1989

Nirvana - Bleach (American grunge / alternative rock, debut album) 

808 State - 90 (British electronic music / acid house) 

Melvins - Ozma (American sludge metal / grunge) 

Faith No More - The Real Thing (American funk metal / alternative metal, their first album with vocalist Mike Patton replacing Chuck Mosely) 

Pixies - Doolittle (American alternative rock)

Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (American industrial rock / synth pop, debut album) 

A.R. Kane - “i” (British dream pop / avant-pop) 

Operation Ivy - Energy (American ska-punk, their only full length album)

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Devil’s Night Out (American ska punk / ska-core, debut album) 

Bad Religion - No Control (American punk rock) 

White Zombie - Make Them Die Slowly (American heavy metal/ noise rock)

White Zombie - God Of Thunder (American groove metal, EP featuring a cover of the title Kiss song plus two original songs, first release to feature guitarist Jay Yuenger, who would record two more studio albums with the band and remain in the lineup until their 1998 breakup)

Ministry - The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste (American industrial metal) 

Peter Gabriel - Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ (English new age / world music, soundtrack to the film The Last Temptation of Christ, originally released under the title Passion for legal reasons)   

Annhilator - Alice In Hell (Canadian thrash metal, debut album) 

Motley Crue - Dr. Feelgood (American glam metal / hard rock) 

Repulsion - Horrified (American grindcore, their only full length album, recorded in 1986 but not released until 3 years later) 

Voivod - Nothing Face (Canadian progressive metal) 

The B52s - Cosmic Thing (American new wave / pop-rock) 

The Cure - Disintegration (English goth rock / dream pop) 

Beastie Boys - Paul’s Boutique (American hip hop, produced by The Dust Brothers) 

New Order - Technique (English alternative dance) 

Soundgarden - Louder Than Love (American grunge / heavy metal, first major label album) 

Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl (American pop rock, last album released in his lifetime, featuring members of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers as backing musicians and songs written by Bono and The Edge of U2 and Elvis Costello) 

Exodus - Fabulous Disaster (American thrash metal) 

Sepultura - Beneath The Remains (Brazilian thrash metal)

Xymox (aka Clan Of Xymox) - Twist of Shadows (Dutch synth pop / gothic rock)

Screaming Trees - Buzz Factory (American garage rock / psychedelic rock) 

Fugazi - 13 Songs (American post-hardcore, compilation of the 1988 self-titled EP and the 1989 Margin Walker EP)  

“Weird Al” Yankovic - UHF - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff (American comedy music / parodies,  featuring songs from the 1989 comedy film starring and co-written by Weird Al and unrelated originals and parodies) 

Elvis Costello - Spike (English rock / baroque pop) 

The Vaselines - Dum Dum (Scottish alternative rock, their first full length album) 

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Mothers Milk (American funk rock / funk punk) 

Primus - Suck On This (American funk metal / primus, live debut album featuring five songs that would later be on their studio debut, Frizzle Fry, and  four more that would receive studio recordings later) 

XTC - Oranges And Lemons (English psychedelic pop) 

De La Soul - 3 Feet High And Rising (American psychedelic hip hop, debut album, guest appearances by Q-Tip and the Jungle Brothers) 

 Kate Bush - The Sensual World (English art rock / art pop) 

Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness (American death metal, debut album)
Godflesh - Streetcleaner (English industrial metal, debut album) 

The Creatures - Boomerang (English art rock / exotica, duo of Siouxsie Sioux and Budgie, both also from Siouxsie and the Banshees)

The Jesus Lizard - Pure (American noise rock / industrial rock, debut EP, their only release with a drum machine instead of a live drummer) 

Lard - The Power Of Lard (American industrial rock / hardcore punk, debut by supergroup featuring members of Ministry and Dead Kennedys) 

Godflesh - Street Cleaner (English industrial metal, debut album) 

Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness (American death metal, debut album)

Skinny Puppy - Rabies (Canadian industrial, co-produced by Ministry’s Al Jourgensen, who also provides backing vocals and guitar) 

The Residents - The King & Eye (American art rock interpretations of songs made popular by Elvis Presley) 

Pop Will Eat Itself - This is the Day… This is the Hour… This is This (English alternative dance)

All About Eve - Scarlet and Other Stories (English folk rock / goth rock) 

Phish - Junta (American progressive rock / jazz fusion, debut album, originally self-released in 1989 and given a wider release with bonus tracks in 1992) 

Ramones - Brain Drain (American punk rock, their last studio album to feature performances by founding member Dee Dee Ramone) 

The Offspring - The Offspring (American punk rock, debut album)  

The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses (English alternative rock / neo-psychedelia, debut album) 

Mudhoney - Mudhoney (American grunge / garage punk, debut album) 

Bob Mould - Workbook (American alternative rock, debut solo album for ex-Hüsker Dü member) 

Madonna - Like A Prayer (American pop) 

Meat Puppets - Monsters (American hard rock / alternative rock) 

King’s X - Gretchen Goes To Nebraska (American hard rock / progressive metal) 

Depeche Mode - 101 (English synth pop, live album documenting a 1988 performance at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California and soundtrack to the band documentary of the same name)  

Public Image Ltd. - 9 (English new wave) 

Camper Van Beethoven - Key Lime Pie (American alternative rock, their last album of original studio material until 2004) 

Cardiacs - On Land and In The Sea (English post punk / art rock) 

The Flaming Lips - Telepathic Surgery (American alternative rock / noise rock) 

Einstürzende Neubauten - Haus der Lüge (German experimental / industrial) 

Paul McCartney - Flowers in the Dirt (English rock, guest appearances by David Gilmour and Elvis Costello) 

Prince - Batman (American funk / synth pop, collection of Prince’s songs for the 1989 film Batman) 

Love and Rockets - Love and Rockets (English alternative rock) 

KMFDM - UAIOE (German industrial reggae rock) 

Meat Beat Manifesto - Storm The Studio (English industrial / breakbeat, debut album consisting of four multi-part suites) 

Consolidated - ¡Consolidated!  (Canadian industrial hip hop, debut EP) 

King Diamond - Conspiracy (Danish heavy metal, concept album and sequel to the 1988 album “Them”) 

Tackhead - Friendly As A Hand Grenade (American industrial hip hop / funk rock) 

Overkill - The Years of Decay (American thrash metal) 

The Cult - Sonic Temple (English hard rock / glam rock)

Notes: About halfway through this list, it became October and I decided to make a habit of exploring the "spooky" genres of goth, heavy metal, and industrial more often - I believe the last 9 albums were all listened to the week of Halloween itself. I noticed Al Jourgensen was fairly busy in '89 - releasing one of Ministry's signature albums and Lard's debut as well as producing and appearing on a Skinny Puppy album.