⇦ 1987

1989 ⇨

The Best Music of 1988

Here is a selection of the best albums and songs from 1988. Hall of Famers are highlighted in orange.

For a list of the top artists who made their debut recording in 1988, check out this list.

Albums (?)		Wikipedia
808 State	Newbuild	☆
AC/DC	Blow Up Your Video	☆
Amii Ozaki	Lapis Lazuli	☆
Amy Grant	Lead Me On	☆
Anita Baker	Giving You the Best That I Got	☆
Bad Religion	Suffer	☆
Bobby Brown	Don't Be Cruel	☆
Bobby McFerrin	Simple Pleasures	☆
Bon Jovi	New Jersey	☆
Boogie Down Productions	By All Means Necessary	☆
Cinderella	Long Cold Winter	☆
Cowboy Junkies	The Trinity Session	☆
Danny Elfman & Harry Belefonte	Beetlejuice: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack	☆
Danzig	Danzig	☆
Dead Can Dance	The Serpent's Egg	☆
Dinosaur Jr.	Bug	☆
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince	He's The DJ, I'm The Rapper	☆
EPMD	Strictly Business	☆
Erasure	The Innocents	☆
Eric B. & Rakim	Follow the Leader	☆
Fine Young Cannibals	The Raw and the Cooked	☆
Fishbone	Truth and Soul	☆
Fugazi	Fugazi	☆
Guns N' Roses	G N' R Lies	☆
Helloween	Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II	☆
Ice-T	Power	☆
Information Society	Information Society	☆
Iron Maiden	Seventh Son of a Seventh Son	☆
Jane's Addiction	Nothing's Shocking	☆
Jean-Michel Jarre	Revolutions	☆
Judas Priest	Ram It Down	☆
Jungle Brothers	Straight Out the Jungle	☆
Keith Whitley	Don't Close Your Eyes	☆
King's X	Out of the Silent Planet	☆
L.A. Guns	L.A. Guns	☆
Leonard Cohen	I'm Your Man	☆
Lita Ford	Lita	☆
Living Colour	Vivid	☆
Lucinda Williams	Lucinda Williams	☆
MC Lyte	Lyte as a Rock	☆
Meat Puppets	Up on the Sun	☆
Melissa Etheridge	Melissa Etheridge	☆
Metallica	...And Justice For All	☆
Ministry	The Land of Rape and Honey	☆
Morrissey	Viva Hate	☆
My Bloody Valentine	Isn't Anything	☆
N.W.A	Straight Outta Compton	☆
New Edition	Heart Break	☆
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds	Tender Prey	☆
Paula Abdul	Forever Your Girl	☆
Pet Shop Boys	Introspective	☆
Pixies	Surfer Rosa	☆
Public Enemy	It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back	☆
Queensrÿche	Operation: Mindcrime	☆
R.E.M.	Green	☆
Robert Palmer	Heavy Nova	☆
Robert Plant	Now and Zen	☆
Rod Stewart	Out of Order	☆
Roxette	Look Sharp!	☆
Sade	Stronger Than Pride	☆
Siouxsie & the Banshees	Peepshow	☆
Skinny Puppy	VIVIsectVI	☆
Slayer	South Of Heaven	☆
Social Distortion	Prison Bound	☆
Soda Stereo	Doble Vida	☆
Sonic Youth	Daydream Nation	☆
Soundgarden	Ultramega OK	☆
Steve Earle	Copperhead Road	☆
Talk Talk	Spirit of Eden	☆
Tatsuro Yamashita	Boku no Naka no Shounen	☆
Testament	The New Order	☆
The Bangles	Everything	☆
The Pogues	If I Should Fall From Grace With God	☆
The Sugarcubes	Life's Too Good	☆
The Waterboys	Fisherman's Blues	☆
Tracy Chapman	Tracy Chapman	☆
Traveling Wilburys	Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1	☆
U2	Rattle and Hum	☆
Van Halen	OU812	☆

---

Songs (?)		Wikipedia
Anita Baker	Giving You the Best That I Got	☆
Art of Noise featuring Tom Jones	Kiss	☆
Bette Midler	Wind Beneath My Wings	☆
Big Audio Dynamite	Mr. Walker Said	☆
Big Daddy Kane	Ain't No Half Steppin'	☆
Billy Ocean	Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car	☆
Bobby Brown	My Prerogative	☆
Bobby Brown	Every Little Step	☆
Bobby McFerrin	Don't Worry, Be Happy	☆
Bon Jovi	Bad Medicine	☆
Bon Jovi	I'll Be There For You	☆
Boogie Down Productions	My Philosophy	☆
Boy Meets Girl	Waiting for a Star to Fall	☆
Bruce Hornsby and the Range	The Valley Road	☆
Carly Simon	Let the River Run	☆
Cheap Trick	The Flame	☆
Cheap Trick	Don't Be Cruel	☆
Cinderella	Don't Know What You Got	☆
Cocteau Twins	Blue Bell Knoll	☆
Crowded House	Better Be Home Soon	☆
Danny Elfman	Main Titles (Beetlejuice)	☆
Danzig	Mother	☆
Dinosaur Jr.	Freak Scene	☆
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince	Parents Just Don't Understand	☆
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians	What I Am	☆
Elton John	I Don't Wanna Go On with You Like That	☆
Enya	Orinoco Flow	☆
Erasure	Chains of Love	☆
Erasure	A Little Respect	☆
Eric B. & Rakim	Follow The Leader	☆
Fugazi	Waiting Room	☆
Fugazi	Bad Mouth	☆
Fugazi	Bulldog Front	☆
Green River	Rehab Doll	☆
Guns N' Roses	Patience	☆
Helloween	Dr. Stein	☆
Ice-T	Colors	☆
Information Society	What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy)	☆
Iron Maiden	The Evil That Men Do	☆
Jane's Addiction	Jane Says	☆
Jane's Addiction	Mountain Song	☆
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts	I Hate Myself For Loving You	☆
Keith Whitley	When You Say Nothing at All	☆
Leonard Cohen	I'm Your Man	☆
Lita Ford	Kiss Me Deadly	☆
Lita Ford & Ozzy Osbourne	Close My Eyes Forever	☆
Living Colour	Cult of Personality	☆
Living Colour	Glamour Boys	☆
Living Colour	Open Letter (To a Landlord)	☆
Los Lobos	La Pistola y El Corazón	☆
Lou Reed	Dirty Blvd.	☆
Lucinda Williams	Passionate Kisses	☆
Marley Marl feat. Masta Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap &	The Symphony	☆
Martika	Toy Soldiers	☆
Melissa Etheridge	Bring Me Some Water	☆
Metallica	One	☆
Mike + The Mechanics	The Living Years	☆
Ministry	Stigmata	☆
Morrissey	Suedehead	☆
Mudhoney	Touch Me, I'm Sick	☆
N.W.A	Fuck Tha Police	☆
N.W.A	Straight Outta Compton	☆
N.W.A	Express Yourself	☆
N.W.A	Gangsta Gangsta	☆
Natalie Cole	Pink Cadillac	☆
Neil Young & the Bluenotes	This Note's for You	☆
Neneh Cherry	Buffalo Stance	☆
New Edition	Can You Stand the Rain	☆
New Kids on the Block	You Got It (The Right Stuff)	☆
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds	The Mercy Seat	☆
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds	Deanna	☆
Operation Ivy	Sound System	☆
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark	Dreaming	☆
Pat Benatar	All Fired Up	☆
Patti Smith	People Have the Power	☆
Paula Abdul	Straight Up	☆
Paula Abdul	Opposites Attract	☆
Paula Abdul	Cold Hearted	☆
Pet Shop Boys	Domino Dancing	☆
Phil Collins	Two Hearts	☆
Pixies	Where Is My Mind?	☆
Pixies	Gigantic	☆
Poison	Every Rose Has Its Thorn	☆
Poison	Nothin' But a Good Time	☆
Public Enemy	Rebel Without A Pause	☆
Public Enemy	Don't Believe the Hype	☆
Public Enemy	She Watch Channel Zero?!	☆
Q Lazzarus	Goodbye Horses	☆
Queensrÿche	I Don't Believe in Love	☆
Queensrÿche	Breaking the Silence	☆
Queensrÿche	Eyes of a Stranger	☆
R.E.M.	Stand	☆
R.E.M.	Orange Crush	☆
R.E.M.	Pop Song 89	☆
Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock	It Takes Two	☆
Robert Palmer	Simply Irresistible	☆
Robert Plant	Tall Cool One	☆
Rod Stewart	Forever Young	☆
Roxette	The Look	☆
Roxette	Listen to Your Heart	☆
Roxette	Dangerous	☆
Siouxsie And The Banshees	The Killing Jar	☆
Siouxsie And the Banshees	Peek-A-Boo	☆
Sir Mix-A-Lot	Posse on Broadway	☆
Slayer	South Of Heaven	☆
Slick Rick	Children's Story	☆
So	Are You Sure?	☆
Sonic Youth	Teenage Riot	☆
Sonic Youth	'Cross the Breeze	☆
Steve Earle	Copperhead Road	☆
Steve Winwood	Roll With It	☆
Tanya Tucker	Strong Enough to Bend	☆
The Bangles	In Your Room	☆
The Beach Boys	Kokomo	☆
The Church	Under the Milky Way	☆
The Escape Club	Wild, Wild West	☆
The La's	There She Goes	☆
The Moody Blues	I Know You're Out There Somewhere	☆
The Pogues	If I Should Fall from Grace with God	☆
The Proclaimers	I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)	☆
The Smithereens	Only a Memory	☆
They Might Be Giants	(She Was A) Hotel Detective	☆
Tone Loc	Wild Thing	☆
Tracy Chapman	Fast Car	☆
Tracy Chapman	Talkin' 'bout a Revolution	☆
Tracy Chapman	Baby Can I Hold You	☆
Traveling Wilburys	Handle with Care	☆
Traveling Wilburys	End Of The Line	☆
U2	Desire	☆
U2	All I Want is You	☆
U2	Angel of Harlem	☆
U2 with BB King	When Love Comes to Town	☆
Vixen	Edge of a Broken Heart	☆
Weird Al Yankovic	Fat	☆
When In Rome	The Promise	☆
Winger	Seventeen	☆

⇦ 1987

1989 ⇨