Former Split Enz frontman Tim Finn‘s self-titled third album is released in the United States by Capitol Records; presaging Finn’s merger with younger brother Neil Finn’s group Crowded House, the album is produced by Crowded House producer Mitchell Froom. 
EMI Records releases the compilation album A Message From The Country: The Jeff Lynne Years, 1968-1973, collecting highlights from Lynne’s work with Idle Race, The Move, and ELO.
Tom Petty‘s solo album Full Moon Fever is released on MCA Records. (Though many of his Heartbreakers bandmates play on the album, the album is credited to Petty alone). Fellow Traveling Wilbury Jeff Lynne produces the album and co-writes some of the songs.
Windham Hill releases new age musician Ray Lynch‘s third solo album, No Blue Thing.
Virgin Records releases The Best of Culture Club, a career retrospective of the group’s 1980s heyday.
Julee Cruise‘s debut album Floating Into The Night is released on Warner Bros. Records, placating fans of the surprise hit TV series Twin Peaks (Cruise sings the show’s theme song). With lyrics by Twin Peaks auteur David Lynch and music by the show’s resident composer, Angelo Badalamenti, the album is strongly reminiscent of the series’ music; a proper Twin Peaks soundtrack album follows almost exactly a year later.
China Records releases the Art of Noise album Below The Waste, the group’s final album of new material for a decade. Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens feature on the single “Yebo!”
Warner Bros. Records releases the George Harrison compilation album The Best Of Dark Horse: 1976-1989, featuring the single “Cheer Down”.
Capitol Records releases the Duran Duran compilation album Decade, marking ten years since the band’s formation with highlights from their first five albums.
Reprise Records releases the Chicago compilation album Greatest Hits, 1982-1989, gathering the band’s most popular 1980s radio hits.
Reprise Records releases the extended Depeche Mode CD single Enjoy The Silence, containing the song as heard on the album Violator and numerous remixes and B-sides.
Former Bourgeois Tagg frontman Brent Bourgeois releases his first solo album on Charisma Records, getting some minor airplay with singles “Dare To Fall In Love” and “Can’t Feel The Pain” (the latter featuring Fleetwood Mac veteran Christine McVie). The only other former Bourgeois Tagg member in evidence on the album is guitarist Lyle Workman, who continues recording with Bourgeois even when he jumps tracks to Christian music several years later.
Reprise Records releases Depeche Mode‘s seventh album, Violator, featuring the singles “Personal Jesus” and “Enjoy The Silence”.
Narada Records releases the instrumental album Heart & Beat by German jazz guitar virtuoso Ralf Illenberger, his second solo album on the label.
Warner Bros. Records releases the Fleetwood Mac album Behind The Mask, featuring the singles “Save Me” and “Skies The Limit”. This is the first studio album for the band’s post-Lindsey-Buckingham lineup.
Capitol Records releases the Talk Talk compilation album Natural History: The Very Best Of Talk Talk, gathering highlights of the material previously released by that label. No one in the band has been consulted about the choice of material, and band founder Mark Hollis later criticizes the album in public.
Former ELO frontman, producer and songwriter Jeff Lynne releases his first solo album, Armchair Theatre, after several years of producing for other musicians. The album includes the singles “Every Little Thing” and “Lift Me Up”, and takes its name from a 1950s British television anthology series produced by Doctor Who creator Sydney Newman.
Four years after the band’s formal breakup, CBS Records releases (with cooperation from frontman Jeff Lynne) a three-CD Electric Light Orchestra box set, Afterglow. Serving primarily as an elaborate greatest hits collection, the primary draw is the third disc, featuring many previously unheard songs that were “orphaned” when the group’s 1983 album Secret Messages was cut down from a double album to a single LP shortly before publication.
Telstar Records re-releases the single The Prisoner, a techno/hip-hop reworking of the theme of the TV series by FAB and MC Number 6. The single will reach the charts for a couple of weeks, peaking at #56.
Power pop supergroup Jellyfish releases its debut album Bellybutton through Charisma Records, including the hit singles “The King Is Half-Undressed” and “That Is Why”. Steady touring helps the group build an ardent fan base, especially in Japan.
Columbia Records releases the Toto compilation album Past To Present – 1977-1990, featuring the single “Out Of Love”; the album covers roughly the first half of the band’s career.
Apollon Music, via its Compusic imprint, releases the album This Is Namco!, reinterpreting video game music from the celebrated game manufacturer’s back catalog.
Warner Bros. Records releases the Paul Simon solo album Rhythm Of The Saints, featuring the singles “The Obvious Child” and “Born At The Right Time”.
Warner Bros. Records releases the second Traveling Wilburys album, paradoxically titled Volume Three, featuring the singles “She’s My Baby” and “Inside Out”.
Epic Records releases The Romantics compilation album What I Like About You & other Romantic hits.
Warner Bros. releases R.E.M.‘s seventh album, Out of Time, featuring the singles “Losing My Religion” and “Shiny Happy People”.
Arista Records releases the Eurythmics compilation Greatest Hits.
ELO offshoot band Electric Light Orchestra Part II releases its self-titled debut album (with the placement of “Part II” on the cover no doubt leaving some confusion as to whether or not this is the original band; it’s actually a new group formed by former ELO drummer Bev Bevan).
The Moody Blues release the album Keys Of The Kingdom, featuring the single “Bless the Wings (That Bring You Back).” This is the group’s first album of the 1990s, and the last studio album of new material until 1999.
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