Albums from the 80s-90s transitory period (88-92)

Like a Prayer

The Stone Roses

Use Your Illusion I and II

The Black Album

Pixies - Doolittle

OP - that's such an interesting period, I agree. While there's plenty of cringe stuff from that period, there's also a lot of wonderful alternative rock, house music and RnB. Hope this thread grows with other fond remembrances of that music. One that comes to mind when I think of that era...

A few that have fallen through the cracks of time:

Toni Childs- Union

Love Confessions- Miki Howard

Everything's Different Now- til tuesday

March- Michael Penn

Drama According to Bernadette Cooper- Bernadette Cooper

I’m Your Baby Tonight

Deee-Lite - 'World Clique' (1990)

Blue Bell Knoll - Cocteau Twins

The Sundays - Reading, Writing & Arithmetic

Of course

Shakespear's Sister - Hormonally Yours

Starfish - The Church

Life's Too Good - The Sugarcubes

The Cure - Disintegration (their best, IMO)

Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches - Happy Mondays

Liza Minnelli - RESULTS!

Escape, Frontiers

Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting

Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking & Ritual de lo Habitual

Electronic - self-titled

James - Seven

Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine & Downward Spiral

Love and Rockets

Oh - Just noticed the 88-92! In that case:

Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation

Sinead O'Connor - I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got

One of the best debut albums ever

Tanita Tikaram - Ancient Heart

Channeling my inner lesbian:

Songs from the Big Chair - Tears for Fears

Joe Jackson - Big World

^^From the album, Indigo Girls, natch.

This really was the last period in which I enjoyed a vast swath of popular music. It's been downhill ever since.

Listen Without Prejudice, 1990 - our beloved George Michael

REM -Green

Nevermind

Lenny Kravitz - Let Love Rule

Shakespeare's Sister - Sacred Heart

Second vote for Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting

It's from 1986, but I was obsessed with XTC's Skylarking circa 1989-90.

Replacements - Don't Tell A Soul

Edie Brickell & New Bohemians - Shooting Rubberbands At The Stars

10,000 Maniacs - Blind Man's Zoo

Morrissey - Viva Hate

Shallow wader.

This is probably my favorite period of pop music.

I didn't check if someone else has mentioned it but one of the best pop albums ever came out in 1990: "Behaviour" by Pet Shop Boys.

This was the period when the veteran R and B divas were trying their hardest to embrace the early hip hop sound before Babyface hit it big and they could all relax. Results varied, but you can't say these projects weren't at the very least interesting:

Diana Ross - Workin Overtime

Patti Labelle - Be Yourself

Gladys Knight - Good Woman

Donna Summer - Mistaken Identity

Chaka Khan - The Woman I Am

Aretha Franklin - What You see is what you sweat

I'm surprised Dionne didn't make a go for it, but she did appear with Patti on Glady's cover of Karyn Whites Superwoman.

Of course, Donna also had "Another Place and Time" in 1989, which is fabulous in its own right.

[quote] I'm surprised Dionne didn't make a go for it

Perhaps she was too involved with the Psychic Friends Network at the time?

Slow Children - "Spring in Fialta "....early arty/new wave electronic dance duo !

One of the worst periods ever in music. All the New Wave/British Invasion artists were in rehab, and Hip Hop was able to get a foothold. Thank god Grunge happened.

Pet Shop Boys - Behaviour

Depeche Mode - Violator

New Order - Technique

Electronic s/t

The The - Mind Bomb

There was some great female country-pop during this era too, including:

Trisha Yearwood - Trisha Yearwood

Mary Chapin Carpenter - Come On Come On

Rosanne Cash - Interiors

The Judds - Love Can Build a Bridge

Shawn Colvin - Steady On

I Wanna Have Some Fun

Two stone-cold classics released in 1991:

Screamadelica - Primal Scream

Blue Lines - Massive Attack

Roxette's '88 cd =

Roxette's '91 cd =

She'd never be called the best singer but her '88 cd was the hit factory of the late 80s =

Kirsty MacColl, Kite

Her hit filled follow up cd was a great release in '91 =

Belinda had a solid release after her big "Heaven On Earth" album -

The Breeders - Last Splash

Belinda's 1991 album is my favorite one of hers -

Fusion of Rap and Club music.

Chris Issak's offering during this period -

Expose's '89 album had every song a potential top 40 hit -

Their '92 cd showed them branching their sounds out even more -

One for the ravers.

Tears for Fears - "Sowing the Seeds of Love" from '89. "Advice for the Young at Heart" wasn't a hit but was my favorite song from the album.

Tanita Tikaram - "Ancient Heart" (1988)

I remember hearing "Twist In My Sobriety" for the first time and being blown away.

The best tune on The Seeds Of Love =

Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend

Ultra Nate's "One Woman's Insanity" (1993)

I still listen to this one. Released more than 30 years ago, the perfect synthesis of soul and club music of the time.

The KLF really did rock me back in 1991. Their album "The White Room" is still one of my favorite albums from that era.

92's 'Funky Divas' was peak En Vogue

De La Soul - 3 Feet High & Rising

A Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm

'Down To Earth' - Monie Love.

Oh, the parties...

M People - 'Northern Soul'

I spent '90 and '91 living in Paris.

The tracks from Niagara's 'Religion' album were everywhere. The singer, Muriel, was living in the same building as me... which was quite a trip following her comings and goings....

Three by R.E.M.: Green (1988), Out of Time (1991), and Automatic for the People (1992)

Don't Tell a Soul - the Replacements (1989)

Cry Like A Rainstorm, Howl Like The Wind - Linda Ronstadt (1989)

In 1990, Pet Sounds, as well as other Beach Boys CDs, was finally released on CD.

B52's - Cosmic Thing - 1989

Letting everyone know they're back.

"Roam," from the B-52s 1989 album, Cosmic Thing.

The Cure, Disintegration (1989)

New Order, Technique (1989)

Stone Roses, Stone Roses (1989)

Doolittle, Pixies (1989)

Some Friendly, Charlatans (1989)

UGH, I do sound like my parents but this was ALL genres were hitting

This records I can STILL listen to all the way through without skipping

The First "Soul II Soul" record

WOOF

Big Fun - A Pocketful Of Dreams

The world's first gay boyband

Pearl Jam had four singles released off the band's first album, Ten (1991). Besides the alt chart, songs like "Even Flow" and "Jeremy" charted 3 and 5, respectively, on the U.S. mainstream rock.

^^^ ugh! I hated Pearl Jam because that "Jeremy" video played on MTV every 17 minutes for what seemed like years.

R77 So true. I often think about how much repeated viewings of the same music video greatly affected whether I liked the song back in the day. I HATED songs like "Don't Come Around No More" "Drive" and "Down Under" when I was MUCH younger but I LOVE them now. I just remember flipping on MTV and seething cause that FUCKING Tom Petty video was ALWAYS on.

Of course, now I realize they really didn't have a lot of options.

Information Society (1988)

Duran Duran’s Wedding Album (1993) still has one foot in the eighties

As does New Order’s Republic

Many synthpop bands could not make the transition to the 90s sound but still had some great albums in the early years

Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique and U2s Achtung Baby

Dry--PJ Harvey

OP, great topic. But I would say the transitory period was more 1988-1991. 1992 was the year Nevermind knocked Dangerous off the charts.

Shoegaze and shoegaze adjacent:

Ride - Nowhere

House of Love - s/t

Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas

The Jesus and Mary Chain - Automatic

My Bloody Valentine - Loveless

Slowdive - Just for a Day

What a horrible year for the top album spot, R84.

That Slowdive album was exquisite and ethereal.

bump

R15 Agree - but I'll one-up you with Dusty Springfield's "Reputation". I can not figure out why this was never officially released in America (only as an import) , especially after her success with the PSB in 1987. I always wondered how good they would've been working with Donna Summer or Diana Ross.

Don't forget the Singles soundtrack!

"L'Autre" by Mylène Farmer

Traveling Wilburys