10 Most IMPORTANT Rock Musicians Of The 90s

At the beginning of the '90s, Metallica were already being talked up as one of the world's greatest metal bands. Ever since Master of Puppets, these thrash legends pretty much had the muscle to tear through any other act who crossed their path, incorporating both melodic sections on tracks like Welcome Home and pure thrash anarchy on One. Once the '90s dawned though, it was time for metal to welcome its next god to the forefront.

Off the strength of the self-titled Black Album, James Hetfield became one of the biggest players in the metal scene, being the main riff crafter of nearly every tune. Whereas other albums saw Hetfield looking for a "real" singer for the group, he had fully settled into the role on this outing, going from the soft and tender moments in the chorus to the Unforgiven to sounding like he can tear your head off on Sad But True.

The rhythm guitar playing should not be overlooked though, with the downpicking mentality becoming the blueprint for what modern metal would become. It's one thing to just be able to belt these songs out...it's another to do it while putting your wrist through hell at the same time. Above all else though, Hetfield was more than happy to be the eternal metal role model, as he related to the audience like any other metal fan at a great big party. Though pure thrash may have been behind them, something even more daring was on the horizon.