My favorite songs of 1990

After seeing all the songs that I enjoyed from 1989 (148 of them so far), I figured that this was the year that ushered in my favorite decade. If 1989 brought me 148 quality songs, then each year in the 90s should top 150. It didn’t turn out that way. I have gone through music from 1990 and just fell short of 100 songs. In 1990, I was 16 and really into classic rock. Apparently because the quality of new rock songs at the time were somewhat sparse. Or, more likely, my group of friends at the time really delved into the classic rock genre.

The Sinead O’Connor song may seem out of place here, but man it was a big part of my teenage years. In my head a lot! By the way, if you’re not from Canada and you’re reading this – The Grapes of Wrath were a very underrated and under-exposed band. Love their songs even to this day. And now I see that I enjoy Crash Vegas too, though 20 years ago I was only into their ’94 tune Pocahontas (Neil Young cover).

Unlike most rankings, I haven’t been simply tossing these up in a numerical order. Because I know better than anybody that on some days, some songs kick more ass than other songs. A song that is ranked 14th today could very well rank 1st tomorrow, if it suddenly comes on the radio during the perfect moment and I start singing along. You understand. So I group them instead of presenting a hard-and-fast order:

Awesome
Great
Solid
Not Bad
…with inter-group splitting.

First, videos of the very best (my opinion, my taste) from that year…

22 Great Songs from 1990…

Yer So Bad – Tom Petty

Thunderstruck  – AC/DC

Moneytalks – AC/DC

Push comes to shove, I like this one better than Thunderstruck. Always have. Moneytalks just jumped at me right away.

Can I Kick It? – A Tribe Called Quest

Bonita Applebum – A Tribe Called Quest

Man In The Box  – Alice in Chains

Shelter Me  – Cinderella

Hole Hearted  – Extreme

Friends In Low Places  – Garth Brooks

Hard to find this on YouTube with his actual voice, so don’t be surprised if this gets taken down at some point. Prudes. But, anyone from the Stratford area in the 90’s are thinking the same thing: Buck ‘n Doe.

Freedom ’90  – George Michael

Brothers Gonna Work It Out – Public Enemy

Silent Lucidity  – Queensrÿche

What Was Going Through My Head – The Grapes of Wrath

Policy Of Truth – Depeche Mode

Joey  – Concrete Blonde

More Than Words  – Extreme

Stop!  – Jane’s Addiction

Blaze of Glory  – Jon Bon Jovi

Twice As Hard  – The Black Crowes

Jealous Again – The Black Crowes

You want the best songs of the ’90s? Just put on Shake Your Money Maker and you’ll get a big chunk of them right there. One of my favorite albums ever.

Sister Luck – The Black Crowes

Particle Man  – They Might Be Giants

Takes me back to university, and my roommate. A great friend to this day.

11 Truly Awesome Songs from 1990…

Hunger Strike  – Temple of the Dog

Home For a Rest – Spirit of the West

Hard To Handle  – The Black Crowes

The song that introduced me to the Crowes and had me buy SYMM…

She Talks To Angels  – The Black Crowes

Nothing Compares 2 U  – Sinéad O’Connor

Been Caught Stealing  – Jane’s Addiction

Mama Said Knock You Out  – LL Cool J

Something to Believe In  – Poison

Wind Of Change  – Scorpions

Disappear – INXS

Roam – B-52s

I put a playlist of these awesome songs from 1990 on YouTube here.

Here is the entire list of songs I like from 1990

Awesome – 1	Hunger Strike	–	Temple of the Dog
Awesome – 1	Hard To Handle	–	The Black Crowes
Awesome – 1	She Talks To Angels	–	The Black Crowes
Awesome – 1	Home for a Rest	–	Spirit of the West
Awesome – 1	Nothing Compares 2 U	–	Sinéad O’Connor
Awesome – 6	Been Caught Stealing	–	Jane’s Addiction
Awesome – 6	Mama Said Knock You Out	–	LL Cool J
Awesome – 6	Something to Believe In	–	Poison
Awesome – 6	Wind Of Change	–	Scorpions
Awesome – 6	Disappear	–	INXS
Awesome – 6	Roam	–	B-52s
Great – 12	Thunderstruck	–	AC/DC
Great – 12	Moneytalks	–	AC/DC
Great – 12	Man In The Box	–	Alice in Chains
Great – 12	Shelter Me	–	Cinderella
Great – 12	Hole Hearted	–	Extreme
Great – 12	Friends In Low Places	–	Garth Brooks
Great – 12	Freedom ’90	–	George Michael
Great – 12	Brothers Gonna Work It Out	–	Public Enemy
Great – 12	Silent Lucidity	–	Queensrÿche
Great – 12	What Was Going Through My Head	–	The Grapes of Wrath
Great – 12	Yer so Bad	–	Tom Petty
Great – 23	Policy Of Truth	–	Depeche Mode
Great – 23	Joey	–	Concrete Blonde
Great – 23	More Than Words	–	Extreme
Great – 23	Stop!	–	Jane’s Addiction
Great – 23	Blaze of Glory	–	Jon Bon Jovi
Great – 23	Twice As Hard	–	The Black Crowes
Great – 23	Jealous Again	–	The Black Crowes
Great – 23	Sister Luck	–	The Black Crowes
Great – 23	Particle Man	–	They Might Be Giants
Great – 23	Bonita Applebum	–	A Tribe Called Quest
Great – 23	Can I Kick It?	–	A Tribe Called Quest
Solid – 34	Do Me!	–	Bell Biv DeVoe
Solid – 34	Seeing Things	–	The Black Crowes
Solid – 34	I’m Free	–	The Soup Dragons
Solid – 34	Inside Out	–	Crash Vegas
Solid – 34	Deeper Shade of Soul	–	Urban Dance Squad
Solid – 39	Wordz of Wisdom	–	3rd Bass
Solid – 39	Groove Is in the Heart	–	Deee-Lite
Solid – 39	Doowutchyalike	–	Digital Underground
Solid – 39	Unbelievable	–	EMF
Solid – 39	Justify My Love	–	Madonna
Solid – 39	Dangerous	–	Roxette
Solid – 39	It Must Have Been Love	–	Roxette
Solid – 39	Could I’ve Been So Blind	–	The Black Crowes
Solid – 39	Istanbul (Not Constantinople)	–	They Might Be Giants
Not Bad – 48	Candy	–	Iggy Pop
Not Bad – 48	The Gas Face	–	3rd Bass
Not Bad – 48	I Left My Wallet in El Segundo	–	A Tribe Called Quest
Not Bad – 48	Poison	–	Bell Biv DeVoe
Not Bad – 48	Personal Jesus	–	Depeche Mode
Not Bad – 48	U Can’t Touch This	–	MC Hammer
Not Bad – 48	She Ain’t Prety	–	The Northern Pikes
Not Bad – 48	(I Need You Now) More Than Words Can Say	–	Alias
Not Bad – 48	Enjoy The Silence	–	Depeche Mode
Not Bad – 48	The Humpty Dance	–	Digital Underground
Not Bad – 48	Have You Seen Her	–	MC Hammer
Not Bad – 48	Do You Remember?	–	Phil Collins
Not Bad – 48	Get Up (Before The Night Is Over)	–	Technotronic
Not Bad – 48	Girl With a Problem	–	The Northern Pikes
Not Bad – 48	Just Swingin	–	Maestro Fresh Wes
Not Bad – 63	(Can’t Live Without Your) Love And Affection	–	Nelson
Not Bad – 63	Heartbreak Station	–	Cinderella
Not Bad – 63	Sadeness (Part One)	–	Enigma
Not Bad – 63	Praying For Time	–	George Michael
Not Bad – 63	King Of Wishful Thinking	–	Go West
Not Bad – 63	All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You	–	Heart
Not Bad – 63	Suicide Blonde	–	INXS
Not Bad – 63	Vogue	–	Madonna
Not Bad – 63	Blue Sky Mine	–	Midnight Oil
Not Bad – 63	Burn Hollywood Burn	–	Public Enemy
Not Bad – 63	Welcome to the Terrordome	–	Public Enemy
Not Bad – 63	The Emperor’s New Clothes	–	Sinéad O’Connor
Not Bad – 63	Ice Ice Baby	–	Vanilla Ice
Not Bad – 63	Cherry Pie	–	Warrant
Not Bad – 63	Hold On	–	Wilson Phillips
Not Bad – 63	Just Came Back	–	Colin James
Not Bad – 63	High Enough	–	Damn Yankees
Not Bad – 63	How Can We Be Lovers?	–	Michael Bolton
Not Bad – 63	Let’s Talk About Sex	–	Salt-N-Pepa
Not Bad – 63	Let Your Backbone Slide	–	Maestro Fresh Wes
Not Bad – 63	Cliffs of Dover	–	Eric Johnson
Not Bad – 63	Unskinny Bop	–	Poison
Not Bad – 63	911 is a Joke	–	Public Enemy
Not Bad – 63	Can’t Do Nuttin’ For Ya Man	–	Public Enemy
Not Bad – 63	Downtown Train	–	Rod Stewart
Not Bad – 63	The Power	–	Snap!
Not Bad – 63	What Time Is Love?	–	The KLF
Not Bad – 63	Impulsive	–	Wilson Phillips
Not Bad – 63	Release Me	–	Wilson Phillips
Not Bad – 63	Lover of Mine	–	Alannah Myles
Not Bad – 63	Here’s Where The Story Ends	–	The Sundays
Not Bad – 63	Across The River	–	Bruce Hornsby & The Range
Not Bad – 63	Fly To The Angels	–	Slaughter
Not Bad – 63	Forgotten Years	–	Midnight Oil
Not Bad – 63	Back To Basix	–	Kid ‘N Play
Not Bad – 63	Drop the Needle	–	Maestro Fresh Wes

1990     1991     1992     1993     1994     1995     1996     1997     1998     1999

1960s          1970s          1980s          1990s