Best 90's alt-rock bands

[Pre-Sh.tter]

The "Southern Rock" thread inspired this. Fwiw, the Allman Brothers Band is one of the best Rock bands ever, full stop, imo.

Phish is probably my favorite band from the 90's, but I'd like to discuss the more accessible bands of the decade (broader appeal/MTV, etc).

My Mount Rushmore are probably:
Smashing Pumpkins
Blind Melon
Primus
Soundgarden

Honorable mentions to:
Pearl Jam
Rage
Nirvana

How badly did I miss?

 

[Dawg Raid]

Audio Adrenaline, DC Talk, Switch foot

 

[Pre-Sh.tter]

Audio Adrenaline, DC Talk, Switch foot

 

[HotMop]

Britney Spears
Mariah Carey
Christina Aguilera

 

[Seinfeld]

The "Southern Rock" thread inspired this. Fwiw, the Allman Brothers Band is one of the best Rock bands ever, full stop, imo.

Phish is probably my favorite band from the 90's, but I'd like to discuss the more accessible bands of the decade (broader appeal/MTV, etc).

My Mount Rushmore are probably:
Smashing Pumpkins
Blind Melon
Primus
Soundgarden

Honorable mentions to:
Pearl Jam
Rage
Nirvana

How badly did I miss?

Great list, and this will forever be my era of music.

My Rushmore would be:

Soundgarden
STP
Pearl Jam
Alice in Chains

Honorable mention to Temple of the Dog , Nirvana, and Foo Fighters. ToTD did one of my favorite songs of all time(Say Hello 2 Heaven), but their catalog is too limited for me to put them on the mountain. I was on the fence about FF too because I honestly didn’t love much of their early stuff, but they absolutely started killing it in the 2000s

Great call on Blind Melon though. They made some really good music that never hit the radio.

 

[Howiefeltersnstch]

The "Southern Rock" thread inspired this. Fwiw, the Allman Brothers Band is one of the best Rock bands ever, full stop, imo.

Phish is probably my favorite band from the 90's, but I'd like to discuss the more accessible bands of the decade (broader appeal/MTV, etc).

My Mount Rushmore are probably:
Smashing Pumpkins
Blind Melon
Primus
Soundgarden

Honorable mentions to:
Pearl Jam
Rage
Nirvana

How badly did I miss?

Of that list, Pearl Jam should be at the top. Followed by Nirvana and then Soundgarden.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

In my opinion:

Top Tier
Nirvana
Pearl Jam
Soundgarden
STP

2nd Tier
Smashing Pumpkins
Radiohead
Bush
Oasis

3rd Tier
Cranberries
Our Lady Peace
Offspring
Foo Fighters
Blur
Everclear

Some will say Alice In Chains (them and Pearl Jam are my favorites) but I consider them more of a metal band honestly. They are the true “grunge” sound.

ETA: I’m sure I’m forgetting some. This was off the top of my head.

 

[HailStout]

In my opinion:

Top Tier
Nirvana
Pearl Jam
Soundgarden
STP

2nd Tier
Smashing Pumpkins
Radiohead
Bush
Oasis

3rd Tier
Cranberries
Our Lady Peace
Offspring
Foo Fighters
Blur
Everclear

I second this. I would say that smashing pumpkins is ALMOST 1st tier. Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness was an amazing album, and it was 2 CD’s!!!!!! That made it feel even more special.

I will also say that Corduroy by Pearl Jam and Everlong by Foo Fighters are my two favorite songs from this time.

 

[mstateglfr]

Best 90s alt rock bands? Hmm...a list to pick 5 from, with punk pop and ska excluded...

Pearl Jam
Nirvana
Weezer
STP
Everclear
Alanis Morissette
Smashing Pumpkins
Foo Fighters
Bush
Oasis
Soundgarden
Garbage


I would say Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Everclear, Oasis, and Smashing Pumpkins for the 5.

That's based on the amount of songs/hits from that decade and perceived influence on music/culture both at the time and for later groups.

 

[AleutianIslandawg]

Red hot chili peppers, no doubt, 311, sublime, incubus, bush, collective soul, candlebox, these are in addition to the others mentioned previously.

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

I was in parent mode in these years with daughters. I wasn't listening to any new music for me, but the boy bands and Disney girls were on the car radio most of the time. So I discovered most of these, except for Nirvana and STP, on the Lithium channel in the last 10 or so years. So I am not qualified to give a list but I do love STP and am not a Pearl Jam fan at all.

 

[HailStout]

Red hot chili peppers, no doubt, 311, sublime, incubus, bush, collective soul, candlebox, these are in addition to the others mentioned previously.

I hate the chili peppers. Always have. Don’t know why.

 

[Pre-Sh.tter]

In my opinion:

Top Tier
Nirvana
Pearl Jam
Soundgarden
STP

2nd Tier
Smashing Pumpkins
Radiohead
Bush
Oasis

3rd Tier
Cranberries
Our Lady Peace
Offspring
Foo Fighters
Blur
Everclear

Some will say Alice In Chains (them and Pearl Jam are my favorites) but I consider them more of a metal band honestly. They are the true “grunge” sound.

ETA: I’m sure I’m forgetting some. This was off the top of my head.

I forgot radiohead. They definitely belong in the conversation.

I can't be the only Primus guy, though, right? Unbelievable musicians who did their own unique dizzle. They have been touring the south recently with their new drummer, too. He's an absolute prodigy from Shreveport. They actually took open audition videos (6000+) and made a YouTube series out of the top dozen that they invited to audition in person . Really good series.

 

[Pre-Sh.tter]

Red hot chili peppers, no doubt, 311, sublime, incubus, bush, collective soul, candlebox, these are in addition to the others mentioned previously.

SUBLIME! That was the soundtrack of my life for 1997-2000ish. They may have to take Soundgarden's place on the mountain

 

[HailStout]

Has there ever been an era of music that you basically had to be there to love as much as 90’s alt/grunge? I loved music from the 50s 60s and 70s growing up. My kids will listen to music from the all those decades and the 80’s. But when I put it on lithium? You would think I was stabbing toothpicks in their eardrums

 

[HailStout]

Best 90s alt rock bands? Hmm...a list to pick 5 from, with punk pop and ska excluded...

Pearl Jam
Nirvana
Weezer
STP
Everclear
Alanis Morissette
Smashing Pumpkins
Foo Fighters
Bush
Oasis
Soundgarden
Garbage


I would say Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Everclear, Oasis, and Smashing Pumpkins for the 5.

That's based on the amount of songs/hits from that decade and perceived influence on music/culture both at the time and for later groups.

Oasis sucks. This has been proven scientifically on multiple occasions.

 

[Seinfeld]

Has there ever been an era of music that you basically had to be there to love as much as 90’s alt/grunge? I loved music from the 50s 60s and 70s growing up. My kids will listen to music from the all those decades and the 80’s. But when I put it on lithium? You would think I was stabbing toothpicks in their eardrums

I know what you mean, and maybe it’s an acquired taste. Thankfully, my 10 yr old has heard me listening to enough of it over the years that now it’s about all he wants to play on the drums. He’s wrapping up Black Hole Sun this week and moving to My Hero next. He even taught himself the piano intro to Home Sweet Home recently, so you could say that I’m a proud dad!

 

[AleutianIslandawg]

I hate the chili peppers. Always have. Don’t know why.

They're my favorite band probably, I've seen them twice including a show at Fenway Park that was insane. Nobody is going to put Anthony on a list of best singers ever, but he's a great front man and songwriter/lyricist. Flea, Frusciante, and Chad are all absolute masters of their instruments and when you put it all together magic happens. I respect your opinion though

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

I forgot radiohead. They definitely belong in the conversation.

I can't be the only Primus guy, though, right? Unbelievable musicians who did their own unique dizzle. They have been touring the south recently with their new drummer, too. He's an absolute prodigy from Shreveport. They actually took open audition videos (6000+) and made a YouTube series out of the top dozen that they invited to audition in person . Really good series.

Primus is one of my favorites. Don’t know where they fall into list without being bias. Les Claypool is one of the greatest bass players in rock.

 

[Hugh's Burner Phone]

I like some of those bands like Alice In Chains, but rag me all you want my heart is still in the late 80's rock. Give me some 18 and Life, Don't Know What You Got Til it's Gone, Cherry Pie, Kickstart Your Heart, Thunderstruck, and Pour Some Sugar on Me.

 

[preacher_dawg]

Audio Adrenaline, DC Talk, Switch foot

As a fan of Christian music, I would have to say nope. Now, there are Christian bands out there that would fit nicely in that category. Prayer Chain, Mewithoutyou, Project 86, early Sixpence none the Richer, Dime Store Prophets, Black Eyed sceva

 

[RopeDawg]

Great list, and this will forever be my era of music.

My Rushmore would be:

Soundgarden
STP
Pearl Jam
Alice in Chains

Honorable mention to Temple of the Dog , Nirvana, and Foo Fighters. ToTD did one of my favorite songs of all time(Say Hello 2 Heaven), but their catalog is too limited for me to put them on the mountain. I was on the fence about FF too because I honestly didn’t love much of their early stuff, but they absolutely started killing it in the 2000s

Great call on Blind Melon though. They made some really good music that never hit the radio.

We have a winner

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Has there ever been an era of music that you basically had to be there to love as much as 90’s alt/grunge? I loved music from the 50s 60s and 70s growing up. My kids will listen to music from the all those decades and the 80’s. But when I put it on lithium? You would think I was stabbing toothpicks in their eardrums

I have 12 year old daughters. They have slightly different tastes in music but do like a lot of older music too. Eagles, Queen, Elvis etc. One of them does like to listen to some Nirvana and they like the Cranberries.

 

[RopeDawg]

In my opinion:

Top Tier
Nirvana
Pearl Jam
Soundgarden
STP

2nd Tier
Smashing Pumpkins
Radiohead
Bush
Oasis

3rd Tier
Cranberries
Our Lady Peace
Offspring
Foo Fighters
Blur
Everclear

Some will say Alice In Chains (them and Pearl Jam are my favorites) but I consider them more of a metal band honestly. They are the true “grunge” sound.

ETA: I’m sure I’m forgetting some. This was off the top of my head.

Offspring, great call

 

[AleutianIslandawg]

SUBLIME! That was the soundtrack of my life for 1997-2000ish. They may have to take Soundgarden's place on the mountain

Man, tough call. Two all-time greats there. We missed a lot of good music when Bradley departed. His son is touring with them now I believe

 

[Seinfeld]

I like some of those bands like Alice In Chains, but rag me all you want my heart is still in the late 80's rock. Give me some 18 and Life, Don't Know What You Got Til it's Gone, Cherry Pie, Kickstart Your Heart, Thunderstruck, and Pour Some Sugar on Me.

Late 80s rock/metal is a VERY close second for me. My Amazon music station is one giant hodge podge of about 40% 90s Alt, 40% 80s rock, and 20% of Stones, Hendrix, Zeppelin, etc

 

[Pre-Sh.tter]

They're my favorite band probably, I've seen them twice including a show at Fenway Park that was insane. Nobody is going to put Anthony on a list of best singers ever, but he's a great front man and songwriter/lyricist. Flea, Frusciante, and Chad are all absolute masters of their instruments and when you put it all together magic happens. I respect your opinion though

I saw the chili peppers in Nashville in 2000. They absolutely killed. The food fighters opened for them, and they brought out Frampton for an encore, and they played "do you feel like I do." Pretty awesome night.

 

[Barkman Turner Overdrive]

Oasis sucks. This has been proven scientifically on multiple occasions.

I thought I was the only one on this board that thought that. I can not think of a more generic, a more COTS band than Oasis.

 

[Pak Drescott]

Bush -
Favorite band
Favorite president
Favorite thing to drink
Favorite thing to eat

 

[patdog]

Oasis sucks. This has been proven scientifically on multiple occasions.

This cannot be emphasized enough. And they are truly horrible people.

 

[patdog]

In my opinion:

Top Tier
Nirvana
Pearl Jam
Soundgarden
STP

2nd Tier
Smashing Pumpkins
Radiohead
Bush
Oasis

3rd Tier
Cranberries
Our Lady Peace
Offspring
Foo Fighters
Blur
Everclear

Some will say Alice In Chains (them and Pearl Jam are my favorites) but I consider them more of a metal band honestly. They are the true “grunge” sound.

ETA: I’m sure I’m forgetting some. This was off the top of my head.

That’s a really good list. I’d add AIC, they’re grungy enough. Not a fan of Radiohead though. I think Pearl Jam is overrated but still like most of their stuff ok. I’d add 90s Collective Soul (before Ed got really weird), the Cult & Better Than Ezra.

 

[kired]

If I gotta choose just one, it would be AIC. Any of the Chris Cornell bands rank high for me. Smashing Pumpkins was one of my favs as a teen.

But man, I can listen to 90s music all day every day. So many had just one great album that I loved (Third Eye Blind & Matchbox 20 were my go to late night, chill while driving home with the windows down cds). Refreshments / Roger Clyne is one band I’ve been listening to for 30 years. Last 10 years or so I’ve gotten into a lot of other bands that I didn’t listen to growing up (Pixies, Dinosaur Jr). I’ve got a For Squirrels pandora channel that plays some great stuff.

For whatever reason I hate Pearl Jam and RHCP. Guess I got burnt out on them early.

Are we doing gangsta rap next?

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

That’s a really good list. I’d add AIC, they’re grungy enough. Not a fan of Radiohead though. I think Pearl Jam is overrated but still like most of their stuff ok. I’d add 90s Collective Soul (before Ed got really weird), the Cult & Better Than Ezra.

AIC would be in the top tier but like I was saying they’re to me more of metal band that got lumped into the grunge scene.

AIC is in my all time favorite list.

 

[mstateglfr]

Oasis sucks. This has been proven scientifically on multiple occasions.

In the 90s they were wildly popular at a global level, sold insane amounts of albums, were consisrently heard on alt-rock stations, and influenced music and social discussion both in the moment and in future years.
They seem like an obvious top 5 90s alt rock group because of that.


That top 5 isn't just what I personally view as my top 5, to be clear.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

AIC would be in the top tier but like I was saying they’re to me more of metal band that got lumped into the grunge scene.

AIC is in my all time favorite list.

The '90s were OK musically, but they lacked enough metal, except when everyone finally realized Metallica was good.

 

[HailStout]

The '90s were OK musically, but they lacked enough metal, except when everyone finally realized Metallica was good.

The black album is one of the greatest albums of all time. Not one bad song on it

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

The '90s were OK musically, but they lacked enough metal, except when everyone finally realized Metallica was good.

You had a transition in the sound of metal. Different sub genres grew like Nu Metal but it for sure was a different time for metal.

Metallica was there (although I would say they kinda “sold out” in the 90s) and Pantera was there as well. You could make a case that they were the metal band of the 90s. You had some others like Type O Negative and Sepultura that didn’t have as much a following.

Korn really took off mid 90s with some of the other Nu Metal bands.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

The black album is one of the greatest albums of all time. Not one bad song on it

It is but Load and ReLoad are kinda meh as metal albums and I’m a huge Metallica fan. I’ve seen them multiple times in concert.

 

[Chesusdog]

Great call on Blind Melon though. They made some really good music that never hit the radio.

Soup is in ny top 5 of my all-time favorite albums, and the ripped-away version of No Rain on Nico elevates that song so much.

 

[Chesusdog]

In my opinion:

Top Tier
Nirvana
Pearl Jam
Soundgarden
STP

2nd Tier
Smashing Pumpkins
Radiohead
Bush
Oasis

3rd Tier
Cranberries
Our Lady Peace
Offspring
Foo Fighters
Blur
Everclear

Some will say Alice In Chains (them and Pearl Jam are my favorites) but I consider them more of a metal band honestly. They are the true “grunge” sound.

ETA: I’m sure I’m forgetting some. This was off the top of my head.

I'd flip Radiohead and Pumpkins with Pearl Jam and Nirvana, but yeah that's pretty much on point.