There have been a lot of decades with great music, with different fads and trends coming and going. Some have stayed and aged well, and some have not. However, there is one decade that stands above the rest for me and it’s the ’90s.

The ’90s was a great decade for art in general, but especially for music. A lot of great bands and artists established in the ’90s still perform live and make new music to this day, while getting huge streaming numbers. This decade was incredibly influential to almost every genre in the industry.

This decade is known most for the popularity wave of rock music, more specifically grunge. Bands like Nirvana revolutionized the genre and made it fresh again, with their influence still in the industry. Especially with Nirvana, they are still one of the most popular bands of all time, despite having a limited discography due to Kurt Cobain’s tragic passing.

Other bands starting up took what Nirvana started and put their unique spin on it, creating a whole new genre of music: grunge. This genre of music was only really popular during the ’90s and died off during the 2000s. However, despite the small timespan, it will always be one of my favorite genres ever.

Some of my other favorite grunge bands are Alice in Chains and Soundgarden. This is a genre of music that will always hold a special place in my heart. My family is definitely a big influence on why I started listening to the genre, getting me into bands like Pearl Jam. Grunge was my little safe space, something I could return to whenever I wanted, and it really got me into discovering other genres and broadening my tastes.

While grunge was the most popular genre in the ’90s, other bands flourished during this time. Some of my favorites during this time are Nine Inch Nails, Deftones and TOOL. The music that these three bands made during the ’90s are just so unique that I can’t help but love everything they did during this time. That’s what I love about the ’90s so much, it doesn’t sound like any other decade of music, and it’s really special to me for that.

If you’re someone that hasn’t really given the ’90s a chance, I ask you to give it that chance. Even if you’re not into the same kind of music I am, the ’90s had something for everyone, and it’s super unique.