Best Albums of 1990

Explore the best albums of 1990, based on over 2 million album rankings across 60,000 chartsHelp Click to see how the rankings are calculated . Last updated: 7 hours ago
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1990 year summaryThe best artists of 1990 were Depeche Mode, Cocteau Twins, Ride, Megadeth, Pixies, Sonic Youth, Jane's Addiction, Fugazi, Public Enemy and The La's.
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"This is an album that really takes a few listens for you to realise how great it truly is. It was on the 3rd or 4th listen where I just sat there and was like this is incredible. The rich soundscape created throughout the whole record is phenomenal and you really feel engrossed in the atmosphere...."    Reply
- Untitled | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +7 votes (7 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1990
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Rank Score:
12,146
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"This album is PERFECTION. There is not a weak track, and at 10 songs/38 minutes, it never overstays its welcome. It's hard to categorize or even describe this album, it's just so unique thanks to Elizabeth Fraziers' beautiful voice, some creative vocal overdubs, Robin Guthrie's soaring and spacio..."    Reply
- Relayer71 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1990
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Rank Score:
9,342
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"After careful listening and consideration, I think this is my favorite shoegaze album. Loveless is great, but it just doesn't have that energy. Where Loveless is a brilliant wall of sound, Nowhere feels more like a warm mid-spring day with the wind blowing in my hair. For me, that means more in m..."    Reply
- tonagamu | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (6 helpful | 1 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1990
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Rank Score:
4,526
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"From the begining it is incredibly clear that here's a band who is imaginative when it comes to songwriting. It starts, it stops, a gentle row outo on the lake and torrential avalanche. 'Holy Wars...The Punishment Due' really does set a scene, perhaps a frightening one. Like some super weapon kep..."    Reply
- | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1990
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Rank Score:
3,956
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Year of Release:
1990
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Rank Score:
3,844
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"Cop out, huh? Care to elaborate? It's not their best album, although it is a good one. I fail to see a time that Sonic Youth ever copped out to the mainstream unless you want to argue that Dirty was a self-conscious nod to grunge, which would be ironic since Sonic Youth helped to invent that genr..."    Reply
- Mr. Shankly | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1990
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Rank Score:
3,502
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"What an absolute pleasure it was to hear this album again after many years , what a classic this one is . The 10 minute Three Days still blows my mind today. Criminally an album of this high quality sits outside the BEA overall 500 (504 at time of writing February 2018) and it deserves to be ther..."    Reply
- Brad1770 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1990
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Rank Score:
2,702
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"Fugazi opened the the decade of the 1990s with a blistering collection of abstracted theatrical and politically committed pieces of thundering dissonant sonic hardcore punk. The music is seemingly guided by an otherwordly force driven by a palpable psychological tension and Wagnerian intensity th..."    Reply
- hairymarx1 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (3 helpful | 2 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1990
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Rank Score:
2,591
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"It hasn't aged well, sounding a little dated today. However, at the time, PE dragged hip-hop kicking and screaming forward into a more relevant age. What cutting lyrics and what thunderous sounds. Modern hip-hop has improved upon this, but PE is to hip-hop what Buddy Holly is to rock and roll. Of..."    Reply
- junodog4 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +7 votes (7 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1990
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Rank Score:
2,553
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"This is an interesting and enjoyable album - hasn't quite landed as being great for me but rather a really good album. It has a real 60's sound with Van Morrison and the Kinks coming out for me. Even the production has that low-budget 60's sound - not in any bad way, it gives the album an authent..."    Reply
- PeterSmith | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1990
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Rank Score:
2,476
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Total albums: 1,000. Page 1 of 100

Best Albums of 1990 composition

Best Albums of 1990 chart changes

Biggest climbersHelp Biggest climbers in top 100 since last month
Climber Up 3 from 71st to 68th
Climber Up 3 from 31st to 28th
Climber Up 1 from 98th to 97th
Biggest fallersHelp Biggest fallers in top 100 since last month
Faller Down 1 from 14th to 15th
Faller Down 1 from 28th to 29th
Faller Down 1 from 29th to 30th