Your Favorite Bands of the 90s
 

My first thread, but I thought it'd be pretty cool. The golden age of music in my lifetime as far as I'm concerned is from the late 80s to mid 90s. With Grunge/Rock reaching its climax, and rock at its best in a long time, I'd like to see how fellow DSF members rack up their top 3 bands from the 90s and the best album from each.

My top 3 (in no particular order):
-Alice in Chains: I can never get tired of them, a shame Staley isn't around. But then again, if it wasn't for his Heroin addiction, their music probably wouldn't be the same.

-Best: Dirt

-Nirvana: I don't listen to them as much as I used to. But man when I was 12-17, I was all about them. All the time and obsession I had merits a spot. Plus they kicked ass, noone can deny that.

-Best: In Utero


-Pearl Jam: They're not as good as they were, but damn they used to make great albums. They're still the best live performance I've seen.

-Best: Ten


Honorable Mentions: Soundgarden, Failure, STP, Rage against the machine, Tool, Foo Fighters, Metallica

What is YOUR top 3?

Pavement
Pavement
Pavement

Weezer's Blue Album and Pinkerton is some of the greatest and most influential (at least to the bands I listen to) music of the 1990s.

The Foo Fighters- Best band of all time... period. I was sad to see Kurt Cobain die, but... well, it finally gave Dave Grohl the opportunity he needed to ascend to rock God status.

Aside from that, it's a toss up. Third Eye Blind, Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam, The Offspring, Metallica, STP, Blink 182, Greenday, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bon Jovi, The Goo Goo Dolls... even one album wonders like Hoobistank, Smashmouth, Barenaked Ladies, Live, Tonic, The Toadies, Vertical Horizon, Collective Soul, Tal Bachman Shawn Mullins, Semisonic... the '90s were a breeding ground for great musicians.

Yea, all 3 of those are awesome


I know alot of people that love them, I just haven't been able to get into their music. Probably just need to let them grow on me.

I like Weezer, but aside from those two classics, they aren't that great anymore IMO

1.Rage Against The Machine
2.Sublime
3.Smashing Pumpkins

Wu-Tang (saw them open for Rage Against the Machine)
A Tribe Called Quest
311 (for their first 3 albums)

Saw that concert as well in Nashville! And also seen Rage when a little known band called System of a Down opened up for them.

Three is difficult
 

I'll take his and throw in Soundgarden and the Chili Peppers and NIN.


I think those six bands really represent the spectrum of the era you're speaking of and in their own specific ways influenced several genres and countless other bands while having great commercial success (which is an easy measuring stick). I don't think we're far enough past the 90s to really look back and find the more obscure bands that really set the pace and base our thesis on that. The new kids influenced by them haven't gotten old enough to really tell us how their bands came about LOL.


Rage nailed the cross over appeal that hard rock and hip hop had been toying with for so long. But more importantly it made it okay to have a conscience and an ethos. You don't have to agree with theirs but atleast they had one.

Pantera brought a mix of skill passion and energy to metal that had been whithering on the vine as other bands fought to survive in the grunge era.

Tool showed that progressive rock could be heavy as hell, that you could explore beyond what Rush and Dream Theatre were doing. And still have a huge appeal.

Soundgarden gave a melodic quality and unmatched musical talent to the grunge movement. Yet they still had as much if not more raw energy than Pearl Jam or Nirvana or Alice or Mudhoney etc... The difference with Soundgarden was they are truly musicians. Like was noted above about Dave Grohl. The boys in SG grew exponentially the longer they were together. The melodies, the lyrics, the riffs just got better and better. Most other bands in the grunge movement you could pick up one album and hear the sum of their potential.

The Chili Peppers exploded in the 90s even though they had been around with their great blend of funk, rock and social commentary. I actually preferred Janes Addiction to them personally but as I said with SG the Peppers used their fame to explore the world and embrace the new influences accessibility afforded them and GROW.

No one epitomizes the industrial era more than NIN. We could definitely find guys that did it first, guys that explored more, but John 5 and Trent Reznor are the godfathers of industrial just like Ozzy and Iommi are of Metal for a reason. They had market penetration like no one else. Walk into any bar and play Closer on the jukebox and watch how many milfs know all the fuckin lyrics and tell me Nine Inch Nails didn't get the word out about industrial music.