Five overlooked masterpieces from 1995 that nobody remembers
Not to make 1995, one of the greatest years in music, all about me, but my enjoyment of it is tinged with slight fear. The 30th anniversary of the likes of Oasis‘s What’s The Story? (Morning Glory) means the oncoming future of my own 30th anniversary and with it, the realisation of how quickly time moves.
Because it doesn’t feel like long ago that my own music tastes were crafted in the slipstream of the booming 1990s. When I was scraping together my pocket money, heading to shops that offered me my first taste of a CD purchase, fans who had lived through the heady days of Britpop were passing their classics down to us.
My brother’s friends would slip me their battered copies of What’s The Story? along with Different Class, The Bends and Post. At ten years old, it wasn’t apparent to me how I had just missed out on what many would consider the golden age of British music, but at 20, it was unavoidable. I could listen to their music as much as I liked, but for some reason, the gods had decided that my chance to immerse myself in that scene would just pass me by, and instead be bestowed upon my older siblings.
Another ten years have flashed by, and 1995 is as far back to me now as Rubber Soul was to those in the midst of that Britpop scene. The year is just another chapter in a rich tapestry of musical history, led by albums that live long in the memory of fans all over. But why have these albums developed such reverence? Of course, they were outliers in their own right, but their greatness was built on the shoulders of their contemporaries.
Oasis, Pulp, Radiohead and Björk weren’t the only musicians operating on that level in 1995; they were the faces of a diverse and vibrant scene. All of those works combined created a generation of open-minded music fans, who gave space for artists to create and innovate. In turn, great albums were released and somewhat forgotten, as the giants of that year stole the limelight. And so, in a bid not to consign these albums to the bins of yearless history, let me remind you of what greatness lay beyond the realms of Britpop.
Five forgotten masterpieces from 1995:
D’Angelo – ‘Brown Sugar’
Release Date: July 1995 | Producer: D’Angelo | Label: Virgin Records
When D’Angelo recruited Questlove five years later and laid down Voodoo, his legacy was established. But on Brown Sugar, his flirtation with greatness began on an album that effectively introduced the framework for neo-soul. The warmth of soul’s traditional profile was filtered into something more nimble, riding off slick rhythmic profiles that would have been at home in the club as it would have been in the bedroom.
Marvin Gaye’s influence was recognisable on the record, but D’Angelo was acutely aware of veering too closely into pastiche. And with the ever-present danger of pastiche looming over his creative process, D’Angelo looked for a way to thrust traditional ideas firmly into the future. This is where syncopation and ghost notes came in, creating a drum beat slightly off time and at times jarring, challenging the listener to engage fully with the rhythm and understand how it leads the album, rather than merely keeping time.
Standout track: ‘Lady’
Ben Harper – ‘Fight For Your Mind’
Release Date: January 1995 | Producer: Ben Harper | Label: Virgin Records
With all the exciting layers of instrumentation existing around him, it would have been easy to interpret Harper’s more modest approach with reductive language. But with his trusty Weissenborn guitar by his side, Harper managed to seamlessly blend folk, rock and reggae sensibilities in one coherent record.
But in the album’s undercurrent was a blues profile that ultimately created a safe space for Harper’s storytelling to flourish. We all now know Harper as a heartfelt wordsmith, but it was a reputation introduced on this album, showcased best on the confronting ‘Oppression’ and ‘Excuse Me Mr.’. And when his social consciousness was poured over a soundscape that traversed through all four corners of the globe and its influence, it became a true album for the people.
Standout track: ‘By My Side’
The Pharcyde – ‘Labcabincalifornia’
Release Date: January 1995 | Producer: J Dilla | Label: Bicycle Music Company
American hip-hop in the mid-1990s was as exciting as what was happening in British alternative music. It had spent the 1980s pushing through growing pains to now truly understand how its sonic identity manifested itself. And producers like J Dilla helped realise that. Soulful samples were be modernised with groove-laden rhythm sections, to create a fusion of jazz and funk that felt right for this new style of West Coast living.
Along with A Tribe Called Quest, The Pharcyde built on this idea of a ensemble of MC’s, conversing with one another through the cracks in the beat, telling stories of mortality, relationships and fame. Lyrically, it was innocently charming and strikingly poignant in equal measures, while its production hid a myriad of interesting experimental corners, making it an album that freshened up with every new listen.
Standout track: ‘Runnin”
Tricky – ‘Maxinquaye’
Release Date: January 1995 | Producer: Tricky & Mark Saunders | Label: Island Records
The traditional idea of a band remained front and centre of cultural trends in 1995. Britpop was fresh and exciting, but ultimately building off the blueprints laid out from icons before. But in the shadows of major stages stood artists tired of the antiquated approach to music. They wanted to dig deeper into idea of blending indie with experimental electronic music.
Trip-hop was born, and Tricky was at the forefront of this brave new genre. He showed artists how to use space to their advantage, proving sonic curiosity lived in the expanse of atmosphere. Ideas that would ordinarily have been contrasting were thrown together to create what sounded like a music Jackson Pollock; sprawling and arbitrary, but when viewed with the bigger picture in mind, completely captivating.
Standout track: ‘Hell Is Round The Corner’
The Roots – ‘Do You Want More?!!!??!’
Release Date: January 1995 | Producer: The Roots | Label: UMG Recordings
This generation of innovative American hip-hop artists had cultivated an audience that celebrated confident artists willing to express themselves. Traditional references were touched upon and modernised to put rhythm at the forefront of popular music. But no one mastered it through live instrumentation quite like The Roots.
Questlove and Black Thought combined to make an album of sonic spinning plates. Fusing more traditional elements of jazz into this new hip-hop sound, the album was a masterclass in live instrumentation. It didn’t rely on samples to introduce traditional references, instead choosing to innovate its own melodic sections through the introduction of horns, while relying on Questlove’s bulletproof drum playing to establish rhythm. Everything about it was fresh, interesting and compelling, and to this day sounds as relevant as ever.
Standout track: ‘Mellow My Man’
