1989

Welcome to the 1980's. This decade is in my opinion by far the worst decade in popular music since the  beginning of rock n' roll. Some unique styles were born in the 80's but their musical potential was fulfilled only later on. 80's music is full of tacky synth-pop and alternative rock or heavy, where melodies had to move away from experimentalism. 1989, on the other hand, is actually pretty good year in albums. These albums already show signs of the 90's mentality. Genres include early grunge, alternative rock, folk, hard rock, dream pop and early pre-brit-pop. Even though I badmouth the 80's, 1989 was a pretty good year in albums.

1990

In 1990 most of the music still sounded a lot like the whole 80's. Some new alternative guitar bands brought with them the new sound that would evolve into brit-pop and guitar indie. Shoe-gazing and heavy guitar walls were in fashion, as well as electronic synth bands. Grunge movement had already started, but the biggest albums and hits were still yet to be released. Most of the albums on this years list can be categorised in three categories: alternative rock, synth pop or shoe-gazing. This year's list is not one of my favourites, but there are some really good albums there.

1991

In 1991 I was still fairly young and I wasn't paying attention to a lot what was going on in popular music. In fact, I was mostly still listening to children's music. Many of the albums of 1991 have had a huge impact on my life afterwards. Some of the albums on this list made me interested in playing guitar myself and made me appreciate skilful playing. Almost all of the bands listed in this top 10 could be called classics. Genres include grunge, hard rock, rock opera, alternative rock, trip-hop, brit-pop and guitar indie. As we move towards the 80's my lists are getting worse in my opinion, but 1991 is a great year before the 80's.

1992

The beginning of the 90's resembles the 80's quite heavily. Alternative music is full of heavy guitars, melody is not in fashion and grunge rules the music world. I usually say each year that the list in question is amazing etc. This year I'm not going to say that, since the list could be much better. I'm not saying that the albums featured here are not good. I'm just saying that 1992 wasn't  by far the best year in albums. This list consist mostly of alternative music albums that are hard to place in any genre categorisations. It has some great music, but I'm not too impressed. The number one this year is a surprise though, since I hadn't listened to it before I started writing this blog.

1993

As we move closer to the 80's, the music is getting heavier. brit-pop is only in the very beginning and grunge still rules the music scene. 1993's top ten is not as good as the later years', but it still manages to include a number of great albums. There are more genres involved than in the mid-90's. This years list consists of brit-pop, grunge, alternative rock, art-rock, indie pop, power pop, shoegaze and progressive rock. Some of the grunge albums from this year have amazing songs but don't really succeed in becoming great whole albums. Well, enough chit-chat, here's the list.

1994

The year 1994 continues the list of exceptionally great albums. I had to make some really tough decisions what to include on the list and some really great albums were left out. This year, like 1995, is in the heart of the brit-pop's golden years. In addition to brit-pop, there is one more heavy sounded alternative rock album, lo-fi classic, one of the most beautiful singing voices of all times, grunge-folk and weird Finnish rock band's greatest masterpiece. Enjoy the top ten of 1994, one of the best lists!

1995

Here we go! This top 10 is again one of the best ones in this blog. This is the golden time of britpop and you can see it by the massive hit albums that changed the tops of the charts of all time greatest albums. This list is mainly about britpop. Eight out of ten could be categorised under that headline. Only two US albums have made their way on this list. Other one is some kind of beautiful farewell hymn to grunge and the other one is the waking moment of new folk. Every single album on this list is a classic. So enjoy!