Soundgarden - Superunknown
Beck - Mellow Gold
Hole - Live Through This
Live - Throwing Copper
Weezer - Blue Album
Stone Temple Pilots - Purple
Toadies - Rubberneck
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Oasis - Definitely Maybe
REM - Monster
Dave Matthews Band - Under the Table And Dreaming
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy
The Stone Roses - Second Coming
Bush - Sixteen Stone
Johnny Cash - American Recordings
Megadeth - Youthanasia
Beastie Boys - Ill Communication
Pantera - Far Beyond Driven
Korn - Korn
Melvins - Stoner Witch
Hootie & The Blowfish - Cracked Rear View
Blues Traveler - Four
Tom Petty - Wildflowers
Green Day - Dookie
The Offspring - Smash
Pink Floyd - Division Bell
Eric Clapton - From The Cradle
The Black Crowes - Amorica

There are plenty of albums on this list I don't care for and I am not making the argument that 1994 was the best year in music but there were a ton of great albums released that year. Kind of mind-blowing to look at all of them compiled.

Some additional great albums:

NIN: Downward Spiral
Bad Religion: Stranger than Fiction
Nas: Illmatic
Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Ween: Chocolate and Cheese

Nirvana Unplugged in NYC

To add a little different flavor, also released that year -

REK - Gringo Honeymoon
Johnny Cash - American Recordings
The Mavericks - What a Crying Shame

JCA1 said:

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To add a little different flavor, also released that year -

REK - Gringo Honeymoon
Johnny Cash - American Recordings
The Mavericks - What a Crying Shame

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Had that one on my list.

Know Your Enemy said:

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JCA1 said:

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To add a little different flavor, also released that year -

REK - Gringo Honeymoon
Johnny Cash - American Recordings
The Mavericks - What a Crying Shame

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Had that one on my list.

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Sure did. I missed it.

Edit - I'll make amends and add Alice In Chains - Jar of Flies

Reminds me of this from 1991. All released within 44 days of one another.

Professor Frick said:

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Some additional great albums:

NIN: Downward Spiral
Bad Religion: Stranger than Fiction
Nas: Illmatic
Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Ween: Chocolate and Cheese

Nirvana Unplugged in NYC

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Great OP and all here a helluva addition. Looking forward to WEEN in Dallas on 4/25.

Yep, great year, and really decade, for music. As far as '94 is concerned, Dookie, The Blue Album, and Rubberneck are the ones that I have overplayed for over 20 years.

Queensryche - Promised Land

That was a great time in my life. College...living in a 5 bedroom party house with 4 friends and most of that music was our soundtrack. We threw a huge party and got Woodstock '94 on pay per view the weekend that happened.

Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die

Prong - Cleansing

Saw Prong first on a bill with Sepultura and Pantera and they melted my face off, one of my all time fave shows.

Never got to see them live, started listening to them again after enjoying their 2019 EP - Age of Defiance.

Released in 1993 but the biggest concert in 1994 was Smashing Pumpkins.

Second biggest concert was Metallica.

Lots of forgettable albums by good artists on there.
One month in 1991 is 10x more significant than that entire list.

In 1994, the real Guns N' Roses released their last song - their cover of Sympathy for the Devil.

Another Doug said:

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Lots of forgettable albums by good artists on there.
One month in 1991 is 10x more significant than that entire list.

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I don't know..

AIC with first EP to debut at number 1.
Pantera with heaviest number 1 album ever.
Superunknown by far most successful SG record
PJ denying the sophomore slump with Vs
Live with a seminal more college rock oriented album
DMB introducing himself to the world
Hootie with a diamond album
An unknown punk band releases the most successful indie album release of ALL TIME, still today.. AND ALSO DOOKIE is released.
6x platinum debut from Bush
STP with an album that has a #1 single for 2 weeks with vaseline, then is superseded by interstate love song which goes #1 for 15 weeks, a record.
Nu-metallers Korn single-handedly creates a genre 5 years before it takes over radio.

8 Diamond records from 1994 -
Lion King
Garth Brooks greatest hits
Bob seger greatest hits
Forest Gump 12X
Boyz II Men 12X
TLC 12X
Dookie
Hootie 21X

Close to diamond (6m +)
Throwing copper
Smash
Purple
Vs
Superunknown
DMB
Sixteen stone

Not as important as 1991 since much of what happened in 1994 owes its start to 1991, but 1994 is a helluva year.

Tons of great hip-hop/rap albums released that year:

Outkast - "Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik"
Gang Starr - "Hard to Earn"
Scarface - "The Diary"
Bone Thugs -"Creepin' on ah Come Up"
UGK - "Super Tight"
Digable Planets - "Blowout Comb"
Method Man - "Tical"
Thug Life (2 Pac and crew) - "Volume 1"
Pete Rock & CL Smooth - "The Main Ingredient"
Jeru the Damaja - "Sun Rises in the East"
Mc Eitht - "We Come Strapped"

Everything in this thread came out my sophomore or junior year of high school. What an era.


ETA: Good lord I left off House of Pain "Same As it Ever Was", their best album by far imo and one of my favorites of all time.

62strat said:

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Another Doug said:

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Lots of forgettable albums by good artists on there.
One month in 1991 is 10x more significant than that entire list.

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Hootie with a diamond album

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I still listen to this one all the time with very fond memories. In fact I shall blast it right now. Thank you.

Another Doug said:

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Lots of forgettable albums by good artists on there.
One month in 1991 is 10x more significant than that entire list.

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To each their own, but I don't see a lot of forgettable albums. Start to finish, superunknown is probably my favorite Soundgarden album. And Purple is absolutely my favorite STP album. I probably like Mental Jewelry better, but Throwing Copper was still very good and put Live on the map.

Vs was 93, Vitalogy was 94.

Bruce Almighty said:

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Vs was 93, Vitalogy was 94.

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oh hah, not sure why I was thinking vs.

Well either way, vitalogy cemented PJ as not a just a fly by night grunge band.
It sold almost 1m copies in release week (in fact it was second fastest selling album in history, behind VS.) and went 6x platinum.

NOFX - Punk in Drublic

'94 is when punk became mainstream.

Interesting doc about '94 and the explosion of punk rock in that year:

Geriatric Punk said:

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NOFX - Punk in Drublic

'94 is when punk became mainstream.

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WE'RE THE BREWS
SPORTING ANTI-SWASTIKA TATTOOS
OY! OY!

White Trash, Two Heebs, and a Bean.

1994 was also a great year for country music.

"Third Rock from the Sun" -- Joe Diffie
"I See It Now" -- Tracy Lawrence
"Who I Am" -- Alan Jackson
"Ten Feet Tall and Bulletproof" -- Travis Tritt
"When Love Finds You" -- Vince Gill

And a bunch of other great albums.

Geriatric Punk said:

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NOFX - Punk in Drublic

'94 is when punk became mainstream.

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Rancid - Let's Go

Another good one

1991 release are pretty spectacular as well