The music world was expanding in 1991, and it wasn't just Seattle's grunge movement muscling in.
Pop had begun infecting all forms of music. There was country-pop and Christian-pop. R&B went pop with bands like Boyz II Men and Color Me Badd. Even Latin music, all but totally neglected in the U.S. since the invention of radio, went pop -- you remember Gerardo's "Rico Suave"; everyone thought that was his name.
Heavy metal, however, was already popular. It's what you heard when you flipped the channel to MTV (for those born after 1997, MTV used to play music videos) and what you listened to in the back of your car when you skipped out on study hall. But 1991 was the first year heavy metal's output began thinning.
Of course, guitar-wielding rockers are a stubborn bunch and don't go down without a fight. To make up for the lack of quantity, rock's biggest names released some of the most epic, enduring albums of all time. Metallica, Van Halen and Guns N' Roses lead the charge, and now, 20 years later, it's time to see how their work has held up.
Vote below for your favorite guitar album of 1991. And keep in mind, this is a guitar poll, so apologies, but no Gerardo.
“The experience of our work with Jimmy in a vibrant, electric, mystical, and powerful perspective”: Unreleased Jimmy Page/Rich Robinson composition set to feature in upcoming deluxe version of Jimmy Page & the Black Crowes: Live at the Greek
“The king of modern blues getting down and dirty (musically) with a former Van Halen singer”: January 2025 Guitar World Editors’ Picks
