Rock music has been a huge cultural phenomenon since it emerged in the musical industry in the
The 1950s. Besides changing the whole musical preface, it also dramatically influenced fashion, cultural norms, and human behavior as a whole. Rock music is popular among teens and younger adults who are rebellious and full of vigor. Since rock music came to the surface, the numbers of bands left their ingrained mark in history. However, below mentioned is a list of the top 5 rock bands from the 90s.
1. Nirvana
The inarguably spotlighting American rock band from the 90s’, Nirvana, continues to show its influence in the modern rock and roll culture. With the 50 million albums sold worldwide in the decade including 10 million copies of ‘Nevermind’ sold in the U.S.itself, while topping the charts, the band emerged from Seattle to become one of the biggest names in the music industry. Its tangibility goes far beyond the stats and was seen throughout pop culture on MTV, in fashion, with hairstyles, and on all those posters. Although their tenure was short, they became the idols of teens and young adults all over the world. Nirvana released only three studio LPs, a live album and a compilation before Kurt Cobain ended his life on April 5, 1994. The band and its music are celebrated till this date.
2. Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam, an American band that popularized grunge music, is considered one of the most influential
bands of the decade, being dubbed as “the most popular American rock & roll band of the ‘90s”. It outsold many of the contemporary bands in the 1990s and that continued to be a respected
alternative rock group into the 21 st century. They released the debut album ‘Ten’, making “Alive” the lead single which soon climbed the charts and defined the whole grunge culture. Vitalogy (1994), one among the band’s multimillion-selling album, explored longing and loss included the Grammy-winning single “Spin the Black Circle.” They have released 10 studio LPs and numerous live records and official bootlegs over the course of their career, selling an estimated 60 million albums worldwide and continue to make outstanding music. They were also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.
3. Alice In Chains
Alice in Chains, a grunge pioneers, explored the genre with a style heavily influenced by heavy
metal. The band’s debut album, 1990’s ‘Facelift,’ has been cited as a turning point in ‘90s music, the first grunge to leave a mark in this field. Some of the band's most popular hits include, “We Die
Young,” “Would,” “Down in a Hole,” “Grind,” and “Heaven Beside You.”Meanwhile, an iconic
performance on ‘MTV Unplugged’ secured the group as one of the era’s most talented acts. But
things weren’t going well behind the scenes. Singer Layne Staley battled depression and heroin
addiction, and died of a drug overdose in 2002 while other band members pursued individual
projects.”Drawing equally from the heavy riffing of post-Van Halen metal and the gloomy strains of
post-punk, the band developed a bleak, nihilistic sound that balanced grinding hard rock with subtly textured acoustic numbers,” writes allmusic.com.
4. Green Day
Green Day is among the best selling rock releases of the decade which reached heights in the
mainstream in 1994 with the debut album “Dookie” and hit singles “Longview,” “Welcome to
Paradise,” “Basket Case” and “When I Come Around”. Green Day’s success gave pioneered a wave of the ‘90s punk bands such as The Offspring, Blink-182, and Rancid. Green Day continued its legacy with “Insomniac” and “Nimrod”, and “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life),” who’s the heartstring-tugging the acoustic track quickly became a massive hit. Green Day has sold more than 75 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time. The group has been nominated for 20 Grammy awards and has won five of them with Best Alternative Album for Dookie, Best Rock Album for American Idiot and 21 st Century Breakdown, Record of the Year for “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, and Best Musical Show Album for American Idiot: The Original Broadway Cast Recording.
5. Smashing Pumpkins
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that achieved mainstream success
from classic releases marked by their debut album, ‘Gish,’ in 1991. The cathartic lyrics with a densely layered guitar and heavy sounds shaped them as one of the biggest bands in the world within four years of their debut album. The Smashing Pumpkins kept getting bigger with the release of their second album, the multiplatinum Siamese Dream (1993), featuring the hits “Cherub Rock,” “Today,” and “Disarm.” The subsequent double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995) debuted at number one on the Billboard album chart on the way to selling more than four million copies in the United States and earning six Grammy Award nominations; they won best hard rock performance for the single “Bullet with Butterfly Wings.” The band broke up briefly in 2000 and reunited in 2006 while they continue to make music for all hard rock fans.
