After a one-off single - 'Everybody Moves' - originally recorded for 'Lost', the band decides to record for the first time without Radio Birdman's Rob Younger. Instead, they enlist Jeff Eyrich (Gun Club, The Plimsouls) and the result is 1990's Every Brilliant Eye. Recorded in LA, the album sees the addition of keyboardist, John Hoey, and bass player, Steve Clark. A leaner, rockier approach is adopted. The album reaches top 10 on US college charts and the press positively gleams. Even the New York Times discovers the band, gushing 'the best rock and roll has passion and Died Pretty is consumed by it. They don't so much articulate feelings as evoke them'.

In late 1989, the group records their final Beggars Banquet/Blue Mosque album, 'Doughboy Hollow', in Sydney at Trafalgar Studios where they have cut the bulk of their records. This time, looking for a more organic sound, they enlist the English producer/engineer Hugh Jones (Echo and the Bunnymen, Kitchens Of Distinction) and in the process the band takes a quantum leap. The melodic subtleties which always suggested themselves in previous albums are brought to the fore, producing a spacious grandeur unparalleled even by the standards of this extraordinary group. Ronald's howls, yelps and croonings weave amongst melodic guitar torrents, whilst bass player Clark and drummer Welsh create a rhythmic roller coaster, full of sudden peaks and valleys. After recording, Brisbanite Robbie Warren replaces Steve Clark on bass.

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