10 Songs That Defined The '90s

10. November Rain - Guns N Roses

Once the new year of 1990 started off, the age of hair metal felt like it had officially run its course. After all, with the strongest thing on the charts at the time being Warrant's Cherry Pie, it felt like all of the good natured fun of the genre had been traded in for some of the most lackluster songs in history. Even though the street urchins of LA didn't have a prayer anymore, Axl Rose made one hell of a sendoff for the genre with November Rain.

Although most of Guns N Roses' Use Your Illusion records feel bloated due to Rose's inflated ego running rampant, this is one of those moments where the grandiosity feels warranted, expanding the song from a typical ballad into a 9 minute epic that doesn't pull any of its punches. Along with having some of Slash's greatest guitar work, the song is Rose's answer to Bohemian Rhapsody, taking different sections of songs and making them flow flawlessly into different areas that many questioned if hair metal was even capable of doing.

By the time the final breakdown kicks in and Slash's guitar takes everything away, you can practically see all of the chaos of the genre's final days reaching its apex in real time. Complete with just the right over the top video to accompany it, this was the final hoorah that the poodle haired generation really needed before grunge came into focus.