1994: YEAR IN REVIEW : Rock Turns a Very Young 40 : Thanks to a new generation of musical revolutionaries, five albums qualify as the year’s finest.

Who would have imagined that rock ‘n’ roll would be so vital and inspiring at 40?

Despite evidence as recently as 1990 that the music had once again lost its relevance, a new generation of musicians has stepped forward with purpose and direction--just as the Beatles and Bob Dylan did in the ‘60s, Bruce Springsteen and the Sex Pistols in the ‘70s, R.E.M. and U2 in the ‘80s.

This latest rescue unit is drawn chiefly from artists whose music expresses the anger and alienation of growing up amid broken homes, hostile surroundings and meaningless job expectations.

It’s a rock revolution so deeply rooted that it has given us an abundance of riches in 1994. Some years it is difficult to find one album that lives up to the ambition and craft suggested by the term album of the year . This year, there are five:

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(1) Hole, “Live Through This” (DGC Records). The cover photo of a beauty queen at the moment of victory is the ideal introduction to Hole’s major-label debut. In a more innocent age, being elected queen was seen by young girls as one of life’s ultimate joys--right up there with meeting Mr. Perfect and raising those beautiful kids.

In the best of these songs, singer-songwriter Courtney Love slashes with the force of a machete at the idea of guaranteed happiness. She expresses disappointment and disillusionment in songs so naked and raw that you expect the photo on the album’s back cover to show the queen’s dead flowers. “Someday,” she warns, “you will ache like I ache.” Instead, the photo shows a young, barefooted Love, back when all her childhood dreams were intact. What gives Hole’s music its power is that Love--despite her loudmouth, confrontational persona--still clings to fairy tales and the hope that life can be transformed magically by romance or, heaven forbid, rock ‘n’ roll.

The strength of “Live Through This,” with its tales of obsession and betrayal, lies in the tension between what Love wants to believe and the stark reality of her own experience.

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(2) Nine Inch Nails, “The Downward Spiral” (Nothing/TVT/Interscope). Trent Reznor may be the most gifted blend of singer, writer and producer since Prince. His tenacious guitar- and synthesizer-driven music is not as overtly confessional as Love’s but it explores today’s youthful Angst with breathtaking dynamics and craft.

Prone to dark, desperate themes and frequently shocking language, Reznor misses no opportunity to startle or jolt--in the tradition of the horror movies he loved as a kid. Yet “The Downward Spiral” isn’t a celebration of nihilism. Rather, the songs chronicle the moments of self-destruction and rage in an age in which nothing, from family to religion, seems to offer hope of comfort or salvation for millions of young people. In a career year, Reznor also was the star of Woodstock ’94.

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(3) Pearl Jam, “Vitalogy” (Epic). The most difficult thing in rock is stepping up to greatness after you’ve already been declared a superstar, which is why Pearl Jam’s rise to creative excellence after two commercial blockbusters stands as one of the most remarkable feats of ‘90s rock. Where it was once predictable and stiff, Pearl Jam’s music now seduces and assaults you in unexpected and frequently spectacular ways.

Eddie Vedder too has improved dramatically as a writer, able now to reflect upon the world around him--from relationships to rock ‘n’ roll pressures--with the mastery and heart of his own hero, Pete Townshend.

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(4) Neil Young & Crazy Horse, “Sleeps With Angels” (Reprise). Young, who began making records long before most of this new crop of rockers entered grade school, also focuses on today’s troubled youth. The result is an album as tender and soul-baring as anything Young has done since 1975’s “Tonight’s the Night,” which was written after the drug-related deaths of two friends. This album also refers to a pair of deaths: the drive-by shooting of a young victim and the suicide of Kurt Cobain. The message is one of renewed optimism and hope.

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(5) R.E.M., “Monster” (Warner Bros.). Following the mostly muted, melancholy textures of “Out of Time” and “Automatic for the People,” R.E.M. takes a sharp turn into the world of feisty rock ‘n’ roll, and it’s a pleasure ride indeed: a virtual jigsaw puzzle that invites the listener to unscramble the themes and identify the teasing musical influences. Most of the themes deal with romantic obsession, and the influences range from the Beatles and grunge to R.E.M. itself.

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(6) Liz Phair, “Whip-Smart” (Matador/Atlantic). Even those who admired Phair’s debut collection last year had to wonder just how much her appeal depended on the titillation factor. While not above resorting again briefly to sexual imagery that might make her mom blush, Phair proves that her strongest weapons in these tales of sexual politics and desire are her wry intelligence and writing skills. A major arrival.

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(7) Soundgarden, “Superunknown” (A&M;). Like Pearl Jam, this is a band that has grown creatively while under the spotlight. The sound still seems a bit too close at times to the Led Zeppelin-Black Sabbath power-driven tradition, but the questioning, independent spirit updates nicely the honesty and punch of the Minutemen, Husker Du and other trailblazing underground rock bands of the early ‘80s.

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(8) Beck, “Mellow Gold” (DGC). “Loser” is the song that made this young hip-hop-folkie-rocker-whatever a star, but other tracks on this wonderfully eclectic debut, including the Dylanesque sarcasm of “Pay No Mind,” could have done the trick if college radio programmers had picked up on them instead. It’s too early to tell where this 24-year-old’s bootheels are going to wander, but he’s worth following.

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(9) Dionne Farris, “Wild Seed--Wild Flower” (Columbia). To the rest of the pop world, Farris, the only non-rock entry on this year’s list, took a big chance when she left Arrested Development, where she had contributed soulful vocal coloring on the much-admired “Tennessee.” But Farris knew one thing we didn’t until now: She’s a richly talented singer and writer with an adventurous musical vision that stretches from commentary to caress, from the Beatles to Curtis Mayfield.

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(10) Various artists, “Natural Born Killers” soundtrack (Nothing/Interscope). Don’t judge a soundtrack by its movie. Oliver Stone’s film about murderers as ‘90s superstars was maddeningly overwrought, but this collection, produced by Trent Reznor, takes us on an exhilarating roller-coaster ride through these violent, unsettling times as it mixes music (from Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan to Patti Smith and L7) and dialogue. A classic.

More Top 10 Picks

* For all 17 of the Top 10 lists of Calendar’s pop contributors, check the new TimesLink on-line service. Sign on and “jump” to keyword “music.”