10 Perfect Rock Albums Of The '90s

There was no real reason for us to concern ourselves with classic rock during the '90s. Since the old guard like Aerosmith were busy embarrassing themselves, why the hell would we want to see what acts like Eric Clapton were up to when we had interesting bands like Soundgarden? Well, if you only look at the surface, you sometimes miss out on the hidden beauty underneath.

Coming off of his string of solo singles in the late '80s, Tom Petty went into the studio with Rick Rubin and crafted beauty on Wildflowers. While everything is carefully played, you can tell that there's a freewheeling vibe on the record that could have only been captured at the time. Even with the signature Tom Petty soundscapes, there's a lot more ambition behind this one, from the folksy ballads to an entire orchestral ending on It's Good to be King and breaking out the electric guitars for Honey Bee.

Once Petty crossed this threshold, it felt like he finally ascended to the mantle of rock god. For as many times that he lived in the shadow of other heartland rockers, this is like watching Petty dig deep inside himself and finding something that he wasn't even sure he was capable of. An industry like this doesn't concern themselves with artists past 30, but the true legends always find something else to say.