United States Metal & Hard Rock Albums of the 1990s - Page 2

Diabolus in Musica builds an oppressive heaviness from low, heavy guitar, hard-carved rhythm and cutting vocals.

Twilight in Olympus joins classical harmony, intricate rhythm and powerful vocals in Symphony X’s progressive-metal world.

System of a Down's debut album, out on 30 June 1998: thirteen songs produced by Rick Rubin with the band, including the singles Sugar and Spiders.

Van Halen III brings a new voice into the band and reaches toward wider song forms and longer developments than the group’s usual template.

Tangerine retains Vixen’s melodic sense while moving toward drier guitar textures and a more alternative-leaning atmosphere.

Nine Lives reconnects Aerosmith with thick riffs, loose-moving rhythm and Steven Tyler’s unruly vocal presence.

David Lee Roth's 1997 Rhino compilation: nineteen songs from his five Warner releases of 1985 to 1994, opened by the new "Don't Piss Me Off".

Shadowlife moves Dokken away from glossy melodic hard rock toward lower-feeling guitar and a heavier atmosphere.

Falling into Infinity finds Dream Theater tightening its long-form construction and trying to place technique and melody inside more compact songs.

A Pleasant Shade of Gray follows one extended composition through anxiety, isolation and quiet release.

The debut album on Victory Records: fourteen songs in about thirty minutes, and a landmark of Connecticut and New York hardcore.

Dominion combines heavy guitar and dramatic melody with restrained classical color.

Carnival of Souls: The Final Sessions moves KISS away from celebratory rock and roll toward dark guitar, sunk rhythm and more introspective vocal mood.

The More Things Change... intensifies Machine Head’s heavy riffs, rough shouts and twisted groove.

Cryptic Writings retains Megadeth’s thrash-rooted tension while moving toward cleaner construction and more immediate choruses.

Reload deepens Metallica’s late-1990s rock approach through thick, rolling riffs, low-slung groove and rough vocal delivery.

Millenium’s debut centers on Ralph Santolla’s expressive guitar and Todd Plant’s strong vocal, joining AOR polish to melodic-metal heat.

Generation Swine reunites Mötley Crüe with Vince Neil but refuses a simple return to the glam-metal formula.

Neverland carefully rebuilds Night Ranger’s strengths: open melody, twin-guitar color and expansive chorus.

Overkill's ninth album, released in September 1997: the first mixed by Colin Richardson, heavier and darker, with a nod to the textures of its decade.

Hear in the Now Frontier finds Queensrÿche reducing some of its elaborate progressive construction in favor of drier guitar and more direct songs.

Inishmore combines heroic riffing, singable melody and Celtic color in Riot’s late-period metal.

Marching to Mars places hard-driving rockers beside reflective ballads, bringing Sammy Hagar’s heat and human directness to the front.

Savatage's tenth album, released in September 1997: the tale of an old sailor called Magellan, woven around a real stowaway case and the murder of the journalist Veronica Guerin.

Somber Eyes to the Sky is Shadows Fall’s debut collision of rough riffing, shouted vocals and lyrical guitar.

Revolution retains Slaughter’s high vocal lines and hook sense while moving toward lower, heavier guitar and more varied songwriting.

The Divine Wings of Tragedy unites sharp riffing, classical-flavored keyboards and complex development in Symphony X’s major leap forward.

Demonic keeps some of Testament’s thrash bite but brings lower, slower and heavier pressure to the foreground.

Kill Fuck Die breaks away from W.A.S.P.’s expected glam and traditional-metal contours with mechanical beats, distorted guitar and abrasive language.

Endangered Species brings together thick riffs, blues-rooted guitar and Dave Meniketti’s heated vocal presence.

Dio's 1996 studio album, made with the Strange Highways line-up of Tracy G, Jeff Pilson and Vinny Appice and produced by Ronnie James Dio himself.

Good Acoustics revisits FireHouse’s familiar melodies in acoustic settings and shows how strong the songs remain on their own.

Great White's eighth studio album came out first in Japan, from Victor Entertainment in February 1996, and then on Imago in the US.

Trial by Fire reunites Steve Perry, Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain around the large-scale melody associated with Journey, now delivered with a more mature temperature.

Life Is Peachy collides low, twisting guitar and bass with bouncing rhythm and Jonathan Davis’s urgent voice.

The fifth L.A. Guns studio album, released by CMC International on 29 October 1996 and reaching for an industrial surface across its thirteen songs. The Japanese edition followed on 21 November as BVCP-984.

Curious Goods builds fantasy-tinged progressive rock around dense keyboard layers and Lana Lane’s clear voice.

Marilyn Manson's second album, issued by Nothing and Interscope on 8 October 1996. It is a concept record built over eight months in New Orleans.

True Obsessions centers on Marty Friedman’s singing lead voice and his distinctive use of Eastern and Middle Eastern scale colors.

Load finds Metallica looking for new kinds of weight through thick groove, bluesy riffs and more reflective vocals rather than relying only on thrash speed.

Ministry's sixth album, out on 30 January 1996. It includes a reading of Bob Dylan's Lay Lady Lay.

Hey Man uses Paul Gilbert and Billy Sheehan’s virtuosity in service of the songs, keeping Eric Martin’s melody at the center.

Nevermore's second album, from 1996. It takes its title from Timothy Leary's book of the same name and runs sixty-two minutes, closing with the sixteen-minute "The Learning".

Overkill's eighth album, released in March 1996: their first after leaving Atlantic, with a new guitar pair in Joe Comeau and Sebastian Marino.

The Great Southern Trendkill sharpens Pantera’s destructive groove and forces noise, speed and crushing weight into a single sound world.

Evil Empire binds funk-rooted rhythm, rap’s sharp cadence and Tom Morello’s strange guitar vocabulary even more tightly.

Undisputed Attitude releases Slayer’s love of punk and hardcore at relentless speed.

Sleep's third album: one piece of about an hour, split into six parts, held back for years by a dispute with the band's label.

Soundgarden's fifth album, out on 21 May 1996: sixteen songs the band produced themselves, and a number two on the Billboard 200.

The fourth album: a concept record in two halves, instrumental first and sung second, across eighteen tracks.

Tool's second album, released on vinyl on 17 September and on CD on 1 October 1996: the first with Justin Chancellor, and a No. 2 debut.

Belly to Belly moves Warrant away from 1980s gloss toward lower guitar, muted tone and heavier rhythm.

Stomp 442 keeps Anthrax’s thrash energy but shifts the emphasis toward lower-slung riffs and heavier groove.