A History of Pop Music Albums – 1994
Featured Album: Definitely Maybe
This is a series of articles looking at albums from 1960 to 1999. Just cannot go on that much longer with the drivel that is the 90’s with worse to come from 2000 onwards!
I will select a featured album for each year and the link for the whole album, Plus list the songs on it.
As before, it is not just about the songs and tunes, it is very much about memories, and good ones, I hope.
Not everyone will like my choices of course, and you may remember some from each particular year that you feel should have been included, so do please post a link to the song.
Workwise in 1994, in May we had the official opening of the Channel Tunnel. HM The Queen and Prince Philip came down, and I was lucky to get selected for a 20 second chat. Of note in this year my bridge partner and I were regularly winning on club nights, so whilst they may have been scraping the bottom of the second barrel, we were selected and regularly played Bridge representing the county of Kent.
Not that much happening in the news this year, mainly Fred and Rose West getting caught.
The featured album for 1994 is: Definitely Maybe is the debut studio album by Oasis, released by Creation Records on 29 August 1994. It is the only album by Oasis to feature drummer Tony McCarroll, who was fired from the band in 1995 during the recording of their next album, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
Definitely Maybe was an immediate commercial and critical success in the United Kingdom, having followed on the heels of the singles “Supersonic”, “Shakermaker”, and the UK top-ten hit “Live Forever”, which was also a success on US Rock Airplay. The album went on to sell over 8 million copies worldwide and brought widespread critical acclaim. It went straight to number one in the UK Albums Chart and became the fastest-selling debut album in the UK at the time; it went on to be certified 7× platinum by the BPI for sales of over 2 million units.
The album helped to spur a revitalisation in British pop music in the 1990s and was embraced by critics for its optimistic themes and rejection of the negative outlook of the grunge music of the time. The album is regarded as a seminal entry of the Britpop scene, and has appeared in many publications’ lists of the greatest albums of all time.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Noel Gallagher.
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | “Rock ‘n’ Roll Star“ | 5:23 |
| 2. | “Shakermaker“ | 5:08 |
| 3. | “Live Forever“ | 4:36 |
| 4. | “Up in the Sky” | 4:28 |
| 5. | “Columbia” | 6:17 |
| 6. | “Supersonic“ | 4:43 |
| 7. | “Bring It on Down” | 4:17 |
| 8. | “Cigarettes & Alcohol“ | 4:49 |
| 9. | “Digsy’s Dinner[a]“ | 2:32 |
| 10. | “Slide Away“ | 6:32 |
| 11. | “Married with Children” | 3:15 |
| Total length: | 52:00 | |
More writings on this album here: Definitely Maybe
So, on we go with 1994:
The Top 10 Albums with a You Tube hyperlink on the title:
Top Tip: Right-click and open in new tab
| Top Albums of 1994 | ||
| 1 | Bon Jovi | Cross Road – The Best Of Bon Jovi |
| 2 | Beautiful South | Carry On Up The Charts – The Best Of |
| 3 | Mariah Carey | Music Box |
| 4 | Eternal | Always And Forever |
| 5 | Wet Wet Wet | End Of Part One (Their Greatest Hits) |
| 6 | R.E.M. | Monster |
| 7 | Pink Floyd | The Division Bell |
| 8 | Blur | Parklife |
| 9 | The Beatles | Live At The BBC |
| 10 | Carreras Domingo Pavarotti With Orchestra Conducted By Zubin Mehta |
The Three Tenors In Concert 1994 |
Some classics on Cross Road, including “Livin on a Prayer”, “You give Love a Bad Name” etc. I must confess I have always liked Beautiful South, simply nice music, never a bad track. Never been much of a Mariah fan. Liked the Wets a lot. If you enjoyed last week R.E.M, then their Monster album is worth a listen. I did buy The Division Bell, some outstanding tracks. Blur were all over the place, Brit Pop had arrived. For us Beatles fans, double album of tunes from their BBC recordings. Opera lovers will enjoy the Three Tenors. Just for fun though Brucie, Kipper Lynch and Tarby formed the Three Fivers The Three Fivers. Cannot remember if they had to change that as there was a group called that, or if Pavarotti complained.
Most notable albums for my liking for 1994 though are below:
The Mavericks – What a Crying Shame – I think the best C&W bands ever.
Jimmy Nail – Crocodile Shoes – Like many, totally shocked when we found out Oz from Auf Wiedersehen could sing. I liked him in Spender as well, which he created, wrote and produced. Must see if it is available on Kodi.
Sparks – Gratuitous Sax & Senseless Violins – Some good stuff on this.
Pulp – His ‘n’ Hers– cus Brit Pop innit
Scoring:
As you know I like to review your “tunes” that you post.
*Note. Anyone scoring a Morrissey (lowest score possible) will be reported and blocked.
Hat tips to these sites:
http://www.everyhit.com/chart1.html these give the top 10 songs for each year.
https://www.youtube.com/ you know them.
Next Time: 1995. Will it get better? Forecast: (No).
Featured Image: “Oasis ‘Definitely Maybe'” by umbrellahead56 is licensed under CC BY 2.0
© Phil the ex test manager 2021
