Need some good ol’ 1990s rock songs that will give you chills? These three songs are my top picks, and they might just have you feeling emotional, too.
“Black” by Pearl Jam from ‘Ten’ (1991)
The studio album version of this song is chilling, but nothing tops the live performances of “Black” that Pearl Jam often gave. Eddie Vedder was a master of on-stage emotional vulnerability in his vocals. He’s still the master today, honestly.
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“Black” was quite a hit when it was released in 1993. It peaked at No. 3 on the Mainstream Rock chart in the US and No. 20 on the Alternative Airplay chart.
“Fake Plastic Trees” by Radiohead from ‘The Bends’ (1995)
This one still gets me all the time, to be honest. Thom Yorke has always been quite good at singing in a way that is full of yearning and mourning all at once. “Fake Plastic Trees” is a notably quiet song on The Bend and is rich with melancholy, which bursts into the song’s emotional climax.
The third single from the above-mentioned record, “Fake Plastic Trees” did quite well on the international charts in 1995. It reached No. 20 on the UK Singles chart and No. 11 on the Alternative Airplay chart in the US. It also charted well in Canada, New Zealand, and Scotland.
“Streets Of Philadelphia” by Bruce Springsteen from ‘Philadelphia Official Soundtrack’ (1994)
This Springsteen classic is quiet and very moving, and it’s the kind of song you’ll only get if you’ve ever experienced true loneliness. Considering this song was written for the film Philadelphia, which dealt with the HIV/AIDS crisis, “Streets Of Philadelphia” takes on a much more existential and heartbreaking tone.
This entry on our list of rock songs from the 1990s that give listeners chills was a smash hit when it first dropped. The soft rock song reached No. 1 in countless countries. It peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on the UK Singles chart. The track also earned a whopping four Grammy Awards and an Oscar for Best Original Song. I’d say this is one of the Boss’s best tracks from his later career.
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