This is another year that lacked any direction for the music scene, I’m glad I’m not from America as contemporary Christian music was a huge draw to what was popular on Billboard as was the large amounts of Paula Abdul rip-offs dominating their charts. I guess the rest of the world settled for adult contemporary as well as songs that became commercial jingles in the UK, which did help the Brits discover hidden gens that were big here in Australia previously.
Unlike in Australia where this was an instant inescapable classic for MJ, it appears the kiwis were prepared to write this off as a mere moderate success for him until “Give in to me” became one of the biggest hits of the decade which allowed this album to rebound on the charts over there and become a best seller.
This was a massive success for Queen over in NZ so much more so than it was here in Australia, I’m guessing the kiwis were more upset with Freddie Mercury’s passing given how the band’s back catalogue flooded their charts over there from around this time.
While it still took them five albums to find a mainstream audience in NZ, at least RCHP had more immediate success with this album as the lead single did allow it to chart in the upper echelons of the album charts before the second single became a runaway success for the band this year. Indeed, they’re another band to find more success overall in NZ than they did in Australia.
This proved to be an even bigger success over in NZ for Tina Turner, I’m guessing because the kiwis were really rooting for her this decade given how she wasn’t quite as successful over there throughout the 80’s as she was in Australia. This also rebounded over there once her biopic was released two years after its initial release.
Unlike in Australia where this needed to work its way up to its success, this was an instant success over in NZ proving how much the kiwis loved these guys even going into the 90’s. This albums success over there is still pitiful compared to what it achieved in their native UK where it became the first album to top the end of year charts for two years in a row.
Well, there’s no surprises to be found in this entry, except for maybe the singles being slightly more successful in NZ than they were in Australia which is a common theme for these albums given how the kiwis didn’t seem to allow album sales to hamper the success of its singles over there.
Although this comeback album wasn’t as substantial in NZ as it was in Australia and throughout the rest of the world, it did bring his career back from the dead over there thanks to the lead single becoming a massive success which reminded audiences of his work from the previous decade in a positive way.
Well, this is a surprise from Rod Stewart in NZ, mainly because the kiwis really didn’t care for his music since the 70’s given how he failed to score a single hit in the 80’s over there. At least we Aussies gave him the occasional hit and even allowed him to have a successful album or two that decade, this comeback album on the other hand seems completely out of left field over there.
Their second album Temple of low men was a bit of a stumble in NZ, so it appeared that Crowded house wouldn’t find much success in the 90’s which certainly wasn’t the case as their third album was a massive success over there even if like in Australia, it didn’t have that inescapable hit that their previous two albums had.
There were plenty of these albums that were highly successful in NZ just like they were here in Australia, the 90’s was the decade of reminiscing after all so it makes sense that these greatest hits packages from bands and artists from yesteryear would be massive worldwide hits.
This proved to be a huge success for Jimmy Barnes over in NZ, although it wasn’t as inescapable over there as it was over here due to the kiwis perhaps having a bit more reservations when it came to him covering Motown classics than we Aussies did.
These guys already had plenty of success in NZ from the 80’s (further proof that the alternative scene was much stronger over there throughout the twentieth century) so it makes sense that this big breakthrough they had in their native America would be a massive success over there like it was everywhere else in the world.
U2 were on a roll when they released their first new album of the 90’s worldwide, they could’ve fallen behind the times like many of their earliest contemporaries but instead they adapted with the times which is why they were still on top of the world by the time the 90’s came to an end.
Well at least this album was a success for the Eagles in Australia upon its initial release, for some reason it only became a success in NZ this year which was six years after its initial release for a band who had been broken up for eleven years and were still three years out from reuniting due to hell still needing to freeze over for that to happen.
While this still wasn’t Enya’s biggest hit in NZ, it was a massive success for her and the biggest album she released in the 90’s which should bring comfort to her fans who widely consider this to be her magnum opus.
This was a massive success in NZ despite Deborah Harry’s solo career being close to non-existent over there even though it was only a minor success here where her solo career was much more noticeable, I guess this was a hit there more due to the kiwi’s nostalgia for Blondie than anything else.
This was the first volume of the Use your illusions era for Guns n Roses, it was a massive success in NZ just like it was throughout the rest of the world even if it didn’t rise up to the level of success that the second edition from earlier on this list had.
This was the last successful album that Genesis had over in NZ as was the case everywhere else in the world, mainly because Phil Collins would leave the band after this album which led to them releasing an album without him on lead vocals which led to their breakup. Phil’s popularity in the 90’s quickly dwindled after this as his next solo album would be a complete flop for him.
If you’re surprised at how low this iconic album from Prince is on this list, the reason for that is that it was more of a sleeper hit in NZ than it was here in Australia which suggests the kiwis were a bit uneasy with him incorporating hip hop into this album but were eventually won over this year thanks to his world tour he had promoting it.
Well new age was equally as popular in NZ as it was throughout the rest of the world, as such this debut album from Enigma was able to become a massive success over there just like it was internationally for the German duo. I should mention this even recharted later in the decade when the group released their second album, proving how strong the new age crowd was back in the day.
Her debut album was an even bigger success in NZ than it was here in Australia, so I would’ve been shocked if her sophomore album was a failure over there even though it failed to spawn a huge hit for her there like it did here. Unfortunately, not even her greatest hits package from later in the decade was a huge success over there, meaning this was the last time the kiwis cared about Toni’s career.
Well, there should be no surprises that this album was a success for Dire straits in NZ given how inescapable it was throughout the rest of the world. The kiwis didn’t even both handing any success to the Notting Hillbillies the previous year, proving how uninterested they were in Mark’s side project but how much they wanted to hear more from his main band.
It may have received a ton of backlash back in the day, however this tribute album from Natalie Cole to her father Nat King Cole still managed to receive album of the year at the Grammys as well as sweep the big awards proving that they felt this was a touching tribute to her father and not artistic grave robbery like her haters claim. It was a massive success either way and honestly a well-deserved one.
Even though both of the singles from the album were from Bart Simpsons voice actor Nancy Cartwright, it turns out this album from the cartoon show features tracks from all of the main cast of the show including voices from several of the townspeople featured in the first two seasons of the show. It was a massive hit in NZ due to the kiwis love of the show, however the show was popular worldwide even if the album wasn’t.
Well, this album really feels low on this list, again it was massive success in NZ back in the day just not as big as its reputation will since have you believe. That said, the singles were definitely bigger over there likely due to the kiwis seemingly having a stronger alternative scene than us Aussies given how many rock bands found more success over there back in the day than they did over here.
I’m not exactly sure how the kiwis came across these guys back in the day given how they weren’t that successful in their native America around this time; however, they did which resulted in this album being a massive success for the band this year. Eventually this led to their second album being a minor success the following year and even had enough crossover appeal to become a minor success here in Australia as well.
I don’t think many people cared about the fact that Martha Walsh from the Weather girls had been reduced to an anonymous vocalist for the likes of these guys and Black box, admittedly she did give compelling performances on each of these albums which no doubt fuelled their respective success back in the day, but she obviously didn’t think it was worth it which resulted in some ugly lawsuits from her.
For whatever reason, Seal was far more popular in NZ with his debut album than he was here in Australia. I find this weird because even this early in the decade, we Aussies were more in line with EDM which this album is in line with than RNB which would be his later material.
I guess the kiwis had a slightly different album to cash in off the success they had from the Ghost soundtrack around this time, it proved to be an even bigger hit than the album that charted here in Australia.
It’s weird that this greatest hits package from Stevie Nicks was more of a success in NZ than it was here in Australia considering that Stevie never had much success on her own over there like she did over here throughout the 80’s.
This was a decent success for Jenny Morris in NZ like it was here in Australia, possibly suggesting that her fellow kiwis were initially willing to allow her to stick around in the 90’s following her breakthrough over there at the tail end of the 80’s with her previous album. Alas this wasn’t the case as her next album bombed over there like it did over here.
One band who wasn’t as successful in NZ as they were here in Australia was Metallica, mainly for their later material where the kiwis didn’t seem to appreciate their approach to more mainstream rock and roll but also here as the singles weren’t as big over there as they were over here. The album was still huge albeit in multiple increments throughout its chart run.
While this wasn’t released in NZ until this year as opposed to it coming out here in Australia the previous year, it was still a bigger success over there than it was over here following the sudden rise in popularity that Harry Connick Jr had in the music industry due to his acting career taking off in Hollywood. He would score massive success with his next album She, although that was also delayed in NZ.
I guess the trade-off for Queen’s earlier entry on this list being so successful in NZ was that this wasn’t nearly as big over there as it was over here during its second run in the mainstream. This also goes for their signature track as that too failed to win over the kiwis a second time like it did for the rest of the world.
This was released on the twentieth anniversary of the breakup of Simon and Garfunkel; I’m guessing this was a trend for the kiwis to make a greatest hits package a success for the duo once every ten years as another one of these albums would see huge success ten years later over there.
This was also a success for Chris Isaak in NZ this year, again I’m not sure why as it’s not like there was a successful project he was attached to this year aside from whatever included “Wicked game” on its soundtrack.
Although she scored a massive hit with “World in union” this year in the UK of all places, it was this album from Kiri Te Kanawa that made her a household name in her homeland this year likely due to it being a collaboration album between fellow opera singer Malcolm McNeil.
This was initially a modest success for Bonnie Raitt in NZ, likely due to the kiwis not being aware of her as she had yet to truly take off in her native America when she released this. It exploded in popularity several months later due to it being a rock album released at a time where the genre had truly taken off in the mainstream worldwide.
Aaron Neville certainly seemed to have a lot of success in NZ following his collaboration with Linda Ronstadt from the start of the decade, first with his family for the Mel Gibson film Bird on a wire and now with a solo album which spawned him his biggest hit over there in the form of its lead single.
Although her previous album Heart of stone wasn’t as big a success in NZ as it was here in Australia, this third and final album from Cher’s arena rock period was certainly bigger over there than it was over here likely due to the success of the lead single which also came from her (then) latest film Mermaids. She would lose popularity throughout the decade both as a singer and actress until her comeback album Believe.
I’m guessing this was a hit for Bob Marley this year due to it being released as a single over there, thankfully the kiwis didn’t allow too many albums previously unavailable on CDs to make it that big over there this decade like we Aussies did.
I’m not entirely sure if this is the correct version of the Les Misérables soundtrack to make it big in NZ this year given how their charts fail to specify which version became successful over there this year, however from what I can gather, there was a London recording of the show that received a ton of media attention this year to the point where a version of the original soundtrack became a success as a result.
I get the feeling this album was meant to forever rechart during each Christmas season when it was initially released, however like every Christmas album released in the twentieth century, this wasn’t the case for Cliff Richard as it wasn’t even that popular in most parts of the world likely due to its mediocre critical reception.
I’m guessing this became a success over in NZ due to the surprise success that Jesus Jones managed to achieve in America this year, although it’s worth noting that it only became eligible for this list due to it re-entering the charts the following year and racking up quite a lot of points in a short amount of time to stack up with these other entries on this list.
Well, this was much less successful in NZ than it was here in Australia, hey at least it charted much higher than their breakthrough album even if the singles were much less successful over there than that albums hits. I guess the kiwis weren’t as invested with them adapting with the times as we Aussies were, then again, these guys sadly didn’t have that much success over there overall.
This was volume three of the Piano by Candlelight series from Carl Doy, it was a huge success for the NZ pianist this year proving the kiwis still wanted to hear classical music well into the decade.
Peak position #2
Although this was a bomb here in Australia it appears the kiwis were more willing to allow yet another live album from the Rolling stones to become a success in their homeland which is how this managed to appear on my list.
It appears the kiwis were bigger fans of the Doors biopic that came out this year than we Aussies were given how much more successful its soundtrack was over there compared to over here, although the trade-off is that their greatest hits album that was rereleased to coincide with the film’s success didn’t do as well over there as it did over here.
This is a bit of a strange entry from Kenny G, namely because this was a hit upon its initial release in NZ as opposed to it only being a hit after the success of his mainstream breakthrough Breathless two years later here in Australia. What’s truly bizarre is that we Aussies at least gave him a chance initially with his debut album Duotones back in 1987 whereas the kiwis completely ignored him then.
It appears the kiwis were such huge fans of the China Beach series that the inevitable second volume of its soundtrack series managed to be a huge hit over there even though it bombed everywhere else in the world including here in Australia. The international failure of this album meant there wasn’t a third soundtrack to the series.
We have one more album to feature from the Sex pistol’s former manager Malcolm McLaren on this site, this time it’s arguably his biggest album in NZ and his native UK due to it spawning his biggest hit in both countries in the form of its lead single.
