If you came of age during a certain time period, 2019 is a banner year for notable anniversaries in both film and music. We’ve already hyped the films and albums turning 25 in the year ahead, looking back to the fantastic year that was 1994, but today (January 7) we’re going a bit deeper in time to explore 1989 and the incredible music that filled the close of the ’80s. The sound of ’89 was certainly one of transition, setting a tone for the ’90s with classic and influential LPs from Faith No More (The Real Thing) and Nine Inch Nails (Pretty Hate Machine). Hair metal was at its peak, college rock was cementing a sound that would inspire countless bands over the next several decades, and hip-hop was staking a claim on pop culture. May 2 alone brought two massive albums in The Cure’s Disintegration and The Stone Roses’ debut, and we’ll certainly hearing a lot about those 30th anniversaries in the months ahead. Below are 30 notable albums turning 30 in 1989, and much like our ’94 list, we could have gone exceptionally long on this one.
January 10: Lou Reed, New York
