Robert Christgau: Consumer Guide Index by Release Year: 1988

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Consumer Guide Index by Release Year: 1988

Listing for 321 records from 1988 (selected by release date), sorted by grade.

A+	Public Enemy: *It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back* [Def Jam] *African Connection, Vol. 1: Zaire Choc!* [Celluloid]
A	Ambitious Lovers: *Greed* [Virgin] Chuck Berry: *The Chess Box* [MCA/Big Yard] Ornette Coleman and Prime Time: *Virgin Beauty* [Portrait] The Flying Burrito Brothers: *Farther Along: The Best of the Flying Burrito Brothers* [A&M] Tom T. Hall: *The Essential Tom T. Hall: The Story Songs* [Mercury] Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens: *Paris-Soweto* [Celluloid] Pere Ubu: *The Tenement Year* [Antone's] The Psychedelic Furs: *All of This and Nothing* [Columbia] Sonic Youth: *Daydream Nation* [Enigma/Blast First] Papa Wemba: *L'Esclave* [Gitta] Lucinda Williams: *Lucinda Williams* [Rough Trade] *The Heartbeat of Soweto* [Shanachie]
A-	Mose Allison: *Greatest Hits* [Prestige] Eric B. & Rakim: *Follow the Leader* [Uni] Bhundu Boys: *Tsvimbodzemoto: Sticks of Fire* [Hannibal] James Brown: *Motherlode* [Polydor] Buzzcocks: *Lest We Forget* [ROIR] The Chills: *Brave Words* [Homestead] Patsy Cline: *Live at the Opry* [MCA] Leonard Cohen: *I'm Your Man* [Columbia] Bootsy Collins: *What's Bootsy Doin'?* [Columbia] The Robert Cray Band: *Don't Be Afraid of the Dark* [Mercury] Dag Nasty: *Field Day* [Giant] Zani Diabate: *Zani Diabate and the Super Djata Band* [Mango] The Donner Party: *Donner Party* [Pitch-a-Tent] Earth, Wind & Fire: *The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire Vol. II* [Columbia] EPMD: *Strictly Business* [Fresh] The Fall: *I Am Kurious Oranj* [Beggars Banquet] Feedtime: *Shovel* [Rough Trade] Flipper: *Sex Bomb Baby!* [Subterranean] Gilberto Gil: *Soy Loco Por Ti America* [Braziloid] The Go-Betweens: *16 Lovers Lane* [Capitol] Guy: *Guy* [Uptown/MCA] The Jimi Hendrix Experience: *Radio One* [Rykodisc] Steve Jordan: *The Return of El Parche* [Rounder] Jungle Brothers: *Straight Out the Jungle* [Idlers] Mory Kante: *Akwaba Beach* [Polydor] Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens: *Thokozile* [Earthworks/Virgin] Miriam Makeba: *Sangoma* [Warner Bros.] Maroon: *The Funky Record* [Arb] Mofungo: *Bugged* [SST] Motorhead: *No Sleep at All* [Enigma/GWR] My Bloody Valentine: *Isn't Anything* [Relativity] Najma: *Qareeb* [Shanachie] Obed Ngobeni: *My Wife Bought a Taxi* [Shanachie] Pet Shop Boys: *Introspective* [EMI-Manhattan] Astor Piazzolla: *The Rough Dancer and the Cyclical Night* [American Clavé] Prince: *The Black Album* [(unlabeled)] The Real Roxanne: *The Real Roxanne* [Select] R.E.M.: *Eponymous* [I.R.S.] Michelle Shocked: *Short Sharp Shocked* [Mercury] Patti Smith: *Dream of Life* [Arista] Soul Brothers: *Jive Explosion* [Earthworks] Ustad Massano Tazi: *Musique classique andalouse de Fès* [Ocora] Richard Thompson: *Amnesia* [Capitol] Too Much Joy: *Son of Sam I Am* [Alias] Traveling Wilburys: *Volume One* [Warner Bros.] Randy Travis: *Old 8x10* [Warner Bros.] Voice of the Beehive: *Let It Bee* [London] Joe Louis Walker: *The Gift* [HighTone] Was (Not Was): *What Up, Dog?* [Chrysalis] Womack & Womack: *Conscience* [Island] *Folkways: A Vision Shared -- A Tribute to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly* [Columbia] *Heartbeat Soukous* [Earthworks/Virgin] *Hurricane Zouk* [Earthworks/Virgin] *Mr. Magic's Rap Attack, Vol. 4* [Profile] *Thunder Before Dawn--The Indestructible Beat of Soweto Volume Two* [Earthworks/Virgin] *Zimbabwe Frontline* [Earthworks] *Hairspray* [MCA]
B+	Angry Samoans: *STP Not LSD* [PVC] Anti-Choc: *Anti-Choc* [Sterns Africa] Bananarama: *The Greatest Hits Collection* [London] Bhundu Boys: *True Jit* [Mango] Elvin Bishop: *Big Fun* [Alligator] Rubén Blades y Seis del Solar: *Antecedente* [Elektra] Alpha Blondy and the Wailers: *Jerusalem* [Shanachie] Boogie Down Productions: *By All Means Necessary* [Jive] Bobby Brown: *Don't Be Cruel* [MCA] Mzikayifani Buthelezi: *Fashion Maswedi* [Rounder] Camper Van Beethoven: *Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart* [Virgin] Tracy Chapman: *Tracy Chapman* [Elektra] The Clean: *The Clean Compilation* [Homestead] The Dead Milkmen: *Beelzebubba* [Enigma] The Del-Lords: *Based on a True Story* [Enigma] Sona Diabate & M'mah Sylla: *Sahel* [Triple Earth] The Fall: *The Frenz Experiment* [Beggars Banquet] The Feelies: *Only Life* [A&M] Fihlamahlazo Nabochwepheshe: *Ziphansi Izintsizwa* [Vulindlela] Fool Proof: *No Friction* [Gramavision] Aretha Franklin: *One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism* [Arista] Galaxie 500: *Today* [Rough Trade] Georgia Satellites: *Open All Night* [Elektra] Gettovetts: *Missionaries Moving* [Island] Nanci Griffith: *Little Love Affairs* [MCA] Half Japanese: *Charmed Life* [50 Skadillion Watts] John Hiatt: *Slow Turning* [A&M] Joe Higgs: *Family* [Shanachie] Human League: *Greatest Hits* [A&M] Michael Hurley: *Watertower* [Fundamental] Ice-T: *Power* [Sire] Ronald Shannon Jackson: *Texas* [Caravan of Dreams] Etta James: *Seven Year Itch* [Island] Etta James/Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson: *The Late Show* [Fantasy] Joan Jett and the Blackhearts: *Up Your Alley* [Epic] George Jones: *One Woman Man* [Epic] Joy Division: *Substance* [Qwest] The Judds: *Greatest Hits* [RCA Victor] The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu: *The History of the JAMS* [TVT] Raymond Kane: *Master of the Slack Key Guitar* [Rounder] Kid 'n Play: *2Hype* [Select] Ladysmith Black Mambazo: *Journey of Dreams* [Warner Bros.] Ladysmith Black Mambazo: *Umthombo Wamanzi* [Shanachie] Bill Laswell: *Hear No Evil* [Venture] Loose Ends: *The Real Chuckeeboo* [MCA] Nick Lowe: *Pinker and Prouder Than Previous* [Columbia] Baaba Maal et Dande Lenöl: *Wango* [Syllart] Marley Marl: *In Control, Volume 1* [Cold Chillin'] Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers: *Conscious Party* [Virgin] The Mekons: *So Good It Hurts* [Twin/Tone] Ministry: *The Land of Rape and Honey* [Sire] The Miracle Legion: *Glad* [Rough Trade EP] Mzwakhe: *Change Is Pain* [Rounder] Youssou N'Dour: *Immigrés* [Virgin] Randy Newman: *Land of Dreams* [Reprise] Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: *The Best of OMD* [A&M] Buck Owens: *Hot Dog!* [Capitol] Jimmy Page: *Outrider* [Geffen] The Pogues: *If I Should Fall from Grace With God* [Island] Poison: *Open Up and Say . . . Ahh!* [Enigma/Capitol] The Pontiac Brothers: *Johnson* [Frontier] Prince: *Lovesexy* [Paisley Park] John Prine: *German Afternoons* [Oh Boy] The Rave-Ups: *The Book of Your Regrets* [Epic] Leon Redbone: *Christmas Island* [August] R.E.M.: *Green* [Warner Bros.] Keith Richards: *Talk Is Cheap* [Virgin] Royal Crescent Mob: *Something New, Old and Borrowed* [Moving Target] Run-D.M.C.: *Tougher Than Leather* [Profile] Dédé Saint-Prix: *Mi Sé Sa* [Mango] The Scene Is Now: *Tonight We Ride* [Lost] A Split Second: *. . . From the Inside* [Wax Trax] Stetsasonic: *In Full Gear* [Tommy Boy] Al B. Sure!: *In Effect Mode* [Warner Bros.] Talking Heads: *Naked* [Sire] They Might Be Giants: *Lincoln* [Restless/Bar/None] Timbuk 3: *Eden Alley* [I.R.S.] Too Short: *Life Is . . . Too Short* [Jive] Toots: *Toots in Memphis* [Mango] Yomo Toro: *Funky Jibaro* [Antilles] Peter Tosh: *The Toughest* [Capitol] Trotsky Icepick: *Baby* [SST] UB40: *UB40* [A&M] U2: *Rattle and Hum* [Island] Volcano Suns: *Farced* [SST] Wire: *A Bell Is a Cup Until It Is Struck* [Enigma] X: *Live at the Whiskey a Go-Go on the Fabulous Sunset Strip* [Elektra] Dwight Yoakam: *Buenas Noches From a Lonely Room* [Reprise] *African Acoustic Vol. 2: Kenya Dry* [Original Music] *African Connection, Vol. 2: West Africa* [Celluloid] *Go Go Live at the Capital Centre* [I Hear Ya EP] *The Go Go Posse* [I Hear Ya] *Rai Rebels* [Virgin] *Colors* [Warner Bros.]
B	Aerosmith: *Gems* [Columbia] Amaphisi/Uthwalofu Namakentshane: *City Shoes, Rural Blues* [Kijima] Joan Armatrading: *The Shouting Stage* [A&M] Bad Religion: *Suffer* [Epitaph] Afrika Bambaataa and Family: *The Light* [Capitol] Biz Markie: *Goin' Off* [Cold Chillin'] Rubén Blades: *Nothing but the Truth* [Elektra] Bongwater: *Double Bummer* [Shimmy Disc] Billy Bragg: *Workers Playtime* [Elektra] James Brown: *I'm Real* [Scotti Bros.] Burning Spear: *Mistress Music* [Slash] Paul Carrack: *The Carrack Collection* [Chrysalis] The Church: *Starfish* [Arista] The Coachmen: *Failure to Thrive* [New Alliance EP] Steve Coleman and Five Elements: *Sine Die* [Pangaea] Divinyls: *Temperamental* [Chrysalis] Steve Earle: *Copperhead Road* [Uni] Ethel and the Shameless Hussies: *Born to Burn* [MCA] Feedtime: *Cooper-S* [Rough Trade] Fishbone: *Truth and Soul* [Epic] Fleetwood Mac: *Greatest Hits* [Reprise] Housecoat Project: *Wide Eye Doo Dat* [Subterranean] Ignition: *Machination* [Dischord] Incorporated Thang Band: *Lifestyles of the Roach and Famous* [Warner Bros.] Inxs: *Kick* [Atlantic] Big Daddy Kane: *Long Live the Kane* [Cold Chillin'] Kassav': *Vini Pou* [Columbia] Paul Kelly & the Messengers: *Under the Sun* [A&M] Kingdom Come: *Kingdom Come* [Polydor] Gladys Knight & the Pips: *The Best of Gladys Knight & the Pips: The Columbia Years* [Columbia] Konk: *Konk Jams* [Dog Brothers] Kool and the Gang: *Everything's Kool and the Gang: Greatest Hits and More* [Mercury] K.D. Lang: *Shadowland* [Sire] Living Colour: *Vivid* [Epic] Los Lobos: *La Pistola y El Corazon* [Slash] MC Lyte: *Lyte as a Rock* [First Priority] Augie Meyers: *My Main Squeeze* [Atlantic America] Mission of Burma: *Mission of Burma* [Rykodisc] Morrissey: *Viva Hate* [Sire] Mbongeni Ngema: *Time to Unite* [Mango] N.W.A: *Straight Outta Compton* [Priority] Roy Orbison: *Mystery Girl* [Virgin] K.T. Oslin: *This Woman* [RCA Victor] The Pixies: *Surfer Rosa* [4AD/Rough Trade] Robert Plant: *Now and Zen* [Es Paranza] Ramones: *Ramones Mania* [Sire] Salt-N-Pepa: *A Salt With a Deadly Pepa* [Next Plateau] Paul Simon: *Negotiations and Love Songs 1971-1986* [Warner Bros.] Smashed Gladys: *Social Intercourse* [Elektra] The Smiths: *Rank* [Sire] Gary Stewart: *Brand New* [HighTone] Telex: *Looney Tunes* [Atlantic] That Petrol Emotion: *End of the Millennium Psychosis Blues* [Virgin] The Thompson Twins: *Greatest Mixes/The Best of Thompson Twins* [Arista] The Three Johns: *The Death of Everything* [Caroline] Tanita Tikaram: *Ancient Heart* [Reprise] Ali Farka Touré: *Ali Farka Touré* [Mango] Transvision Vamp: *Pop Art* [Uni] Tina Turner: *Tina Live in Europe* [Capitol] Maurice John Vaughn: *Generic Blues Album* [Alligator] Tom Waits: *Big Time* [Island] Wild Seeds: *Mud, Lies and Shame* [Passport] The Woods: *It's Like This* [Twin/Tone] *Best of House Music* [Profile] *Hard as Hell* [Profile] *Sarafina!* [Shanachie] *School Daze* [EMI-Manhattan]
B-	King Sunny Ade and His African Beats: *Live Live Juju* [Rykodisc] John Anderson: 10 [MCA] The Bangles: *Everything* [Columbia] Beat Happening: *Jamboree* [Rough Trade] Alpha Blondy: *Cocody Rock!!!* [Shanachie] Billy Bragg: *Help Save the Youth of America: Live and Dubious* [Elektra EP] Edie Brickell & New Bohemians: *Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars* [Geffen] T-Bone Burnett: *The Talking Animals* [Columbia] The Chills: *The Lost EP* [Homestead EP] Dire Straits: *Money for Nothing* [Warner Bros.] DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince: *He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper* [Jive] Joe Ely: *Dig All Night* [HighTone] Front 242: *Front by Front* [Wax Trax] Gipsy Kings: *Gipsy Kings* [Elektra] Grant Hart: *2541* [SST EP] Jane's Addiction: *Nothing's Shocking* [Warner Bros.] The Jesus and Mary Chain: *Barbed Wire Kisses* [Warner Bros.] Legal Weapon: *Life Sentence to Love* [MCA] Bobby McFerrin: *Simple Pleasures* [EMI-Manhattan] Original Concept: *Straight From the Basement of Kooley High!* [Def Jam] Sade: *Stronger Than Pride* [Epic] Walter Salas-Humara: *Lagartija* [Record Collect] Schoolly-D: *Smoke Some Kill* [Jive] Slayer: *South of Heaven* [Def Jam] Soul Asylum: *Hang Time* [A&M] Tiffany: *Hold an Old Friend's Hand* [MCA] Luther Vandross: *Any Love* [Epic] Brian Wilson: *Brian Wilson* [Sire] Steve Winwood: *Roll With It* [Virgin] Neil Young & the Bluenotes: *This Note's for You* [Reprise] *Sheshwe: The Sound of the Mines* [Rounder] *Sarafina! The Music of Liberation--Broadway Cast Recording* [RCA Victor/Novus]
C+	AC/DC: *Blow Up Your Video* [Atlantic] Anita Baker: *Giving You the Best That I Got* [Elektra] Harry Belafonte: *Paradise in Gazankulu* [EMI-Manhattan] Bon Jovi: *New Jersey* [Mercury] Harold Budd: *The White Arcades* [Opal] The Clash: *The Story of the Clash* [Epic] Cocteau Twins: *Blue Bell Knoll* [Capitol] Cowboy Junkies: *The Trinity Session* [RCA Victor] Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: *American Dream* [Atlantic] Devo: *Total Devo* [Enigma] Bob Dylan: *Down in the Groove* [Columbia] Eazy-E: *Easy-Duz-It* [Ruthless] Fat Boys: *Coming Back Hard Again* [Tin Pan Apple] Full Time Men: *Your Face My Fist* [Coyote] Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five: *On the Strength* [Elektra] Daryl Hall & John Oates: *Ooh Yeah!* [Arista] Herbie Hancock: *Perfect Machine* [Columbia] Debbie Harry/Blondie: *Once More Into the Bleach* [Chrysalis] Rick James: *Wonderful* [Reprise] Marti Jones: *Used Guitars* [A&M] King Tee: *Act a Fool* [Capitol] John Lennon: *Imagine: John Lennon: Music from the Original Motion Picture* [Capitol] Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers: *Time Has Come . . . : The Best of Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers* [EMI-Manhattan] MC Hammer: *Let's Get It Started* [Capitol] Metallica: *. . . And Justice for All* [Elektra] Van Morrison & the Chieftains: *Irish Heartbeat* [Mercury] New Kids on the Block: *Hangin' Tough* [Columbia] Graham Parker: *The Mona Lisa's Sister* [RCA Victor] Iggy Pop: *Instinct* [A&M] Raheem: *The Vigilante* [A&M] David Lee Roth: *Skyscraper* [Warner Bros.] Scritti Politti: *Provision* [Warner Bros.] Simply Red: *A New Flame* [Elektra] Slick Rick: *The Great Adventures of Slick Rick* [Def Jam] The Smithereens: *Green Thoughts* [Capitol] Sonic Youth: *Master-Dik Beat on the Brat* [SST EP] Steel Pulse: *State of Emergency* [MCA] The Three Johns: *Deathrocker Scrapbook* [ROIR] Wire: *Kidney Bingos* [Restless EP] Wire: *Silk Skin Paws* [Restless EP] *Stay Awake* [A&M]
C	Paula Abdul: *Forever Your Girl* [Virgin] Big Country: *Peace in Our Time* [Reprise] Cheap Trick: *Lap of Luxury* [Epic] Johnny Clegg & Savuka: *Shadow Man* [Capitol] Crowded House: *Temple of Low Men* [Capitol] Bruce Hornsby and the Range: *Scenes from the Southside* [RCA Victor] Joni Mitchell: *Chalk Mark in a Rain Storm* [Geffen] Pink Floyd: *Delicate Sound of Thunder* [Columbia] REO Speedwagon: *The Hits* [Epic] Rod Stewart: *Out of Order* [Warner Bros.] Throwing Muses: *House Tornado* [Sire] Van Halen: *OU812* [Warner Bros.]
C-	Huey Lewis and the News: *Small World* [Chrysalis]
D+	Enya: *Watermark* [Geffen] Hugo Largo: *Drum* [Opal]
E	Guns N' Roses: *G N' R Lies* [Geffen]

1987

1989