12 Best Cult Hard Rock Albums Of The 90s

From a hard rock fan's perspective, it's easy to look back at the 90's with rose-colored glasses. At every turn, it seemed like a new innovation was happening with each respective member wiping out the one before. While metal was coming to the end of its golden age, the alternative and grunge scenes were pumping out some of their best work.

Over time, the great classics of this period tend to bubble up to the surface, becoming staples of the rock genre as a whole. However, there have been other albums that have been met with mild praise of revulsion in their heyday and have eventually fallen into obscurity. Though most of these albums are just seen as musical footnotes nowadays, there is some genuine greatness to be had across all of these records.

Part of what makes these albums great is the band's desire to take risks, although with varying degrees of success. Even though some of these albums are far from the best these bands have to offer, there are still amazing moments that show these musicians flexing their artistic muscles in a healthy way. Here are the cult favorites that deserve to be more than just stop gaps in between the classics.

One of the biggest cult genres of the 90's had to be stoner rock. While there was definitely great metal bands coming out at the end of the decade with Tool and Slipknot, bands like Sleep were mining a different kind of metal, with sludgy riffs that entranced the listener.

Out of the whole scene, Kyuss stood out as one of the most talented, even scoring some opening slots for Metallica on tour. Towards the end of the decade though, the band went their separate ways, with guitarist Josh Homme forming the basis for Queens of the Stone Age.

The group's first effort may not be the ideal disc for any Queens fan, but this is the first steps of a band destined to be massive. The way that the record pummels the listener on tracks like "Mexicola" and "Regular John" owes something to Homme's former outfit, but the results are still too good to resist.

Instead of having one idea that stretches into broader soundscapes, this album is more straight and to-the-point than other stoner rock releases, which makes it much more accessible to the casual listener. If you're a QOTSA fan or just starting out with stoner rock, you owe it to yourself to give this record a spin.