Music
Artist: 311
Community Score: 7.95

311's debut album, Music, is an infectious mix of funk metal and hip-hop. While the band fails to come up with a consistently solid batch of songs, their raw energy makes up for the lack of strong songwriting. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Read More

Staying Loose (A Compilation)
Artist: H.P. Zinker

Vienna songwriter, guitarist, and singer Hans Platzgumer fronted the H.P. Zinker outfit for several years, establishing a connection with several key American artists and actually creating something of a following for himself in the process. This is more than one can say for quite a few other European rock artists, especially ones from Vienna. A... Read More

Starlite Walker
Artist: Silver Jews
Community Score: 10.00

Starlite Walker is a first for the Silver Jews on many levels. Not only is it the group's first full-length album, it's also the first recorded in a full-fledged studio -- Memphis' 24-track Easley Recordings -- as well as the first collection of songs penned almost entirely by Berman. The album's lyrical and musical richness comes partly from... Read More

Fun
Artist: Daniel Johnston
Community Score: 6.50

Johnston's major label debut is, arguably, his finest moment. With considerable help from Butthole Surfer Paul Leary, Johnston has never sounded so self-assured or confident before. Some of the songs are more polished, but they're never slicked up to such a degree that this sounds like a user-friendly approximation of Johnston's style; in fact,... Read More

Bee Thousand
Artist: Guided by Voices
Community Score: 9.26

The cult of indie rock thrives on the unexpected discovery, and in 1994 Guided by Voices was just the sort of musical phenomenon no one figured was still out there -- 30-something rock obsessives cranking out fractured guitar-driven pop tunes in a laundry room. Robert Pollard and his stable of beer buddies/backing musicians had been churning out... Read More

I Could Live in Hope
Artist: Low

Like so many of their contemporaries, Low are repeatedly lumped into numerous derivative and nondescript headings intended to encompass slow-paced, instrument-driven music that maintains an indie aesthetic. Quite simply, no category can truly reveal the beauty and glory of Low's debut record I Could Live in Hope. Sad core? Not even close! I... Read More

Prazision
Artist: Labradford

As the premiere release on Kranky, which would become one of the '90s most notable U.S. indie labels for its series of adventurous releases, Prazision already holds a certain place in the history books. Regardless of who put it out, however, this excellent debut would command attention for introducing Labradford and their marvelous drone/ambient... Read More

Tortoise
Artist: Tortoise
Community Score: 9.00

An album that not only set the tone for the new Chicago prog rock, but also cemented the musical niche for Thrill Jockey Records. Here, multi-instrumentalists John McEntire, Dan Bitney, John Herdon, Douglas McCombs, and Bundy K. Brown share equal responsibility and trust in each other, pouring out a thick stew of meditative grooves, light... Read More

Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements
Artist: Stereolab
Community Score: 7.58

Though it was the group's major-label debut, Stereolab's Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements showed no signs of selling out. If anything, it's one of the most eclectic and experimental releases in Stereolab's early career, emphasizing the group's elongated Krautrock jams, instrumentals, and harsh, noisy moments. The album begins and... Read More

Exile in Guyville
Artist: Liz Phair
Community Score: 8.29

If Exile in Guyville is shockingly assured and fully formed for a debut album, there are a number of reasons why. Most prominent of these is that many of the songs were initially essayed on Liz Phair's homemade cassette Girlysound, which means that the songs are essentially the cream of the crop from an exceptionally talented songwriter. Second,... Read More

Rules of Reduction
Artist: Jim O'Rourke

A 17-minute musique concrete work from O'Rourke, who has also worked with Illusion of Safety. Strange, dense, dreamlike music segments mix with more ethereal music and sounds of traffic, car horns, children playing, and speeches. ~ William I. Lengeman III, All Music Guide Read More