101 Best Songs of 1990 - #1 George Michael - Freedom '90 (1 Viewer)

[zamboni]

This is Megadeth's peak.

Holy Wars
Hangar 18
Tornado of Souls

No question. Friedman’s technical proficiency on Hangar, in particular, is off the charts.

 

[Hugsy_Malone]

I never had much luck getting people who didn't already love metal, into Slayer at all. So I don't often go there.

That's a really hard sell.

Megadeth's later output is probably better than I give it credit for, for sure. I just think of Peace Sells and So Far . . . So Good . . . So What as their apex, really. I remember being bummed by Rust In Peace's sort of, like you might say, silliness compared to Slayer.

I also can't forget that in the intervening years of Peace Sells to Rust In Peace, I'd gotten more into hardcore punk, so young Hugsy was a serious young thing. No time for silliness.

 

[plinko]

My other mention is Rubaiyat, Elektra's 40th anniversary double album of covers. Which are turning into a theme around here lately. This one was highly uneven, out of print and never has streamed, but it doesn't deserve to be forgotten either.

Metallica's one submission for the year - Stone Cold Crazy
Faster Pussycat kill kill kills You're So Vain, in the convo for best hair metal cover
Sugarcubes turned in a good one with Motorcycle Mama
It might just mean I was 18, but I liked Gipsy Kings' take on Hotel California
Ernie Isley - Let's Go is .. not nothing?
Howard Jones - Road to Cairo this is nice
The Cure kicked it all off with a solid take of Hello I Love You and then wrapped it all up with a slight return

 

[plinko]

Not sure where the Sugarcubes' guy singer's celebrated solo career is, voice of an angel, life just isn't fair

One thing I do know is scorchy is unhappy right now which makes me unhappy too

 

[scorchy]

Not sure where the Sugarcubes' guy singer's celebrated solo career is, voice of an angel, life just isn't fair

One thing I do know is scorchy is unhappy right now which makes me unhappy too

Not sure what to do with this. Was gonna laugh at your Einar Orn joke but then your reference to the Gators is making the tears well up.

 

[plinko]

Not sure where the Sugarcubes' guy singer's celebrated solo career is, voice of an angel, life just isn't fair

One thing I do know is scorchy is unhappy right now which makes me unhappy too

Not sure what to do with this. Was gonna laugh at your Einar Orn joke but then your reference to the Gators is making the tears well up.

Plenty of time!

 

[Encyclopedia Brown]

I proudly own my opinion that Freedom '90 was the best song of the year

One of the best traits of subscribing to Tidal Master is getting to hear songs that are well produced, well mixed and of course, well sung.

Freedom '90 brings all three and is simply fantastic to hear. George's voice, that great piano, and the chorus takes a good song and makes it an all-timer.

 

[Hugsy_Malone]

Faster Pussycat kill kill kills You're So Vain, in the convo for best hair metal cover

When that came out, I was getting out of Faster Pussycat (they were one of my favorite bands in tenth grade along with the Dead Kennedys, of all combos) but your link reminded me how ripping that song was. What a rocker!

 

[Pip's Invitation]

My other mention is Rubaiyat, Elektra's 40th anniversary double album of covers. Which are turning into a theme around here lately. This one was highly uneven, out of print and never has streamed, but it doesn't deserve to be forgotten either.

Metallica's one submission for the year - Stone Cold Crazy
Faster Pussycat kill kill kills You're So Vain, in the convo for best hair metal cover
Sugarcubes turned in a good one with Motorcycle Mama
It might just mean I was 18, but I liked Gipsy Kings' take on Hotel California
Ernie Isley - Let's Go is .. not nothing?
Howard Jones - Road to Cairo this is nice
The Cure kicked it all off with a solid take of Hello I Love You and then wrapped it all up with a slight return

The one song I know called Motorcycle Mama is one of Neil Young’s worst songs. I was wondering why the Sugarcubes would have covered it. Good to know that they didn’t.

 

[plinko]

Faster Pussycat kill kill kills You're So Vain, in the convo for best hair metal cover

When that came out, I was getting out of Faster Pussycat (they were one of my favorite bands in tenth grade along with the Dead Kennedys, of all combos) but your link reminded me how ripping that song was. What a rocker!

You're an enigma, it's why we love you. Speaking of Enigma.. I just remembered that was a thing

 

[Don Quixote]

Fun thread — thanks for doing this. An extra one that made my MAD international list is Soda Stereo’s De Musica Ligera. One of the anthems of rock en espanol.

 

[UncleZen]

Nice job and nothing against your picks, but this was not a great year for music. I would also like to throw it out there but Justify My Love is a great song to bump uglies to.

 

[UncleZen]

Oh yeah, Freedom is a great tune. I think my #1 would have been 3 days but definitely in the neighborhood.

 

[TripItUp]

I'm a big George Michael fan. Happy to see it up top, although I don't think Freedom breaks my top 10 G Mike.

 

[TripItUp]

Overall just an excellent job Scorchy. A lot of fun.

I'm here for the next one.

 

[shuke]

G Mike

Really?

 

[TripItUp]

Really?

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Unless I missed it my favorite song from 1990 did not make the list:

 

[zamboni]

Great job here, scorchy. No qualms with the list, but also want to give a shout out to a few high quality songs from a couple of guitar heroes:

Cliffs of Dover - Eric Johnson
Still Got the Blues - Gary Moore

Moore will get some of his just due with Thin Lizzy in MAD round 2.

 

[scorchy]

Unless I missed it my favorite song from 1990 did not make the list:

Yesterday morning, I started listening to my 1991 playlist on random - not ready to commit to doing it next but am starting the process. The song you linked came up, so of course reading your post threw me into a minor panic. I remembered one of my friends from sophomore year being really into them but double-checked wiki just to be sure: album released January 8, 1991(with no advance single). Phew...

 

[scorchy]

Still Got the Blues - Gary Moore

I had totally forgotten this song but somehow ran across a mention as I was doing my final due diligence. In the end, I decided not to cut something else for it, but there's certainly a strong case for inclusion.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Unless I missed it my favorite song from 1990 did not make the list:

Yesterday morning, I started listening to my 1991 playlist on random - not ready to commit to doing it next but am starting the process. The song you linked came up, so of course reading your post threw me into a minor panic. I remembered one of my friends from sophomore year being really into them but double-checked wiki just to be sure: album released January 8, 1991(with no advance single). Phew...

Spotify shows it as January 1990.

 

[scorchy]

Spotify shows it as January 1990.

Weird. January 1990 is definitely off but both Discogs and Allmusic show several releases on Dec 29, 1990 (UK, Promo Edition, Club Edition, etc.) while the majority (including US CD and US Vinyl) are January 8, 1991, Regardless, it won't be #1 in my 1991 list but won't be forgotten either.

FTR, I enjoy the pedantry of some of the music threads so not trying to be argumentative. I'm just a rule follower.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

TR, I enjoy the pedantry of some of the music threads so not trying to be argumentative. I'm just a rule follower.

Yeah I wasn’t questioning it, just letting you know why I thought it was 1990.

 

[DocHolliday]

Unless I missed it my favorite song from 1990 did not make the list:

Great tune! Saw them at Toads Place and they were fun as hell.

 

[Bogart]

Faster Pussycat kill kill kills You're So Vain, in the convo for best hair metal cover

When that came out, I was getting out of Faster Pussycat (they were one of my favorite bands in tenth grade along with the Dead Kennedys, of all combos) but your link reminded me how ripping that song was. What a rocker!

You're an enigma, it's why we love you. Speaking of Enigma.. I just remembered that was a thing

Definitely a thing. Pretty sure I had Sadeness (Part I) on cassingle. Had their next album on CD along with Pure Moods and both were attempted to be used as pillow jam soundtracks.

 

[Bogart]

Still Got the Blues - Gary Moore

Moore will get some of his just due with Thin Lizzy in MAD round 2.

Love seeing Moore get some love here. In 1990, I was still catching up with After The War and Wild Frontiers (and thinking Gary was the first to sing "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"). Think I bought Still Got The Blues with Christmas money and was not ready for what I heard.

 

[Pipes]

Thank you Scorchy. This was a very entertaining thread

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Unless I missed it my favorite song from 1990 did not make the list:

Yesterday morning, I started listening to my 1991 playlist on random - not ready to commit to doing it next but am starting the process. The song you linked came up, so of course reading your post threw me into a minor panic. I remembered one of my friends from sophomore year being really into them but double-checked wiki just to be sure: album released January 8, 1991(with no advance single). Phew...

Spotify shows it as January 1990.

Spotify’s dates are often inaccurate. Lots of albums are listed as “January” because they didn’t feel like figuring out the exact month. Sometimes they get the year wrong too. Discogs is the much better source. I even trust Wikipedia more because those entries have been written by superfans.

 

[rockaction]

Spotify’s dates are often inaccurate

A lot of the more obscure punk bands I like are clearly listed with the wrong year, even. By a lot.

 

[BassNBrew]

Late to the party and not that upset. This list is why I probably why I wore out a Queensryche CD. Amazing that in just a year we move from Sinead, Michael, and Cure to Metallic, GnR, Nirvana.

 

[Tick]

In my opinion, "Three Days" was the best song of 1990. Our generation's dysfunctional Led Zeppelin (I'm copping that from wikkidpissah of board fame), they were on to something with that song but never could follow through. Bands have a certain kind of inertia and youth is important in rock and roll (it's not an old man's game), so getting back together never had the effect that stalwart fans hoped it would.

This was the best we would ever get from Jane's, and it's one of the -- if not the -- best alt/mainstream guitar songs of the decade. A sprawling, self-indulgent attempt at some sort of religious and sexual liberation, Dave Navarro's guitar work while the rest of the band is totally in the pocket make the song extraordinary.

I've seen Jane's hit that camaraderie pocket before. When I saw them in Springfield, MA in 1990/91, they pulled out four beer coolers with microphones on them, and proceeded to have a drum circle to "Chip Away" (one of the songs off of the XXX album), which blew my young mind.

The end to Chip Away is so cool.

I've had 3 Days in my head since relistening when it was posted here. Still great. I really like the thrumming drum/tambourine? section in the middle.

 

[DocHolliday]

Late to the party and not that upset. This list is why I probably why I wore out a Queensryche CD. Amazing that in just a year we move from Sinead, Michael, and Cure to Metallic, GnR, Nirvana.

It’s sad when Freedom is considered the best song of the year. Does anyone listen to that song on purpose?

 

[Tick]

Unless I missed it my favorite song from 1990 did not make the list:

Oh yeah, I loved that song.

 

[Tick]

Yeah, Cliffs of Dover has endured more than a lot of these songs. My daughter's boyfriend decided to learn it on guitar last year. I don't think he got there, but it's a pretty cool thing to try.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

thanks @scorchy great thread

 

[DocHolliday]

thanks @scorchy great thread

I love these threads. Much respect to the posters that make them happen.