Although her earlier albums were plenty successful throughout the world, this was the album which made Mariah Carey into a superstar given its blend of diva pop from her earlier work and RNB which had taken over the mainstream by the time this was released. She’s had plenty of success since this album’s release, although nowhere near the level of success she accomplished here.
Although their debut album Ten is what many consider to be the peak of Pearl jam’s artistic merit, it was actually their sophomore album where they began to become the megastars, we all know them for today. Sure, this didn’t have the big hit on here that “Alive” was for their debut (at least in Australia it didn’t) however the trade-off was that the album was a huge success here and even encouraged Ten to linger on the charts throughout the decade.
This was U2 adapting with the times in order to retain their relevancy in a decade that seemed to want to purge all of the biggest names of yesteryear from the mainstream, this paid off for them as they went the industrial rock route with this album which did alienate a bunch of their older fans but then brought in a bunch of new fans as a payoff. I’m guessing people were initially intrigued with the lead single due to the Edge’s presence on it.
So, you know how there’s the stereotype of certain types of music being described as elevator music? Well, no artist has that stereotype apply to them more applicably than Kenny G who makes the type of easy listening instrumentals that seem to be tailor made to be played whenever riding an elevator in a fancy building. I guess that would explain the overwhelming success of this album from him.
Following the success of her album Rhythm nation, Janet no longer had any issues with finding an audience in Australia which means that this album (which reportedly was made after a record-breaking contract she made with her label) was a huge success for her. Interestingly, the album popped up several times throughout the decade whenever one of the singles became popular worldwide.
To add further insult to injury of how much of a failure the title track to this album was in Lenny’s native America, this album proved to be a massive success for the self-proclaimed (then) modern Jimi Hendrix outside of his homeland proving how open the rest of the world was for allowing this musician of colour to rule over the rock scene. I guess the world changed its mind with his next album.
This is to date the final album from Billy Joel’s career, although given how it was a massive success for him at a time where it was becoming increasingly difficult for older artists to make it big in the music industry, you have to wonder why he hasn’t released a new album after all of these years. That’s not to say he’s gone MIA in the music industry as he’s been touring nonstop ever since this came out.
Well things did seem to be very good for Bryan Adams this far into his career, admittedly they could’ve been better given how even in his native Canada he had some ups and downs in terms of his mainstream success, but it’s still an awesome title for a greatest hits package that no doubt contributed to its overwhelming success.
This was originally released to deafening silence in Australia, even though the Badloves did receive plenty of promotion on Triple J upon the albums initial release. Their fortunes changed when Jimmy Barnes convinced them to do a duet with him on his hit single “The weight” shortly after this came out, which resulted in this album being a massive success for the band following the success of that track.
They had released two albums to deafening silence earlier in the decade, so to see this album become a huge success for the Australian alternative rock band must have been a massive surprise for them even with all the promotion it received on Triple J. The band would find further success with their second album without promotion from the station, proving that they did indeed strike a chord with audiences with this release.
It’s as if no time had passed between this album and its predecessor despite the fact that it had been over fifteen years since the first instalment of this franchise from both men involved. Here we have an album that technically came out twelve years prior when Jim Steinman released his one and only album Bad for good which contains a few tracks on here as well as several tracks that were meant for this album, needless to say Meat loaf does these tracks better than he ever could.
Whereas most of his contemporaries from the 80’s had struggled for mainstream relevancy by this point in the decade, John Farnham continued to thrive thanks to him adapting with the change in sound that adult contemporary was shifting towards at the time. This led to him having success well into the new millennium which is something even some of the biggest artists of the 90’s was unable to do.
Following the success of his tribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber, Michael Crawford decided to release another album which was meant to showcase him as a more contemporary crooner in the music scene. It was a success here in Australia due to Phantom of the opera being on tour here, however it flopped everywhere else due to crooners being pushed aside for the likes of more modern music trends.
Michael Bolton was still very much a thing this far into the 90’s, although his popularity would dwindle following the success of his greatest hits package later in the decade. Even so, he along with Bryan Adams and Richard Marx are a large reason why male adult contemporary stars get such a bad rep as many people feel their over passionate ballads are too over the top and melodramatic to find any enjoyment out of.
This was a bit of a return to form for Jimmy Barnes following his Soul deep project which remains his most successful album in his and his bands career. Jimmy’s popularity would begin to dwindle as the decade went on as did most of his contemporaries from the 80’s, however he never went away as he continues to see moderate success with his new albums even to this day.
There weren’t many successful country albums in Australia this decade, so to see Garth Brooks score massive success with this album must have been a bit of a shock to audiences back in the day. This was his only notable success here despite him being one of the most prominent country stars in his native America.
This was an album that sat on shelves for nearly two years before it finally saw mainstream success with its singles, this is going to be a recurring trend this decade as we look at albums record labels failed to promote initially only for them to randomly find success sometimes years after their initial release. This led the Spin doctors to being a one album wonder, mainly due to their second album being widely panned by critics.
Even though this is the soundtrack to the critically panned film Even cowgirls get the blues, really, it’s an album from KD Lang who managed to score her initial breakthrough this year likely due to the infamy the film received this year for its plot and possibly homophobic portrayal of lesbian cowgirls, although it couldn’t have been that bad if the openly gay singer agreed to do its soundtrack.
Well, you better believe that the 100% hits series would also have a highly successful annual album to compete with the Smash hit’s entry from earlier, I guess the takeaway here is that 1993 was seen as an excellent year for music according to the Australian public of the time.
Well, this was a surprise, the Smash hits series was established in the mid to late 80’s to look over the biggest hits of a given year in Australia. It made a remarkable comeback this year after struggling to find an audience in the 90’s, proving that the yearly recap albums can be very lucrative in the right setting.
Given how Mariah Carey and Eric Clapton had two of the biggest albums of the decade with their respective live albums from MTV unplugged, it makes sense that Rod Stewart would join in on the fun by releasing his album recorded at his unplugged concert which was also a massive success for him and the show.
Their debut album was a massive commercial flop for them, so to see this album succeed as well as it did must have been a huge shock for Smashing pumpkins given how they were infamously known for not being able to handle their success very well. This album led to them becoming more ambitious with their subsequent material which translated to even more success that they weren’t prepared for.
This was a greatest hits packaged named after one of their singles from their breakthrough album Hold on to me, indeed this was another example of a band whose popularity died out by this point but was able to find success with an album looking over their biggest success which secured their legacy in the music industry. This decade had a ton of these albums find success over original material.
This was originally released twenty years prior, as such it was given a CD release this year which allowed it to be a massive success worldwide for the fab four. They also rereleased the sister album this year which we’ll look at in a bit.
Well Faith no more might have been this biggest band this decade in Australia to combine hip hop elements with rock, however the most critically acclaimed by far was Rage against the machine who made a massive splash worldwide with their debut album thanks to the lead single being a heavy hitter on the radio even to this day. It was their biggest album here, although they’ve retained a fanbase thanks to their sound and politically charged lyrics.
So Frank Sinatra was able to score a successful album this year, this would’ve been four years prior to his death meaning that even in his twilight years he was still managing to connect with audiences with new material. Here he collaborates with the likes of Aretha Franklin and Barbra Streisand which managed to appease audiences of the day.
This was the second album that Jimmy Barnes released within a year, although this came after the album cycle of Heat came to an end meaning he was at least pacing his career fairly well this decade. If you couldn’t tell from the cover art, this was his foray into acoustic rock given he had learned to play the guitar around this time to help him further craft his identity away from Cold chisel.
This was originally released two years prior to minimal success here in Australia, even with the lead single becoming a surprise success in America, there wasn’t any indication these guys would crossover here. That changed when their earlier entry on this list became a massive success here due to the lead single topping the 1994 Triple J year end lists, it was the boost this album needed to finally connect with audiences.
This is another album that was released the previous year but only became a success this year, it’s the summer entry from the 100% hits series collecting the big hits of spring from the previous year.
Bette had seen many highs and lows in her music career, as such she decided to release this greatest hits album which was a huge success for her likely due to a combination of fans loving her work as well as audiences being fans of her films. It would be the last time she troubled the charts anywhere in the world as she stuck to acting after releasing this.
One of the best rom coms of the 90’s was Sleepless in Seattle, a film that deconstructs rom com cliches to tell a story that both subverts the classic rom coms of the golden age of cinema and also pays homage to them in a loving way. It was a huge critical and commercial success back in the day and spawned a soundtrack that was also a massive success.
This was the final successful album to come out of Midnight oil’s discography, it appears to be a return to them giving a voice to the aboriginal community which makes sense given how their magnum opus Diesel and dust had this theme as well. They did quite well adjust to the 90’s to make it this far into the decade with their popularity intact, although this would be the last time they troubled the charts.
This was the last album that Guns n roses would release for fifteen years, it’s a covers album that was released at a time where covers albums were becoming in vogue hence why it was a huge success for them. Fans like to pretend that this was the last anyone had heard from the band, however they did eventually return in 2008 with Chinese democracy.
This was the other album that the Beatles released twenty years prior that became a success this year due to it finally being available on CD’s, naturally it was a success even if audiences were more interested in their earlier work as evidence by this predecessor success on this list.
Here’s the autumn collection that this lucrative series offered us, it was a good selection which is why it was a huge success.
The winter of this year was a very popular time for music in Australia, as such this compilation made it big as well.
This was the only album that 4 non blondes released in their career, though it was a success, it was torn apart by critics for how they felt it was an overbearing record from the four women. This led to them breaking up later in the decade and Linda Perry becoming a successful songwriter for some of the biggest names in music in the new millennium, so I guess things worked out for them (or her at least.)
While their debut album was a modest success here in Australia the previous year, it was this second album which made 2 Unlimited a household name due to how irresistible the songs were that became hits from the album. While the Dutch duo would go on to have massive success throughout Europe as the decade went on, this was the last we Aussies heard from them as we moved on to other EDM acts.
This was the second entry from the lucrative Hit machine series, from here on out, this and the 100% series will serve as the seasonal compilations for artists on Sony/Universal labels and Warner/EMI labels respectively. The series would eventually overtake its rival franchise; however, it was at a disadvantage this year due to it lacking strong choices for its franchise.
Now that they had three hits to their name, it was inevitable that Culture beat was able to find success with their one and only album here in Australia which would start a mini trend of a European EDM group scoring three hits from an album before fading into obscurity by the end of the year. Corona would follow suit with their album the following year and La bouche the year after that.
This was the last album to be released from Crowded house during their initial run together, it was a massive hit here in Australia and an even bigger hit in Neil’s native NZ proving they too were able to survive the transition from the 80’s to the 90’s and even the purge of Australian music from this year in particular thanks to how much more timeless their music was compared to their contemporaries.
Well, you knew this was coming, we have the first 100% hits album of the year which overlooks the success artists had during the summer of 1992/1993 in Australia.
This was the final successful album that Taylor Dayne had anywhere in the world, in fact it was only a success here in Australia due to how big the lead single was which in of itself was a surprise hit for her given how it’s a cover of a Barry White track and how Barry was never a household name here.
I think I can safely declare these guys to be the winners of the first round of the 90’s boy band wars, just a heads up that there’ll only be one entry from their rivals Take that on this site which was the album with their one American crossover “Back for good” from later in the decade. This did have a lengthy climb to its success here even with how big the singles were during their initial release, however it eventually peaked once the deluxe edition was released.
Given how Van Morrison began the decade with a greatest hits package that would prove to be among the most successful of the 90’s, it only makes sense that he would finally see success with one of his albums here in Australia for the first time since his 1979 effort Wavelength.
They did manage to have one of the biggest albums of the decade with their debut, so it’s only natural that Baby animals would follow up that success with this album even if it was a mere fraction of what their earlier work achieved. I’m guessing this would’ve been even bigger had there not been a suddenly resistance to supporting local artists this year as is the case with many Australian entries on this list.
It looks like Sting was able to also survive the transition from the 80’s to the 90’s as this album managed to be a modest success here in Australia and throughout the world despite sounding like it would fit in with his previous two albums in his catalogue. I guess this was more of a hit thanks to there being a ton of nostalgia for his band the Police given how this was a good year for reggae and that was the band’s influence in their sound.
I did say on the previous list that Sade’s return in the mainstream felt like a warmup for these guys, well here we are with the breakthrough album for M people, a fellow British band that blended RNB with rock. Although these guys also added an element of dance to their sound which perhaps they did to differentiate themselves with Sade, this worked out for them as this was a huge success worldwide.
This was all set to be a flop upon its initial release here in Australia, in fact the only reason why it saw any success was due to the band’s earlier entry on this list becoming a surprise hit for them which encouraged audiences to check out this greatest hits package from the band.
This was a modest success for Cypress hill here in Australia upon its initial release, although its true success wouldn’t come until a year later likely due to how well it was received by the kiwis throughout its run over in NZ. It was an early success story for the “true” hip hop here in Australia given how until this point it was mainly the likes of MC Hammer and Vanilla ice finding success with the genre here.
Given how artists on labels owned by EMI and Warner music made up the track listings for the 100% series, it only seems natural that their main rivals were albums that had artists from labels owned by Universal and Sony. This album was a success in that category but should also give you an idea the type of music we Aussies liked based on who was on what label. This was the big hits from the summer of 92/93 for the record.
While this wasn’t able to live up to the success of his previous two albums, Diesel was nonetheless able to retain his popularity with this release here in Australia which is impressive given how much harder it was for local artists to retain their popularity moving forward in the decade for some inexplicable reason.
This is the final successful album that UB40 had anywhere in the world, mainly for the lead single which actually served as the theme song to a long-forgotten film that nobody seemed to like at the time. I guess this was the band’s last hurrah here in Australia due to the surprise success that their previous album had earlier in the decade given how long it took for it to be a success here.
Kim Wilde was always described as a singles artist; this is why she could have hit after hit here and in her native UK and not have any of that success translate to her albums. Here she acknowledges that by releasing this greatest hits album which ironically proved to be the biggest success she had with one of her albums in Australia.
It’s a bit sad that this album was only a modest success upon its initial release here in Australia, heck even after the tragic passing of Kurt Cobain less than a year after its release, it only occasionally pops back onto our charts proving that we Aussies were more interested in the works of Pearl jam back in the day. Still, this was a decent success here, and hey, it also remains one of the best albums of the decade much like its predecessor.
This was released at the start of the decade to deafening silence here, I’m guessing the brothers Gibb wanted to continue tradition of beginning each decade with the highlights of the previous decade in their career even if they only scored one notable hit during the 80’s worldwide. It was given a second chance this year for some reason, I’m not sure why as this was an otherwise uneventful year for them.
Now that Judith Durham had officially re-joined the band, the Seekers released this greatest hits album to remind fans of their back catalogue which helped them become a successful touring act which they still are to this day.
This is a bit of a surprise, mainly because I wasn’t expecting to feature anything from Paul McCartney after the failure of his film Give my regards to Broad Street from 1984. I guess it had almost been a decade since that disaster which meant fans had long since forgotten about it and was willing to welcome him back with open arms in the mainstream.
They were described as the 90’s equivalent of Abba, even though that was truer of their later material as this first album from Ace of base was more in line with the reggae trends of the day rather than the Europop that made their 70’s equivalent a household name. They were a surprise success in America, so much so that this was given an American edition over there which was what was popular on Billboard.
This is the first entry in the Hit machine franchise, it covers the big hits of autumn this year just as the previous entry covers the big hits of winter.
Well East 17 were able to score a hit this year with their cover of this duo’s signature track, so it was only inevitable that they would find success with their own material this year with this album. Admittedly this was a success likely due to EDM starting to take over the Australian music scene this year and that these guys being the perfect fit for the dance floors throughout the decade.
Given that they entered the 90’s with by far their most successful album in their catalogue, it makes sense that Aerosmith would retain some of their newfound popularity with this follow up album even if its success was a mere fraction of what its predecessor achieved at the start of the decade. Still at least fans weren’t crying sell-out yet, that would happen with their next album later in the decade.
This was the third album that Anthony Warlow released in his career as well as the second to find moderate success in our music scene, although like most other Aussies, he would struggle to retain his popularity as our local music scene was pushed aside in favour of the international market.
Following the success of his earlier entry on this list, Kenny G managed to see success with this album he released two years prior to deafening silence due to his popularity being non-existent outside of his native America. OK so this did chart over in NZ upon its initial release, suggesting the kiwis had something to do with his rise in popularity this year.
One of the most critically acclaimed films of the 90’s was the Piano, a film where a mute Holly Hunter communicates with a piano and has the melodies translated by her daughter played by Anna Paquin of X-men fame. It’s a film I can’t take seriously due to its setup, however audiences found it an endearing tale and made it and the soundtrack composed by Michael Nyman a success back in the day.
This was where it all began for one of the most unconventional artists of all time, originally part of a band known as the Sugacubes, Bjork released this album the previous year to deafening silence likely due to audiences feeling it was too much of a knock off to Kate Bush when it first came out. They naturally changed their minds this year when it was given a second chance for some reason.
This was released on the twentieth anniversary of the album, meaning this was a hit all over again due to people rediscovering it on its birthday this year. Admittedly it could also be due to it being available on CD for the first time which was a reason why a lot of albums from the 70’s were making it big again in the 90’s.
Although it came close, the Beauty and the beast soundtrack sadly failed to make an appearance on this site due to it being pushed aside the previous year in favour of all the entries on my previous list. Fortunately, Aladdin’s soundtrack fared slightly better back in the day due to spawning a Billboard chart topper which set up the success for Disney’s next soundtrack the Lion king.
This was originally released in 1971 for the Rolling stones, I’m guessing this became a success this year due to it being released on CD for the first time much like many of the other older albums on this list.
Of the big four from the grunge scene, Alice in chains achieved the least amount of success even though they weren’t the last of them to achieve success here in Australia (that would be Soundgarden.) Here they are with their big breakthrough which was enough of a sleeper hit here in Australia to qualify for this list despite it failing to produce a hit single like all the other breakthrough grunge albums.
