Great Bands From the '90s

[ZooCougar]

I'll open it up with Big Head Todd. Saw them with Rat Dog in Richmond a while back. Big Head Todd was better.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Pantera
Rage
At the Gates
Pearl Jam

Bands that started or greatly informed entire genres

Most others I can think of or care about carried over success from the mid-late 80s

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Radiohead
Weezer
Sublime
Blink

 

[nwhoopfan]

I missed it at the time, but recently have become a big fan of Mazzy Star.

Pearl Jam and Nirvana were the bigger stars, but among the grunge bands I very much preferred the music of Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. They just rocked harder.

Gin Blossoms
Letters to Cleo
The Sundays

(some of those may have formed in the late 80's but rose to prominence in the 90's)

 

[ZooCougar]

I missed it at the time, but recently have become a big fan of Mazzy Star.

Pearl Jam and Nirvana were the bigger stars, but among the grunge bands I very much preferred the music of Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. They just rocked harder.

Gin Blossoms
Letters to Cleo
The Sundays

(some of those may have formed in the late 80's but rose to prominence in the 90's)

As far as Grunge goes, over the years Alice In Chains has been the clear #1 for me.

Not really grunge, but I also lump them in that group kinda, Primus is pretty damn special. Les Claypool tried out for Metallica in the '80s to be their bassist but Hetfield said he was too good and should go do his own thing.

 

[Rocktheworld]

As far as Grunge goes, over the years Alice In Chains has been the clear #1 for me.

Not really grunge, but I also lump them in that group kinda, Primus is pretty damn special. Les Claypool tried out for Metallica in the '80s to be their bassist but Hetfield said he was too good and should go do his own thing.

Love Primus! God I'll never forget Jerry Was a Racecar Driver as a 7-8 year old playing the first Tony Hawk games

 

[ZooCougar]

Love Primus! God I'll never forget being introduced to them as a 7-8 year old playing the first Tony Hawk games

When we saw Queens of the Stone Age a couple of years ago, Primus opened which was a nice surprise. If you ever have a chance, just go.

 

[auggie22]

There are so many great bands that started in the 90's that are still great today ( e.g. Pearl Jam).

There are also many great bands that started in the 90's that quite literally ceased along the way due to the death of an iconic member ( e.g Nirvana, Alice ).

But when I read this thread I immediately thought of the third group: bands that started and were great in the 90's but are not currently, for other reasons ( band broke up but not due to an iconic death, musical trends or fads moved against them, etc). To this list the following come to my mind: Rusted Root, Weezer, Live, Blues Traveler, Tool, Green Day...

In the 90's 1 hot wonder category I would add Fun Loving Criminals.

 

[auggie22]

Almost forgot - Blind Melon and Sublime

 

[ZooCougar]

There are so many great bands that started in the 90's that are still great today ( e.g. Pearl Jam).

There are also many great bands that started in the 90's that quite literally ceased along the way due to the death of an iconic member ( e.g Nirvana, Alice ).

But when I read this thread I immediately thought of the third group: bands that started and were great in the 90's but are not currently, for other reasons ( band broke up but not due to an iconic death, musical trends or fads moved against them, etc). To this list the following come to my mind: Rusted Root, Weezer, Live, Blues Traveler, Tool, Green Day...

In the 90's 1 hot wonder category I would add Fun Loving Criminals.

Alice In Chains still exists. They had a couple of decent songs in their last couple of albums.

Love Weezer. They are still around, but they will never eclipse the Blue Album or even Pinkerton.

 

[dbmill]

Cranberries. Excellent pop band from that era.

 

[tdrink]

Morphine
Tool
Phish
Foo Fighters
STP
Mr. Bungle

 

[ZooCougar]

311, Jane's Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers

 

[nwhoopfan]

Maybe not a great band, but Hootie and the Blowfish were lots of fun and had some good songs.



There were some good country bands from back then, hopefully that won't get me kicked out of this thread. The Mavericks, Diamond Rio, Shenandoah, Blackhawk.

 

[dbmill]

Maybe not a great band, but Hootie and the Blowfish were lots of fun and had some good songs.



There were some good country bands from back then, hopefully that won't get me kicked out of this thread. The Mavericks, Diamond Rio, Shenandoah, Blackhawk.

If you're going that route, I'll toss in the great alt country band the Jayhawks. Terrific harmonies in that group.

 

[ZooCougar]

Soul Asylum

 

[nwhoopfan]

If you're going that route, I'll toss in the great alt country band the Jayhawks. Terrific harmonies in that group.

Oh man, thanks for reminding me of that. That brings to mind Uncle Tupelo, which broke up and begat Son Volt and Wilco. Also the occasional side project super group Golden Smog that had members from 4 or 5 different groups I think. And Whiskeytown and my personal favorite of that genre, The Old 97s. Damn the 90's rocked for alt country!

 

[intlzncster]

The Offspring

 

[storrsroars]

Oh man, thanks for reminding me of that. That brings to mind Uncle Tupelo, which broke up and begat Son Volt and Wilco. Also the occasional side project super group Golden Smog that had members from 4 or 5 different groups I think. And Whiskeytown and my personal favorite of that genre, The Old 97s. Damn the 90's rocked for alt country!

Fwiw, Jayhawks were the backing band on Ray Davies' latest album.

Son Volt was depressing. Pre YHF Wilco was fun. Loved the first Golden Smog.

 

[storrsroars]

Whole bunch of great stuff from UK in 90s beyond Radiohead.

Pulp
Happy Mondays/Black Grape
Blur
Stone Roses
Chemical Bros.
The Prodigy
Portishead
... and more.

 

[Rocktheworld]

 

[Rocktheworld]

 

[Mano]

Whole bunch of great stuff from UK in 90s beyond Radiohead.

Pulp
Happy Mondays/Black Grape
Blur
Stone Roses
Chemical Bros.
The Prodigy
Portishead
... and more.

Sometimes I think I was born on the wrong side of the pond. That whole Madchester scene really speaks to me Stone Roses, Blur, Oasis, etc.

American bands brought it too: Rage, Nirvana, NIN, Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer.

I listened to soooo much Techno back then. Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, The Prodigy, Underworld, Orbital, Aphex Twin, Photek, Crystal Method, Junkie XL, Ken Ishii, Roni Size, Mocean Worker.

Wu-Tang! Outkast too. If you want to count rap groups.

Radiohead and Daft Punk are most often at the top of my list of favorites.

 

[The Viking]

I missed it at the time, but recently have become a big fan of Mazzy Star.

Pearl Jam and Nirvana were the bigger stars, but among the grunge bands I very much preferred the music of Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. They just rocked harder.

Gin Blossoms
Letters to Cleo
The Sundays

(some of those may have formed in the late 80's but rose to prominence in the 90's)

Totally agree about Soundgarden and Alice, although I did like PJ. Nirvana I just couldn't take Cobain's voice. Grohl is great though.

 

[storrsroars]

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the best bar band in the world (which unfortunately broke up in 2015).