The 1990s were a time of change. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, paving the way for democracy to flourish around the world. We saw how consumerism became an integral part of our culture as we bought CDs and DVDs from Tower Records or HMV in order to show off what we had purchased.

And then there was the music! With grunge bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam taking over America, pop icons like Britney Spears dominating Europe, and hip-hop artists like Tupac Shakur infiltrating Africa (not to mention Australians getting their first taste of UK grime), it was truly a decade unlike any other.

In rock music, the 1990s saw a new era. As the grunge revolution gained traction, the glam metal movement, which dominated the 1980s music business, went away. The popularity of new alternative genres rose.

Non-mainstream rock musicians were adopting the grandiose sound once associated with mainstream rock bands. While hard rock and heavy metal remained popular, alternative rock emerged as the decade’s most influential musical movement.

The alternative movement grew in popularity and gave birth to a new musical period.

100. Crash Test Dummies
99. Everclear
98. Marylin Manson
97. Warrant
96. Opeth
95. Napalm Death
94. Guided By Voices
93. Motorhead
92. Semisonic
91. Ministry
90. Firehouse

1990s Grunge and Alternative Rock Bands

Alternative rock music genres paved the door for bands who previously had no place in the music world. This decade was dominated by alternative rock.

The alternative music movement had a worldwide influence, assisting a lot of artists in breaking into the mainstream. Alternative metal was born when a number of bands experimented with combining heavy metal and alternative rock components. A handful of alternative rock songs have charted in mainstream rock.

Alternative music has a specific time slot on several radio stations across the United States. Through different music segments, MTV pushed alt-rock in a huge way. Alt-rock had made its presence known. In the days to come, it simply grew bigger.

Grunge was a prominent alternative music subgenre in the 1990s. The grunge blueprint expanded throughout the world, bringing a slew of new bands to prominence.

The underground music culture in Seattle gave birth to the early grunge movement, often known as the “Seattle sound.” Sub Pop Records, a Seattle-based independent record company founded in 1986, was instrumental in popularising the grunge movement by signing a number of up-and-coming Seattle bands.

Grunge grew in popularity across the world in the 1990s, attracting a large fan base. With their records, a handful of grunge bands were able to attain commercial success. Grunge bands produced some of the most successful records of the 1990s.

Despite the fact that the grunge movement died out in the late 1990s, the subgenre had a significant impact on current rock music, particularly post-grunge and nu-metal.

89. Death
88. Limp Bizkit
87. Mr. Big
86. Sleater-Kinney
85. Barenaked Ladies
84. Fear Factory
83. Mudhoney
82. 311
81. Meshuggah
80. Spin Doctors

Bands from the 1990s that played heavy metal

In the 1990s, some metal subgenres that had emerged in the 1980s gained cult status. In the 1990s, thrash metal and speed metal acts were popular.

Thrash and speed metal bands are frequently credited with inspiring death and black metal with their riff structures and technical complexity. Several metal bands gained critical acclaim and mainstream success during the decade.

Industrial metal exploded with venom in the mid-to-late 1990s. Throughout the decade, several American industrial metal bands found mainstream success.

79. White Zombie
78. The Cardigans
77. Skid Row
76. Matchbox 20
75. Candlebox
74. Soul Asylum
73. Def Leppard
72. The Black Crowes
71. Sepultura
70. Van Halen

The Best 90s Hard Rock Bands

Despite the fact that glam metal’s popularity waned in the 1990s with the introduction of alternative rock and grunge, a few bands connected with hard rock and glam metal in the 1980s maintained their prominence into the early 1990s.

Several hard rock bands changed themselves, introducing new sounds to the public while remaining faithful to the metal roots. While many hard rock bands acquired a harsher sound, influenced by the 1990s grunge era, others continued to record melodious albums.

Early in the decade, only a few hard rock acts were successful with rock ballads. A new generation of hard rock bands rose to prominence, wowed audiences with a unique combination of conventional metal and non-mainstream influences.

69. Blues Traveller
68. Scorpions
67. Extreme
66. Bad Religion
65. Primus
64. Our Lady Peace
63. AC/DC
52. Third Eye Blind
61. Sublime
60. Helmet
59. Collective Soul
58. Testament
57. Incubus
56. Bon Jovi
55. Hootie & The Blowfish
54. Creed
53. Emperor
52. Counting Crows
51. Silverchair
50. Tool

1990s Alternative Rock Bands

Bands and genres that stayed underground were dubbed “indie rock.” Despite the fact that few indie rock musicians were able to attain mainstream success in the 1990s, the underground scene propelled the indie rock sound to new heights, helping to halt one of history’s most significant musical trends.

Indie rock bands from the 1990s were instrumental in shaping the contemporary sound of indie music. A lot of today’s independent musicians consider the indie scene of the 1990s to be groundbreaking. New musicians were motivated by these intricate tunes to further reinvent the genre.

49. Live
48. Dave Matthews Band
47. Faith No More
46. Aerosmith
45. Pulp
44. Megadeth
43. Garbage
42. Blind Melon
41. Dream Theater
40. Sonic Youth
39. Goo Goo Dolls
38. The Flaming Lips
37. The Lemonheads
36. Jane’s Addiction
35. Bush
34. Pixies
33. The Verve
32. The Smashing Pumpkins
31. Blur
30. Anthrax

Bands from the 1990s who were post-grunge

Grunge’s impact could still be seen in late-’90s rock’s heavily distorted guitar sections as the genre’s popularity faded. The phrase “post-grunge” became synonymous with this new wave of bands, and it was frequently used to characterize their music as a whole.

The post-grunge bands of the 1990s aided in the development of a new sound that became the hallmark sound of bands connected with the genre after 2000.

29. Pavement
28. Korn
27. Stone Temple Pilots
26. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
25. My Blood Valentine
24. Slayer
23. The Cranberries
22. Rage Against The Machine
21. The Wallflowers
20. The Offspring
19. No Doubt
18. Weezer
17. Queen
16. Nine Inch Nails
15. U2
14. Oasis
13. Blink-182
12. Guns N’ Roses
11. Metallica

1990s Punk Rock Groups

The 1990s saw a considerable evolution in punk rock arrangements. With the rise of independent record companies, a number of punk bands were able to produce records and gain cult status. The mid-’90s saw the rise of the “skate punk” subculture.

The subculture exploded into the mainstream, breaking all musical conventions. Skate punk and pop-punk acts began to draw the attention of major record labels. The revival of punk music opened the door for a sleek new commercial pop-punk sound.

In the 1990s, rock music was a mash-up of musical influences that contributed to define the current rock sound. Although the decade has passed, its impact on modern culture may still be seen.

10. Pantera
9. Red Hot Chili Peppers
8. Foo Fighters
7. R.E.M
6. Pearl Jam
5. Radiohead
4. Green Day
3. Soundgarden
2. Alice In Chains
1. Nirvana