56. The release of Primal Scream's 'Screamadelica'

Until 1989, Primal Scream had been struggling to make headway with their straight take on Detroit rock'n'roll. The advent of acid house and the band's prolonged exposure to Ecstasy suddenly changed all that. Hooking up with DJ Andy Weatherall, in February 1990, they released 'Loaded', the first indication of a new manifesto that would eventually see them fuse their disparate tastes into a Technicolor new music.

When their album 'Screamadelica' finally arrived 18 months later, it didn't disappoint. A double record that merged dub, house and battered country, and lyrically depicted the new drug culture in a stark, confessional light, it became the defining record of its era. A fact cemented both by the joyous gigs that followed in its wake, and later as it became the first album to win the Mercury Music Prize.