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The ’90s were the last decade when rock bands ruled the charts. Grunge came roaring out of Seattle, Britpop answered from across the Atlantic, pop-punk turned skate parks into arenas, and MTV played all of it on repeat. It was also a decade with a heavy cost, and too many of its greatest voices are gone.

As a musician and music teacher, I ranked these bands on what they did in the ’90s: the albums, the songs that still get played, how much they changed rock and how well the music holds up today. Bands that started earlier, like Metallica and R.E.M., count only for their ’90s run.

Here are the 22 greatest rock bands of the ’90s, ranked, with the one album from the decade to start with for each.

1. Nirvana

No band defined the ’90s more than Nirvana, and it happened almost overnight. Nevermind came out in September 1991 with modest expectations, and by January 1992 it had knocked Michael Jackson’s Dangerous off No. 1 on the Billboard 200. One music video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” made the hair-metal bands of the ’80s look ancient.

Kurt Cobain wrote songs with Beatles-sized melodies and punk-rock noise, and that mix opened the door for nearly every band on this list. Nevermind has sold more than 30 million copies, and In Utero and MTV Unplugged in New York showed how much further he could go.

Cobain died in April 1994 at 27, and Nirvana ended with him. Drummer Dave Grohl went on to build one of the biggest rock bands of the next 30 years, and you’ll find it further down this list.

Essential ’90s album: Nevermind (1991)

2. Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam rose out of a tragedy. When Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood died of an overdose in 1990, guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament started over with a new band and a singer from San Diego named Eddie Vedder. Their debut, Ten (1991), is now certified 13 times platinum in the US, thanks to “Alive,” “Even Flow,” “Jeremy” and “Black.”

The follow-up, Vs., sold more than 950,000 copies in its first week in 1993, a record at the time, and it was the first of three straight No. 1 albums. Then Pearl Jam did the opposite of cashing in. They stopped making music videos, fought Ticketmaster over service fees and even testified before Congress about it.

That stubbornness kept them credible and kept them together. More than 35 years later, Pearl Jam is still filling arenas, and the band joined the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.

Essential ’90s album: Ten (1991)

3. Soundgarden

Soundgarden were grunge pioneers before anyone called it grunge. Formed in Seattle in 1984, they became the first band from that scene to sign with a major label, and they brought something the others didn’t: Black Sabbath-sized riffs in strange time signatures, topped by Chris Cornell’s nearly four-octave voice.

Badmotorfinger (1991) made them stars, and Superunknown (1994) debuted at No. 1 with “Spoonman,” “Fell on Black Days” and “Black Hole Sun,” which won a Grammy. Plenty of musicians consider Cornell the greatest singer the Seattle scene produced, and it’s hard to argue.

Cornell died in May 2017 at 52, hours after a show in Detroit. In 2025, Soundgarden finally entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with Jim Carrey giving the induction speech.

Essential ’90s album: Superunknown (1994)

4. Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Chili Peppers had been around since 1983, but the ’90s made them superstars. Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991), produced by Rick Rubin and recorded in a rented Hollywood Hills mansion, mixed Flea’s funk bass with real heartbreak. “Under the Bridge,” Anthony Kiedis’s song about loneliness and addiction, went to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Then it nearly fell apart. Guitarist John Frusciante quit in the middle of a 1992 tour of Japan, and the band spent years trying to replace him. When Frusciante came back in 1998, the reunion produced Californication (1999), which has sold more than 15 million copies.

Few bands have had a second act that big. The Chili Peppers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 and spent much of the 2020s playing stadiums.

Essential ’90s album: Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991)

5. Foo Fighters

Months after Kurt Cobain’s death, Nirvana’s drummer quietly booked a week at a Seattle studio and recorded a set of songs by himself, playing nearly every instrument. That tape became the first Foo Fighters album in 1995, and Dave Grohl went from “the drummer from Nirvana” to frontman of one of rock’s last great arena bands.

The Colour and the Shape (1997) gave them “Everlong,” “My Hero” and “Monkey Wrench,” songs that still close their shows, and drummer Taylor Hawkins joined that same year. They have since won more than a dozen Grammys and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.

Hawkins died suddenly on tour in Colombia in March 2022, at 50. The band carried on, and Grohl’s story remains the most remarkable second act of the decade.

Essential ’90s album: The Colour and the Shape (1997)

6. Alice in Chains

Alice in Chains were the heaviest and darkest of the big Seattle bands. Jerry Cantrell’s sludgy, metal-trained riffs met Layne Staley’s haunting voice, and their two-part harmonies became one of the most copied sounds in rock. “Man in the Box,” from 1990’s Facelift, had them on MTV before Nevermind was even released.

Dirt (1992) is a harrowing, brilliant album about addiction, and the acoustic Jar of Flies (1994) became the first EP ever to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Their 1996 MTV Unplugged set is still one of the best in the series.

Staley’s addiction kept the band off the road for much of the decade, and he died in 2002 at 34. Cantrell rebuilt Alice in Chains with singer William DuVall in 2006, and the band has been touring and recording ever since.

Essential ’90s album: Dirt (1992)

7. The Smashing Pumpkins

Billy Corgan’s Smashing Pumpkins were the most ambitious band of the alternative boom. Out of Chicago, they mixed heavy, layered guitars with dreamy psychedelia, and Siamese Dream (1993), with “Today” and “Disarm,” made them stars.

Then they went bigger. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995) was a 28-song double album that debuted at No. 1 and was eventually certified Diamond. “1979,” “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” and “Tonight, Tonight” were everywhere, and the “Tonight, Tonight” video won Video of the Year at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards.

The success came with chaos. In 1996, touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin died of an overdose and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was fired. The band has split and reunited since, but no alternative band of the decade aimed higher.

Essential ’90s album: Siamese Dream (1993)

8. Metallica

Metallica were already thrash legends, but in the ’90s they became the biggest rock band in the world. For their 1991 self-titled album, known as the Black Album, they slowed down, tightened up and hired producer Bob Rock for a huge, radio-ready sound. “Enter Sandman,” “The Unforgiven” and “Nothing Else Matters” took them from metal clubs to every rock station in America.

The Black Album debuted at No. 1 and has become the best-selling album in the US since Nielsen began tracking sales in 1991. Metallica toured it for almost three years.

Later in the decade they cut their hair and went bluesier on Load (1996) and Reload (1997). Longtime fans still argue about that era, but both albums debuted at No. 1 too.

Essential ’90s album: Metallica (the Black Album, 1991)

9. Green Day

Green Day took punk from Berkeley’s tiny 924 Gilman Street club to the top of the charts. Their major-label debut, Dookie (1994), was loaded with three-minute singles like “Longview,” “Basket Case” and “When I Come Around,” and it has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.

That summer, their set at Woodstock ’94 turned into a mud fight with the crowd, and bassist Mike Dirnt lost teeth when a security guard mistook him for a stage-crasher. In 1997, “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” became the soundtrack to every graduation and farewell montage, including the one that sent off Seinfeld.

Green Day went even bigger with American Idiot in 2004, but Dookie is where it started. They entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015, their first year of eligibility.

Essential ’90s album: Dookie (1994)

10. Rage Against the Machine

Rage Against the Machine sounded like nothing else in 1992. Zack de la Rocha rapped furious political lyrics over Tom Morello’s guitar, which he bent, scratched and toggled until it sounded like a DJ’s turntable. Their debut included “Killing in the Name,” one of the angriest songs ever to become a radio staple.

Evil Empire (1996) and The Battle of Los Angeles (1999) both debuted at No. 1, remarkable for a band that railed against corporate America from a major label. They also helped invent rap-rock, for better and for worse.

Their songs never really went away. In 2009, a fan campaign made “Killing in the Name” the UK’s Christmas No. 1, beating that year’s X Factor winner, and the band entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023.

Essential ’90s album: Rage Against the Machine (1992)

11. Radiohead

Radiohead started the decade looking like a one-hit wonder. “Creep” flopped in the UK when it came out in 1992, then became a hit after American radio picked it up, and the band grew so tired of it that they stopped playing it for years.

Instead of chasing another “Creep,” they got better. The Bends (1995) was full of soaring guitar songs like “Fake Plastic Trees” and “High and Dry,” and OK Computer (1997), a dark, brilliant record about technology and modern life, won a Grammy and regularly shows up on lists of the greatest albums ever made.

Radiohead kept reinventing themselves after the ’90s, but those two albums are as close to perfect as the decade got. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.

Essential ’90s album: OK Computer (1997)

12. Stone Temple Pilots

Critics wrote off Stone Temple Pilots as grunge copycats when Core came out in 1992. Fans didn’t care. “Plush,” “Creep” and “Sex Type Thing” made it a multiplatinum smash, and “Plush” won a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance.

Purple (1994) debuted at No. 1 and proved the doubters wrong, with “Interstate Love Song” and “Vasoline” showing off the DeLeo brothers’ gift for melody and Scott Weiland’s chameleon-like voice. Few bands of the era wrote better hooks.

Weiland’s addictions shadowed the band for years. He died on his tour bus in December 2015, at 48. Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington, who had fronted STP from 2013 to 2015, died less than two years later. The DeLeo brothers and drummer Eric Kretz carried on with singer Jeff Gutt.

Essential ’90s album: Purple (1994)

13. Oasis

Oasis were Britain’s answer to grunge, except they wanted to be the Beatles. Definitely Maybe (1994) became the fastest-selling debut album in British history at the time, and (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (1995), with “Wonderwall” and “Don’t Look Back in Anger,” has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.

In August 1996 they played two nights at Knebworth for 250,000 people, and around 2.5 million applied for tickets. The other half of the story was the fighting. Liam and Noel Gallagher’s feud made headlines for years, and the band finally split after a backstage fight in Paris in 2009.

After 16 years apart, the brothers reunited in 2025 for a world tour that sold out almost instantly, proof the songs never went away.

Essential ’90s album: (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (1995)

14. R.E.M.

R.E.M. spent the ’80s as America’s favorite college-radio band, then spent the ’90s as one of the biggest bands on the planet. “Losing My Religion,” built on a mandolin riff, went to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1991 and helped Out of Time top the charts.

Automatic for the People (1992) was even better, a quiet, beautiful album about mortality that gave the world “Everybody Hurts” and “Man on the Moon.” In 1996, R.E.M. signed a reported $80 million deal with Warner Bros., the biggest record contract ever at the time.

The decade also brought a scare. Drummer Bill Berry collapsed on stage in Switzerland in 1995 with a brain aneurysm. He recovered but left the band in 1997. R.E.M. joined the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 and called it quits in 2011.

Essential ’90s album: Automatic for the People (1992)

15. Pantera

Pantera started out as a glam band from Texas and ended up making the heaviest music ever to top the American charts. Cowboys from Hell (1990) introduced their new sound, built on Dimebag Darrell’s razor-sharp riffs and Phil Anselmo’s roar, and Vulgar Display of Power (1992) perfected it with “Walk” and “Mouth for War.”

In 1994, Far Beyond Driven debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, an astonishing result for an album that heavy. While grunge and alternative took over the radio, Pantera kept heavy metal alive for a whole generation of fans.

The story ended in tragedy. Dimebag was shot and killed on stage in Columbus, Ohio, in 2004, and his brother, drummer Vinnie Paul, died in 2018. Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown revived Pantera in 2022, with Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante filling in.

Essential ’90s album: Vulgar Display of Power (1992)

16. Weezer

Weezer proved you didn’t need flannel and angst to be a ’90s rock band. Their 1994 debut, known as the Blue Album, wrapped nerdy heartbreak in huge, fuzzy guitars. “Buddy Holly” came with a Spike Jonze video that dropped the band into an episode of Happy Days, and it was even included on the Windows 95 installation CD.

The follow-up, Pinkerton (1996), was raw and painfully personal, written partly while singer Rivers Cuomo was studying at Harvard, and it flopped. Over the next decade, fans and critics came around, and Pinkerton is now seen as a blueprint for emo.

Weezer came back bigger in the 2000s with “Island in the Sun” and “Beverly Hills,” and they’re still making records and touring today.

Essential ’90s album: Weezer (the Blue Album, 1994)

17. Tool

Tool were the band musicians argued about most in the ’90s. Out of Los Angeles, they mixed metal heaviness with odd time signatures, long songs and Maynard James Keenan’s eerie vocals, and they refused to play the usual music-industry games. Their stop-motion videos, directed by guitarist Adam Jones, looked like nothing else on MTV.

Undertow (1993) built a cult following, and Ænima (1996) turned it into a phenomenon, winning a Grammy for Best Metal Performance. Drummer Danny Carey became a hero to a generation of musicians who studied his parts like math problems.

Tool famously take their time. Their 2019 album, Fear Inoculum, arrived 13 years after the previous one and still knocked Taylor Swift off No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

Essential ’90s album: Ænima (1996)

18. Nine Inch Nails

Nine Inch Nails was essentially one man, Trent Reznor, and he dragged industrial music into the mainstream. After 1989’s Pretty Hate Machine, he recorded his masterpiece, The Downward Spiral (1994), in the Los Angeles house where members of the Manson family had murdered Sharon Tate in 1969.

It was a dark, abrasive album about self-destruction, and it still went quadruple platinum. “Closer” became a hit, and “Hurt” became even more famous in 2002, when Johnny Cash recorded a devastating cover near the end of his life.

Reznor has since become an Oscar-winning film composer with Atticus Ross, for The Social Network and Soul. Nine Inch Nails entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.

Essential ’90s album: The Downward Spiral (1994)

19. The Offspring

The Offspring made the best-selling punk album of the decade on a small independent label. Smash (1994), released by Epitaph Records, rode “Come Out and Play” and “Self Esteem” to sales of more than 11 million copies, making it one of the best-selling independent-label albums of all time.

They went even more mainstream with Americana (1998), whose novelty hit “Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)” reached No. 1 in the UK in 1999. Love it or hate it, you’ve heard it.

Singer Dexter Holland was always an unlikely punk star. He had studied molecular biology at USC before the band took off, and in 2017, decades into his music career, he went back and finished his PhD.

Essential ’90s album: Smash (1994)

20. Deftones

Deftones came out of Sacramento in the mid-’90s alongside the nu-metal crowd, but they never really fit in. Chino Moreno could whisper, croon and scream in the same song, and Stephen Carpenter’s crushing guitars left room for beauty and atmosphere.

Adrenaline (1995) built a following the hard way, through constant touring, and Around the Fur (1997), with “My Own Summer (Shove It)” and “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away),” made them one of the most influential heavy bands of the decade. White Pony (2000) went on to win a Grammy for “Elite.”

Tragedy struck in 2008, when bassist Chi Cheng was badly injured in a car accident. He died in 2013. Today, Deftones are as popular as they’ve ever been, with a new generation discovering them online.

Essential ’90s album: Around the Fur (1997)

21. Blink-182

Blink-182 turned pop-punk into a mainstream phenomenon at the end of the decade. After years of touring out of the San Diego area, they added drummer Travis Barker in 1998, and Enema of the State (1999) exploded, selling more than 15 million copies worldwide.

“What’s My Age Again?” came with a video of the band running naked through Los Angeles, and the “All the Small Things” video parodied the boy bands they were competing with on MTV. Underneath the jokes were catchy, surprisingly sincere songs about growing up.

The band has split and reunited more than once, but the classic lineup of Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Barker came back in 2022, and their 2023 album One More Time… debuted at No. 1.

Essential ’90s album: Enema of the State (1999)

22. The Verve

The Verve’s peak was short, but it produced one of the greatest songs of the decade. Built on a sweeping string loop, “Bitter Sweet Symphony” from Urban Hymns (1997) was everywhere, and the album became one of the best-selling records in British history.

There was a catch. The string loop came from an orchestral version of the Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time,” and after a legal fight, the songwriting credit and royalties went to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. Singer Richard Ashcroft finally got his rights back in 2019, when Jagger and Richards signed them over.

The Verve split in 1999, reunited for one more album, Forth, in 2008, then broke up again. But Urban Hymns, with “The Drugs Don’t Work” and “Lucky Man,” holds up as well as anything on this list.

Essential ’90s album: Urban Hymns (1997)

The post Ranked: The 22 Greatest ’90s Rock Bands of All Time (By a Real Musician) appeared first on Metal Shout.

Jon Bon Jovi says he was "appalled" when he saw the original cover. Continue reading…

Enslaved Announce New Studio Album ‘MIÐ’

Progressive trailblazers Enslaved have officially announced their forthcoming studio album, Mið, set for release on October 30 via Nuclear Blast Records. Throughout their 35 year journey, across 17 albums, the Norwegian vanguard have continually redefined the boundaries of progressive black metal, weaving Old Norse histories and sacred traditions into complex modern soundscapes. With their latest offering, Enslaved turn their gaze toward the fundamental concept of the axis: the middle, the origin, and the infinite reach of the present moment.

Alongside this news, the band have unveiled the transcendant new single ‘Solar Will‘, both a paean to a divine spark, and a testament to the album title’s fundamental concept: a centre whose reach is infinite. It’s accompanying video was created by Kolibri Media, long term partners of Enslaved based in Bergen.

Guitarist Ivar Bjørnson stated:

“There have been sun cults as long as Magic Man has been around (at least). The Sun is a nurturing and terrifying parent that can grant as well as obliterate life totally. Such a classic and awe-inspiring object of our worship and myths requires classic and awesome riffs, Bonham-esque drum grooves and blistering melodic flares celebrating its horrific glory. This is what that sounds like to me: “Solar Will”!”

Voicalist / bassist Grutle Kjellson adds:

“Solar Will explores archetypal conflicts, those that manifest in nature, the cosmos, mythology, and, above all, within the human mind. In this instance, the central struggle is expressed through one of the enduring rivalries found in Norse mythology, embodied by two important, though often somewhat overlooked, figures within the pantheon. Readers familiar with the Norse mythological tradition will likely recognize the identities rather instantly, yet I shall refrain from naming them, allowing each reader the opportunity to engage with and decipher the lyrics on their own. After all, perhaps this is one of the essential functions of lyric writing: to invite interpretation and cultivate a sense of wonder? The conclusion, or more precisely, the absence of one, suggests that, for human beings, chaos and dreams are at least as significant as the realities we perceive through our senses. Ultimately, the work advocates not for resolution, but for the acceptance, assimilation, and shaping of these often contradictory forces.”

Mið – Tracklisting

1.  Non-Being
2.  I Am Ice (featuring Johan Sara Jr)
3.  Solar Will
4.  Mountain
5.  Spirit Helper (featuring Kevin Kicking Woman)
6.  Parting
7.  Tales of Trees
8.  I Miðju

Never faltering, Norway’s iconic Enslaved continue to exist as one of the most original and dependable components in our scene’s indestructible backbone. Possessing the reputation as one of the most riveting live acts around, they never fail to offer us talent of the highest calibre, always doing justice to their signature black/progressive sound. Enslaved was formed in 1991 by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson, releasing their first demo Yggdrasill in the summer of 1992, their legendary mini-album Hordanes Land coming out in 1993, and with their debut full-length Vikingligr Veldi arriving in the spring of 1994.

It’s a rare and remarkable feat that 35 years and now 17 albums in, Enslaved’s horizons still continue to expand. Every stage of the Bergen band’s evolution, every new phase entered, has felt like an organic act of discovery and renewal. Their journey has been at once a commitment to a promise that found its embryonic form in the Norwegian black metal scene they emerged from, and a willingness to challenge both orthodoxy and themselves from the off to make that potential manifest.

Enslaved’s new album, Mið, an Old Norse word for ‘centre’, or ‘middle’, marks another departure, and another new beginning. The band have always dealt in states of transition, nor least on the thematically linked, mythology-steeped rites of passage that were 2020’s Utgard and 2023’s Heimdal. What lay beyond, however, was… unexpected.

Mið is an album that sheds light on harmonies and dialogues embedded all around us: between the ways of the past, and how they can bring enlightenment to the present, between small kernels of truth and their ability to project onto the most universal on canvases, and between band members relying on instinct and each other to create a record that galvanises on every possible level.

Enslaved are:
Ivar Bjørnson | guitars 
Grutle Kjellson | vocals, bass
Arve ‘Ice Dale’ Isdal | guitar
Håkon Vinje | keyboards
Iver Sandøy | drums

For all the latest news, reviews, interviews across the heavy metal spectrum follow THE RAZORS’S EDGE on facebook, twitter and instagram.

The post Enslaved Announce New Studio Album ‘MIÐ’ appeared first on The Razor's Edge.

The music industry has changed dramatically since the mid-20th century. Back then, vinyl records, radio play, and record stores were king. Now, it’s all about streaming services like Spotify, viral trends on TikTok, and constant online engagement.

This massive shift means the path to stardom looks completely different. What worked for iconic artists decades ago might fall totally flat in today’s fast-paced, digitally driven market.

This doesn’t take away from their genius or influence, but it’s a reality check on how the modern music machine operates. Here’s a look at 12 legendary figures from the past and why their unique styles might prevent them from achieving mainstream success if they were starting out right now.

1. Bob Dylan

Emerging from the 60s folk scene, Dylan became a voice of a generation with acoustic, politically charged anthems. His genius lies in complex, philosophical lyrics and lengthy narratives. Why he might flop today: Today’s mainstream craves shorter, easily digestible songs for TikTok and streaming playlists, not lengthy, dense folk ballads.

His famously raw, sometimes mumbled vocal style clashes with the polished, often Auto-Tuned sound dominating pop and hip-hop. While his lyrical depth is timeless, the fast-scrolling, visual nature of modern music discovery might bury his message. His historical resistance to playing the mainstream game would clash hard with today’s need for constant social media presence and branding.

2. Frank Zappa

A true original, Zappa blended classical, R&B, doo-wop, and rock into complex, often satirical compositions. Albums like Freak Out! mixed rock structures with wild sound experiments. Why he might flop today: Zappa’s deliberately difficult, genre-mashing music would struggle to find a place on mainstream playlists demanding clear categories. His intricate arrangements and unconventional song structures are the opposite of today’s often formulaic pop hits.

Furthermore, his iconoclastic, often controversial lyrics criticizing society might get him canceled or simply ignored in the polarized social media landscape, failing to gain the traction needed for widespread appeal.

3. Captain Beefheart

Known for his unique blend of experimental rock, avant-garde jazz, and Delta blues, Beefheart was an enigmatic figure demanding total control. His music, while critically acclaimed by some (like Trout Mask Replica), was challenging and achieved little commercial success even in his own time.

Why he might flop today: Beefheart’s highly experimental, unpredictable, and often dissonant music is fundamentally at odds with mainstream tastes favoring catchy melodies and conventional structures. In a world driven by quick hooks for viral content, his eccentric style would likely remain deeply niche, appreciated by a small online cult following perhaps, but nowhere near mainstream recognition.

4. The Velvet Underground

Integrating rock with the avant-garde, The Velvet Underground tackled provocative themes like drug use and urban decay with a cool, nihilistic attitude. Their influential debut album initially flopped commercially. Why they might flop today: Their raw, minimalist, and often abrasive sound (featuring drones and distortion) would likely alienate mainstream listeners accustomed to polished production.

Dark, challenging lyrical themes are also a harder sell for broad appeal compared to relatable pop narratives. While they might find a dedicated following in today’s online alternative scenes, their core style remains too unconventional for widespread, chart-topping success in the current market.

5. Tom Waits

With his distinct gravelly voice and evocative lyrics about society’s underbelly, Waits carved a unique path from folk to incorporating blues, jazz, and experimental sounds. He has a devoted following but hasn’t always chased mainstream commercial success. Why he might flop today: Waits’ instantly recognizable but highly unconventional voice doesn’t align with current mainstream vocal trends.

His songs often feature unusual instrumentation and structures, making them less accessible for listeners used to pop and hip-hop formats. While his storytelling is potent, achieving broad success in a market favoring shorter, easily digestible, and often visually-driven content would be a significant uphill battle.

6. Kate Bush

Kate Bush achieved UK stardom instantly with “Wuthering Heights,” showcasing theatricality, complex arrangements, and a unique vocal style. Her US impact was limited until Stranger Things caused a recent resurgence. Why she might struggle for mainstream dominance today: While her strong visual identity and creativity could thrive on platforms like YouTube and Instagram, potentially sparking viral moments (as seen with Stranger Things), her complex song structures and highly unconventional vocal delivery might still be challenging for sustained, broad mainstream pop radio and playlist dominance compared to artists with more formulaic approaches.

Breaking through initially, especially in the US market dominated by different trends, could be difficult without a lucky break like a sync placement.

7. Leonard Cohen

Starting as a poet, Cohen transitioned to music with deeply introspective, often melancholic songs delivered in his distinctive deep voice. He inspired devotion but never achieved massive commercial success. Why he might flop today: Cohen’s limited vocal range and somber, complex poetic lyrics don’t fit the mold of today’s dynamic pop vocalists or the trend towards simpler, more direct lyrical themes.

His often traditional, folk-based song structures might feel dated compared to contemporary production. While his depth would resonate with a niche audience online, achieving mainstream recognition in a market driven by upbeat tempos, instant gratification, and viral trends would be highly unlikely.

8. Tiny Tim

Famous for his novelty hit “Tiptoe Through the Tulips,” Tiny Tim relied on his ukulele and unique high falsetto/vibrato voice. His act was eccentric, drawing fascination and ridicule. Why he might flop today: His sheer oddity could definitely spark a viral moment on TikTok – the uniqueness is undeniable. However, novelty acts rarely sustain mainstream careers.

His musical style offers little substance beyond the eccentricity, making long-term appeal outside of short-lived internet fame highly improbable. He’d likely be a brief meme, not a lasting artist.

9. Syd Barrett

A founding member of Pink Floyd, Barrett was a key innovator in early psychedelic rock, known for whimsical lyrics and experimental sounds. His career was cut short by mental health struggles. Why he might flop today: Barrett’s highly experimental, often fragmented, and sometimes dissonant musical ideas are far removed from mainstream preferences for polished, coherent song structures. While his unique creativity might attract a cult following within niche online experimental or psychedelic communities, his inconsistency and unconventional approach make mainstream success virtually impossible in today’s market.

10. GG Allin

A punk rocker infamous for his transgressive and violent stage antics, including self-mutilation and attacking audiences. His music was raw, aggressive, and confrontational. Why he might flop today: Allin’s extreme behavior and offensive content would undoubtedly generate massive controversy and notoriety online.

However, this notoriety would almost certainly preclude him from any form of mainstream success. Streaming platforms, labels, venues, and advertisers would likely shun him. While he might find a following in the darkest corners of online subcultures focused on shock value, he represents the antithesis of a commercially viable mainstream artist.

11. Yoko Ono

A multimedia artist known through her marriage to John Lennon, Ono’s musical work is often highly experimental and avant-garde, featuring unconventional vocalizations and soundscapes. Why she might flop today: Her challenging, abstract musical style and vocal performances are geared towards the art world and experimental music fans, not mainstream listeners.

While her name recognition might draw initial clicks, her music itself is unlikely to connect with audiences seeking the pop, rock, or hip-hop sounds that dominate today’s charts. Achieving widespread musical popularity based on her artistic output would be highly improbable.

12. Luciano Pavarotti

A globally renowned operatic tenor, Pavarotti brought opera to millions, selling over 100 million records. His powerful voice and charisma were undeniable. Why he might flop (in pop) today: While his exceptional vocal talent would surely gain attention, particularly on platforms showcasing technical skill (like YouTube or even TikTok), traditional opera remains a niche genre compared to mainstream pop, hip-hop, R&B, and EDM.

Achieving pop stardom in the current market, dominated by vastly different sounds and structures, would be extremely difficult. Crossover collaborations might offer some broader appeal (as he did later in his career), but his primary success would likely remain confined to the classical music world, not the mainstream pop charts.

13. Nick Drake

Drake was a hushed, introspective folk musician whose whisper of a voice and intricate acoustic guitar work went almost entirely unnoticed during his three-album career. He shunned live performance and interviews, and died at 26 having sold only a few thousand records in his lifetime.

Why he might flop today: streaming algorithms reward artists who show up, on stage, on stories, in comment sections, and Drake’s near total refusal to perform or self-promote would starve his music of any real discovery engine. His songs unfold slowly, built on mood rather than hooks, which works against a platform culture trained to skip past anything that doesn’t grab attention in the first few seconds.

His music eventually found an audience decades later through film and commercial licensing, a slow burn that today’s instant, algorithm-driven marketplace has little patience for.

14. Sun Ra

Claiming origins from Saturn and leading a rotating collective called the Arkestra, Sun Ra fused big band swing, free jazz, and cosmic mythology into performances that felt as much like ritual as concert. His catalog runs to hundreds of albums, most of them defiantly uncommercial.

Why he might flop today: his music resists categorization entirely, sliding between chaos and swing within a single track, which makes it nearly impossible for streaming services to slot into a tidy genre or mood playlist. The sprawling, improvisational nature of his work also runs counter to the short, endlessly replayable format that algorithms tend to favor.

His theatrical persona and space age mythology might earn him a curious viral clip here and there, but turning that novelty into sustained listenership in a market built on quick, easily categorized content would be a tall order.

The post 12 Musicians Who Would Totally Flop If They Debuted Today appeared first on Metal Shout.

Norwegian progressive black metal pioneers Enslaved have officially announced their seventeenth studio album, Mið, set for release on 30th October via Nuclear Blast Records. Across a remarkable 35-year journey, the Bergen vanguard have continually expanded the frontiers of heavy music, weaving Norse mythology and esoteric philosophies into intricate modern soundscapes. With Mið – the Old … Continue reading Enslaved announce seventeenth studio album Mið and unleash cosmic new single “Solar Will”

Singers get the spotlight, guitarists get the solos and drummers get the wild stories. Bassists usually get the blame. When a band starts to come apart, the person holding down the low end is often the first one shown the door, or the one who finally snaps.

Some of the bassists below were hazed, frozen out or even erased from their own records. Others gave as good as they got, with lawsuits, side projects and, in one case, a brand-new band named after the song that got him fired. All of them ended up at war with the band they helped build.

Here are 14 legendary bassists who went to war with their own bands, and how each fight ended.

1. Jason Newsted (Metallica)

Replacing Cliff Burton after his death in 1986 was always going to be hard, and Metallica made it harder. The band nicknamed Jason Newsted “Newkid” and hazed him for years, sticking him with expensive bills for meals and drinks. Then his bass all but vanished from the final mix of …And Justice for All (1988), still one of the most argued-about production choices in metal.

Newsted stayed for more than 14 years, through the Black Album and the biggest tours of the band’s career. But when he wanted to release music with his side project Echobrain, James Hetfield pushed back hard. Newsted quit in January 2001, and the fallout is all over the documentary Some Kind of Monster.

How it ended: Better than most on this list. Newsted was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Metallica in 2009, joined them on stage again at their 30th anniversary shows in 2011 and has spoken warmly of his old bandmates since.

2. Roger Waters (Pink Floyd)

Here’s the twist: in Pink Floyd, the bassist was the one the others couldn’t stand. As Roger Waters took creative control in the ’70s, writing the concepts and most of the lyrics for The Dark Side of the Moon, Animals and The Wall, the rest of the band felt pushed aside. During The Wall sessions, keyboardist Richard Wright was forced out at Waters’ insistence and finished the tour as a paid session player.

Waters quit in 1985 and called the band a spent force. When David Gilmour and Nick Mason carried on without him, Waters went to court to stop them using the Pink Floyd name. The fight dragged on until a settlement in late 1987, and Gilmour and Mason kept the name.

How it ended: Badly, and it never really healed. The four played together one last time at Live 8 in 2005. Waters later admitted that suing was a mistake, but he and Gilmour have kept trading shots in the press ever since.

3. Michael Anthony (Van Halen)

Michael Anthony joined Van Halen in 1974, played on every album of the band’s classic run and sang the soaring high harmonies on hits like “Runnin’ with the Devil” and “Jump.” He was also the band’s peacemaker for three decades. None of that made him family.

Eddie Van Halen took it personally when Anthony played with Sammy Hagar during the band’s off years. Anthony came back for the 2004 reunion tour, reportedly on reduced terms, and in 2006 he was replaced by Eddie’s 15-year-old son, Wolfgang. When Van Halen entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, Anthony and Hagar were the only members of the band who showed up.

How it ended: On Anthony’s terms, eventually. He formed Chickenfoot with Hagar in 2008, and since 2024 the two have been packing amphitheaters with a Van Halen-heavy set on their Best of All Worlds tours.

4. Lemmy Kilmister (Hawkwind)

Before Motörhead, Lemmy spent four years playing bass in space-rock band Hawkwind, and he sang lead on their 1972 hit “Silver Machine.” The rest of the band grew tired of his hard living, and in May 1975, it came to a head when he was arrested at the Canadian border. Police thought he was carrying cocaine. It turned out to be amphetamine sulfate, and he was released.

Hawkwind fired him anyway. As Lemmy liked to tell it, he got kicked out for doing the wrong drugs. Back in London, he started a new band and named it after the last song he wrote for Hawkwind: “Motorhead.”

How it ended: With one of the best revenge stories in rock. Motörhead released 22 studio albums, gave the world “Ace of Spades” and became a blueprint for thrash and speed metal. Lemmy led the band until his death in December 2015.

5. David Ellefson (Megadeth)

David Ellefson co-founded Megadeth with Dave Mustaine in 1983 and played on every one of their classic albums, from Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying? to Countdown to Extinction. That didn’t protect him. When Mustaine relaunched the band in 2004, the two fell out over money, and Ellefson filed an $18.5 million lawsuit against his old friend. It was thrown out.

He came back in 2010, and for a while it felt like old times. Then in 2021, a scandal over leaked private videos and messages hit, and Megadeth fired him within weeks. Mustaine even had Ellefson’s bass parts re-recorded for the band’s 2022 album.

How it ended: Coldly. Megadeth released its final album in 2026 without him. Ellefson has said he’d like to be part of the farewell, but Mustaine has said there will be no special invitations for former members.

6. Bob Daisley (Ozzy Osbourne)

Bob Daisley played bass on Ozzy Osbourne’s first two solo albums, Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman, and co-wrote many of the songs, including much of the lyrics. He and drummer Lee Kerslake were let go before Diary even came out, and the album’s credits pictured their replacements instead.

Daisley returned to play on later Ozzy records, but the bad blood boiled over when he and Kerslake sued over royalties and credits. The suit was dismissed. In 2002, Ozzy’s camp reissued both albums with the bass and drum parts re-recorded by Robert Trujillo and Mike Bordin. Fans were furious, and Daisley called the move pathetic.

How it ended: With a small win for history. The original recordings were restored on the 30th anniversary reissues in 2011, so Daisley’s bass is back on the albums he helped write.

7. Jack Bruce (Cream)

Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker were one of the greatest rhythm sections in rock history, and they could not stand each other. Their feud started in the Graham Bond Organisation in the mid-’60s, where, by Bruce’s account, Baker pulled a knife on him and told him he was fired.

Somehow, they ended up in Cream together in 1966, alongside Eric Clapton, who reportedly wasn’t told about the knife. The music was huge, with songs like “Sunshine of Your Love” and “White Room,” but on stage the two kept trying to out-play each other at full volume. Cream lasted barely two years before splitting in 1968.

How it ended: Never quite in peace. Cream reunited for celebrated shows in London and New York in 2005, but the old tension came back and there were no more. Bruce died in 2014 and Baker in 2019.

8. Ron McGovney (Metallica)

Before Metallica were famous, they were living and rehearsing at Ron McGovney’s place. James Hetfield crashed in a house owned by McGovney’s parents, the band practiced there, and McGovney played bass on Metallica’s first demos, including No Life ’til Leather.

He never felt like a full member, though, and the band was already courting Cliff Burton without telling him. The last straw came in late 1982, when Dave Mustaine poured beer into McGovney’s bass. McGovney quit and told the band to get out of the house. Burton refused to move to Los Angeles, so within weeks Metallica moved to San Francisco to be with him.

How it ended: Quietly. McGovney walked away from music and has said he never regretted leaving, because he couldn’t have survived that lifestyle.

9. Peter Hook (New Order)

Peter Hook co-founded Joy Division in Manchester in 1976 and, after singer Ian Curtis’s death in 1980, helped turn the surviving members into New Order. His melodic, high-on-the-neck bass lines became the band’s signature on songs like “Ceremony” and “Age of Consent.”

By the 2000s, Hook and singer Bernard Sumner could barely speak to each other. Hook walked out in 2007 and assumed that was the end of New Order. Instead, Sumner and the others reformed the band without him in 2011, and Hook took them to court over royalties and the use of the name.

How it ended: In a 2017 settlement, with no reunion. Hook now tours with his own band, the Light, playing Joy Division and New Order albums in full, so fans get two versions of the same songbook.

10. D’arcy Wretzky (Smashing Pumpkins)

D’arcy Wretzky gave the Smashing Pumpkins a big part of their cool, playing on Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness as the band became one of the biggest of the ’90s. But Billy Corgan has never hidden that the band ran on his vision, and the relationship soured as the decade went on.

She left in 1999 amid personal struggles, and Corgan has since pinned much of the split on her drug use. When the original lineup started talking about a reunion in 2018, Wretzky said she had been offered a place and then left out. The two sides told very different stories about what was ever on the table.

How it ended: Without her. The Pumpkins reunited with James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin in 2018 and kept touring, while Wretzky stayed out of the spotlight.

11. Kim Deal (Pixies)

Kim Deal’s voice and bass lines were all over the Pixies’ best records, and she sang lead on “Gigantic.” Fans loved her, and the more they did, the more frontman Black Francis kept a tight grip on the songwriting. By the early ’90s, the two were barely talking.

In 1993, Francis announced the band’s breakup on BBC radio, and his bandmates reportedly got the news by fax. Deal was already on her way: her other band, the Breeders, had a hit with “Cannonball” that same year, and their album Last Splash went platinum.

How it ended: With a second goodbye. Deal rejoined for the 2004 reunion tours, then quit for good in 2013. She has kept the Breeders going and released her first solo album, Nobody Loves You More, in 2024.

12. Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols)

Glen Matlock was the closest thing the Sex Pistols had to a songwriter. He’s credited on most of the songs on their only studio album and came up with the riff for “Pretty Vacant.” He also clashed constantly with Johnny Rotten, and in early 1977, he was out.

Manager Malcolm McLaren told the press that Matlock had been fired for liking the Beatles. Matlock has always said he quit. Either way, he was replaced by Sid Vicious, who could barely play, and the band fell apart within a year.

How it ended: With Matlock getting the last laugh. He rejoined for the 1996 Filthy Lucre reunion, and since 2024 he has been touring as the Sex Pistols with singer Frank Carter, while Rotten, who lost a 2021 court fight with his old bandmates, sits it out.

13. Dee Dee Ramone (Ramones)

Dee Dee Ramone wrote or co-wrote many of the Ramones’ best-known songs, from “53rd & 3rd” to “Chinese Rock,” and counted off thousands of shows. He was also a lifelong addict whose mood swings made life on the road a constant battle for everyone around him.

By 1989, he’d had enough. He quit after recording Brain Drain and briefly tried to reinvent himself as a rapper called Dee Dee King. The band moved on with C.J. Ramone, but they still needed his songs, and Dee Dee kept writing for them, including “Poison Heart.”

How it ended: Bittersweet. The Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2002, and Dee Dee joked from the podium that he’d like to congratulate himself. He died less than three months later.

14. Tina Weymouth (Talking Heads)

Tina Weymouth’s bass lines carried Talking Heads from CBGB to Stop Making Sense, and she and her husband, drummer Chris Frantz, scored a hit side project with Tom Tom Club. But early on, David Byrne reportedly made her audition again for her own spot in the band, and the tension never really went away.

In December 1991, Byrne told the Los Angeles Times that the band had broken up. According to Frantz, that’s how the couple found out. There was no meeting, no vote and no goodbye.

How it ended: With a thaw, finally. Byrne later admitted he had been “a little tyrant” back then, and in 2023, all four members appeared together for the first time in decades to promote the anniversary re-release of Stop Making Sense.

The post 14 Legendary Bassists Who Went to War With Their Own Bands appeared first on Metal Shout.

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