"the Listener" 1989 Volume 122

Having let eight years pass since his last A&M album, Quincy Jones made his debut on his own label with his most extravagant, most star-studded, most brilliantly sequenced pop album to date - which could have only been assembled by the man who put together "We Are the World." Jones was one of the first establishment musicians to embrace rap, and one of the first to link rap with his jazz heritage; it's hard not to be moved by the likes of Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, Ella Fitzgerald, Joe Zawinul, Sarah Vaughan, and George Benson electronically appearing on "Birdland" and trading brief licks with the likes of Kool Moe Dee and Big Daddy Kane on "Jazz Corner of the World"…

By the time Cutting Crew released their second album in 1989, they were viewed as irrelevant by both critics – who always despised them anyway – and the fickle public that elevated "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" and "I've Been in Love Before" onto the pop charts two years earlier. The cold shoulders which welcomed The Scattering were most likely due to the lack of immediately catchy songs; nevertheless, while The Scattering doesn't have ear candy like the band's hit singles, the music is less-blatantly commercial and more personal. It's still slick stuff – big '80s synthesizers, glossy FM radio guitars, in-your-face drums – but Nick VanEede's vocals have a frosty glow that creates a mood and sustains interest.

Following their massive 1986 European stadium tour for the A Kind of Magic album, Queen took an extended break. Rumors swirled about an impending breakup, but it turned out the break was brought on by a painful marital divorce for guitarist Brian May (who subsequently battled depression and contemplated suicide), and Freddie Mercury being diagnosed with AIDS. Instead of sinking further into misery, the band regrouped, worked on each other's mental state, and recorded one of their most inspired albums, 1989's The Miracle. Lyrically, the songs tend to reflect on the band's past accomplishments ("Khashoggi's Ship," "Was It All Worth It") as well as the state of the world in the late '80s (the title track, "I Want It All").

After the Grammy-winning 1987 effort Down to the Moon, Andreas Vollenweider returned with Dancing With the Lion, a concept album of sorts about the nature of life and death. For the first time, Vollenweider extended his creative palette, drawing on the talents of many musicians worldwide…

"Lily On The Beach", recorded and released in 1989, had two aspects showing TD's musical direction for the nineties: It was the first TD album featuring Edgar Froese's then 19 year old son Jerome Froese as guest musician playing lead guitar on the track Radio City; Jerome would become a regular member of TD in the next year and get more and more influence on TD's work in the future. On the other hand Long Island Sunset was the first TD composition featuring saxophone, an uncommon type of instrument for TD's music of the eighties, but becoming a strong part of their work in the early nineties.

"Lily On The Beach", recorded and released in 1989, had two aspects showing TD's musical direction for the nineties: It was the first TD album featuring Edgar Froese's then 19 year old son Jerome Froese as guest musician playing lead guitar on the track Radio City; Jerome would become a regular member of TD in the next year and get more and more influence on TD's work in the future. On the other hand Long Island Sunset was the first TD composition featuring saxophone, an uncommon type of instrument for TD's music of the eighties, but becoming a strong part of their work in the early nineties.

There never was a supergroup more super than the Traveling Wilburys. They had Jeff Lynne, the leader of ELO; they had Roy Orbison, the best pop singer of the '60s; they had Tom Petty, the best roots rocker this side of Bruce Springsteen; they had a Beatle and Bob Dylan, for crying out loud! It's impossible to picture a supergroup with a stronger pedigree than that (all that's missing is a Rolling Stone), but in another sense it's hard to call the Wilburys a true supergroup, since they arrived nearly two decades after the all-star craze of the '70s peaked, and they never had the self-important air of nearly all the other supergroups.

There never was a supergroup more super than the Traveling Wilburys. They had Jeff Lynne, the leader of ELO; they had Roy Orbison, the best pop singer of the '60s; they had Tom Petty, the best roots rocker this side of Bruce Springsteen; they had a Beatle and Bob Dylan, for crying out loud! It's impossible to picture a supergroup with a stronger pedigree than that (all that's missing is a Rolling Stone), but in another sense it's hard to call the Wilburys a true supergroup, since they arrived nearly two decades after the all-star craze of the '70s peaked, and they never had the self-important air of nearly all the other supergroups.