Asia released Aria

Aria Asia

Released: May 1994 Peak: -- US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US and UK) Genre: rock

Tracks: (Click for codes to singles charts.) Anytime (5/94, --) Are You Big Enough? Desire Summer (1994, --) Sad Situation Don’t Cut the Wire Feels Like Love (1994, --) Remembrance Day Enough’s Enough Military Man (1994, --) Aria The Players: Geoff Downes (keyboards) John Payne (vocals/ bass) Al Pitrelli (guitar) Michael Sturgis (drums)

Rating: 3.003 out of 5.00 (average of 13 ratings)

About the Album: When Asia released Aqua in 1992, it was a surprise return for a band who’s last studio album had been released seven years prior. Instead of being a one-off attempt to recapture glory days, however, the album actually signaled a more permanent band than anyone would have guessed. “What could easily have been an isolated one-shot experience” AMG turned into a long-term return. The “new Asia” didn’t have the pedigree of the original band – only keyboardist Geoff Downes remains on 1994’s Aria, with the band’s remaining original lineup of rock superstars Steve Howe, Carl Palmer, and John Wetton replaced by far less than household names. Still, the changes weren’t entirely jarring. Vocalist John Payne had already assumed vocal duties on Aqua and Al Pitrelli had already become the primary guitarist on that same album, with Steve Howe serving only in a guest capacity. “The album does start off with a few weaknesses, but as the music flows and you move deeper into the tracks, melodies become richer and more intricate, and the lyrics more interesting. The fourth track, Summer, is a great song; Sad Situation is a marvel; and Don’t Cut the Wire a work of art.” AMG There’s also “the romantic Feels Like Love” AMG and “the symphonic Aria, which makes for a great finale.” AMG Notes: The song “Reality” was added to later editions as a bonus track.

Resources and Related Links: Asia’s DMDB Encyclopedia entry AMG Alex S. Garcia, All Music Guide Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 4/19/2008; updated 8/6/2021.

All-4-One “I Swear” hit #1

I Swear John Michael Montgomery

Writer(s): Gary Baker, Frank J. Meyers (see lyrics here) First Charted: December 18, 1993 Peak: 42 BB, 14 CW, 13 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.5 US Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 50.16 video, 58.34 streaming

I Swear All-4-One

Released: April 22, 1994 First Charted: April 15, 1994 Peak: 111 BB, 19 BA, 16 CB, 15 GR, 123 CN, 15 AU, 7 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.5 US, 0.6 UK, 2.88 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 19.30 video, 210.15 streaming

Awards (Montgomery): Click on award for more details.

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Awards (All-4-One): Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “I Swear” was the first collaboration between Gary Baker, who’d written hits for Alabama and others, and Frank J. Meyers, best known for “You and I” by Eddie Rabbitt and Crystal Gayle. They wrote the “ballad in which the narrator promises his significant other that he will always love her.” WK Baker called Meyers with the idea for the song title and Meyers came up with a chorus while making the three-hour drive to Baker’s house where they planned to work on the song. FB They wrote it in 1987 RC and shopped it for five years with no luck. They recorded a new demo in 1992 RC and John Michael Montgomery picked it up. The country artist, born in Kentucky in 1965, was coming off his 1992 debut album, Life’s a Dance, which went triple platinum and spawned the #1 country hit “I Love the Way You Love Me.” “I Swear” was the first of three #1 country songs from Montgomery’s 1994 quadruple-platinum, sophomore album, Kickin’ It Up. Montgomery was signed to Atlantic and Doug Morris, the company’s head honcho, FB saw potential for a pop version of the song. He gave it to All-4-One, an interracial vocal group from California that “capitalized on the success of Boyz II Men by scoring big on the charts with melodic, doo-wop flavored romantic ballads that harkened back to a more innocent time.” SS They were coming off a top-5 cover of “So Much in Love,” a song which the American soul vocal group the Tymes took to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963. They had gone back to the studio to record songs for an album, which was already complete, when Morris gave them “I Swear.” The legendary producer David Foster got the job done in two days. FB The group turned in “a classic harmony ballad performance conveying deep romantic devotion” SS that spent 11 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for All-4-One DMDB encyclopedia entry for John Michael Montgomery FB Fred Bronson (2007). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (4th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 828. RC Rod Couch (2015). The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era: 1955-2015. Pages 86-7. DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Page 577. WK Wikipedia First posted 1/21/2024.

 

Weezer released their debut album

Weezer (The Blue Album) Weezer

Released: May 10, 1994 Peak: 16 US, 23 UK, 10 CN, -- AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 5.0 US, 0.1 UK, 5.44 world (includes US and UK) Genre: alternative rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) My Name Is Jonas (Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson, Jason Cropper) [3:23] No One Else [3:14] The World Has Turned and Left Me Here (Cuomo, Wilson) [4:26] Buddy Holly [2:40] (9/7/94, 18 BA, 25 CB, 21 RR, 34 AR, 2 MR, 12 UK, 6 CN, 68 AU, 11 DF, sales: 2.0 US) Undone – The Sweater Song [5:05] (6/24/94, 57 BB, 30 AR, 6 MR, 35 UK, 6 AU, 7 DF, sales: 4.0 US) Surf Wax America (Cuomo, Wilson) [3:04] Say It Ain’t So [4:18] (5/15/95, 51 BA, 75 CB, 46 RR, 7 MR, 37 UK, 28 DF, sales: 7.0 US) In the Garage [3:56] Holiday [3:26] Only in Dreams [8:03] All songs written by Rivers Cuomo unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 41:25 The Players: Brian Bell (guitar, vocals) Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, etc.) Matt Sharp (bass, vocals) Patrick Wilson (drums, vocals)

Rating: 4.007 out of 5.00 (average of 20 ratings) Quotable: “This album is as influential as Nevermind and Dookie for a generation of people.” – One Hit Thunder Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Weezer was formed in 1993 in Los Angeles by guitarist-vocalist Rivers Cuomo, bassist Matt Sharp, and drummer Patrick Wilson, and within a year had earned a deal with Geffen. The group quickly started work on a debut album with producer Ric Ocasek, former frontman of the late-1970s new-wave group The Cars.” TB “Brian Bell, who joined Weezer just three days before the recording sessions began, provides most of the angular lead-guitar parts reminiscent” TB of the Beach Boys. TB “He is also responsible, alongside Sharp, for the breezy Californian harmonies that neatly offset Cuomo’s melodies.” TB “When grunge began to implode following the death of Kurt Cobain, Weezer was one of the first groups to fill the void.” TB On “their first, and still their finest,” BL Weezer “introduced a fresh blend of geeky angst and catchy, riff-driven power pop” OH that fell “between the warped pop of The Pixies and the straight-ahead thump of arena rock.” AM This “classic from geek-rock innovators” BL “offers embarrassingly pleasurable pop thrills” AM with its “awkward, nerdy, hook-laden rock.” TB It lay “the foundation for their lasting influence on ‘90s alternative rock” OH such as “punk softies like Blink 182” BL and emo bands like Jimmy Eat World and the Get Up Kids. TB “This album is as influential as Nevermind and Dookie for a generation of people.” OH “The songs were so catchy that some indie rockers wondered if they were put together by a record company, Monkees-style.” 500 Cuomo said, “People see us now as this credible band, and they assume we always were credible…But, man, we could not have been more hated on when we came out.” 500 His “songwriting was on a whole different level.” OH He “became a major influence on a whole generation of young sad-sack punkers.” 500 He “was among the first alt-rock craftsmen to combine no-nonsense hard rock with sublime melody and harmony, justifying the ‘Everly Brothers meet Nirvana’ critical tag his band garnered.” BL “Songs like Buddy Holly, Undone – The Sweater Song, In the Garage, The World Has Turned and Left Me Here, and Surf Wax America are filled with strong, simple guitar hooks and relentlessly catchy melodies.” AM Their content was equally strong; “instead of singing about despair, they sing about love, which is kind of refreshing in the gloom-drenched world of ‘90s guitar-pop.” AM It didn’t hurt that the group crafted one of the most innovative videos of all time for “Buddy Holly.” The video, directed by Spike Jonze, cleverly edited the group into footage from the hit TV show Happy Days. Notes: In 2004, a Deluxe Edition of the album was released that added another 14 cuts, including non-album songs “Mykel and Carli,” “Susanne,” “My Evaline,” “Lullaby for Wayne,” and “I Swear It’s True.” There are also live versions of “My Name Is Jonas,” “Surf Wax America,” “No One Else,” and two live versions of the non-album cut “Jamie.” There are also demo versions of “Undone – The Sweater Song,” “Only in Dreams,” and non-album cut “Paperface.” Winding up the whole affair is the original album mix of “Say It Ain’t So.”

Reviews: AM AllMusic.com review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine BL Blender (10/08). “100 Greatest American Albums” OH One Hit Thunder (2/10/2026). “The Thundred: The Top 100 Albums of All Time” 500 Rolling Stone (2020). 500 Greatest Albums of All Time TB Thunder Bay (2005). Albums: The Stories Behind 50 Years of Great Recordings. Thunder Bay Press; San Diego, CA. Page 275. Related DMDB Links: First posted 2/15/2010; last updated 9/7/2026.