10 Best Hard Rock Bands Of The 90s

There's an old saying that the 90's were basically the 60's Revolution upside down. While that sounds a bit odd, it comes more into focus when you listen to the cultural shifts happening in each decade. Like the flower-power era, the 90's were a time where any and all music seemed to have a fair shot at breaking into the mainstream, from alternative to EDM to ska to boy bands.

Given all the disparate genres, hard rock was still well-represented throughout the decade. Genres like grunge, alternative, and even nu metal were taking the hard rock sound of the last decades and pushing the intensity much further. From lower tunings to more feral production techniques, each of these bands found a way to incorporate a certain X-factor that turned them from your typical hard rock outfit into new gods of rock.

Whether it was the early 90's whiff of hair metal to the late period rap rock renaissance, there were opportunities for any band who wanted to think outside of the box. By staying true to themselves and refusing to compromise their sound, these bands hit the ground running in the 90's ready to kill.

With the alt-rock boom coming to fruition at the start of the decade, many forget that the Red Hot Chili Peppers's ascent went just alongside the grunge of Seattle. On the same day the band's breakthrough album Blood Sugar Sex Magik was released, Nirvana's Nevermind was unleashed on the public and pioneered the alternative movement.

While the Peppers aren't typically the first band that comes to mind when you think of hard rock, many tracks across their discography showcase their ability to melt your face off when the time calls for it. For as funky as a song like "Suck My Kiss" is, the groove present behind the main riff is infectious and undeniably heavy, with Flea's bass flying off the handle.

Many people tend to cite this period of the Pepper's career as when they softened up with more ballad-heavy material like "Under the Bridge" and "Otherside." However, every track of introspective contemplation in this era is balanced out with songs like "Around the World," whose opening guitar screeches and bass runs will have you reeling right from the start. The funk-rock kings may have been maturing in this decade, but they had certainly not neglected their hard rock foundation.