenced by the Beach Boys, Nirvana and many more, Weezer’s footprint on music history is hard to ignore.

Weezer’s debut album was self-titled, the first of many. Weezer, to date, has six self-titled albums identified by their monochromatic cover art. It all started here, with the Blue Album.

The Blue Album was written mostly by Weezer’s frontman Rivers Cuomo. The album’s unique sound comes from the crunchy guitars paired with Cuomo’s light voice. He utilized his background in metal music to craft beautifully heavy and melodic guitar solos.

The album was produced by The Cars lead singer Ric Ocasek who brings a beautiful touch of 70s new wave. Ocasek went on to produce two more Weezer albums and his work is some of my favorite in music history.

When recording for the album began, the band consisted of Cuomo, guitarist Jason Cropper, bassist Matt Sharp and drummer Patrick Wilson. At this point, Cropper learned his girlfriend was pregnant and didn’t handle it well. After his behavior became too disruptive, Cuomo asked him to leave the band.

Though Cropper’s backup vocals and place on the cover art would be replaced by Brian Bell, who remains the rhythm guitarist of Weezer, his guitar tracks were rerecorded by Cuomo. In one of my favorite music stories, Cuomo went into the studio and laid down his version of the tracks in one session. 

The Blue Album is a hugely influential album, cited by Fall Out Boy, Taylor Swift, Charli XCX, Panic! at the Disco and Jack Antonoff as an inspiration. 

Antonoff is a prolific modern producer, having worked on albums by Taylor Swift, Lana Del Ray, Kendrick Lamar, The 1975, Sabrina Carpenter, Gracie Abrams and Lorde.  Him calling Weezer’s debut, “a truly perfect album” makes me think that it is not unreasonable to say that modern pop music, more specifically Taylor Swift and Lana Del Ray, would not exist the way they do without this album.

I highly suggest listening to the “Billbuds” or the “What’s With These Homies Talkin’ About Weezer” episodes – both are very good dives into the history of the album.

May 20 – “Teenager of the Year” by Frank Black

Coming from Frank Black, frontman of Pixies, “Teenager of the Year” is an alt-rock album with a unique sound.

This album’s appearance in this article comes courtesy of my Sports Editor Jake McMahon who, when I talked about pitching this piece, told me to check out this album.

The album was written entirely by Black, and his writing was “more spontaneous” than previous albums. 

Most of the songs clip by at a quick pace and don’t ever overstay their welcome. The melodies are catchy and the writing is funny and engaging. 

“Teenager of the Year” is a metamorphic album for Black. The album still has some sonic similarities to his work with Pixies but begins to feel more like the albums of his which would come later.

This album is interesting, and its sound is unique. It feels ahead of its time in the way it sounds, more in league with albums of the early 2000s than the early 90s.

Black’s “Teenager of the Year” is an interesting mix of his earlier and later work, and deserves its spot on this list. Also, Jake suggested it, which is more of an endorsement than I could give. 

June 21 – “Let’s Go” by Rancid

“Let’s Go” is a fast-paced, overdriven taste of 90s punk rock that doesn’t let up. While it has a whopping 23 songs, those tracks are packaged into a tight 44 minutes.

Rancid is a punk-rock band from California created by guitarist and singer Tim Armstrong and bassist Matt Freeman.

Rancid’s lineup was in flux before this album’s development. Billie Joe Armstrong was briefly a guitarist for Rancid before deciding to focus full-time on Green Day. 

While it wasn’t a hit upon release, “Let’s Go” would find more success after Green Day and The Offspring gained larger popularity.

Rancid’s style of punk-rock is exactly up my alley. 

While I can appreciate the punk classics like The Ramones, the Sex Pistols and the Dead Kennedys, I can never quite connect with the vocals. I also love Rancid’s contemporaries like Green Day and The Offspring, but the former feels more pop-punk than punk-rock and the heart of the latter’s music never clicked with me.

However, Rancid is 90s punk rock in a beautiful way that makes me want to kick things when I listen to it. And I mean that in a good way.

The music is loud, overdriven and rocks hard. I highly suggest it.

October 3 – “No Need to Argue” by The Cranberries

“No Need to Argue” was The Cranberries’ second studio album and a beautiful eclectic mix of rock subgenres. 

The band’s lead singer, Dolores O’Riordan,  wrote the lyrics for every song. Her beautiful writing makes the album poetic and ethereal in a way most alt-rock bands never attempt or achieve.

The Cranberries hail from Ireland, something very evident in their sound. O’Riordan’s accent comes through in her singing, giving it a distinct quality.

The album delivered the band their biggest hit in “Zombie.” Though a hit single, the song is about the children who were victims of a bombing attack in the U.K. and the song’s tone reflects that. The guitars are heavier, the drums are louder and the bass has this oppressive sound that adds to the O’Riordan’s crying laments.

For some background about the UK at the time, it was in a time of civil unrest with Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland had separated from the United Kingdom in the 1920s, but a small part of the island remained as part of the UK and is known as Northern Ireland.

During a time known as the Troubles, the Irish Republican Army and the British government came into conflict over Northern Ireland’s existence. The IRA wanted a united Irish island while the UK wanted to maintain control over Northern Ireland. There were many casualties and the issue is complicated but it’s important to understand that this was very relevant when this album was written.

“No Need to Argue” is, much like “Dookie,” a product of the political environment it was created in.

Artists like Alanis Morissette, Adele, Halsey and Arcade Fire have shared The Cranberries’ influence on their music.

The Cranberries disbanded after O’Riordan died in 2018. Her voice in writing and singing will be forever immortalized in one of the greatest alt-rock albums.

November 1 – “MTV Unplugged in New York” by Nirvana

Nirvana is a band that needs no introduction. While they did not create grunge, they made it what it was and is. 

Based out of Washington, Nirvana was the picture of 90s counter-culture. The band was led by Kurt Cobain, whose death in April 1994 broke up the band. Nearly seven months afterward, this album was released.

The album was recorded on Nov. 18, 1993. The video aired on MTV later that year and the CD was released nearly a year later to great success. 

The album was a departure from previous MTV Unplugged specials, a series where artists performed their songs acoustically. Cobain insisted on having his acoustic plugged into his Fender amp and effects pedals.

The band and MTV often disagreed about the special. Nirvana wanted their touring partner, The Meat Puppets, to play with them, but MTV executives wanted someone like Pearl Jam. MTV was also upset that Nirvana wasn’t playing a greatest hits collection.

The band played 14 songs in a single take – eight of their own songs and six covers. “Come As You Are” was the only major hit they played.

For the performance, they retained the band’s other two core members, bassist Krist Novoselic and drummer Dave Grohl and added guitarist Pat Smear, cellist Lori Goldston and the Meat Puppet’s Cris and Curt Kirkwood.

“We’d seen the other Unpluggeds and didn’t like many of them,” Grohl said. “[The bands] play their hits like it was Madison Square Garden, except with acoustic guitars.”

Cobain was very involved in every aspect of the special, even down to the decorations.

“I want candles and stargazer lilies,” Cobain said to producer Alex Coletti.

“Like a funeral?” Coletti asked.

“Yes, exactly,” Cobain said in response.

I will be totally honest here, I cannot talk about this album without getting a bit emotional. Nirvana is very important to me and Cobain is my favorite singular musician of all time. His death still brings me to tears when I talk about it.

Cobain, much like O’Riordan and Tupac, is an artist who passed far too soon. He had a voice and a spirit that few can ever have, and his death was a loss to the whole world.

Cobain’s death is subject to many controversies and conspiracy theories that contest many things, none of which I will discuss here. However, I felt it important to include that Cobain struggled with mental health and drug and alcohol abuse for many years.

If you are struggling with anything similar, please contact the WKU Counseling Center at 270-745-3159 or the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.

Honorable Mentions

There were some albums that are certainly worth talking about, but I just simply couldn’t here. So here are a few other albums that, while being good albums, aren’t ones that I had anything real to say about. 

• “Experimental Jet Set, Trash, and No Star” by Sonic Youth
•  “Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik” by OutKast
• “Ill Communication” by the Beastie Boys
• “Thug Life Vol. 1” by Thug Life
• “Mellow Gold” by Beck
• “Definitely Maybe” by Oasis
• “Ready to Die” by the Notorious B.I.G.

1994 was an immensely important year for music and I doubt that we’ll ever see anything like it again.  Several of the artists who created these – Cobain, Cornell, O’Riordan and Biggie – are all legends that the world should mourn. So let’s raise a proverbial glass to art, to artists and to the legacy of creating amazing music. 

Cheers to 1994. 

News Reporter Malone Farmer can be reached at [email protected].