Random Album Clash - 1990

Same here, Dead Can Dance > Ozrics > Primus > Hammill. Not a fan of Amarok. Indeed not that many great prog albums that year; my personal Top 5 bands all took a break that year. There's Crushed Velvet Apocalypse by the Legendary Pink Dots that in my view would have deserved inclusion and maybe have snatched my vote (in my view not quite their best, but enjoyable enough, and I'm not sure whether they did better than rank 12 on the PA ranking in any year).

PA by the way ranks "Slow Dance" by Ant Phillips on no. 1. Don't know that one, maybe generally Ant Phillips deserves more listens than he gets (at least from me). 

I guess it depends on what you listen to. 1990 for me was probably a better year than 1989. I could list dozens and dozens of albums I love from 1990.

For a start, the spotlight was just starting to hit Seattle, and Sub Pop was making the most of it. As well as releasing some pretty good albums that year, it also saw a wave of compilations that would have been the first time a lot of people were able to easily buy/listen to earlier recordings from bands like Soundgarden, Mudhoney and Green River. My favourite Sub Pop release from 1990, though, is probably Mark Lanegan’s debut solo album. Sub Pop were already extending their feelers beyond Seattle, and it was the success of L7’s Sub Pop release in this year that got them a major label record deal. Also from Seattle, Alice in Chain’s debut was released, and Mother Love Bone’s Apple, among others.

On the other coast of the US, the indie and collage rock scene in New England and New York was also having a good year, with albums from Blake Babies, Breeders, Galaxie 500, and Lemonheads. And across the world, and closer to home for me (my hometown, in fact), the NZ indie scene was also having a good year, with albums from The Bats, The Chills, The Clean, Straitjacket Fits, and The Verlaines, among others.

Heading back to New England and New York, but switching musical scenes, there were some great albums from Blues Traveler, Extreme, Living Colour, and Lou Reed & John Cale

Other albums I particularly enjoy from 1990 were released by Adrian Belew, Cocteau Twins, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Jane’s Addiction, Sinéad O’Connor and Neil Young. And I have no doubt there are others, too, which I could mention if I put my mind to it.

It’s funny how a dry year for some, can be a golden one for others! 🤗

Similar for me, which when I think about it, makes sense. These were the beginnings of my teenage years (I turned 13 in 1989), and I was not only far more into music than I had been, but I also had more disposable income. It would be a few years yet before I could go to gigs, but I was definitely buying a lot of music. I think 89 and 90 were the last years I was buying music on cassette tapes, too, as my brother bought a CD player in 1990, and I didn’t look back. It meant buying less music, because CDs cost considerably more than cassettes, but I was smitten by the new (for me) format.