THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 31, 1994 TAG: 9412310061
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICKEY WRIGHT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 132 lines
DEATH, MUD and rock 'n' roll.
In 1994, the music occupied more of the mainstream media's attention than it has in years - maybe ever. Whether ruminating on Kurt Cobain's suicide, focusing cameras on Woodstock or following the travails of Tupac Shakur and Snoop Doggy Dogg, the press was on it.
Ironically, the year produced fewer great records than '93 did. However, its best moments on disc were among some of the most indelible ever. Even had Cobain stayed alive, Nirvana's ``Unplugged'' set would be no less unsettling and satisfying. And the power of his wife, Courtney Love's, lyrics on Hole's ``Live Through This'' would remain undiminished.
If any great theme emerged from the year's most compelling albums, it was an updated version of Pete Townshend's old line: rock might not let you forget your problems, but it will give you the chance to dance all over them.
Rap in 1994 wasn't exclusively the province of digital gangstas, but a raft of depressingly monochromatic albums often made it seem that way. The smarts of an Ice Cube, or just the catchiness of a Snoop, were few and far between in a vocabulary that often seemed reduced to P-Funk samples, 12-letter epithets, pot- smoking boasts and shoutouts to Compton. Some encouraging exceptions: Coolio, Warren G and Nate Dogg, Ini Kamoze, Digable Planets. Oh yeah - and Beavis out-speeding that guy in Wu-Tang Clan.
The shortage of solid country albums was nothing to sing about either. The year's best, Jim Lauderdale's ``Pretty Close to the Truth'' (Atlantic), was the idiosyncratic work of one of the few current Nashville writers who eschews that town's favorite buzz phrase (``George Jones'') and goes straight to the spirit instead.
These are the highlights of 1994 on record:
1. Pavement, ``Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain'' (Matador). Elegant detachment and feverish emotional explosions stand side by side on this challenging album. The band's post-R.E.M. melodicism and guitar noise and Stephen Malkmus' illuminating lyrics are perfectly formed. ``Cut Your Hair,'' which covers grooming issues, the excitement of playing in a young band, the mysteries of the music business and nuclear anxiety (``Career! Korea!'') in just three catchy minutes, is the song of the year.
2. Nirvana, ``MTV Unplugged in New York'' (DGC). Kurt Cobain's vivid presence on this low-key but intense session is a sad shock, one that reminds that before he was a ``generational spokesman,'' he was a musician of great gifts. ``Unplugged'' showcases some of his rawest, most expressive performances, and his generous, nearly evangelical love for other people's music: Cover versions make for six of this disc's 14 songs. His fall seems even more chilling in light of his commitment and apparent good humor here.
3. Meat Puppets, ``Too High to Die'' (London). If Cobain's suicide was the lowest moment of the rock year, the highest was repeated a dozen times a day all summer, when this Arizona band's soaring, Southern-style single ``Backwater'' came over the airwaves. That anthem's blissful power is typical of ``Too High.''
4. Hole, ``Live Through This'' (DGC). Rage as redemption.
5. Beck, ``Mellow Gold'' (DGC/Bong Load). This eclectic young troubadour sidestepped his status as Gen X zeitgeist-hound-of-the-moment with a shrugged ``Oh my goodness,'' hilarious nods to Dylan and Jagger, and some inspired universal laments (``Soul-Suckin Jerk,'' ``Truckdrivin Neighbors Downstairs'').
6. Maleem Mahmoud Ghania with Pharoah Sanders, ``The Trance of Seven Colors'' (Axiom). Foreground and background become meaningless concepts as this fusion of Moroccan ceremonial music and Sanders' wailingly lyrical sax plays. Whether you move to its heavy bottom or simply let it be, this experiment blows down the laboratory.
7. Soundgarden, ``Superunknown'' (A&M). Chris Cornell doesn't like the Zep comparisons his band draws, but they're deserved: It's been a long time since hard rock both pounded and swirled with this much eloquence. And the songs sound truly lived.
8. Rolling Stones, ``Voodoo Lounge'' (Virgin). Why, when the 40-ish Aerosmith continues to garner critical praise for its increasingly listless stomps, do these guys take such a beating over their ages? It can't be the music, which - especially on the sparse ``Moon Is Up'' and ``Thru and Thru'' - finds the Stones at a peak of creative inspiration.
9. Various artists, ``Tulare Dust: A Songwriters' Tribute to Merle Haggard'' (Hightone). The Arista salute has its charms, but the real deal is here. Celebrating his hardheaded, occasionally confused populism (Peter Case's ``A Workin' Man Can't Get Nowhere Today''), his storytelling (Robert Earl Keen's ``Daddy Frank''), his stricken love songs (Dwight Yoakam's ``Holding Things Together,'' Lucinda Williams' ``You Don't Have Very Far to Go''), and his road-warrior life (Joe Ely's ``White Line Fever,'' Billy Joe Shaver's ``Ramblin' Fever''), this is as fine a picture as you'll get outside Haggard's versions.
10. Mercyland, ``Spillage'' (Rykodisc). The first song says, ``A three-man band is bound by natural limitations.'' But this collection of the Athens, Ga., outfit's work shows growth from pop-hardcore to a rhythmically complex thump rooted in Gang of Four and the Minutemen. Bassist David Barbe now plays in another trio - Sugar.
25 top songs
``California Dreamin','' American Music Club; ``Lenny Valentino,'' The Auteurs; ``Headache,'' Frank Black; ``Knoxville I Quit,'' Buttsteak; ``So You'd Like to Save the World,'' Lloyd Cole; ``Fantastic Voyage,'' Coolio; ``Lost in America,'' Alice Cooper.
``Dignity,'' Bob Dylan; ``2541,'' Robert Forster; ``Regulate,'' Warren G and Nate Dogg; ``The Farmer's Daughter,'' Vince Gill; ``Merry Christmas From the Family,'' Robert Earl Keen; ``They Don't Like Me,'' Lyle Lovett.
``That's Just What You Are,'' Aimee Mann; ``Brothers,'' John Mellencamp; ``How Do You Stop,'' Joni Mitchell; ``Spin the Black Circle,'' Pearl Jam; ``It's Good to Be King,'' Tom Petty; ``Shane,'' Liz Phair.
``Mama Said Knock You Out,'' Royal Crescent Mob; ``Bull in the Heather,'' Sonic Youth; ``Superstar,'' Sonic Youth; ``Your Favorite Thing,'' Sugar; ``Knives,'' Therapy?; ``Listen to the Music'' (Rampantly Pleasurable Mix), The Doobie Brothers.
Best reissues
``Now, There Was a Song!'' Johnny Cash (Columbia/Legacy); ``Heartaches & Harmonies,'' The Everly Brothers (Rhino); ``Here, My Dear,'' Marvin Gaye (Motown); ``The Message From Beat Street: The Best of Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel and the Furious Five'' (Rhino); ``Cup of Loneliness: The Classic Mercury Years,'' George Jones (Mercury).
``The Black Album,'' Prince (Warner Bros.); ``In Yo' Face: The Roots of Funk, Vol. 1/2,'' various artists (Rhino); ``Rock Instrumental Classics, Vol. 4: Soul'' and ``Vol. 5: Surf,'' various artists (Rhino); Various artists, ``Texas Music'' (Rhino, three volumes); ``Big, Bad & Blue: The Big Joe Turner Anthology'' (Rhino/Atlantic). ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Los Angeles Times
Courtney Love...
Color photo of Pavement's album
Axiom photo
"The Trance of Seven Colors" fused Moroccan ceremonial music with
Pharoah Sanders' lyrical sax.
London Records photo
The Meat Puppets...
KEYWORDS: 1994 by CNB