Top 10 for 1990

TheBigBlack's Rock Top 10

Jimmy Barnes
Two Fires

Rock | Album | 9 September 1990

Bruce Dickinson
Tattooed Millionaire

Heavy Metal | Album | 1 May 1990

The Traveling Wilburys
Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 3

Rock | Album | 23 October 1990

The Black Crowes
Shake Your Money Maker

Rock | Album | 13 February 1990

If you were asked to describe The Black Crowes debut album in one word, it wouldn't be hard - swagger. Full of the grooves and rhythms that made mid-period Rolling Stones albums so listenable, the album showcases the new band with punch, and was a raised middle finger to anyone who dared to say southern rock was dead. 'Jealous Again' is the epitome of a great rock song, and exudes the star power this band exhibited with ease. The band makes Otis Reading's 'Too Hard To Handle' their own, and the classic Nicky Hopkins style piano in 'Thick 'n Thin' are just perfect. At such a young age Chris Robinson's voice proves perfect for the music, drifting with a world-weary charm, and brother Rich has clearly studied the guitar greats of the era they both so perfectly emulate. Slower songs like 'Seeing Things' and 'She Talks With Angels' (eluding to the dangers of heroin) are great rock ballads, but don't quite cross that barrier into all-time classics, lacking the hook a good rock ballads needs. A good debut album is everything in rock, and The Black Crowes are perfect proof of this, bursting onto the scene with such impact that they are still around rocking today.

AC/DC
The Razors Edge

Hard Rock | Album | 24 September 1990

Midnight Oil
Blue Sky Mining

Rock | Album | 25 February 1990

Following a mega-hit album like 'Diesel And Dust' was never going to be an easy task, but Midnight Oil did what they did best - made another album of their distinct Australian rock, with just enough evolution in style to push forward into the new decade, without forgetting the past one. The song 'Blue Sky Mine', written about the miners that once worked the asbestos mines of Western Australia, is a swirling harmonica filled carnival ride that sets the listener up for the album ahead. It shows that the band isn't planning on letting up on their political messages (with them even protesting at the Exxon building in New York around the time of the album's launch), but also showed there were still some fresh musical ideas in the tank. The album features a few slower (bit equally poignant tracks) than usual, and played alone songs like 'Bedlam Bridge' or 'Mountains Of Burma' are a tad too mellow - but they work within the context of the songs around them. Radio favourites 'Forgotten Years' and 'King Of The Mountain' remind us of the people and places that make our country great. The album ends on a sombre note with 'Antarctica', an ode to the planet we are slowly destroying. Whilst the subject matter may not be quite as topical today, the music will always be timeless.

Jane's Addiction
Ritual De Lo Habitual

Alternative Rock | Album | 21 August 1990

The Angels
Beyond Salvation

Hard Rock | Album | ?? June 1990

Alice In Chains
Facelift

Grunge Rock | Album | 21 August 1990

Mother Love Bone
Apple

Grunge Rock | Album | 19 July 1990

TheBigBlack's Rock Honourable Mentions

Robert Johnson
The Complete Recordings

Blues | Compilation Boxed Set | 28 August 1990

Doug Anthony All-Stars (D.A.A.S.)
I.C.O.N.

Comedy | Album | ?? ?? 1990

TheBigBlack's Metal Top 10

Deliverance
Weapons Of Our Warfare

Thrash Metal | Album | ?? ?? 1990

Danzig
Danzig II, Lucifuge

Metal | Album | 26 June 1990

Believer
Sanity Obscure

Thrash Metal | Album | ?? ?? 1990

Cannibal Corpse
Eaten Back To Life

Death Metal | Album | 17 August 1990

Death
Spiritual Healing

Death Metal | Album | 16 February 1990

Pantera
Cowboys From Hell

Groove Metal | Album | 13 July 1990

In 1990 heavy music didn't have the multitude of genres known today. Mainstream metal fans really only knew of three styles - You either played traditional metal, anything heavier was thrash, and the newly emerging really brutal stuff fell into the death metal bucket. Pantera exploded onto the scene with Cowboys From Hell, and although it was initially marketed as a new thrash album, it didn't take more than one listen to know this was something very different - and very new. This was Ground Zero for what would later be known as groove metal, a style Pantera launched, but was quickly popularised by Machine Head, early 90's Sepultura, Grip Inc and many others. The album launches a thousand future mosh pits with the title track, showcasing not only the new style, but also the guitar wizardry of Dimebag Darrell (still known as Diamond Darryl at that point). 'Psycho Holiday' razorblades its way through the listener, and 'Domination' is great display of the exquisite and varied vocals of Phil Anselmo. The album still has its fair share of traditional head-bangers, with tracks like 'Cemetery Gates' showcasing a very 1980's metal ballad, and 'Primal Concrete Sledge' and 'Heresy' bordering on thrash. 'Shattered' and 'Clash With Reality' have some amazing guitar work, but almost come dangerously close to falling into cliche, but for the most part the songs are all rock solid. This was album number 5 for the band after all, although very few listeners knew that at the time.

Entombed
Left Hand Path

Death Metal | Album | 4 June 1990

In a world where every death metal band now sounds the same and plays the same it is hard to think back the glory days when the genre had an awkward birth, carefully shedding it's 'extreme thrash' skin to reveal something darker and more sinister beneath. The American's lead the charge in the mid 80's but by the decade's end the Europeans were giving them a run for their money, and when Entombed (out of Sweden) released such a watershed album so early on it almost single-handedly signalled in the next era of metal. This was ground zero for true death metal, and the albums 'buzz-saw' guitar tone is still revered today for its unique sound. Although this was the band's first album, Entombed had grown from the ashes of the proto-death metal band Nihilist, so had honed their chops for years before making it, and it showed in the intensity of the material. The title track pulverises from the moment it launches, but things get even more brutal on 'Drowned' and 'But Life Goes On'. Entombed over their next few albums would move away from straight up death metal into more of a 'death & roll' direction, and interestingly in hindsight tracks like 'When Life Have Ceased' and 'The Truth Beyond' already have a rock undertone showing through. Like most early albums of the genre, the production is ragged, but L.G. Petrov (R.I.P.) growls has way through every track, sounding destitute and anguished, and perfectly complements the tone of the production. In 1990, this was truly mind-blowing.

Slayer
Seasons In The Abyss

Thrash Metal | Album | 9 October 1990

Anthrax
Persistence Of Time

Thrash Metal | Album | 21 August 1990

Megadeth
Rust In Peace

Thrash Metal | Album | 24 September 1990