With a lead guitarist that looked like a flesh and blood Muppet and a screeching lead singer that brought back Davy Jones dance moves, Guns N’ Roses stormed MTV and commercial radio in 1988. The Traveling Wilburys were the rare supergroup that deserved that designation and Public Enemy pushed rap music into a more stringent and confrontational direction. And if you haven’t heard Gary Stewart’s “An Empty Glass,” you’re missing out on one of country music’s most eloquently heart wrenching drinking songs.
Alphabet St., Prince
Ana Ng, They Might Be Giants
Anchorage, Michelle Shocked
Beds Are Burning, Midnight Oil
Bring the Noise, Public Enemy
Changed the Locks, Lucinda Williams
Copperhead Road, Steve Earle
Cult of Personality, Living Colour
Da Butt, E.U.
Desire, U2
Dirty World, Traveling Wilburys
An Empty Glass, Gary Stewart
Fast Car, Tracy Chapman
Follow the Leader, Eric B. & Rakim
I Couldn’t Leave Your If I Tried, Rodney Crowell
I Told You So, Randy Travis
It Takes Two, Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock
Jack the Ripper, LL Cool J
Just Like Heaven, The Cure
Kiss Me Deadly, Lita Ford
Love Shack, The B-52s
Me Myself and I, De La Soul
Paid in Full, Eric B. & Rakim
Passionate Kisses, Lucinda Williams
People Have the Power, Patti Smith
Prison Bound, Social Distortion
Rockin’ in the Free World, Neil Young
Streets of Bakersfield, Dwight Yoakam & Buck Owens
Strictly Business, EPMD
Sweet Child O’Mine, Guns N’ Roses
This Note’s for You, Neil Young and the Bluenotes
Under the Milky Way, The Church
Valerie, Marshall Crenshaw
Where is My Mind?, Pixies
Wishing Well, Terence Trent D’Arby