From Green Day’s “Dookie” to Notorious B.I.G.‘S “Ready to Die” to Johnny Cash’s “American Recordings,” these albums turn 30in 2024.
30 years ago, acts like Offspring, Notorious B.I.G. and Korn shook the scene with hard-hitting debuts and breakthroughs
There was something special going on in 1994.
It was a year of numerous noteworthy debut album releases and mainstream breakthrough records for several acts.
This period was particularly huge for Southern California acts. Garden Grove punk outfit The Offspring and Los Angeles punk act NOFX released records that went on to become their best-selling releases. Los Angeles singer-songwriter Beck scored by dabbling in multiple genres, L.A. rock band Weezer’s debut was a smash with “Buddy Holly,” San Diego’s Stone Temple Pilots’ sophomore album topped the charts, and Anaheim’s own Jeff Buckley’s first and only album was a sleeper hit.
And a pair of punk rock bands from the Bay Area fared pretty well, too, as Green Day and Rancid suddenly became mainstream radio darlings.
Country icon Johnny Cash revived his career with a Rick Rubin-produced album, Trent Reznor somehow survived “The Downward Spiral,” Biggie Smalls released his debut album and topped charts with “Big Poppa,” and hip-hop artist Nas’ debut went on to be included in the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.
Here are 30 albums (in order by release date) that reach the 30-year milestone in 2024.
“DOOKIE,” GREEN DAY >> The East Bay trio’s third album was their major label debut and a ginormous success. Released Feb. 1, 1994, the album is a bouncy, bratty collection of punk songs with standouts like “Longview,” “Basket Case,” “When I Come Around” and a rerecorded version of “Welcome to Paradise.”
“UNDER THE PINK,” TORI AMOS >> Amos’ second studio album came out Feb. 1 and became the highest-selling album of 1994 in Britain, led by the single “Cornflake Girl.”
“MELLOW GOLD,” BECK >> His third studio album was released March 1 and featured a mashup of musical styles including rock, hip-hop, folk, country and blues that made a single like “Loser” appealing on mainstream radio.
“THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL,” NINE INCH
NAILS >> Frontman Trent Reznor seemingly chronicled his own descent into madness as real life was imitating art with the band’s second effort, which came out March 8. The album was recorded in the Los Angeles home where the Manson “family” murdered several people, including actress Sharon Tate, in 1969. Standout tracks include “Closer,” “March of the Pigs” and “Hurt.”
“SUPERUNKNOWN,” SOUNDGARDEN >> Coming out on the same day as “The Downward Spiral,” Soundgarden’s fourth album really put the Seattle band on the map with singles like “The Day I Tried to Live,” “Spoonman,” “Fell on Black Days” and “Black Hole Sun.” The record was nominated for the best rock album Grammy, and “Black Hole Sun” was named best hard rock performance.
“SMASH,” THE OFFSPRING >> The band’s third studio album was released April 8 and was its major breakthrough. It includes the still-popular hits “Come Out and Play,” “Self Esteem” and “Gotta Get Away.” The band is playing the album in its entirety at Honda Center in Anaheim on June 1.
“LIVE THROUGH THIS,” HOLE >> The band’s second album came out April 12, just a week after singer Courtney Love’s husband, Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, died by suicide. With songs like “Doll Parts” and “Violet,” the record continues to land on best of the ’90s album lists.
“ILLMATIC,” NAS >> Queens, New York, native Nas’ debut album dropped April 19, topped the charts and went on to be featured on numerous best-of hip-hop album lists with songs like “It Ain’t Hard to Tell,” “The World Is Yours” and “One Love.” In 2021, the album was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.
“PARKLIFE,” BLUR >> The English rock band immediately hit the charts with its April 25 release. The group’s third album included the singles “Girls & Boys,” “End of a Century” and “To the End.”
“SOUTHERN PLAY A LIST I CADILLAC M UZI K ,”
OUTKAST >> The Atlanta hip-hop duo came out swinging with its April 26 debut album and brought Southern rap to the mainstream with songs like “Player’s Ball,” “Git Up, Get Out” and the title track.
“AMERICAN RECORDINGS,” JOHNNY CASH >>
The country music legend teamed with producer Rick Rubin for “American Recordings,” which dropped April 26 and revived Cash’s career. Standouts included “Delila’s Gone” and the tracks “Why Me Lord,” written by Kris Kristofferson; “Thirteen,” written by Misfits frontman Glenn Danzig; and “Down There by the Train,” written by Tom Waits.
“WEEZER (BLUE ALBUM),” WEEZER >> Produced by Ric Ocasek of The Cars and released May 10, the debut studio album of the Los Angeles-based rock band landed big with singles “Undone — The Sweater Song,” “Buddy Holly” and “Say It Ain’t So.”
“ILL COMMUNICATION,” BEASTIE BOYS >>
The New York hip-hop trio scored with their fourth album, which dropped May 31. It mixed hip-hop, punk, jazz and funk influences, and singles like “Sabotage,” “Get It Together” and “Sure Shot” were hits. The guys even had filmmaker Spike Jonze head up the “Sabotage” video and its ’70s cop show parody theme.
“PURPLE,” STONE TEMPLE PILOTS >> The band’s follow-up to its successful debut, “Core,” came out June 7 and included two of the group’s biggest hits, “Interstate Love Song” and “Vasoline.”
“LET’S GO,” RANCID >> The Bay Area punk band’s second album was produced by Bad Religion guitarist and Epitaph Records founder Brett Gurewitz. Released June 21, “Let’s Go” fit right in with mainstream radio already spinning new music by Green Day and The Offspring. The hit was “Salvation.” Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong also co-wrote “Radio.”
“PUNK IN DRUBLIC,” NOFX >> The band’s fifth studio album, “Punk in Drublic,” which came out July 19, landed on Guitar World’s list of iconic albums that defined 1994 and included tracks like “Linoleum,” “Don’t Call Me White” and “Leave It Alone.” The band is wrapping up its 40-year career by bringing its Punk in Drublic Festival to San Pedro for its final shows Oct. 4-6.
“DUMMY,” PORTISHEAD >> The debut by the English band came out Aug. 22 and was popular both in the U.K. and U.S. The electronic sound included several samples, a few from hip-hop artists. Singles like “Numb,” “Glory Box” and “Sour Times” sat on music charts for weeks.
“GRACE,” JEFF BUCKLEY >> The only studio album from the singer-songwriter came out Aug. 23. Though it was hardly a blip on the radar at the time of its release, it went on to receive critical acclaim and was a favorite of artists like Robert Plant, Bob Dylan and David Bowie. It included a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” which was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. Buckley drowned three years later at age 30.
“DEFINITELY MAYBE,” OASIS >> The English rock band unleashed its debut on the masses on Aug. 29 and hit the charts in the U.K. with “Supersonic” and “Shakemaker.” “Live Forever” also received a ton of radio play in the U.S.
“STRANGER THAN FICTION,” BAD RELIGION >> The L.A. punk band’s eighth studio album was its major label debut on Atlantic Records on Aug. 30. The album produced the hits “Infected” and “Stranger Than Fiction” as well as the fan favorite “Better Off Dead.”
“READY TO DIE,” NOTORIOUS B.I.G. >> East Coast rapper Biggie Smalls dropped his debut Sept. 13 on Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs’ Bad Boy Records. The songs “Big Poppa” and “Juicy” hit the Billboard charts, and the record has been included on numerous lists of greatest hip-hop albums. Biggie was killed by gunfire 16 days before the release of his sophomore album, “Life After Death,” in 1997.
“AMERICAN THIGHS,” VERUCA SALT >> The debut album by the Chicago-based grunge band was released Sept. 27 and was fueled by the single “Seether,” a hit on MTV. The album was eventually certified gold and landed on several best-of music lists for the year.
“MONSTER,” R.E.M. >> R.E.M.’S ninth studio album was a hit, led by the single “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” It debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. charts upon release Sept. 27 and the effort further spawned singles including “Bang and Blame,” “Crush With Eyeliner” and “Strange Currencies.”
“KORN,” KORN >> Korn, a nu metal band originally from Bakersfield, took a bunch of pent-up rage and splashed it into its self-titled debut, which came out Oct. 11. Written in a small house in Huntington Beach, the singles “Blind” and “Shoots and Ladders” quickly climbed the alternative charts, landed the band on MTV and commercial radio.
“BEDTIME STORIES,” MADONNA >> The pop icon’s sixth studio album came out Oct. 25 and included the singles “Secret,” “Human Nature” and “Take a Bow.” “Bedtime Story” included writing by Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk.
“MERRY CHRISTMAS,” MARIAH CAREY >>
This album is the reason we defrost the R&B diva every holiday season so she can belt out her hit “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” The album came out Oct. 29 on Columbia Records.
“MTV UNPLUGGED IN NEW YORK,” NIRVANA
>> A mostly acoustic performance from the grunge band was released Nov. 1, nearly seven months after Cobain died by suicide. The album features “Come as You Are,” “Something in the Way,” “All Apologies” and a cover of David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World.”
“CRAZYSEXYCOOL,” TLC >> The R&B trio’s sophomore album, released Nov. 15, continues to land on best-of album lists and included the singles “Creep,” “Red Light Special” and “Waterfalls.” It scored TLC six Grammy nominations and two trophies.
“VITALOGY,” BY PEARL JAM >> The Seattle-based rock band had already made a name for itself, but its third album, out Nov. 22, is still a fan favorite with songs like “Spin the Black Circle,” “Better Man” and “Immortality.”
“SIXTEEN STONE,” BUSH >> The English band’s debut album did very well on the U.S. rock charts with the singles “Comedown” and “Glycerine,” which remain two of the group’s biggest hits.