The Ultimate ’90s Collection is a 132-page celebration of the decade that changed the world. This collection of features and interviews from the pages of Classic Rock and Metal Hammer chats 10 electrifying years, from the rise of grunge superstars Nirvana and Peral Jam to the earth-shattering success of Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against The Machine and more.
Classic Rock Special: Ultimate 90s Collection
Editorial
1990 • At the start of the decade, arena rock and hair metal still ruled all. But in the far reaches of the Pacific Northwest, something was stirring.
LOOKING IN THE REAR-VIEW MIRROR • On October 22, 1990, a new group from Seattle called Mookie Blaylock rose out of the ashes of tragedy to play their very first gig. Within months they’d changed their name to Pearl Jam and embarked on a journey that saw them become one of the most famous bands of the decade.
Jane’s Addiction Been Caught Stealing • How a song that started with the accidental sound of a barking dog turned LA’s weirdest band into the godfathers of alternative rock.
1991 • It was the year of blockbuster albums from Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and a little-known trio from Seattle called Nirvana.
BACK IN BLACK • It was the record that transformed Metallica from the world’s most uncompromising metal band into the very biggest. The band members look back on the fraught but triumphant sessions that produced the Black Album. Asking the million-dollar questions: Jon Hotten.
METALLICA METALLICA • Making it nearly destroyed them, but it turned them into global superstars.
COME AS YOU ARE • Nirvana’s Nevermind album toppled Guns N’ Roses’ Use Your Illusion II from the top of the US chart. We look back at the album that simultaneously introduced 90s grunge and sounded the death knell for 80s ‘hair metal’.
“WHAT WE’VE GOT HERE IS A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE…” • Drugs, rifts, hirings, firings, general chaos and the sound of a band falling apart. Slash, Duff McKagan, Steven Adler and more tell the story of GN’R’s Use Your Illusion.
BE MY GUEST • Use Your Illusion’s high-profile guests on joining GN’R
JUST AN ILLUSION • We polled our critics to deem the perfect tracklist had UYI been a single record.
1992 • The oily rag had been lit and the Molotov Cocktails thrown – this was the year when rock truly found its revolutionary spirit.
“we were a f**king livewire” • IN 1992, FOUR RAP-METAL REVOLUTIONARIES RELEASED AN ALBUM THAT WOULD CHANGE HEAVY MUSIC FOREVER. WE TALK TO RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE ABOUT THE DEBUT THAT SPARKED A REVOLUTION
WHIPPING BOYS • From the release of their debut album, Core, onwards, Stone Temple Pilots were pilloried like no other band before or since. Even though they became one of the great groups of the 90s, the wounds from those attacks never fully healed.
“PEOPLE STILL WANT TO HEAR THESE SONGS” • Hpw Stone Temple Pilots rose from the ashes of tragedy once more.
1993 • Grunge’s new superstars were already becoming jaded with fame, but a legion of bands were waiting to take their place.
THE BIRTH OF TOOL • When Tool formed and descended onto an unsuspecting Hollywood in 1993, alternative music was about to be dragged into a whole new world of possibilities.
Greetings From S#*tsville! • It was 1993 and grunge was running rampant across the world. But in the UK a bunch of dysfunctional no-hopers were staging a one-band fightback. This is how The Wildhearts made their masterpiece debut…
THE FULL UNCENSORED STORY OF METAL’S MOST ICONIC BAND • Exclusive interviews with all the key band members, the inside story of their landmark albums, and access-all-areas reports from classic live shows – the complete, maggot-friendly history of...