Many will agree this to be the band’s magnum opus (I personally prefer their previous two albums) this is due to it being a huge success for them in America following the splashes their earlier efforts made for them internationally throughout the decade. This led to them having plenty of international success throughout the following decade, although they would never reach these dizzying heights again here.
There was a five-year gap between this album and the band’s previous album Mirage, during that time Stevie Nicks released two solo albums to give you an idea of how long it was between both projects. Although this album remains a masterpiece to this day, it came at the expense of the band’s tolerance of each other, specifically that of Lindsey and Stevie’s relationship which all but imploded during its production.
I guess if you wanted to know why Bruce Springsteen didn’t find that much success with his album Tunnel of love despite it being the follow-up to his magnum opus Born in the U.S.A, that might be because John Cougar took the mantle of the king of heartland rock from the boss as he saw massive success with this album and his previous effort The scarecrow between those two albums.
After two albums where the band experimented with their sound to mixed results, they returned to form with this album which proved to be their biggest in their career. I guess this was one of the last new wave albums to be a massive success worldwide given how it finally broke the band into the American market, however it did them no favours with their subsequent releases which sadly flopped for them.
This was the magnum opus for U2, not only does it remain their most successful album in their catalogue, but it also took home the prize for album of the year at the Grammys despite facing some stiff competition with the other nominees. It’s by far their most iconic work as many of their greatest songs appear on this album, although admittedly their other albums do stand the test of time as well.
This was the first album that Pink Floyd released without Roger Waters on lead vocals, let’s just say that he was very wrong when he said that the band would crash and burn without him when he left the group earlier in the decade as his solo career tanked around the time this album came out. It turns out that David Gilmour was a great replacement for him once he called it quits.
Although 10-1 remains their most successful album here in Australia, there’s a good chance that my non-Australian readers will recognise this album as their signature work as it contains their biggest hit in their catalogue. Continuing with the theme of exploring political topics with their music, here the band stand up for aboriginal rights in Australia which is perhaps why it’s often labelled as the greatest Australian album of all time.
This had a bit of a slow rise to popularity in Australia, mainly because (as you’ve likely noticed on these lists) RNB isn’t a popular genre here and also possibly due to Terence being a former soldier who was dishonourably discharged from the American army while he was stationed in Germany. He did eventually find his way back home once this album became a huge success for him for the record.
This was the first solo album to come from George Michael, it was a guaranteed success given how he was coming off the success of his time with Wham who themselves were one of the biggest bands of the decade worldwide. What I’m sure he wasn’t expecting was for this to win album of the year at the Grammys, especially considering how he felt it was safe pop music only meant for the masses.
Well this is an album that promised so much for the artist in question in terms of success, especially considering how Rick Astley was by far the most successful client of Stock Aiken and Waterman likely due to how impressive his vocals were throughout this album. Alas he remains a one album wonder as his second album failed to live up to the standards set up by this breakthrough of his.
This was the second album from Simply red, and one that didn’t spawn any major hits like the rest of their catalogue did which is perhaps why it remains their most successful album here in Australia. I always did find it interesting that as far as their singles were concerned, these guys were more successful in America than they were in their native UK.
With the overwhelming success he achieved with his last album, it makes sense that Jimmy Barnes would aim even higher with his second solo album by recruiting Diane Warren to co write many of the songs on the album. While this album was a huge success for him here in Australia and NZ, it wound up backfiring for him internationally as it failed to dent any charts in the northern hemisphere.
So Dirty dancing is a film you either love or hate, you love it because it’s a heart-warming tale about two very different people falling in love with each other by bringing out the best of each other and you hate it because it’s false advertisement as it baits and switches you with a love story rather than a raunchy dance flick. The film was critically acclaimed and even a huge box office success hence the success of its soundtrack.
If this album seems a little low to anyone, bear in mind that it wasn’t as much of a juggernaut here in Australia as it was throughout the rest of the world despite many people believing (me included) this to be MJ’s best album. The album is also known for breaking several records on Billboard, including spawning the most chart toppers over there as well as how many consecutive number one hits an artist has had there.
This was the debut album from Noiseworks, a band that had NZ teen idol Jon Stevens as their lead singer several years after the hits dried up for him in his homeland. This was a huge hit for the band here in Australia as well as a minor hit in his native NZ, I’m guessing the kiwis weren’t as impressed by his foray towards pub rock as us Aussies were which would explain his lack of success at home.
I haven’t seen the biopic for Ritchie Valens (nor do I plan on doing so if I’m being honest) however it was a huge critical and commercial success largely thanks to the music which was largely performed by Los lobos who scored a big hit from this album with the title track.
This was the solo debut for James Reyne, I guess this should serve as proof that despite his inability to enunciate on many of his songs, audiences loved Australian crawl specifically for his presence as he brings a lot of charm and charisma to each of his songs. He would continue to have success into the 90’s proving that he was a welcomed presence with his brand of rock music.
What was it with this year and handing success off to music from films from four years prior? The Big chill was a critical and commercial success upon its initial release in 1983, and yet in only took until this year for the soundtrack to be a huge success in Australia and NZ.
As you’ve probably noticed on these lists, we haven’t seen many musicians of colour to make it big with their albums in Australia. One of the rare exceptions was Robert Cray who managed to score a massive hit this year with his first solo album likely due to how smooth the album is compared to everything else coming out at the time. I should point out that we were promoting our local talent over these artists more than anything.
Following the success of her debut album, Whitney felt she was confident enough to do away with all of the guest artists and such release an album where she was front and centre all the way through. Though the album was a success, many audiences of colour complained she was selling out to a Caucasian crowd which affected her enough for her next album to be more urban oriented.
This was the only album that Mel and Kim ever released, mainly because during its production, Mel was diagnosed with cancer which would eventually claim her life less than three years after its release. The girls tried to record new material during the final years of her life, but aside from “That’s the way it is” which would eventually be included on here as a bonus track, nothing ever came into fruition.
It had been six years since George Harrison troubled the charts with his tribute to John Lennon “All those years ago,” so to see him back in the spotlight with this album was a bit of a surprise for audiences even if it led to him forming the supergroup the Traveling wilburys by the end of the year. This remains his final album as he did devote a lot of his time to the group even after the death of its key member Roy Orbison.
Bananarama were never known to be an album’s band, this is why they haven’t had any appearances with their albums until now as they’re more of a singles artist than anything. This was all set to repeat the formula until it was revealed that Sioban Fahey left the group due to issues she was with the albums production, this in turn led the album to be a huge success here as we Aussies finally appreciated the effort that went into their work.
We have another entry from an Australian artist for this list, this time it’s the third album from Hoodoo gurus who were able to find massive success with this album due to it spawning their biggest hit in the form of its lead single. Even though they were quickly gaining an international audience with their albums, their popularity would dwindle after this as their next album would fail to see this level of success.
Before Tracy Chapman and Melissa Etheridge, we had Suzanne Vega who began the trend of having female singer/songwriters make it big in the mainstream with their sharpy written ballads that connected with audiences. Of course, those women would overshadow Suzanne the following year, however this album has remained relevant over the years thanks to its lead single and its take on domestic violence.
Even though he had a massive hit with his E.P It’s just not cricket earlier in the decade, it took three years for Billy Birmingham AKA the 12th man to finally release an album which is essentially a longer version of his skit from 1984. This proved to be a massive success for him and set him up as the definitive Australian comedian of the 90’s according to the music scene.
This is an album that really took its sweet time finding an audience here in Australia, not even the success it had in America the previous year was incentive enough for this to crossover it seems. I don’t even know what eventually won us over with this album, it was originally released two years prior to deafening silence despite being the type of hair metal that Bon Jovi was thriving on that year.
This was the second solo album to come from Sting this decade, it wasn’t quite as inescapable as his previous entry likely due to the success of the greatest hits album he released from his band the Police reminding audiences of their older material. Even so, this was a massive hit for the former frontman of one of the most popular bands of the decade, although his popularity would dwindle after this.
This was the only successful album to come from glam rock band Europe in Australia, although their next album did alright throughout the continent of Europe meaning they did have their appeal outside of the title track from this album. I get the feeling that Bon Jovi and Whitesnake stole the success these guys had throughout the rest of the world which would explain their one album wonder status.
I’m not sure how he did it, but Chris Rea scored an impressive comeback this year with this album given how his previous hit “Diamonds” was only a modest success for him nearly a decade prior. I think NZ had something to do with this as he suddenly saw a massive surge in popularity over there around this time, this leading to the lead single to nearly topping their charts and thus becoming a hit here.
Following the failure of two bands, one here in Australia and one in her native NZ, Jenny Morris decided to go solo on this album which had a bit of a slow start to it due to her not having that big crossover upon its initial release. That came when she released the second single which was a perfect display of her vocal talents and thus helped it and the album become a success here but not in her homeland.
Named after the Breakfast club track, we have this compilation album which collects some of the biggest hits of winter for this year that became a success during our spring due to the good choices that were found on the album.
By far the most successful show to be performed on theatre, we have Andrew Lloyd Webber’s stage adaptation of the Gaston Leroux which has been playing nonstop on stage since its premiere in 1986. I’m guessing the soundtrack became a success this year when news broke out that the show would be touring in Australia throughout the 90’s, as the last time a soundtrack from Lloyd Webber was a success was with Jesus Christ superstar in 1970.
The spring of 1987 was a hectic time in our music scene as was any season throughout the decade here in Australia, as such this album which marketed those big hits as summer jams managed to be a massive success during our summer period around this time.
Named after the Madonna classic from two years prior, this album manages to collect the biggest hits in Australia for the summer of 86/87 which helped it become a massive success here due to the good choices made by those who assembled the album.
This was the only big album that Elton John released during the second half of the 80’s, it was a live album that he recorded with the Melbourne symphony orchestra during his umpteenth tour here in Australia.
The spring of 1987 was a hectic time in Australian music given how this managed to be a massive success by collecting some of those hits into one convenient compilation album.
This is a live album that Billy Joel released capturing his best moments during his Russian tour from around this time, it was a modest success here in Australia likely due to his artist momentum.
These were the big hits of summer in Australia during the 86/87 period, as such this album was able to achieve massive success thanks to audiences feeling that there was a good selection of bangers to be found on the album.
Starting with this album, the creators of the Smash hits series compile a list of the biggest hits of any given year to one release which they release to varying degrees of success depending on which year we’re referring to, the big hits of 1987 were something to behold which explains the success of this first entry in the series.
Following the success of their previous album in their native America, Heart released this album which managed to become a big success here in Australia due to the success of its lead single. Naturally this didn’t bring in the numbers here that it did in its homeland, however it did well enough that their next album was an even bigger hit at the start of the following decade.
These were the big hits of Australia from the winter of this year, there was an excellent assortment of choices to be found here which is how this compilation album managed to be a huge success upon its initial release.
This looked all set to be a flop here in Australia, although the success of the lead single did eventually come this year which translated to the album being a success for Cliff Richard. This was the last we Aussies had hear from the crooner until 1999 when he capped of the twentieth century with “The millennium prayer,” however the Brits kept him around in the meantime in their mainstream.
Well, you know that the winter of this year was chaotic when we have the third compilation in a row to have songs that peaked during this period, there was too many good choices to be had on these albums.
Does this band sound familiar to you? If you were born past 1980 and are from Australia, then they should as they would go on to become the Wiggles in 1991 even though they kept at the regular music until 1994 when they realised they had more success as a children’s band than a pop rock band. Naturally they played their own instruments in both bands, which is why they’ve endured as the Wiggles for so many years.
This was originally released three years prior to deafening silence for Chris De Burgh, likely because he only had one hit to his name as the time which wasn’t exactly a song that encourages listeners to check out what else he had to offer. It was given a second chance this year when he scored his biggest hit from his (then) most recent album which allowed audience to discover the rest of his catalogue.
Although New order didn’t have that much success with their albums over in Australia during their heyday, they did score a surprise hit this year with “Bizarre love triangle” which caught the attention of us Aussies despite that song bombing over in NZ where they were inescapable. As such, they released this greatest hits package which spawned their second biggest hit that was also a minor success over here.
To my knowledge, this is the only remix album from Madonna as she’s had no other remix albums that have charted over the years. This was also caught between two years here in Australia, proving that we Aussies were a bit unimpressed with this release even though it was a decent hit for her back in the day.
While I mentioned that our love for this album wasn’t the same as that of her first album, we Aussies did find enough of it to make it a moderate success for Alison Moyet this year even if its success pales in comparison to what it achieved over in NZ this year. This would be the last time she troubled our charts as her third album would be a massive flop later in the decade.
This was rereleased on the twentieth anniversary of its original release, as such it managed to become a hit all over again worldwide given how it was issued as a CD release for the first time in addition to the sales it accumulated as an L.P and cassette release.
It’s a bit of a shock how much less successful this album was for Bruce Springsteen compared to even his pre-Born in the U.S.A work, although the fact that this was what he followed up that magnum opus with should speak volumes to how fickle his time in the spotlight truly was even if that can partly be blamed on John Cougar Mellencamp from earlier on this list.
This was a moderate success for the Cure this year, I guess it wasn’t a bigger success due to the controversy of its lead single which depicted the members in blackface which even back then was frowned upon in the mainstream.
I did mention on my 1993 list that this should’ve appeared on my 1987/1988 lists, here it is as a consolation for getting stuck between the two years back in the day as it was a huge hit for Paul McCartney back in the day here in Australia.
It seemed like Bryan Adams was going to be a one album wonder given how much of a failure this album was compared to his previous entry, although it’s worth noting that it did decently well if you ignore how successful the rest of his catalogue was. As for what it has to offer, it’s more of the same from Reckless which could also explain why it underperformed back in the day.
