4 Superb Rock Songs That Prove the Early 1990s Were More Than Just Grunge

When Nirvana released Nevermind in 1991, they introduced the world to the Seattle Sound. While it wasn’t the first of its kind, the album started the grunge boom that took over the first half of the decade. Songs like “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Come As You Are” dominated rock radio and MTV in the early 1990s. Looking back, it would be easy to believe that the only rock music available at the time came from the Pacific Northwest.

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That wasn’t the case, though. Decades later, many hail grunge as the soundtrack of the era. However, there was plenty of rock music that didn’t come out of Seattle and the surrounding areas. Metal bands that dominated the 1980s were still alive and well, and new bands were forming nearly every day. These killer songs prove that grunge was only one corner of the wide world of 1990s rock.

[RELATED: 4 Near-Perfect But Underrated Rock Albums from the 1990s You Need to Hear]

1. “Mama, I’m Coming Home” by Ozzy Osbourne (1992)

This single from No More Tears might be a power ballad, but its background is about as metal as it gets. Ozzy Osbourne co-penned the song with Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister and guitar wizard Zakk Wylde. It peaked at No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving the Prince of Darkness his only solo top 40 entry on the chart. More importantly, it introduced fans to a more sentimental side of Osbourne they’d never heard before. The song also proved that the rock and roll heroes of previous decades were still rocking in the early 1990s.

2. “Sober” by Tool (1993)

Anyone who watched MTV, VH1, or any other channel that played music videos for rock songs in the early 1990s likely has this song’s video burned into their memory. “Sober” was the lead single from Tool’s debut album, Undertow. It introduced the world to their dark, heavy, and thought-provoking brand of progressive metal.

3. “More Human Than Human” by White Zombie (1995)

Today, many younger fans know Rob Zombie from his solo recording career or the horror films he has directed. However, longtime rock and metal fans remember the early 1990s, when he was fronting White Zombie and making gloriously sleazy songs like this one. “More Human Than Human” was the lead single from the band’s final (and subjectively best) album, Astrocreep: 2000–Songs of Love, Destruction, and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head, and is a highlight of the band’s discography.

4. “Stone the Crow” by Down (1995)

Down is a heavy metal supergroup that originally featured Phil Anselmo (Pantera), Pepper Keenan (Corrosion of Conformity), Jimmy Bower (Eyehategod), and Todd Strange (Crowbar). Most of the tracks from their debut album, NOLA, were heavy and gritty, placing them among some of the best stoner rock and sludge metal tunes of the early 1990s. The second single from the album, “Stone the Crow,” was a little more accessible for fans of more mainstream tunes, but it still packed a heavy groove and some timeless riffs.

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