10 Best Hard Rock Albums Of The 90s
Because who doesn't miss the sound of the 90's?
At the risk of sounding my age, music today just isn't the same. Back in my day (that's right, I'm veering into this swerve now) music felt more personal, more real...like it was about something. The 90's in particular was a golden age for music as Rock bands roamed the earth filling our ear drums with their beautiful noise.
It was a peak time for rock music and a time when so many sub-genres emerged to fill the landscape with joyous variety; Nu-Metal, Grunge, whatever Tool consider themselves. The 90's was incomparable in it's music and is still rightfully remembered by many of a certain age (myself included) as a golden era.
So many great bands emerged or garnered the recognition they deserved in the 90's and put themselves on the map with their finest albums to date throughout the decade. Whether these albums were their first efforts or just the one when they finally managed to nail down the sound they would become so famous for, they were all a huge landmark moment for these bands.
These are the 10 best hard rock albums of the fantastic decade that was the 1990's:
10. Rust In Peace - Megadeth
Being kicked out of one of the world's biggest bands would understandably crush most musicians, you work so hard to get that big break only to have it snatched away from you. In the case of Dave Mustaine, he used the crushing disappointment of being ejected from Metallica as a springboard to improve himself as a musician. That improvement culminated in his finest work to date with his new band Megadeth, Rust In Peace.
The two disc 1990 release is as polished an album as anything the genre has seen before. Songs like Holy Wars....The Punishment Due, Take No Prisoners and Tornado of Souls are perfect examples of Mustaine's ability as both a song writer and a guitarist when given the freedom to express himself; something he was arguably deprived of in Metallica. It is Hangar 18 however when the album really shines, a song with so many tempo changes it boggles the mind. The guitar work throughout is exemplary and matches anything that Metallica have ever done, perhaps even raises the bar.
Rust In Peace is perhaps the greatest example of a musician using a disappointment to better himself, and is rightfully held up as one of the finest albums of the early 90's.