10 Perfect 90s Albums That Changed Rock And Roll Music

Around the time that grunge was just starting to effect the rock scene, no one really knew which end was up anymore. Labels may have been envisioning plans for the next phase of rock and roll, but the new sounds of Seattle opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Genres didn't have to be black and white anymore, and Rage Against the Machine channeled every single aggressive style imaginable into their debut record.

Being children of both the punk and the hip hop scene, most of this record is packed full of aggression against authority figures who insist on keeping you down at any cost, with Zack de la Rocha calling out these injustices through gnashed teeth on songs like Freedom. Aside from his rapping-spoken word brand of performance, the real standout was what Tom Morello was doing behind his fretboard, trading in the flashy licks of the day with different strange sounds, from toggling switches to sound like a synthesizer on the song Know Your Enemy to producing DJ like scratches instead of guitar solos.

Even though most fans might not have known what they were listening to at the time, this became the genesis for what would become nu metal just a few years later, with bands like Limp Bizkit and Korn employing the same kind of aggression to their own music. Whether or not the godfathers of nu metal tag is a good or bad thing is up to you, but Rage definitely deserve a spot as one of the gamechangers of rock and roll.