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Song of the Day #5,038: ‘Plenty’ – Sarah McLachlan

Continuing my look at 1994, first by counting down my own top ten albums of that year.

#3 – Fumbling Towards Ecstasy – Sarah McLachlan

I’m embarrassed to have only two albums by women on this top ten, a reflection of both the industry at the time and (more so) my narrow focus as a 22-year-old male music fan.

Despite that narrow focus, I did find room for the undeniably great Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, the third album by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan (this album was released in Canada in late ’93, but I’m counting it as a ’94 release because it debuted in the U.S. in February of that year).

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Song of the Day #5,037: ‘Strange Currencies’ – R.E.M.

Continuing my look at 1994, first by counting down my own top ten albums of that year.

#4 – Monster – R.E.M.

Comparing R.E.M.’s 80s output vs. their 90s output makes for an interesting showdown. While their early albums embody the jangly pop rock sound that helped revolutionize the alternative rock landscape, the later work took that sound to darker and stranger places, resulting in some of the band’s most memorable songs.

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Song of the Day #5,036: ‘Hannah Jane’ – Hootie and the Blowfish

Continuing my look at 1994, first by counting down my own top ten albums of that year.

#6 – Cracked Rear View – Hootie and the Blowfish

At some point it became cool to hate on Hootie and the Blowfish, or at least uncool to like them, but in 1994 it was impossible to deny the appeal of their muscular folk rock debut album.

Cracked Rear View was a hit both critically and commercially, eventually selling more than 21 million copies in the U.S. alone to become one of the top twenty best-selling albums of all time.

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Song of the Day #5,035: ‘Storytelling’ – Belle and Sebastian

It’s a rare Random Weekend twofer, with Belle and Sebastian making an encore appearance.

The selections line up chronologically as well. Yesterday’s song came from a 2001 single, while today’s SOTD appears on the band’s next project, the soundtrack to the 2002 Todd Solondz film Storytelling.

The band and director didn’t work well together, and only six minutes of their music wound up in the finished film.

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Song of the Day #5,034: ‘The Loneliness of a Middle Distance Runner’ – Belle and Sebastian

Today’s track is the B-side (if such a thing exists in the digital world) to Belle and Sebastian’s 2001 CD single ‘Jonathan David.’

The song’s title is a play on the British short story and film The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner, and the lyrics reference some of that story’s plot points and themes.

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