40 Rock Radio Hits That Defined 1995

The year was 1995 and rock music was going strong in the U.S. and in this feature we’ll look at the songs that helped define the year in music as it was.

The death of Kurt Cobain had served as a tipping point for grunge a year prior, but the genre was still pretty prominent throughout 1995 with Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam aided by newcomers Bush and Foo Fighters in keeping the gritty sound alive.

Alanis Morissette kicked off a wave of highly successful female artists making their mark on the alt-rock genre, while Green Day, Offspring and Rancid were bringing punk back into fashion for a new generation of kids. And over in the U.K., Oasis were leading the next British invasion.

READ MORE: The ‘Big 4″ Rock Artists of 1995

It was a year flush with great movie soundtracks, too — Batman Forever, Kids and Empire Records all have entries that make this list. In the film world, we saw the first Toy Story and Pierce Brosnan first claimed the role of James Bond. We hopped on our computers and surfed the web thanks to Windows ’95 and Yahoo! as well.

We upgraded our gaming systems to PlayStation, tried out Starbucks’ frappuccinos and stayed glued to the TV for the OJ Simpson trial. Michael Jordan “unretired” from the NBA and his returned marked start of a new three-peat run the following year.

Those were good times in the mid-1990s. So let’s take a look back at the music that made the year. Below you’ll find 40 rock radio hits that helped define 1995.