Listed here are 10 superb solo tasks by members of beloved ’90s bands.
Whereas the impact of the ’90s on music is a polarizing matter, there isn’t any doubt that the last decade abounded with groundbreaking acts boasting charismatic personalities, of whom audiences by no means tire.
Thus, it comes as a reduction that many such figures have experimented on their very own.
The next function notable examples, although some peaked barely earlier than or after the period in query: Rage Towards the Machine’s Tom Morello, The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan, Weapons N’ Roses’ Slash, System of a Down’s Serj Tankian, Turbonegro’s late Hank von Hell, Foo Fighters’ additionally late Taylor Hawkins and Pantera’s Rex Brown. We should always point out Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals, extra of a group, nevertheless, as effectively.
READ MORE: 10 ’90s Rock Bands That By no means Matched the Hype
Among the finest surprises got here in 2023 when Ville Valo launched Neon Noir, his premier solo album containing the tracks from the EP Gothica Fennica Vol. 1 (2020) and extra. Valo could stand as an icon of the brand new millennium, however he did have a good time the disclosing of HIM’s acclaimed full-length debut in 1997.
In 2024, Slayer’s Kerry King, a conqueror of all epochs, equally dropped his first solo file, From Hell I Rise. Within the realm of utmost metallic, we likewise have Emperor’s Ihsahn, who has opted for a progressive route together with his self-titled band. As well as, let’s give a shout-out to the revered Marko Laiho, who not solely, at occasions, has dealt with all duties in Beherit and has taken the outfit in surprising instructions, however he moreover continues to current ingenious choices beneath different banners.
Jerry Cantrell
One of many best songwriters of our time, Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell wowed listeners together with his first full-length solo effort, Boggy Depot, in 1998.
Cantrell unleashed his newest album, I Need Blood, in, 2024. It encompasses a forged of prime skills, similar to returning friends Robert Trujillo of Metallica, with whom Cantrell has carried out, and Duff McKagan of Weapons N’ Roses. In 2023, Cantrell made a latest look with the previous’s eponymous mission and the 2 of them at the moment are contemplating making a joint file.
Scott Weiland
Described as a wordsmith, chameleon of a stage presence and voice of his technology, the late Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver fame has left behind classics that proceed to resonate with the quantity of his trademark megaphone, in a reproduction of which his ashes now relaxation.
As a one-man enterprise, Weiland additional flaunted his already established means to sort out any problem, whether or not Christmas tunes or a canopy of, let’s say, Radiohead’s “Let Down.” With songs similar to “Lacking Cleveland” and “Footage & Computer systems (I’m Not Superman)” that summon infinite combined feelings, we will hear the story of Weiland’s life unfolding.
In Not Useless & Not for Sale: A Memoir (2011), Weiland mirrored that his solo creations not solely introduced him deep satisfaction, however they have been “additionally a strategy to inform my bandmates, ‘Ciao, so lengthy, buenas noches.’”
Mark Lanegan
Fortuitously, the legacy of Screaming Timber and Queens of the Stone Age’s Mark Lanegan has change into a extra frequent matter of dialogue as a result of twentieth anniversary reissue of the star-studded Bubblegum.
Take heed to a composition such because the heartrending “Capturing Gallery” from Whiskey for the Holy Ghost (1994), an album even praised by Behemoth’s Nergal, after which attempt to declare that Lanegan was something however a useful nationwide treasure. All the identical, when you ask me, I’d simply inform you that the quantity that greatest highlights his energy as an artist is Mad Season’s “Slip Away.”
Learn Lanegan’s genuinely distinctive Sing Backwards and Weep: A Memoir (2020) for extra info, and, no, you received’t be sorry.
Ljungblut
Seigmen have carried out with Crown Prince Haakon, earned a Spellemann / “Norwegian Grammy” and collaborated with the now Grammy-winning producer Sylvia Massy, however exterior of Scandinavia, they’re arguably probably the most underrated gem in different rock.
Their major composer and lyricist, Kim Ljung, is a real genius who based Ljungblut as his solo vessel. Though Ljungblut has change into a bunch, that won’t cease Ljung from going again to the lone-wolf strategy: Ljung dealt with the music for the beautiful 2023 EP Sauda largely by himself. Capturing the importance of the outfit in a number of phrases, Ljung advised Metallic Insider: “Ljungblut is simply the band I’m going to develop previous with.”
For extra Seigmen side-project brilliance, take a look at Sverre Økshoff’s Jared Atmosphere Inc., Zeromancer, and Marius Roth Christensen appearing out his double life as an awarded opera tenor.
Liam Gallagher
Oasis’ reunion has given trigger for pleasure all over the world, however, right this moment, we wish to have a good time Liam Gallagher’s chart-topping solo materials. Liam’s flawlessly balanced earworms completely swimsuit all moods.
Noel Gallagher’s Excessive Flying Birds could technically be a bunch, however we’ll observe our respect for that endeavor as effectively.
Certainly, generally it’s simply more healthy for brothers, and particularly this pair, to spend time aside, although maybe forming a trio with the fatherly Phil Collins would show a pleasant bonding expertise for the Gallaghers.
Chris Cornell
Even after his demise, the Seattle-born Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Audioslave remains to be seen as a “Complete F*cking Godhead.” It is extra proof of his standing crucial than the truth that Johnny Money not solely selected to cowl Soundgarden’s “Rusty Cage,” however he truly received a Grammy for doing so (and, sure, Cornell acquired Grammys as effectively)?! As with all of his endeavors, Cornell discovered a lot success together with his solo adventures, which, at occasions, revealed his versatility.
Cornell established Temple of the Canine, wherein our subsequent choose participated, as a tribute to his roommate, the tragically deceased Mom Love Bone luminary Andrew Wooden. Had he lived, he absolutely would have finally crafted a wonderful one-man file or possibly even a number of.
Eddie Vedder
Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder stays a fan-favorite musician who by no means ceases to impress. Vedder’s first solo album, Into the Wild, was impressed by his work for the like-titled movie, which secured him a Golden Globe for “Assured.” For these questioning, Vedder has contributed to different soundtracks as effectively.
Vedder’s second solo file, Ukulele Songs (2011), actually represents a novel experiment, and Earthling (2022) showcases none apart from Sir Elton John as a visitor.
Joakim Berg
Joakim Berg has earned his place in historical past by fronting the Swedish Music Corridor of Famers Kent, conceived in 1990 earlier than assuming their destined moniker in 1993.
Along with raking in different prestigious awards, Kent, who will lastly be reuniting for live shows in 2025, have garnered 23 of Sweden’s coveted Grammis, together with Berg’s two scores for the lyricist of the 12 months in addition to his win for the perfect composer. Berg acquired yet one more Grammi for producing Lisa Miskovsky’s Fallingwater (2003).
Evidently, Joakim Berg’s solo artwork is impossibly catchy excellence that ought to positively overtake radio stations in each nation.
Sebastian Bach
Strictly rhetorical query: Has a extra delightfully vibrant character than ex-Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach ever existed?! Bach has charmed audiences in every single place from Broadway to these tuning into Gilmore Ladies, confirming that his voice and smile of gold might actually conquer any stage.
Many esteemed musicians have handed via the ranks of Bach’s backing band and his son Paris at the moment offers drums.
Curiously, Bach linked with Skid Row as a result of Bon Jovi’s dad and mom determined that he can be a very good match for the collective after witnessing a efficiency he gave at a marriage with two different greats, who’ve likewise spawned profitable solo efforts — the Ozzy Osbourne and Black Label Society hero Zakk Wylde and Quiet Riot’s Kevin DuBrow.
Nattefrost
Because the earlier choose, the immortal Nattefrost of Carpathian Forest demonstrates that the ’90s supplied a lot greater than grunge and alt-rock — they have been additionally about “Black Shining Leather-based” and a special type of soiled. Certainly, this really Norwegian tyrant, the progenitor of extremely inventive excrement similar to “Nattefrost Takes a Piss” from Blood & Vomit (2004), is a remarkably filthy boy with solo content material that appears to quantity to booze, medicine and violence compressed into sonic-orgasm type.
Though it has been an entire 15 years since we have been first floored by Nattefrost’s most up-to-date title together with his eponymous enterprise, Engangsgrill, a cut up with Fenriz’ Pink Planet, he has promised followers a model new scorcher.
Sure, Carpathian Forest’s full-length debut could have premiered behind these of different distinguished Norwegian black metallic bands in 1998, however they, nonetheless, nonetheless equate to some of the necessary excessive voices of the last decade of honor, enormously serving to outline the darkest style of all of them.
