This was when the different trends that dominated different parts of the world throughout the 90s finally came together to coexist in harmony with each other internationally. It naturally resulted in only the most inescapable from each genre making it big in the mainstream worldwide, but at least rnb, hip hop, edm, Britpop and rock and roll could exist with each other regardless of where in the world you’re from.
This proved to be an even bigger success in NZ than it was here in Australia, I’m guessing because Britpop was taking over the NZ charts around this time but also because the kiwis didn’t seem to have much tolerance for teen pop at the time like we Aussies did.
This proved to be even more of a success in NZ that it was here in Australia, even taking into account that it did much better on the AMR charts than on ARIA, the kiwis simply loved this third album from Radiohead more than we ever could.
While it obviously wasn’t as inescapable in NZ as it was in Australia, this debut album from Savage Garden managed to be a massive success over there likely due to how it was taking the Billboard charts by storm with its singles. The singles weren’t massive here, but the album was, which as an inverse of the success of their next album over there.
This wasn’t as inescapable in NZ as it was here in Australia, mainly because the singles didn’t catch on over there like they did here likely due to them feeling out of place charting with all of the RNB and hip hop becoming popular at the time. It could be that or the kiwis were conflicted in having a then three-year-old album be a massive success at the time.
Like in Australia, this album from the Corrs only achieved its bestselling status a year after its initial release due to the band releasing a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” that they would include on the one-year anniversary rerelease. Unlike in Australia, this album didn’t have any songs to chart in NZ likely due to them not being released as singles over there.
Unlike in Australia where this album managed to spawn two of Celine Dion’s biggest hits, in NZ this album didn’t spawn a hit for her despite it containing her Oscar winning ballad from Titanic as well as the album itself being a massive success for her over there. I guess the kiwis had also become victims of labels not issuing songs as singles and if they did, not telling them about their availability.
Unlike in Australia where the lead single from this album needed to be pulled from shelves to encourage the sales of the album, in NZ “Barbie girl” only had a short shelf life before it was pulled from shelves which allowed this album to be a success upon its immediate release over there. It’s also interesting that the album cycle is slightly different over there compared to what it was over here.
Well, none of the singles ended up being the biggest hit of the 90’s in NZ like the second single was in Australia, however that didn’t mean that the album itself wasn’t a huge success over there or that the singles weren’t among the most popular of their time.
The Spice girls were on a roll when they released the soundtrack to their critically panned film Spiceworld, mainly because their fans didn’t care that the film was an utter disaster (in fact it now has a cult following) so long as the music was still infectious to listen to.
This was another album that had more of an immediate success in NZ than it did here in Australia, I’m guessing because the kiwis didn’t allow anyone to dictate to them what they could and couldn’t like around this time which is why there’s a healthier mix of what was popular over there on this list.
This was a massive success for Bic Runga in her homeland upon its initial release, so much so that the big hit from the album even managed to crossover to Australia a year after its initial release at the obvious expense of her being a one hit wonder here. It’s a shame she is because she not only had a beautiful voice, but she would go on to massive success in NZ throughout the 00’s.
It seems weirdly natural for this second album from Portishead to be more popular in NZ than it was here in Australia, mainly because this is also true for the likes of the Chemical brothers and Massive attack who also saw more success over there despite the kiwis not being as into EDM as we Aussies were this decade.
I guess this was another album that succeeded in NZ despite not having any of the songs released as singles over there, if nothing else I’m glad that denying physical releases of a song to encourage album sales is no longer a thing because I don’t think this process has worked a single time when it was put into practice.
It looks like the kiwis were also big fans of the Romeo + Juliet adaptation from Baz Lurhman this year, not quite as much as us Aussies but then again, he is an Australian director, and this was his first international film.
While this wasn’t as inescapable in NZ as it was here in Australia, Hanson nonetheless managed to have a massive hit with their debut album due to how well they connected with the teenage demographic of the day on here. Like the rest of the world, they were a one album wonder over there as their second album was a massive flop for them.
Whereas at least these guys had some buzz earlier in the decade here in Australia before their massive breakthrough with their earlier entry on this list, in NZ they were unheard of before they took their music scene by storm with their earlier entry on this list. As such, their second album was a bit of a surprise entry for them given how it didn’t spawn a single charting song for them over there.
This is the part where I remind my audience that I’m ranking these albums based on how well they did in the upper echelons of the charts and not necessarily their overall success, I bring this up because this greatest hits album from Andrea Bocelli was a massive hit in NZ even if most of its success came from the lower half of their charts as opposed to it being a mainstream success here in Australia.
It appears the kiwis were also interested in U2’s venture towards pop music on this album, although it wasn’t really a venture and more of them being pop friendlier than what they had being at this point in their career. It was a huge success at the time for them, although time hasn’t been kind to this album.
Even though this guy would go on to have massive success in Australia throughout the 00’s, he was virtually unheard of in the 90’s despite A: Triple J promoting his music and B: him having massive success in NZ with his work including this breakthrough album which was a huge hit for him over there.
Well, this was a massive surprise from the Brothers Gibb in NZ, mainly because they didn’t even have a mini comeback ten years prior over there like they did in Australia and the UK. Still, they had become legacy acts by this stage which would more than explain the success of this album around this time.
I think this is the only album to be a bigger success in NZ than it was in Australia despite its huge worldwide hit not being released as a single over there, this makes it one of the very few exceptions to the rule where not releasing a song as a single will result in the albums popularity declining in that environment. I guess it didn’t do the Wallflowers any favours in the long run over there as they’re still a one album wonder regardless.
For whatever reason, this greatest hits album from the start of the decade became a hit again in NZ this year, I’m not sure why as there hasn’t been any news from Cat Stevens since he first released this album seven years prior.
I guess the kiwis had enough love for Faith no more by this point of their career to give them one more successful album in their career, that love didn’t extend to giving them a hit single from the album, but I’m sure the band appreciated the success they got over there as it was still far more than what they achieved in their homeland.
At least these guys were able to achieve massive success in NZ much like they did here in Australia, although I should point out the lack of success they had with their singles as by this point, only one of their songs had charted on the NZ charts. Still, it was obvious the kiwis had a strong alternative scene during the second half of the decade that wasn’t trying to be covered up by the RIANZ charts.
It appears the kiwis were much more receptive towards the Chemical brothers back in the day than we Aussies were, this is particularly strange given how like Portishead, they were from the alternative dance scene which you’d think we Aussies would be all over at the time. I guess all of that promotion on Triple J could only do so much for these guys down under compared to their international appeal.
Oh, the Bloodhound gang, they certainly had a quirky sense of humour back in the day that seemed to connect with audiences. They especially connected with the kiwis as their second album managed to be a huge success over there due to the two hits that it managed to spawn for them, although this album was a complete dud here in Australia.
With all the industrial albums becoming a massive success in Australia, you’d think this one from Marilyn Manson would be a shoe in considering how “Beautiful people” managed to linger on the charts (albeit in the bottom half) for almost an entire year down under. The album was a much bigger hit over in NZ for the shock artist, no doubt setting him up for success with his next album Mechanical animals.
It’s interesting that this album would flop here in Australia despite Daft Punk scoring a hit from the album here considering how the exact opposite was the case in NZ where this was a massive hit despite it failing to spawn a charting single over there. Either way, it’s clear that the French duo was pipped for great things in the southern hemisphere entering the new decade which led to massive commercial disappointment for their future endeavours.
This was released at the start of the decade, although its success here makes more sense given how the Brothers Gibb had a massive comeback from earlier on this list not just in NZ but throughout the world. Audiences obviously wanted to know what they were missing out on over the last two decades given how different their material was compared to their heyday.
I guess the kiwis needed some persuasion into making this soundtrack to the theatrical adaptation of Evita a success given how A: it’s an Andrew Lloyd Webber adaptation which tends to be a critical and commercial failure save for this one adaptation and B: it had Madonna in the starring role who usually gives in a bad performance save for this one film.
Much like here in Australia, this album from Blur was more of a sleeper success than it was a mainstream hit which is why it appears rather low on this list despite it being a massive success overall. I’m guessing this was due to the album failing to spawn a hit single over there as “Song 2” didn’t even chart there, likely a result of it being denied a physical release due to strong airplay stats.
Given how the NZ charts were far more chaotic than the Australia charts (regardless of whether we’re referring to AMR or ARIA) it only seems fitting that this was a hit twice over there as opposed to it merely getting bumped up our charts whenever one of the singles were released and became a genuine hit for us.
You’d think this would be an even bigger success in NZ considering that one of the film’s stars is a well-established rapper, but then you remember that the title track was pulled from the shelves in order to encourage album sales for the soundtrack which as you can tell, is a tactic that almost never works in the music industry. I guess the second single managed to be a hit over there, although that was more due to it being a Snoop Dogg track than anything.
This was another successful album from Van Morrison in NZ throughout the 90’s, he was certainly on a roll over there given how each of the entries on this side of my site managed to be way more successful than they were here in Australia.
BB King was an influential guitarist who didn’t see much success in his lifetime, this was the first hit he had in the southern hemisphere as this was a duets album with some of the biggest names in music throughout the twentieth century that was only a success in NZ and a huge flop here in Australia.
Well at least this second album from the Offspring managed to be a success on time in NZ as opposed to their previous album which needed to become a success here in Australia before it even touched their charts. Even so, it failed to produce that big hit that all of their albums spawned here in Australia over there, in fact these guys never had a hit single on their charts in NZ for some reason.
This was another album that managed to find more success in NZ than it did here in Australia, I guess the kiwis really didn’t allow the media frenzy that MJ was going through at the time to affect their opinion of his music like the rest of the world did.
Even though I’m not shocked at this album’s placement on this list, I am shocked that the kiwis didn’t gravitate towards its single like we Aussies did even though Warren G released his own version which was a modest success over there at the time.
Given how popular Britpop had become throughout the rest of the world this year, it only makes sense that Supergrass would see massive success with their second album even if for whatever reason that success was non-existent here in Australia back in the day. I’m guessing this would’ve been even bigger in NZ had the singles been released over there as this failed to produce a charting hit for the band.
Although it was panned by critics, the film adaptation of the book series the Saint was a huge commercial success back in the day to the point where its soundtrack was a massive hit in certain parts of the world. It was particularly a success in NZ largely due to its techno soundtrack which the kiwis were getting into at the time.
From what I can gather, Spawn was the first Hollywood adaptation of a comic book character of colour, it was poorly received back in the day mainly due to inconsistencies with the plot and setting (although I’m sure there was some racism in the backlash as well.) At least the soundtrack was a huge success in NZ, likely due to it being a compilation album of the alternative scene at the time.
While she didn’t have quite as successful a career up until this point in NZ as she did here in Australia, the kiwis were clearly in love with Enya’s music regardless which makes sense why this greatest hits package of hers would also be a success over there like it was over here.
Given how there was already a massively successful greatest hits album from the Police not even five years prior to this album, you may be forgiven into thinking it was redundant for Sting to release it. Then you realise this also cover his solo material which more than explains its success in NZ upon its initial release.
This was a modest success for Collective Soul in NZ this year, I’m guessing the kiwis still had plenty of love for the band given how their second album was indeed one of the biggest of the decade over there despite them being a massive failure here in Australia save for their one and only hit “Shine.”
For whatever reason, this second album from the Foo fighters wasn’t as big in NZ as it was here in Australia (at least on the AMR charts as it was on the ARIA charts.) I guess this was more due to the stiff competition the band had to compete with during the peak of its popularity which resulted in its low placement on this list.
Given how this was a modest success here in Australia (at least on our AMR charts) it only makes sense that Puff daddy would see moderate success in NZ with his debut album as a rapper given how much more popular hip hop was over there throughout the 90’s compared to over here. It definitely wasn’t hindered by the singles which were all way more successful on their charts.
