1990: Was it really that bad of a year for music?

UNIQUE 3 - THE THEME

Yes, sic, god forbid we talk about music on a music forum. If you don't like the discussion then don't participate. Simples.

Seems like it's just based on the dullest possible rock canon consensus of pre-Grunge myopia.

It actually isn't.

Touch Me and Pump Up The Jam were 1989 /pedant

This just proves that 1989-1991 is one big block of time.

I got a walkman for my 13th birthday in 1989 and the music I was most into at the time was house, mostly what was in the charts, especially hip-house and acid. And Queen, but I think it was some kind of rule that 13 year old boys had to be into Queen in 1989.

If you don't like the discussion then don't participate. Simples.

you should take your own advice sometimes

f you don't like the discussion then don't participate.
It actually isn't.

Criticism of the thread/question is part of the discussion. You didn't cite anything regarding the assertion of 1990 as a lesser time for critically acclaimed music or whatever. If you gave examples of where this was decided or who needs to be convinced otherwise it would create a better discussion.

I love the music that came out in 1990. That was a great year for music. So exciting for someone who loved UK indie and early house/techno and hip hop. Those genres blended together and hit the charts fairly often. Forgive me for not frequently coming out to wave the flag for that particular year. Nice job getting people to name their favorites though. I'm reminded of tons of great stuff. 1990 was my first year as a college radio DJ. No one has mentioned Every Beat of the Heart by Railway Children yet, so i'll add that to the pile of singles that were on heavy rotation. Also not ashamed to say I wore out my copy of the Lightning Seeds album that year (i'm from the US, so it was released in 1990 here - 89 in the UK).

Valuable contribution to the discussion from brimstead there!

Nashwan, the point is that it's a lesser spoken about year, not a lesser year, which would have been clear if you'd read the opening post instead of just the title. At least dog latin gets it.

And numerous others have managed to talk about it without a degree of snark, too. I mean, if you guys want this place to be more pleasant, then be pleasant - and I'm obviously including myself in that too.

the point is that it's a lesser spoken about year,

You've missed my point again which is asking for at least some evidence of these claims beyond Trump-style 'a lot of people reckon'.

"Many people" =/= "Hardly anyone", which, y'know, are the words I actually used.

Albums from 1990 that I liked then and still listen to:

Primus, Frizzle Fry
Prong, Beg to Differ
Robert Plant, Manic Nirvana
Depeche Mode, Violator
Nitzer Ebb, Showtime
Social Distortion, s/t
Public Enemy, Fear of a Black Planet
Celtic Frost, Vanity/Nemesis
A Tribe Called Quest, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
Dio, Lock Up the Wolves
Ice Cube, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
Deicide, s/t
Danzig, Lucifuge
Suicidal Tendencies, Lights...Camera...Revolution!
Pantera, Cowboys From Hell
Cannibal Corpse, Eaten Back to Life
Living Colour, Time's Up
Anthrax, Persistence of Time
Jane's Addiction, Ritual de lo Habitual
Judas Priest, Painkiller
Ministry, In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up
Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Ragged Glory
Obituary, Cause of Death
AC/DC, The Razors Edge
Megadeth, Rust in Peace
Testament, Souls of Black
Slayer, Seasons in the Abyss
Geto Boys, s/t
Dwight Yoakam, If There Was a Way
Kreator, Coma of Souls
Sisters of Mercy, Vision Thing
KMFDM, Naïve

Albums I liked at the time but haven't heard in years:

Brand Nubian, One for All
Soul II Soul, Vol. II - 1990: A New Decade
Beats International, Let Them Eat Bingo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI3C6MROOvY

Turrican, it may help if you define and elaborate more on what research you did to make this claim "Looking at each individual year of the '90s". So what were your results? Did you track these in a spreadsheet? Would be interesting to hear about your research process. For example, how many mentions of 1990 vs. 1999 were there in your research? What was the sentiment on those posts mentioning 1990 vs. 1999? I'd be laughed out of my office if I made claims like you made without supporting with direct quotes and charts. Can we access the text of all ILX posts in a database? Were you using more than just ILX in your observations?

Yup, precisely!

Valuable contribution to the discussion from brimstead there!

Thanks! gracious of you to acknowledge your own hypocrisy

Ooh, I'm liking unperson's list, as it gives a nice little overview of what the year was like from a metal/alternative rock fans perspective - yes, I know there's a couple of hip-hop LP's in there too, but I can see others have covered that side of the year, too.

One of the things I like about checking out what people were into at the time, particularly during years when music fandom was more tribal, is seeing how everyone comes at the same thing from a different angle.

I also quite like the idea of looking at 1990 as part of a longer period of time e.g. 1989-1991, in the same way that 1979-1981 feels like part of the same period musically.

this is what the reading festival looked like in 1990:

https://www.readingfestival.com/sites/live.inviqa.readingfestival.com/files/images/history/poster/1990.jpg

i went but i think i must have been off my nut the whole weekend cos i don't really remember seeing any of those bands at all apart from the cramps and tackhead. was hugely into the young gods and loop but a field in the middle of the afternnon isn't really the time or the place

still dont know who the fuck an emotional fish are

There's a woman at the end of the street always talking about football records, I was having a flick through discogs and I found what she was talking about. The rap is pretty good but I'm not so keen on the music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1VXJd7b9bA

1990 singles

Lush - sweetness and light
my bloody valentine - soon/glider
the orb - little fluffy clouds
depeche mode - enjoy the silence
seal - crazy
sinead o connor - nothing compares 2 U

and the enigma album

was 6 in 1990, so yeah. favourite music was probably the tiny toons theme song tbh

Brotherlovesdub, if you've talked about music with a variety of people in a variety of places over a long enough time, as well as read up a lot about music via a variety of sources, then you begin to notice patterns and/or trends and some things become noticeably more discussed than other things, while other things recede into the background.

As for the spreadsheet stuff, I'll keep my thoughts to myself on that one.

Oh yeah, that first Trash Can Sinatras album is still so good. Another 1990 gem. https://www.discogs.com/The-Trash-Can-Sinatras-Cake/release/1803974

Thanks! gracious of you to acknowledge your own hypocrisy

― brimstead, Friday, November 3, 2017 6:00 PM (nineteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

You're welcome, and if you really want me to knock the snark on the head, I'd start by not being a provocative idiot.

Still jam this on the reg

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/516eno-vIWL.jpg

Whoa, the Reading '90 poster! Faith No More would have still been touring The Real Thing. It's easy to forget how popular the Inspiral Carpets were, they seem to be mostly discussed as a distant third to The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, while the likes of The Charlatans and Blur moved on and eclipsed them.

Huh, Frank Tovey played the Mean Fiddler Stage!

that's the one name that really leapt out at me looking back at it now. wouldn't have known who he was at the time, now i would kill to have seen him live

was there ever a bloke-ier line-up though? fuck, there's only about three women on the entire bill

I only ever saw Tovey live once, supporting Depeche Mode on the tour for Exciter (as Fad Gadget) and he was great. I'm glad I got to see him at least once!

Also released in 1990, Ultra Vivid Scene - Joy 1967-1990 is one of my all-time favorite albums.

then you begin to notice patterns and/or trends and some things become noticeably more discussed than other things, while other things recede into the background

It's neither, tbh.

seal - crazy

Oh shit, I'd forgotten that this was released in '90 (the album came out the following year), but yeah this is great.

Seal's early stuff in general was great, IMO.

^ cosign

I vehemently disagree that 1990 was a bad year for music but it may be personal biases at work. I turned 21 that January and moved (back) to New York in October, 1989 and immediately started working at Tower Records in the Village and not long afterwards started writing for whomever would let me. I was a sponge living in a city I loved and trying to listen to anything and everything but especially the metallic stuff. Here is a list of albums I loved and still hold an affinity for, in alphabetical order...

1000 Homo DJs - Supernaut
Alice in Chains - Facelift
Anthrax - Persistence of Time
Atrophy - Violent by Nature
Bad Brains - The Youth Are Getting Restless
Bad Religion - Against the Grain
Bathory - Hammerheart
The Black Crowes - Shake Your Money Maker
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Good Son
Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting
Course of Empire - Course of Empire
The Cramps - Stay Sick!
Death - Spiritual Healing
Dread Zeppelin - Un-Led-Ed
Dwarves - Blood Guts & Pussy
Entombed - Left Hand Path
Fields of the Nephilim - Elizium
The Fluid - Glue
Fugazi - Repeater
GWAR - Scumdogs of the Universe
Ice Cube - AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
Jane's Addiction - Ritual de lo habitual
Judas Priest - Painkiller
Killing Joke - Extremities, Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions
King's X - Faith Hope Love
L7 - Smell the Magic
Lard - The Last Temptation of Reid
Loop - A Gilded Eternity
Love / Hate - Blackout in the Red Room
Manitoba's Wild Kingdom - ...And You?
Bob Mould - Black Sheets of Rain
Nausea - Extinction
Nocturnus - The Key
Obituary - Cause of Death
The Obsessed - The Obsessed
Pantera - Cowboys From Hell
Paris - The Devil Made Me Do It
Pixies - Bossanova
Poison Idea - Feel the Darkness
Iggy Pop - Brick by Brick
Pop Will Eat Itself - Cure for Sanity
The Posies - Dear 23
Primus - Frizzle Fry
Prong - Beg to Differ
Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
Redd Kross - Third Eye
Revolting Cocks - Beers, Steers + Queers
Sacred Reich - The American Way
Scatterbrain - Here Comes Trouble
Silverfish - Fat Axl
The Sisters of Mercy - Vision Thing
Skinny Puppy - Too Dark Park
Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss
Social Distortion - Social Distortion
Sonic Youth - Goo
Tad - Salt Lick
Testament - Souls of Black
Thee Hypnotics - Come Down Heavy
Trouble - Trouble
Uncle Tupelo - No Depression
Venus Beads - Transfixed
Vicious Rumors - Vicious Rumors
Warrior Soul - Last Decade Dead Century
Wartime - Fast Food for Thought
John Zorn - Naked City

On this list include my favorite albums by Bad Religion, Death, Entombed, GWAR, Pantera, Primus, Prong, Skinny Puppy, Sonic Youth and John Zorn. I still play a lot of them. The Course of Empire is one of my favorite albums to this day.

So yeah, come at me 1990 haters. I'll fight you!

Without having read the rest of this thread: That's a great list of albums right there.

In 1990 I turned 27 and a friend turned me into indie music. And I was very surprised how much excellent stuff was out there. Definitely one of the greatest years of rock music. Albums I love to pieces which have been mentioned:
The House of Love - "Butterfly" (my fave of 1990 what a glorious record, they should have been as big as The Smiths)
Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas (still my fave of theirs, the word ethereal was invented for them)
Sonic Youth - Goo (accessible but still rough and edgy)
The Pixies - Bossanova (their most pop album, almost smooth)
Blue Aeroplanes - Swagger (still a milestone of half spoken word indie, campfire music)
The Chills - Submarine Bells (where the Beach Boys and Daniel Johnston meet)
Neil Young - Ragged Glory (where Neil rocked out again)
Lou Reed & John Cale - Songs for Drella (the tribute album of 1990, each song immediately recognisable as by Reed or by Cale)

Not mentioned yet:
The Breeders - Pod (their best)
Swell - s/t (almost as good as their seminal 41)

Eno/Cale - Wrong Way Up came out in 1990, and a perfect amalgam of their talents it is.

Wrong Way Up is great. It didn't make a broad impact at the time but it remains in my collection, unlike so many of the other titles listed ITT.

I recall the New Zealand music scene starting to gain wider notice in North America in 1990. Maybe not as influential as the Pacific Northwest was about to become but definitely longer lasting for me. SPIN did a story around that time and a friend brought me back a copy of the Tuatara comp that she picked up while on a trip to NZ that summer. There are several significant NZ releases from 1990 already noted but I'd also suggest the Plagal Grind EP and TKOP's A Beard of Bees, which is still an absolutely magical listen.

My mistake, Beard of Bees was actually 1984 release. It was the Xpressway cassette that dropped in 1990. Fantastic album, even if it doesn't strengthen this particular argument.

One massive NZ album from 1990:

The Dead C. - Trapdoor Fucking Exit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LWN9d9X-6o

To answer the question, maybe?

Maybe I'll use this thread to document the completely random trail I've found myself on over the last couple of days. Namely, listening (without prejudice) to a long string of pop albums from 1990 that I've never heard before. Thus far:

Oleta Adams - Circle of One
Al B. Sure! - Private Times...and the Whole 9!
Laura Branigan - s/t
Bernadette Cooper - Drama According to Bernadette Cooper
Deee-Lite - World Clique
Digital Underground - Sex Packets
Dino - Swingin'

The best of the lot has been the Bernadette 'Klymaxx' Cooper album, a sharp and fun Prince-not-Prince jam in the same league as another long-standing 1990 favorite, A'me Lorain's Starring in...Standing in a Monkey Sea. The Branigan album was surprisingly solid if a bit sonically anachronistic. The Deee-Lite album was, aside from the obvious outlier, kind of a disappointing snooze tbh. Oleta is good value but I guess not much of a pop album per se. The rest...eh.

I guess I'm continuing with this experiment for the time being, to the extent that anyone cares.

Wow -- I was listening to Circle of One again yesterday! I enjoy Adams' voice and piano playing and her modest little tunes. I'll admit, though, that I listened again because at a friend's service two weeks ago one of his other buddies played Adams' cover of "Everything Must Change," which devastated me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDlYyjDOzko

I love World Clique, full stop. I regard it as a collection of exemplary house pop.

Sex Packets was fine, with some definite fun highlights, but it's pretty uneven. Seems like an early victim of 'must fill every available minute of time on this new CD format!' bloat.

We might've been listening to Circle of One at the same time! I'm definitely going to listen to more Oleta Adams now, for sure. I've always really liked her cover of 'Get Here' and was pleasantly surprised by her stylistic breadth and, yeah, her voice.

Rather generous of Roland Orzabal to produce it without turning it into TFF.