Pick a Day

Music History Events: Releases

October 23, 1995 Smashing Pumpkins release their double album Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness. Many of the songs, including "Bullet With Butterfly Wings," find lead singer Billy Corgan poking fun at his reputation for never seeming happy by leaning into it in very dramatic fashion.

October 10, 1995 Peter Frampton releases Frampton Comes Alive II. The album is the sequel to his 1975 smash Frampton Comes Alive - the best-selling live album in history.

August 29, 1995 Junior M.A.F.I.A. release their debut album, Conspiracy. The group is led by The Notorious B.I.G. and also features newcomer Lil' Kim, one of the few female rappers to be part of a group. Two hits emerge from the album: "Player's Anthem" and "Get Money."

August 15, 1995 Garbage release their self-titled debut album, adding a much-needed female voice (Shirley Manson) to the alternative rock scene. Hits from the album include "Queer" and "Only Happy When It Rains."

July 25, 1995 Bone Thugs-N-Harmony release their breakthrough album E. 1999 Eternal, which sells over 4 million copies. The big hit from the set is "Tha Crossroads," which wins a Grammy for Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group.

July 4, 1995 Foo Fighters release their self-titled debut album. It's essentially a Dave Grohl solo project - he wrote, produced, and played all the instruments except for some guitar on "X-Static" by Greg Dulli.

June 13, 1995 Fear Factory issues their second full-length effort, Demanufacture. Produced by Colin Richardson, the album spawns such industrial-metal classics as the title track, "Replica," and a cover of Head of David's "Dog Day Sunrise."

February 28, 1995 Mike Watt of Minutemen and Firehose releases his first solo album, Ball-Hog or Tugboat?, with an all-star team of guest musicians including Eddie Vedder, Dave Grohl, Flea, Henry Rollins and Frank Black. Vedder and Grohl join his band for the subsequent tour.

October 11, 1994 Korn release their self-titled debut album, a furious set of songs that deal with lead singer Jonathan Davis' demons - a common theme in their lyrics. The album gets little attention at first but goes on to sell over 2 million copies as the band builds a fanbase.

July 11, 1994 The Rolling Stones release Voodoo Lounge, with the tracks "Love Is Strong" and "You Got Me Rocking."

April 28, 1994 Warren G releases his debut single, "Regulate," taking G-Funk in a bold new direction by sampling the laid-back groove to Michael McDonald's "I Keep Forgettin'" and some dialogue from the movie Young Guns. The song climbs to #2, where it spends three weeks behind "I Swear" by All-4-One.

April 26, 1994 Johnny Cash releases American Recordings, the first of a series of albums produced by Rick Rubin that revitalize his career.More

November 23, 1993 The Beavis And Butt-Head Experience, an album where the animated morons offer their thoughts on songs like "I Got You Babe" and "Search And Destroy," is released. It sells over 2 million copies in America.

November 9, 1993 The Dave Matthews Band release their first album, a mostly live collection called Remember Two Things that includes early versions of "Ants Marching" and "Satellite." The band is already signed to RCA Records but they release the album independently, with their major-label debut, Under The Table and Dreaming, coming a year later.

November 2, 1993 British singer-songwriter Kate Bush releases her seventh studio album, The Red Shoes. Inspired by the 1948 ballet film of the same name, the album features a number of famous guests, including Eric Clapton, Gary Brooker of Procol Harum, Prince, and comedian Lenny Henry. It's also Bush's last release before a 12-year hiatus.More

September 21, 1993 Melissa Etheridge releases her fourth album, Yes I Am, her first since publicly coming out as lesbian. Any anti-gay sentiment is overwhelmed by support; the album is by far her best seller and includes two songs that spend months on radio station playlists: "I'm the Only One" and "Come to My Window."

September 21, 1993 Nirvana release In Utero.

July 19, 1993 Smashing Pumpkins release their album Siamese Dream, planting their flag in the fecund field of alternative rock. Tracks like "Today" and "Disarm" get lots of airplay, earning the band a headlining slot on Lollapalooza 1994.

April 20, 1993 At 31, Toby Keith releases his self-titled debut album. The first single, "Should've Been A Cowboy," goes to #1 on the Country chart, the first of 20 chart-toppers for Keith on that tally.

April 13, 1993 Bruce Springsteen releases his second live album, In Concert / MTV Unplugged.

November 3, 1992 Rage Against The Machine release their self-titled debut album. It's filled with incendiary protest songs that take on topics like media manipulation ("Bullet In The Head"), oppression of indigenous people ("Freedom") and government warmongering ("Know Your Enemy").More

October 5, 1992 Spin Doctors release their first single, "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong."More

September 21, 1992 ABBA, which split up in 1982, release Gold: Greatest Hits, which in America becomes by far their best-selling album, moving over 6 million copies.

September 8, 1992 Tom Waits' album Bone Machine drops a sonic avalanche of apocalyptic percussion sounds, snarls, and deathly wails - and fans love him for it.More

October 22, 1991 Black Sheep release their debut album, A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing, with the classic "The Choice Is Yours." The hip-hop duo are part of the Native Tongues collective along with De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest.

September 24, 1991 A Tribe Called Quest release their second album, The Low End Theory, with the tracks "Check The Rhime" and "Scenario." A hip-hop landmark, the album integrates jazz samples on songs like "Excursions" and "Verses From The Abstract."

August 13, 1991 Cypress Hill introduce a new strain of West Coast gangsta rap with the release of their self-titled debut album. The lead single is "How I Could Just Kill A Man," a song that deals with gang life in their stomping grounds of South Gate, California.

April 2, 1991 The Rolling Stones release Flashpoint, a live album recorded throughout their Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour.

March 5, 1991 Amy Grant, a fixture in the CCM community, releases a pop album, Heart In Motion. The first four singles all hit the Top 10, and "Baby Baby," a tribute to her baby daughter Millie, hits #1.

April 2, 1990 After releasing eight studio albums in her native French, Celine Dion issues her first English-language album, Unison. The lead single, "Where Does My Heart Beat Now," goes to #4, setting the stage for her American breakthrough.