 | ||
 | Album: 1 of 11 Artist: M People Title: Elegant Slumming Released: 1993-10-04 Tracks: 10 Duration: 54:29 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover Mercury Prize *** WINNER *** 1994 | 1 One Night in Heaven (06:29) 2 Moving On Up (05:30) 3 Renaissance (05:23) 4 You Just Have to Be There (05:28) 5 Love Is in My Soul (06:17) 6 Don’t Look Any Further (05:30) 7 Natural Thing (05:07) 8 Little Packet (05:22) 9 La Vida Loca (04:34) 10 Melody of Life (04:45) |
| Elegant Slumming : Allmusic album Review : Including no less than five British Top Ten singles and several other chart entries stretching back to 1992, Elegant Slumming is easily M Peoples best album. From the driving British house of "One Night in Heaven" and the nu-disco slant of "Moving on Up" to more downtempo soul on "Melody of Life," vocalist Heather Small is confident and aggressive while the production by Mike Pickering and Paul Heard backs her up with an exquisite touch. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 11 Artist: Take That Title: Everything Changes Released: 1993 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:10:34 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover Mercury Prize Nominee 1994 | 1 Everything Changes (03:36) 2 Pray (03:44) 3 Wasting My Time (03:45) 4 Relight My Fire (radio version) (04:10) 5 Love Aint Here Anymore (03:58) 6 If This Is Love (03:57) 7 Whatever You Do to Me (03:45) 8 Meaning of Love (03:47) 9 Why Cant I Wake Up With You (03:38) 10 You Are the One (03:49) 11 Another Crack in My Heart (04:14) 12 Broken Your Heart (03:48) 13 Babe (04:54) 14 No si aqui no hay amor (03:55) 15 The Party Remix (07:17) 16 All I Want Is You (03:22) 17 Babe (Return mix) (04:55) |
| Everything Changes : Allmusic album Review : British group Take That did not have the same worries about releasing Everything Changes as they had with their debut album. By this time they were giant superstars in Europe, and the question in their minds was not whether they could get a hit single, but how many and which would make it to number one. The album spawned six hit singles, four of which made number one, making it Record of the Year and one of the best-selling albums of the decade, proclaiming them the biggest male group since the Beatles. When the hype sets in, it is hard to distinguish the value of the material itself. It is an album of dance-pop and ballads sung by five young men, with a greater maturity than most boy band albums thanks to the writing by lead singer Gary Barlow. Boy bands have their share of skeptics, and getting those to tear down their defenses usually ends up competing with their struggle to please the fan base they already have. With saucy dance tracks like "Relight My Fire" (a hit for Dan Hartman in the 70s) and quality ballads like "Pray" and "Love Aint Here Anymore," as well as pop tracks "Everything Changes" and "Whatever You Do to Me," Take That won over everyone they needed to. What they got in return was a reputation for being a fine group with real talent. Everything Changes marked the height of Take That popularity. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 11 Artist: Paul Weller Title: Wild Wood Released: 1993-09-06 Tracks: 43 Duration: 2:37:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover Mercury Prize Nominee 1994 | 1 Sunflower (04:08) 2 Can You Heal Us (Holy Man) (03:41) 3 Wild Wood (03:22) 4 Instrumental One, Part 1 (01:37) 5 All the Pictures on the Wall (03:56) 6 Has My Fire Really Gone Out? (03:51) 7 Country (03:38) 8 Instrumental Two (00:49) 9 5th Season (04:54) 10 The Weaver (03:43) 11 Instrumental One, Part 2 (00:33) 12 Foot of the Mountain (03:37) 13 Shadow of the Sun (07:36) 14 Holy Man (reprise) (01:50) 15 Moon on Your Pyjamas (04:02) 16 Hung Up (02:41) 17 Wild Wood (The Sheared Wood remix) (03:27) 18 Magic Bus (05:30) 19 Ends of the Earth (02:25) 20 This Is No Time (Royal Albert Hall live version) (06:04) 21 Another News Day (03:21) 22 The Loved (02:59) 1 Sunflower (demo) (04:13) 2 Wild Wood (demo) (04:03) 3 All the Pictures on the Wall (demo) (04:49) 4 Country (demo) (03:33) 5 5th Season (demo) (05:58) 6 The Weaver (demo) (04:16) 7 Shadow of the Sun (demo) (05:31) 8 Moon on Your Pyjamas (demo) (03:45) 9 Ends of the Earth (demo) (02:57) 10 Love of the Loved (demo) (04:42) 11 Price to Pay (demo) (03:37) 12 Changes (demo) (02:51) 13 I’m Only Dreaming (02:54) 14 Ohio (demo) (03:34) 15 Oh Happy Day (03:29) 16 Greetings (03:33) 17 Wild Wood (demo 2) (03:35) 18 Weaver of Dreams (demo 2) (03:28) 19 Foot of the Mountain (03:36) 20 Hung Up (BBC Recording) (02:57) 21 Black Sheep Boy (BBC Recording) (02:09) |
| Wild Wood : Allmusic album Review : Paul Weller deservedly regained his status as the Modfather with his second solo album, Wild Wood. Actually, the album is only tangentially related to mod, since Weller picks up on the classicism of his debut, adding heavy elements of pastoral British folk and Traffic-styled trippiness. Add to that a yearning introspection and a clean production that nevertheless feels a little rustic, even homemade, and the result is his first true masterwork since ending the Jam. The great irony of the record is that many of the songs -- "Has My Fire Really Gone Out?," "Can You Heal Us (Holy Man)" -- question his motivation and, as is apparent in his spirited performances, he reawakened his music by writing these searching songs. Though this isnt as adventurous as the Style Council, it succeeds on its own terms, and winds up being a great testament from an artist entering middle age. And, it helped kick off the trad rock that dominated British music during the 90s. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 11 Artist: Primal Scream Title: Give Out But Don’t Give Up Released: 1994-03-28 Tracks: 12 Duration: 1:01:04 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover Mercury Prize Nominee 1994 | 1 Jailbird (03:47) 2 Rocks (03:35) 3 (I’m Gonna) Cry Myself Blind (04:30) 4 Funky Jam (05:24) 5 Big Jet Plane (04:15) 6 Free (05:30) 7 Call on Me (03:50) 8 Struttin’ (08:29) 9 Sad and Blue (03:27) 10 Give Out But Don’t Give Up (06:16) 11 I’ll Be There for You (06:33) 12 Everybody Needs Somebody (05:22) |
| Give Out But Don’t Give Up : Allmusic album Review : The rock undercurrents that ran throughout Screamadelica come to the forefront on the tired Give Out but Dont Give Up. While Primal Scream turn out a couple of good songs, "Jailbird" and "(Im Gonna) Cry Myself Blind," the band sounds too mannered to be a truly successful rip-off of the Stones and Faces. And the colorful, reckless experimentation of their previous album is sorely missed. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 11 Artist: Ian McNabb Title: Head Like a Rock Released: 1994-07-04 Tracks: 10 Duration: 1:07:02 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover Mercury Prize Nominee 1994 | 1 Fire Inside My Soul (08:37) 2 You Must Be Prepared to Dream (06:58) 3 Child Inside a Father (09:04) 4 Still Got the Fever (07:31) 5 Potency (04:40) 6 Go Into the Light (04:08) 7 As a Life Goes By (04:44) 8 Sad Strange Solitary Catholic Mystic (04:47) 9 This Time Is Forever (07:38) 10 May You Always (08:51) |
 | Album: 6 of 11 Artist: Pulp Title: His ’n’ Hers Released: 1994-04-18 Tracks: 11 Duration: 50:44 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover Mercury Prize Nominee 1994 | 1 Joyriders (03:25) 2 Lipgloss (03:35) 3 Acrylic Afternoons (04:09) 4 Have You Seen Her Lately? (04:11) 5 Babies (04:04) 6 She’s a Lady (05:49) 7 Happy Endings (04:57) 8 Do You Remember the First Time? (04:22) 9 Pink Glove (04:48) 10 Someone Like the Moon (04:18) 11 David’s Last Summer (07:01) |
| His ’n’ Hers : Allmusic album Review : Pulp had been kicking around since 1981, but for all intents and purposes, their 1994 major-label debut, His n Hers is their de facto debut: the album that established their musical and lyrical obsessions and, in turn, the album where the world at large became acquainted with their glassy, tightly wound synth pop and lead singer Jarvis Cockers impeccably barbed wit. This was a sound that was carefully thought out, pieced together from old glam and post-punk records, assembled in so it had the immediacy (and hooks) of pop balanced by an artful obsession with moody, dark textures. It was a sound that perfectly fit the subject at hand: it was filled with contradictions -- it was sensual yet intellectual, cheap yet sophisticated, retro yet modern -- with each seeming paradox giving the music weight instead of weighing it down. Given Pulps predilection for crawling mood pieces -- such effective set pieces as the tense "Acrylic Afternoons," or the closing "Davids Last Summer" -- and their studied detachment, it might easy to over-intellectualize the band, particularly in these early days before they reached stardom, but for all of the chilliness of the old analog keyboards and the conscious geek stance of Cocker, this isnt music that aims for the head: its target is the gut and groin, and His n Hers has an immediacy thats apparent as soon as "Joyriders" kicks the album into gear with its crashing guitars. It establishes Pulp not just as a pop band that will rock; it establishes an air of menace that hangs over this album like a talisman. As joyous as certain elements of the music are -- and there isnt just joy but transcendence here, on the fuzz guitars that power the chorus of "Lipgloss," or the dramatic release at the climax of "Babies" -- this isnt light, fizzy music, no matter how the album glistens on its waves of cold synths and echoed guitars, no matter how much sex drives the music here. Cocker doesnt tell tales of conquests: he tells tales of sexual obsession and betrayal, where the seemingly nostalgic question "Do You Remember the First Time?" is answered with the reply, "I cant remember a worst time." On earlier Pulp albums he explored similar stories of alienation, but on His n Hers everything clicks: his lyrics are scalpel sharp, whether hes essaying pathos, passion, or wit, and his band -- driven by the rock-solid drummer Nick Banks and bassist Steve Mackey, along with the arty stylings of keyboardist Candida Doyle and violinist/guitarist Russell Senior -- gives this muscle and blood beneath its stylish exterior. The years etching out Joy Division-inspired goth twaddle in the mid-80s pay off on the tense, dramatic epics that punctuate the glammy pop of the singles "Lipgloss," "Babies," and "Do You Remember the First Time?" And those years of struggle pay off in other ways too, particularly in Cockers carefully rendered observations of life on the fringes of Sheffield, where desperation, sex, and crime are always just a kiss away, and Pulp vividly evokes this world with a startling lack of romanticism but an appropriate amount of drama and a surplus of flair. Its that sense of style coupled with their gut-level immediacy that gives His n Hers its lasting power: this was Pulps shot at the big time and they followed through with a record that so perfectly captured what they were and what they wanted to be, it retains its immediacy years later. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 11 Artist: The Prodigy Title: Music for the Jilted Generation Released: 1994-07-04 Tracks: 13 Duration: 1:18:15 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover Mercury Prize Nominee 1994 | 1 Intro (00:46) 2 Break & Enter (08:24) 3 Their Law (06:40) 4 Full Throttle (05:02) 5 Voodoo People (06:27) 6 Speedway (Theme From Fastlane) (08:56) 7 The Heat (The Energy) (04:27) 8 Poison (06:42) 9 No Good (Start the Dance) (original mix) (06:18) 10 One Love (edit) (03:53) 11 The Narcotic Suite: 3 Kilos (07:25) 12 The Narcotic Suite: Skylined (05:58) 13 The Narcotic Suite: Claustrophobic Sting (07:11) |
| Music for the Jilted Generation : Allmusic album Review : The Prodigys response to the sweeping legislation and crackdown on raves contained in 1994s Criminal Justice Bill is an effective statement of intent. Pure sonic terrorism, Music for the Jilted Generation employs the same rave energy that charged their debut, Experience, up the charts in Britain, but yokes it to a cause other than massive drug intake. Compared to their previous work, the sound is grubbier and less reliant on samples; the effect moved the Prodigy away from the American-influenced rave and acid house of the past and toward a uniquely British vision of breakbeat techno that was increasingly allied to the limey invention of drumnbass. As on Experience, there are so many great songs here that first-time listeners would be forgiven for thinking of a greatest-hits compilation instead of a proper studio album. After a short intro, the shattering of panes of glass on "Break & Enter" catapults the album ahead with a propulsive flair. Each of the four singles -- "Voodoo People," "Poison," "No Good (Start the Dance)," and "One Love" -- are excellent, though album tracks like "Speedway" and "Their Law" (with help from Pop Will Eat Itself) dont slip up either. If Experience seemed like an excellent fluke, Music for the Jilted Generation is the album that announced the Prodigy were on the charts to stay. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 11 Artist: Blur Title: Parklife Released: 1994-04-25 Tracks: 16 Duration: 52:45 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover Mercury Prize Nominee 1994 | 1 Girls & Boys (04:50) 2 Tracy Jacks (04:20) 3 End of a Century (02:46) 4 Parklife (03:05) 5 Bank Holiday (01:42) 6 Badhead (03:25) 7 The Debt Collector (02:10) 8 Far Out (01:41) 1 To the End (04:04) 2 London Loves (04:15) 3 Trouble in the Message Centre (04:09) 4 Clover Over Dover (03:22) 5 Magic America (03:38) 6 Jubilee (02:47) 7 This Is a Low (05:07) 8 Lot 105 (01:18) |
| Parklife : Allmusic album Review : Modern Life Is Rubbish established Blur as the heir to the archly British pop of the Kinks, the Small Faces, and the Jam, but its follow-up, Parklife, revealed the depth of that transformation. Relying more heavily on Ray Davies seriocomic social commentary, as well as new wave, Parklife runs through the entire history of post-British Invasion Britpop in the course of 16 songs, touching on psychedelia, synth pop, disco, punk, and music hall along the way. Damon Albarn intended these songs to form a sketch of British life in the mid-90s, and its startling how close he came to his goal; not only did the bouncy, disco-fied "Girls & Boys" and singalong chant "Parklife" become anthems in the U.K., but they inaugurated a new era of Brit-pop and lad culture, where British youth celebrated their country and traditions. The legions of jangly, melodic bands that followed in the wake of Parklife revealed how much more complex Blurs vision was. Not only was their music precisely detailed -- sound effects and brilliant guitar lines pop up all over the record -- but the melodies elegantly interweaved with the chords, as in the graceful, heartbreaking "Badhead." Surprisingly, Albarn, for all of his cold, dispassionate wit, demonstrates compassion that gives these songs three dimensions, as on the pathos-laden "End of a Century," the melancholy Walker Brothers tribute "To the End," and the swirling, epic closer, "This Is a Low." For all of its celebration of tradition, Parklife is a thoroughly modern record in that it bends genres and is self-referential (the mod anthem of the title track is voiced by none other than Phil Daniels, the star of Quadrophenia). And, by tying the past and the present together, Blur articulated the mid-90s Zeitgeist and produced an epoch-defining record. | ||
 | Album: 9 of 11 Artist: Michael Nyman Title: The Piano Concerto / MGV Released: 1994 Tracks: 9 Duration: 58:58 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover Mercury Prize Nominee 1994 | 1 The Piano Concerto: The Beach (11:48) 2 The Piano Concerto: The Woods (06:25) 3 The Piano Concerto: The Hut (09:06) 4 The Piano Concerto: The Release (05:13) 5 MGV: 1st Region (04:55) 6 MGV: 2nd Region (04:06) 7 MGV: 3rd Region (08:17) 8 MGV: 4th Region (03:48) 9 MGV: 5th Region (05:17) |
 | Album: 10 of 11 Artist: Therapy? Title: Troublegum Released: 1994-02-07 Tracks: 14 Duration: 1:07:04 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover Mercury Prize Nominee 1994 | 1 Knives (01:56) 2 Screamager (02:36) 3 Hellbelly (03:20) 4 Stop It You’re Killing Me (03:50) 5 Nowhere (02:26) 6 Die Laughing (02:48) 7 Unbeliever (03:28) 8 Trigger Inside (03:56) 9 Lunacy Booth (03:55) 10 Isolation (03:10) 11 Turn (03:49) 12 Femtex (03:14) 13 Unrequited (03:03) 14 Brainsaw (25:27) |
| Troublegum : Allmusic album Review : A high watermark of early alternative metal, Troublegum is a spectacular, powerful, clutter-free record. Densely packed at 14 songs in 40 minutes, theres sharpness on every level, demonstrating that the promise evidenced on Nurse was no mirage. Chris Sheldons job on the boards provides separation among all the instruments, avoiding the mashed effect from Therapy?s previous outings. Fyfe Ewing and Michael McKeegan basically do what theyve been doing all along as a rhythm section, but the increased clarity really allows for one to fully appreciate their abilities. Andy Cairns vocal range and ear for melody increase tenfold, and his guitar takes on countless tones and textures only hinted at before. Detractors might claim that the riffs are too predictable and too "metal," which is somewhat understandable but ultimately unfair. One could call them simple, and one could call them focused; its more the latter. Since the songwriting is more direct and less concerned with merely knocking things out and stopping after three minutes or so, everything is fully formed and completely realized. Its the absolute opposite of aimless, which is something Therapy? was sometimes guilty of. Theres much more variety, too. With each play, it becomes increasingly obvious that no two songs sound much like each other, yet each song hangs together to form a singular piece. Metal-phobes cant help but give in to the irresistable pop-punk hooks of "Screamager" and "Nowhere." An obvious influence is acknowledged in a storming version of Joy Divisions "Isolation," which pays tribute and transforms at the same time. "Unrequited" cant be missed, featuring a rattling guitar riff that gets yanked away by a violent cello tug from Martin McCarrick. | ||
 | Album: 11 of 11 Artist: Shara Nelson Title: What Silence Knows Released: 1994 Tracks: 10 Duration: 48:21 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover Mercury Prize Nominee 1994 | 1 Nobody (04:22) 2 Pain Revisited (05:16) 3 One Goodbye in Ten (05:50) 4 Inside Out (03:19) 5 Uptight (05:04) 6 Down That Road (05:15) 7 Chance (03:58) 8 Thoughts of You (04:16) 9 How Close (03:59) 10 What Silence Knows (06:59) |