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The 1990s<\/a>\u00a0were one of the best decades for heavy music, so here’s who we think make up the “Big 4”<\/a> of both ’90s rock and<\/em> metal.<\/p>\n The reason the ’90s were so unique was because various subgenres peaked during the decade. Hair metal<\/a> was on its way out during the early days of the decade and grunge<\/a> replaced it as the leading branch of rock ‘n’ roll. Thrash<\/a> was still going strong but some of the more extreme types of metal (black, death, groove) started to really take off.<\/p>\n Then there was alternative rock, which had previously been known as college rock, as well as nu-metal, Brit pop, punk and buzzing extreme metal underground.<\/p>\n Rock and metal giants such as Metallica<\/a>, Guns N’ Roses<\/a>, Slayer<\/a>, AC\/DC<\/a> and Aerosmith<\/a> still put out solid releases and played massive shows during the ’90s as well, so it really was an amalgamation of\u00a0sounds old and new.<\/p>\n When deciding\u00a0which bands would make up our Big 4 of ’90s rock and our Big 4 of ’90s metal, we considered a few different factors. The group didn’t have to form in the ’90s but had to have peaked in popularity then and had some sort of big influence that had a long-lasting effect.<\/p>\n READ MORE:\u00a0The ‘Big 4’ Bands of 27 Rock + Metal Subgenres<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n We also did our best to choose artists that represented various subgenres in order to accurately depict how diverse the soundscape of the decade was.<\/p>\n The four bands that best encapsulate all of ’90s rock \u2014 Seattle grunge, politically-charged rap-rock, punk and alternative.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Lauryn Schaffner<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Since there have been so many different eras of heavy metal, we picked four groups to represent the ‘Big 4’ of ’90s metal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Lauryn Schaffner<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Subscribe to Loudwire on YouTube<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe ‘Big 4’ Bands of ’90s Rock<\/h2>\n
The ‘Big 4’ Bands of ’90s Metal<\/h2>\n
Top 90 Hard Rock + Metal Albums of the 1990s<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n