While the days of grunge and ’90s rock may have passed, the bands that pioneered the trends have not. People often wonder where those bands from the ’90s went; the truth is they did not go anywhere.
Bands like Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Weezer are all still releasing albums to this day.
In Weezer’s case, even quicker than they released albums in the ’90s. Can these more recent endeavors hold up to the classic albums cherished by the majority of the band’s fans?
Typically the answer is no. The early albums released by these bands are held in such high esteem that their recent works can almost never compete. Take Weezer’s “Pinkerton” album for example. Recently Weezer released two albums at the same time: “Death to False Metal” and “Pinkerton: Deluxe Edition,” a re-release of 1996’s “Pinkerton” album including unreleased tracks and live performances.
Pitchfork Media gave the “Pinkerton” re-release a rating of 10/10 while simultaneously giving “Death to False Metal” a 3.5/10.
Most of the bands’ fans detest the fact that they have “sold out” or turned their music more mainstream in order to get more listeners.
They often feel betrayed that the band would create a packaged product and abandon the style that the fans cherish so much. In fact, it is a very rare case when bands do not tailor their music to be more mainstream.
One ’90s band that has not consistently had the complaint of selling out is England’s Radiohead. In fact, “In Rainbows” (2007) received much praise like the 1993 release of “Pablo Honey”. Such consistent quality is rare to see in a band and Radiohead has been praised by critics over the years.
Whether or not they are as big as they used to be, make no mistake; ’90s rock bands are still very much alive. If you love ’90s rock then, despite what is popular today, good music is still out there.
