12 Best Hard Rock Singers Of The 1990s
Dave Grohl and the best pipes in hard rock's flannel era...
By the time hard rock reached the 90's, the age of the flamboyant frontman were long gone. Instead of people mugging for the camera and strutting their stuff on MTV, acts were more concerned with the musical presentation rather than the trendy clothes you wore. Then again, who really needs a bunch of trendy effects when your music kicks this much ass?
As opposed to reeling you in with a gimmick, the pure talent behind some of these vocalists left you with your mouth on the floor. Even if it wasn't the singing style that you were used to, each of these singers had a certain emotion in their voice that moved you in a way that hair metal never could. Granted, some of these singers may not have the most technically gifted voices of them all, but what they lack in singing expertise they make up for with the amazing amount of passion they deliver.
Hard rock vocal styles are a bit on the gruff side, but you're sure to be in for a great listening experience if you have any of these guys behind the mic. From grunge to metal to alternative rock, each of these singers have carved their name in the Grand Halls of Rock.
12. Trent Reznor - Nine Inch Nails
There were a lot of contenders for the greatest rock singer of the 90's to choose from. From the sounds of grunge in the decade's infancy to the ferocious growls in the metal scene, each heavy genre seemed to have a great decade thanks to its famous screamers. Out of the best of the bunch, chances are no one expected an electronic producer with a piano to be a prime candidate.
Even if that build up is far from hard rock, Trent Reznor was able to take all the dark sides of electronic production to create what we know today as industrial. Thanks to albums like Pretty Hate Machine and the Downward Spiral, the world got one of the most feral voices to come out of the early 90's. As opposed to being a growl like metal or angsty like grunge, Reznor's voice sounded like a man possessed, almost as if he was using each dark song as a way to unleash the demons trapped inside of him.
Reznor had already made a name for himself as a producer, but the success of Nine Inch Nails showed the world that this disturbed approach to music could work wonders on the charts. He may not be the first person you think of when it comes to hard rock singers, but without Trent Reznor to lay the groundwork, we wouldn't have bands like Rammstein or Marilyn Manson today.