Rock Songs of the 1990s

I’m a 90s brat. And so, at the ripe age of 29, I’m still yearning for the kind of music that I’m used to listening to.

Almost every day during my younger years, I was always tuned in to NU 107.5 and the now defunct (and legendary) LA ROCK 105.9 (with hosts The Ghost, The Doctor, and DJ Carrrrlos! and of course there was the sultry Cool Carla! or is it Kool Karla? and is it true that she’s the vocalist of Mariyah’s Mistress?). I stopped listening to rock only when I got married and became a full time dad during the final days of 1999. I did return listening to rock music somehow sometime during the early part of this century (even playing on stage and winning in a battle of the bands contest), but during that time I really lost interest.

During my youth, I was addicted to rock music. I even had this foolish idea of one day becoming a rock star (I know many rock fans will be offended by the word “foolish”). ¡Sobrang headbanging action ang pinág-gágagaua co noón sa cuarto có habang nagpápatugtog! ¡Hangáng sa dulo ng street namin (Gold Street)sa Camella Homes Parañaque III, riníg ang iñgay co, jejeje!

Today, my position regarding rock music has changed. After reading Catholic writings and the book Dancing With Demons: The Music’s Real Master (by Jeff Godwin) about rock music, I suddenly had a dislike for it. But the problem is, I grew up listening to it. To put it more bluntly, I miss it. Just as our lolos and  lolas miss the music of The Platters, Elvis Prestley, Tom Jones, and the like, that’s how I feel whenever I hear music that I used to listen to when I was in elementary, high school, and college. E yung erpats co, fan pa ng Survivor (of the Eye of the Tiger shame, or fame, whichever way you’d put it).

And so one day, an office mate who’s another 90s brat was listening to 90s rock music over at yahoo.com’s LAUNCHcast in the office (accidente casing nasira yung firewall ng oficina namin iláng buan ang nacalipas cayá nacapág-internet camí noón, ¡hehehe!). We both reminisced the fun and carefree days of our youth when 90s rock songs were at its zenith: Rage Against the Machine, Metallica, Nirvana and the Grunge Bands, Guns N’ Roses with their iconic November Rain, Pinoy alternative and college garage bands like Dead Nails, Dead Ends, Half-Life Half-Death, and Zexa, Marikina’s death metal rockers (Rumblebelly, Kabaong Ni Kamatayan, etc.), The Eraserheads and Rivermaya, “Laklak” by Teeth (which in one way or another became a national anthem!), “Multó sa Paniñguín”, Top 40 t-shirts, ToneDef Records, Hip-Hop vs. Metal, etc. He then told me “tumátanda na tayo, ¿no?” (we’re getting old, right?). That was a scary thought. But he’s right because I don’t appreciate Callalily, Orange and Lemons, Urbandub, nor their foreign counterparts the way I appreciated their predecessors of the previous decade. I sorely miss the 90s, dear reader.

And so, with the discovery of MP3 (I’m not really familiar with modern music technology, so pardon me [by Incubus?]) I had this wonderful idea of collecting all my favorite and popular rock songs of the 90s, categorized by the year they were released or became popular. Here’s the list:

1990 (10)
Enjoy The Silence — DEPECHE MODE
Cowboys From Hell — PANTERA
Nothing Compares 2 U — SINÉAD O’CONNOR
Blaze of Glory — BON JOVI
Civil War — GUNS N’ ROSES
Cemetery Gates — PANTERA
Cradle of Love — BILLY IDOL
Holy Wars… The Punishment Due — MEGADETH
Kool Thing — SONIC YOUTH
I Remember You — SKID ROW

 

1991 (20)
Smells Like Teen Spirit — NIRVANA
Live and Let Die — GUNS N’ ROSES
(Everything I Do) I Do It for You — BRYAN ADAMS
Black or White — MICHAEL JACKSON
Stars — SIMPLY RED
More Than Words — EXTREME
Wind of Change — SCORPIONS
All I Want — TOAD THE WET SPROCKET
Man In The Box — ALICE IN CHAINS
Hunger Strike — TEMPLE OF THE DOG
Jerry Was a Race Car Driver – PRIMUS
Alive — PEARL JAM
Give It Away — RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door — GUNS N’ ROSES
Polly — NIRVANA
Enter Sandman — METALLICA
14 Years — GUNS N’ ROSES
Losing My Religion — R.E.M.
The Unforgiven — METALLICA
Estranged — GUNS N’ ROSES

 

1992 (20)
No Rain — BLIND MELON
Tears In Heaven — ERIC CLAPTON
Sad But True — METALLICA
Nothing Else Matters — METALLICA
Killing In The Name — RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
Walk on the Ocean — TOAD THE WET SPROCKET
Achy Breaky Heart  — BILLY RAY CYRUS
To Be With You — MR. BIG
Come As You Are — NIRVANA
Under The Bridge — RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
November Rain — GUNS N’ ROSES
Jeremy — PEARL JAM
Be Quick or Be Dead — IRON MAIDEN
It’s a Shame about Ray — THE LEMONHEADS
Wherever I May Roam — METALLICA
Yesterdays — GUNS N’ ROSES
Creep — RADIOHEAD
In Bloom — NIRVANA
Lithium — NIRVANA
One — DIE KRUPPS

 

1993 (40)
Hope of Deliverance — PAUL McCARTNEY
Come Undone — DURAN DURAN
Cat’s In The Cradle — UGLY KID JOE
Two Princes — SPIN DOCTORS
Two Steps Behind — DEF LEPPARD
What’s Up? — 4 NON BLONDES
Runaway Train — SOUL ASYLUM
Insane In The Brain — CYPRESS HILL
Bed of Roses –BON JOVI
Dreams — THE CRANBERRIES
Linger — THE CRANBERRIES
Daughter — PEARL JAM
Plush — STONE TEMPLE PILOTS
Since I Don’t Have You — GUNS N’ ROSES
Shine — COLLECTIVE SOUL
She Don’t Use Jelly — THE FLAMING LIPS
Cannonball — THE BREEDERS
I Hate Myself and Want to Die — NIRVANA
Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun — ANTHRAX
99 Ways to Die — MEGADETH
I Got You Babe — CHER with BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD
Serve The Servants — NIRVANA
Scentless Apprentice — NIRVANA
Heart-Shaped Box — NIRVANA
Cryin’ — AEROSMITH
Rape Me — NIRVANA
Milk It — NIRVANA
Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm — CRASH TEST DUMMIES
Hey Jealousy — GIN BLOSSOMS
Loser — BECK
Today — THE SMASHING PUMPKINS
Big Gun — AC/DC
New Rose — GUNS N’ ROSES
In These Arms — BON JOVI
Amazing — AEROSMITH
Are You Gonna My Way — LENNY KRAVITZ
Sexual Healing — SOUL ASYLUM
Shine — COLLECTIVE SOUL
Verse Chorus Verse (Sappy) — NIRVANA
All Apologies — NIRVANA

 

1994 (25)
Five Minutes Alone — PANTERA
Can You Feel The Love Tonight? — ELTON JOHN
Animal — PEARL JAM
Zombie — THE CRANBERRIES
No Excuses –ALICE IN CHAINS
Connection — ELASTICA
Buddy Holly — WEEZER
Far Behind — CANDLEBOX
Black Hole Sun — SOUNDGARDEN
Ode To My Family — THE CRANBERRIES
Tomorrow — SILVERCHAIR
Sabotage — BEASTIE BOYS
Freedom — RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
Train of Consequences — MEGADETH
Liar — ROLLINS BAND
Bullet In The Head (Live) — RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
Come Out and Play — THE OFFSPRING
Addicted To Chaos — MEGADETH
Basket Case — GREEN DAY
Selling The Drama — LIVE
Interstate Love Song — STONE TEMPLE PILOTS
The Man Who Sold The World — NIRVANA
Sympathy for the Devil — GUNS N’ ROSES
Crazy — AEROSMITH
Strong Enough — SHERYL CROW

 

1995 (30)
Universal Heart-Beat — JULIANA HATFIELD
Ghost In You — COUNTING CROWS
Sick of Myself — MATTHEW SWEET
Good — BETTER THAN EZRA
Hey Hey What Can I Do — HOOTIE AND THE BLOWFISH
D’yer Mak’er — SHERYL CROW
Dancing Days — STONE TEMPLE PILOTS
Beggars & Hangers-On — SLASH’S SNAKEPIT
When I Come Around — GREEN DAY
Til I Hear It from You — GIN BLOSSOMS
Hand In My Pocket — ALANIS MORISSETTE
More Human Than Human — WHITE ZOMBIE
Go Go Power Rangers — THE POWER RANGERS ORCHESTRA
I Alone — LIVE
The World I Know — COLLECTIVE SOUL
Only Wanna Be with You — HOOTIE AND THE BLOWFISH
Lightning Crashes — LIVE
December — COLLECTIVE SOUL
Lump — Presidents of the United States of America
Wonderwall — OASIS
Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver — PRIMUS
You Oughta Know — ALANIS MORISSETTE
Warped — RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
Breakin’ Down — SKID ROW
All Mixed Up — 311
It’s Oh So Quiet — BJÖRK
Don’t Look Back in Anger — OASIS
Just A Girl — NO DOUBT
Flood — JARS OF CLAY
Name — GOO GOO DOLLS

 

1996 (40)
Aeroplane — RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
Elegantly Wasted — INXS
Mother Mother — TRACY BONHAM
Santeria — SUBLIME
Glycerine — BUSH
Big Me — FOO FIGHTERS
Counting Blue Cars — DISHWALLA
A Long December — COUNTING CROWS
One Of Us — JOAN OSBORNE
People of the Sun — RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
Champagne Supernova — OASIS
Change The World — ERIC CLAPTON with BABYFACE
Firestarter — THE PRODIGY
1979 — THE SMASHING PUMPKINS
Not An Addict — K’S CHOICE
Don’t Speak — NO DOUBT
Swallowed — BUSH
Lovefool — THE CARDIGANS
Ironic — ALANIS MORISSETTE
Who Will Save Your Soul? — JEWEL
If It Makes You Happy — SHERYL CROW
Greedy Fly — BUSH
Stupid Girl — GARBAGE
Forty-Six & 2 — TOOL
Roots — SEPULTURA
Until It Sleeps — METALLICA
6 Underground — SNEAKER PIMPS
Pink Triangle — WEEZER
Hero of the Day — METALLICA
All I Really Want — ALANIS MORISSETTE
The Beautiful People — MARILYN MANSON
The Horrible People — MARILYN MANSON
Head Over Feet — ALANIS MORISSETTE
Bulls On Parade — RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
Crash Into Me — DAVE MATTHEWS BAND
You Were Meant for Me — JEWEL
Beautiful Ones — SUEDE
Devils Haircut — BECK
I Will Survive — CAKE
Your House — ALANIS MORISSETTE

 

1997 (55)
Oh, Hell Yeah! (Stone Cold Steve Austin, WWF) — H-BLOCKX
Beetlebum — BLUR
Touch, Peel, and Stand — DAYS OF THE NEW
Torn — NATALIE IMBRUGLIA
Lady Picture Show — STONE TEMPLE PILOTS
Monkey Wrench — FOO FIGHTERS
Dammit (Growing Up) — BLINK 182
Sunday Morning — NO DOUBT
Superman’s Dead — OUR LADY PEACE
Block Rockin’ Beats — THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS
Brown Paper Bag — RONI SIZE
Your Woman — WHITE TOWN
Song 2 — BLUR
MMMBop — HANSON
Bitch — MEREDITH BROOKS
Karma Police — RADIOHEAD
Sex and Candy — MARCY PLAYGROUND
Discotheque — U2
Govinda — KULA SHAKER
Clumsy — OUR LADY PEACE
Where Have All The Cowboys Gone? — PAULA COLE
Tubthumping — CHUMBAWAMBA
Bitter Sweet Symphony — THE VERVE
Freak — SILVERCHAIR
One Headlight — THE WALLFLOWERS
The Perfect Drug — NINE INCH NAILS
The Unforgiven II — METALLICA
Foolish Games — JEWEL
House of Bamboo — SOUTHERN CULTURE ON THE SKIDS
The Freshmen — THE VERVE PIPE
Push — MATCHBOX 20
Abuse Me — SILVERCHAIR
Semi-Charmed Life — THIRD EYE BLIND
The Impression That I Get — THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES
Volcano Girls — VERUCA SALT
Superbabe 2000 — SIZE 14
Virtual Insanity — JAMIROQUAI
Stand By Me — OASIS
I Don’t Want to Wait — PAULA COLE
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) — GREEN DAY
(Can’t You) Trip Like I Do — FILTER and THE CRYSTAL METHOD
One Man Army — THE PRODIGY featuring TOM MORELLO
James Bond Theme — MOBY
Du Hast — RAMMSTEIN
Break It Down (D-Generation X, WWF) — THE CHRIS WARREN BAND
No Shelter — RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
Five Candles (You Were There) — JARS OF CLAY
Around The World — DAFT PUNK
Brick — BEN FOLDS FIVE
Zoot Suit Riot — CHERRY POPPIN’ DADDIES
Walkin’ on the Sun — SMASH MOUTH
Why’s Everybody Always Pickin’ On Me? — THE BLOODHOUND GANG
Save Tonight — EAGLE EYE CHERRY
Graduate — THIRD EYE BLIND
Hymn — JARS OF CLAY

 

1998 (35)
It’s All Been Done — BARENAKED LADIES
Shelf In The Room — DAYS OF THE NEW
Save Yourself — STABBING WESTWARD
Stain of Mind — SLAYER
Sunshower — CHRIS CORNELL
Iris — GOO GOO DOLLS
The Way — FASTBALL
Be Strong Now — JAMES IHA
Flagpole Sitta — HARVEY DANGER
I Think I’m Paranoid — GARBAGE
Shimmer — FUEL
Intergalactic — BEASTIE BOYS
Celebrity Skin — HOLE
The Rockafeller Skank — FATBOY SLIM
You Get What You Give — NEW RADICALS
Why Can’t We Be Friends? — SMASH MOUTH
Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) — THE OFFSPRING
I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing — AEROSMITH
Adia — SARAH McLACHLAN
Across The Universe — FIONA APPLE
Ava Adore — THE SMASHING PUMPKINS
Malibu — HOLE
Body Movin’ — BEASTIE BOYS
Bombtrack (Live & Rare) — RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
Frozen — MADONNA
Teardrop — MASSIVE ATTACK
Push It — GARBAGE
Take the Power Back (Live & Rare) — RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
It’s On! — KORN
Jump Around (Live) — LIMP BIZKIT
Faith (Live) — LIMP BIZKIT
Got The Life — KORN
Sugar — SYSTEM OF A DOWN
Whiskey in the Jar — METALLICA
My Own Summer (Shove It) — DEFTONES

 

1999 (30)
Freak on a Leash — KORN
Nookie — LIMP BIZKIT
Bawitdaba — KIDROCK
Voodoo — GODSMACK
My Name Is — EMINEM
No Chance In Hell (Vince McMahon, WWF) — THE CHRIS WARREN BAND
Every You Every Me — PLACEBO
One — CREED
Moonchild — CIBO MATTO
Ana’s Song (Open Fire) — SILVERCHAIR
Someday — SUGAR RAY
My Own Worst Enemy — LIT
The Kings (D-Generation X) — RUN-D.M.C.
You Wanted More — TONIC
Scar Tissue — RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
Animal Instinct — THE CRANBERRIES
Miserable — LIT
Someday We’ll Know — NEW RADICALS
All the Small Things — BLINK 182
Around The World — RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
Guerilla Radio — RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE
Coffee & TV — BLUR
Every Morning — SUGAR RAY
Smooth — SANTANA featuring ROB THOMAS
Burning Down The House — TOM JONES and THE CARDIGANS
Falling Away From Me — KORN
Take A Picture — FILTER
María — BLONDIE
Kiss Me — SIXPENCE NONE THE RICHER
Anthem for the Year 2000 — SILVERCHAIR

Bacá may culang pá, paquidágdagan namán. Caso lang, magpáparecord na acó ngayóng dárating na sueldo e (bacá bucas o sa macalauá). I’ll also make a separate list for Filipino acts.

 

Please take note that not all those songs were played in either LA ROCK or NU, such as Simply Red. Many might not consider Simply Red as a rock band, but actually they sound more rock to me compared to Southern Culture on the Skids which was an NU favorite. Also, some of you might ask what the heck is Elton John and Madonna doing up there. Well, they’re also categorized as rock artists (they had rock songs tucked in their respective discographies), so why exclude them? At sacá ang guinauá co sa listahan na itó, hindí bubutal sa número cinco o diez ang mañgá cantá, at mapápansin nio itó sa dami ng cantá cada año (10, 20, 55, etc).

The year that brings back sweet memories is 1999 because that was when I got entangled in a bittersweet love affair with my girlfriend who is now my loving wife; she’s also a rock music lover. Hearing songs like Sugar Ray’s “Every Morning” and Cibo Matto’s “Moonchild” brings back the days when me and my girlfriend-turned-wife were “rocking” together!

 

If you’ll notice, 1997 had the most number of rock songs. Sobrang rakista acó ng mañgá panahóng iyón. I was around 17 or 18. I was still good at the guitar. If memory serves me correct, that was also the year when I successfully urged my mom to buy me an RJ Stratocaster with a small Rage Amps. But I think 1997 was a sad year because that was a time when LA ROCK 105.9 started to “die.” Subsequently, Atom Henares’ NU 107.5 was left without a rival. But doubtless, LA ROCK 105.9 left such a mark for them and for the local rock scene as well. So don’t you think it’s time for NU 107.5 to give its formal rival a “Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame” Award (lalo nát iláng días na lang, may Rock Awards na namán silá; at hindí na siyá invitational tulad ng dati, ¡ha!)?

 

Nowadays, I know that rock music is bad. But this was the music of my youth. The most I can do is to keep my children from listening and patronizing this music.

 

I remember my former bandmate Leo “Lee The Stalker” Atanoso telling me that “once a rocker, always a rocker.” I’m not even sure if I should be proud about it. In the meantime, gone is that fire of dreaming of becoming a rockstar. And all I can say is “Rock on, 90s!”

 

Bueno, bilang págtatapos ng sáriwaing itó (¿tama ba yung Tagalog có?) magcátuwaan na lang tayo sa pamamaguitan ng isáng survey: ¿anó sa tiñguín ninió ang más astíg dati, LA ROCK 105.9 o NU 107.5?

My golly, I think I really am getting old…