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. 
Alan Silvestri’s soundtrack from the movie The Abyss is released on Varese Sarabande Records.
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.
Catalogued, restored, remastered, and released for the first time ever, The Carl Stalling Project is released by Warner Bros. Records. The album is the first-ever release of the original soundtrack recordings from Stalling’s scoring sessions for the Warner Looney Toons and Merrie Melodies cartoons from the 1930s through the 1950s, featuring many of Stalling’s variations on tunes originally written by Raymond Scott (including the famous manic “Powerhouse” cue). Classic cartoon fans snap the album up and demand more.
Warner Bros. releases Angelo Badalamenti’s soundtrack from the surprise midseason TV hit Twin Peaks, featuring the show’s signature dreamy jazz-synth-driven score and songs with vocals by Julee Cruise (including the theme tune, “Falling”). Shortly after its release, and for quite some time afterward, this album is the best-selling TV soundtrack album ever.
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.
GNP Crescendo releases a CD of music from the soundtrack of the short-lived Fox series Alien Nation.
Christopher Franke’s soundtrack compilation CD New Music For Films Volume 1 is released on Varese Sarabande Records.
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.
Silva Screen Records releases the soundtrack from the 1989 Doctor Who story The Curse Of Fenric, composed and performed by Mark Ayres.
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).
GNP Crescendo Records releases the second CD of Star Trek: The Next Generation soundtrack music, containing Ron Jones’ music from the fan favorite two-part story The Best Of Both Worlds.
GNP Crescendo releases a CD of music from the original Star Trek television series, presenting selections from the episodes The Doomsday Machine by Sol Kaplan and Amok Time by Gerald Fried.
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.
Capitol Records releases the third Crowded House album, Woodface, featuring the singles “Chocolate Cake” and “Weather With You”, and adding Neil Finn’s brother (and fellow Split Enz alumnus) Tim Finn to the lineup.
EMI Records releases the Electric Light Orchestra 2-disc set Early ELO: 1971-1973, gathering the band’s early material as well as alternate mixes and an unreleased song.
Chrysalis Records releases The Best Of Spandau Ballet, a career retrospective of the band’s heyday.
Mushroom Records releases the Split Enz 2-disc live album The Living Enz, chronicling the band’s farewell tour.
The Move compilation album The Best Of The Move is released, gathering highlights largely from the ’60s psychedelic band’s early albums and singles, with little representation of later material.
China Records releases the Art Of Noise remix collection The FON Mixes, featuring existing Art Of Noise songs remixed by an all-star lineup of producers and remixers.
The soundtrack from the movie Until The End Of The World is released, featuring songs by U2, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Lou Reed, Talking Heads, R.E.M., Depeche Mode and others; the CD contains only a few short sections of Graeme Revell’s instrumental score.
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