![]() ![]() ![]() On No Code the band easily could have rested on their laurels and tried to recreate the sound of those three albums, but instead they made the most daring album of their career, No Code. ![]() Ten, Vs., and Vitalogy had enough hits to last Pearl Jam the rest of their career. The album is abrasive and experimental, and despite competition from other 90’s alternative rock radio hitmakers, Tool did not compromise their sound in the name of commercial ambitions with Ænima.įrom 1991 to 1994, Pearl Jam had one of the greatest runs in the history of rock, both artistically and commercially. Ænima is the first Tool album to include Justin Chancellor, and the record sees the band take progressive rock to a whole new level after bands before them like King Crimson. “Dusty” and “Zero Chance” see Soundgarden reach a new level of maturity in their songwriting. “Boot Camp” has some of Chris Cornell’s strongest lyrics, “Switch Opens” is one of Soundgarden’s most triumphant songs sonically, while “Rhinosaur” and “Never The Machine Forever” have two of the bands most memorable guitar riffs. “Pretty Noose” is classic Soundgarden, “Blow Up The Outside” has arguably the band’s most memorable singalong refrain, and “Burden In My Hand” might be the band’s strongest radio hit (especially with how overplayed “Black Hole Sun” has become). At times it can feel disjointed, but it definitely has the band’s most ambitious songs. While the band did return a few years later with more radio hits, they never were able to hit the levels of emotional sincerity they did on Pinkerton again.ĭown on the Upside is by far Soundgarden’s most adventurous album. Pinkerton features Rivers Cuomo analyzing his social anxiety and lack of ability to connect with people, fantasizing about a woman he is too cripplingly shy to approach on “El Scorcho,” describing falling in love with a lesbian on “Pink Triangle,” and contemplating where his carefree life went wrong on “The Good Life.” The album did not do well commercially and led to Weezer going on hiatus for a few years. Weezer broke onto the scene with huge singalong hits in 1994 with their self-titled blue album, but the band went serious with Pinkerton in 1996. “What I Got,” “Wrong Way,” and “Santeria” are still three of the most played songs on alternative radio 20 years later, and the band’s music is so popular that a fake version of the band is still able to fill up amphitheaters. Rage Against The Machine – Evil EmpireĮvil Empire was Rage Against The Machine’s second album, and the band showed no signs of a sophomore slump, releasing classics like “Bulls On Parade” and “People of the Sun.”īradley Nowell tragically died from a heroin overdose before Sublime could release their most famous album, but even without any sort of proper tour or promotion, Sublime has endured as one of the most timeless albums of the 90’s. Marilyn Manson established himself as the king of shock rock with Antichrist Superstar, which features his signature track “The Beautiful People.” Antichrist Superstar signified the shift in hard rock in the late 90’s towards a more stylized approach visually than Grunge bands has presented for much of the decade.ħ. Dust is Screaming Trees’ tightest collection of songs, with arguably the band’s best ballad “Sworn and Broken,” one of their catchiest radio singles “All I Know,” and arguably one of the band’s best tracks “Halo of Ashes.” The band’s debut album was full of self-aware songs with a dry sense of humor, like when Scott Lucas asked if people would like him any better if his name was Eddie Vedder, on the aptly named “Eddie Vedder.”ĭust would wind up being Screaming Trees’ final album released while the band were still together, though the band later released Last Words in 2011, a collection of songs intended for a new album in 2000. Local H had their biggest commercial hit with “Bound For The Floor” in 1996. 1996 was definitely the end of an era, so Alternative Nation has decided to look back at some of the year’s greatest albums 20 years later. Soundgarden released the final album of their original run before breaking up in 1997, Stone Temple Pilots went on hiatus for 2 years following the conclusion of the Tiny Music tour, and Weezer and Tool would not release followup albums to their 1996 releases until the new millenium. Eddie Vedder photo taken by Mick Hutson.ġ996 is widely seen as the last great year of the alternative rock/Grunge 90’s, with many bands from the ‘Grunge’ era going into hibernation shortly therafter. Scott Weiland photo taken by Tim Mosenfelder. ![]()
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