1995
Noah’s Barks pages covering things relating to the year 1995.
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Yasunori Mitsuda – “Chrono Trigger” (1995)
The thing that puts Chrono Trigger‘s soundtrack above that of most 16-bit SNES RPGs is the fact that while pretty much every RPG of the era tried to emulate the composition and “epic” feel of classical music (the predictable thing that makes most of them so dull nowadays), Yasunori Mitsuda went the extra mile to… (read more)
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Rancid – “…And Out Come the Wolves” (1995)
The easiest way for me to describe …And Out Come the Wolves is “basically the first album by The Clash but better.” Of course, The Clash surpassed their first album with subsequent releases. The bratty boys, the broad Latin music influences—it’s all there. Rancid’s guitars have more of a ’90s fuzz to them, but there’s not many… (read more)
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Monster Magnet – “Dopes to Infinity” (1995)
Grungy stoner rock that does a decent job of setting itself apart from its more generic peers by adding psychedelic undertones and just generally having more great riffs than the typical ’90s hard rock album. Problems are that Monster Magnet’s long dirges generally don’t go anywhere, and Dopes to Infinity often comes across as a… (read more)
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Kyuss – “…And the Circus Leaves Town” (1995)
…And the Circus Leaves Town as Kyuss turn in from a career that was apparently quite tiring with their final album showing signs of exhaustion and a lack of inspiration. For example, “Tangy Zizzle” sounds like it would have only been part of a song in an earlier Kyuss album, but here it’s one hook… (read more)
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The Smashing Pumpkins – “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” (1995)
I went through a phase of the music side of my life where I frequently said that I really liked double albums. This was when my experience with them was primarily the best stuff: London Calling, The Beatles, etc. It was only until I got around to listening to more double albums that I realized… (read more)
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Front Mission
Localized for the first time in this port to the Nintendo DS, what did English countries miss out on with Squaresoft’s strategy RPG game, ‘Front Mission?’ In my opinion: a highly flawed, frustrating game. (read more)
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Fugazi – “Red Medicine”
There was a hot minute when Red Medicine was my favorite Fugazi album. I was probably (and reasonably) overexcited about hearing them take such a stronger direction towards the noise rock they always flirted with. Indeed, there are some Sonic Youth-esque jams here. When they get it on, the results are a Fugazi unlike all… (read more)
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Catherine Wheel – “Happy Days”
‘Happy Days’ is overly heavy, thick, generic grunge-y alternative rock. A gigantic step down from ‘Chrome.’ (read more)
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Mad Season – “Above” (1995)
My most recent listens to Above revealed it to be better than I remembered. Mad Season have given us one of the, say, five or so supergroup albums that’s actually worth multiple spins. On the other hand, the mid-album material is emblematic of the band’s lack of experience playing together, and seemingly the time spent… (read more)
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Sonic Youth – “Washing Machine” (1995)
Washing Machine is like, the exact definition of mid-tier Sonic Youth to me. That ain’t a bad thing; it’s Sonic Youth, so it’s still a good album, relatively speaking. But as a prelude to their post-90s sound, Washing Machine lacks an identity and strength when compared to their later refinements of that style. Even the… (read more)