The 90's - Best Decade for Music
Someone asked me recently what was the best decade in music. Well, it's easy for me to say that it wasn't the 60's (too weak, and full of peace and love), the 70's (too much Deep Purplish rock and disco), and the 80's (too much excess, horrible vocals, and posers). And had to think hard, as I have a soft spot for music and new genres in 2000's and 2010's. But the 90's birthed (and rebirthed) so many individual genres, its got to be the best. Rationale as follows... |
| 1 |  | Guns N' Roses
Use Your Illusion
In restrospect - was really excited to see 80's rock fall on their own sword. But a train is hard to stop - and this double album was the greatest bastion of a dying genre (80's hard rock). |
| 2 |  | Metallica
Metallica
Similarly, thrash metal had ruled the mid to late 80's and was also on the chopping block. But Metallica rode into the 90's, reinventing themselves multiple times. As did Megadeth and Slayer. Don't think Anthrax rode it as well, although loved Sound of White Noise. |
| 3 |  | Soundgarden
Badmotorfinger
Grunge was a huge reset. The likes of Nivana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden put a knife in the heart of 80's rock; opening the door to so many more genres. And for the first time in years, bands sang about real topics other than just banging (e.g., Warrant's Cherry Pie) or superficial topics (Dio's We Rock). In addition, female-led bands L7 and Hole also capitalized off the Grunge push. |
| 4 |  | Live
Mental Jewelry
The sea of alternative rock bands in the early 90's was monstrous. "Alternative" was a huge catch-all: from Janes Addiction to STP to 7M3 to Smashing Pumpkins.There were a multitude of these bands in the early 1990's. And of varying heaviness, from light alternative (e.g., Counting Crows, Alanis Morrisette) to heavy alternative (e.g., Helmet, Prong). |
| 5 |  | Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
RATM was an alternative band - and a true progenitor. This album, as well as those from other rap rock hybrids (311, Stuck Mojo), set the blueprint for what would become rap metal, rap-core, and rap rock in the late 90's. |
| 6 |  | Tool
Opiate
Around this same time, in the early 90's, alternative spawned one of the greatest bands of our time. Who would go on to redefine alternative and progressive metal for 3 decades. |
| 7 |  | White Zombie
La Sexorcisto-Devil Music Vol. 1
White Zombie was a similar oddity, combining a mix of noise rock, metal, and sampling to create a truly unique sound. |
| 8 |  | Garth Brooks
Ropin' The Wind
Have to also mention the resurgence in Country in the early 90's. Wasn't much to talk about prior to the 90's, until Garth hit the stage (and the TV sets) and opened the populace to mainstream country. |
| 9 |  | The Offspring
Smash
Although Green Day - Dookie rebirthed punk around 1993, It was the Offspring who made it raw and dangerous. From there, punk had a major heyday in the mid 90's, with great releases from Epitaph Records, Fat Wreck Chords, and many others. |
| 10 |  | Sublime
40 Oz. to Freedom
The early 90's also saw the rise of 3rd wave Ska and Ska Punk, as exemplified by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, No Doubt, Reel Big Fish, Less than Jake, and many others. But no one mixed as many ska, reggae, and punk styles as Sublime. |
| 11 |  | The Notorious B.I.G.
Ready to Die
The early 90's also saw humble beginnings (e.g., Vanilla Ice - To The Extreme) and landmark releases (Gang Starr - Step in the Arena) in rap/hip hop, including of course Notorious B.I.G., Dr. Dre, and Tupac/Machavelli. Soon to be shadowed by the deaths of Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac. |
| 12 |  | Snap!
World Power
Techno/dance music made a strong impact in the early 90's, with several bands incorporating light rap interludes - like Snap!, C&C Music Factory, and even Paula Abdul. |
| 13 |  | Pantera
Cowboys from Hell
While hard rock was dying a quick and, in some cases, brutal death; select metal bands maintained the metal. Without Pantera, not sure metal would have made it. Pantera kept getting heavier and more brutal as the decade went on. |
| 14 |  | Machine Head
Burn My Eyes
Other metal bands also brought it in the early 90's - including Machine Head and Life of Agony. Roadrunner records was much to thank for that. And especially... |
| 15 |  | Sepultura
Chaos A.D.
Sepultura was huge in the 90's. Essentially opening a global door to world music/metal. |
| 16 |  | Ministry
Psalm 69
Ministry, who was releasing industrial albums in the late 80's, finally made it big time in the early 90's. And along with KMFDM, Fear Factory, and Prong - spearheaded industrial metal and opened the door for... |
| 17 |  | Nine Inch Nails
The Downward Spiral
The greatest Industrial and Industial Metal band of all time. NIN brought industrial to the mainstream like no other. And was followed by many other mainstream industrial bands (God Lives Underwater, Stabbing Westward, etc.). |
| 18 |  | Kyuss
Blues For The Red Sun
Can't talk 90's without Kyuss. This band single handedly created stoner rock/desert rock, based on a backbone of Black Sabbath type riffing and punk DIY attitude. |
| 19 |  | Monster Magnet
Dopes to Infinity
Similarly, this NJ band kickstarted the psychedelic stoner rock genre. |
| 20 |  | Type O Negative
Bloody Kisses
And what about gothic? Bands like Type O Negative and Paradise Lost made this a new genre in metal. |
| 21 |  | Ozzy Osbourne
No More Tears
Amazingly, some of the 80's artists were able to maintain their groove in the early 90's. Case and point, Ozzy releasing a milestone album. Similarly, some of the more progressive 80's artists (Queensryche, Dream Theater) somehow kept their head above water in the early 90's. But most of these bands, including Metallica, caved to grunge/alternative - sacrificing key elements of their sound in the process. |
| 22 |  | Deftones
Adrenaline
Enter nu metal in 1994 and 1995. Korn and Deftones came on the heel of the death of grunge (with Kurt Cobain's death) - and made an entirely new hip-hop-fused metal genre. Perhaps with some help from late 80's funk/metal hybrids like Living Colour and Faith No More. |
| 23 |  | Fugees
The Score
But still more was kicking around in the mid 90's. Reggae made a resurgence - about everyone had Bob Marley's Legend album. Reggae was being mixed with hip-hop (Fugees). And being mixed with rock/metal (Dub War). |
| 24 |  | The Chemical Brothers
Exit Planet Dust
Electronica/rave music also became huge in the mid to late 90's. Recall Chemical Brothers kicking it off, but The Crystal Method, The Prodigy, and other bands were quick to jump on this trend. |
| 25 |  | In Flames
Lunar Strain
And the global spread of world music continued. For example, the birth of Gothenburg metal / melodic death metal in Sweden. The link between melodeath and metalcore would become stronger in the early 2000's. |
| 26 |  | Coal Chamber
Chamber Music
And nu metal blossomed in the late 90's - highlighting several bands that were in the scene (Coal Chamber, Sevendust), truly innovative (Kittie, Static X), initially catchy (Godsmack) - and others that were jumping onto the bandwagon (Staind, Cold) |
| 27 |  | Limp Bizkit
Significant Other
And similarly - rap metal blossomed - with the likes of Limp Bizkit, Snot, Hed(pe), Kid Rock, and others becoming huge. |
| 28 |  | Creed
My Own Prison
And damn post-grunge also blossomed in the late 90's - unfortunately - spawning Creed, Nickelback, Third Eye Blind, whatever band made the song Kryptonite - and poser band after poser band. With that said, there were some winners in this mix (e.g., Doubledrive, early Collective Soul), |
| 29 |  | Marilyn Manson
Antichrist Superstar
And some true highlights emerged in the late 90's - like MM mixing gothic, industrial, and metal - in a way that none of the progenitors could dream of. And Rob Zombie's solo output - bringing Satano-phonic Devil Music to the masses. |
| 30 |  | Puya
Fundamental
And there was a great melding of styles in late 90's nu metal. For example, by bands like Incubus (metal with funk, jazz and DJs), Puya (metal with salsa). and Soulfly (metal with Brazilian/tribal sounds). Another similar band being System of a Down. |
| 31 |  | Slipknot
Slipknot
And by the end of the decade, the great Slipknot emerged. Similar to Fear Factory before them, mixing clean and harsh vocals. And mixing nu metal with more extreme metal styles, and galvanizing it for the maggots. |
| 32 |  | Hatebreed
Satisfaction Is The Death Of Desire
Hardcore punk and hardcore also made a strong presence in the mid to late 90's. |
| 33 |  | Shadows Fall
Somber Eyes to the Sky
The late 90's also saw the beginnings of metalcore, which would dominate the mid 2000's. Building off of 80's metal stylings, 90's hardcore punk (Snapcase, Earth Crisis) and Hardcore |
| 34 |  | Quicksand
Manic Compression
Similarly, the blueprint for post hardcore was made by bands like Helmet, Quicksand, and Handsome. |
| 35 |  | Far
Water & Solutions
And the bluprint for emo, which reached the mainstream in the 2000's, was made by bands including Far (and especially the emotive vocals of Jonah Matranga), Sunny Day Real Estate, and others. |
| 36 |  | Radiohead
OK Computer
And almost forgot about British alternative, like Radiohead, and Britpop. Not that I was a fan of bands like Oasis - but they made a mark. |
| 37 |  | Britney Spears
...Baby One More Time
But when it comes down to it - the late 90's were all about pop - and Brittney vs. Christina Aguilera would extend into the 2000's. At the time, sadly, there was nothing that drove a mid 40's man crazier than Brittney. |
| 38 |  | Aphex Twin
Selected Ambient Works Volume II
Genre: techno/IDM, from Ladron93 |
| 39 |  | Neurosis
Souls At Zero
Genre: Sludge Metal, from Ladron93 |
| 40 |  | Depeche Mode
Violator
Genre: Synthpop/light industrial, from Ladron93 |
| 41 |  | Tricky
Maxinquaye
Genre: Trip Hop, from swaggubeef |
| 42 |  | Cradle of Filth
Vempire or Dark Faerytales in Phalluste
Genre: gothic black metal, from Muzz79 |
| 43 |  | Dimmu Borgir
Enthrone Darkness Triumphant
Genre: gothic black metal, from Muzz79 |
| 44 |  | Spice Girls
Spice
Genre: Pop, from Piripichotes |
| 45 |  | Backstreet Boys
Backstreet Boys
@Egarran, are you talking about Backstreet Boys as the culprits - for when "everything died entirely"? |
|
