The 1990s
During this decade, rock music reached its peak in the island. Rock en Español fully reached the island, and artists like Miguel Mateos, Charly García, Soda Stereo, Hombres G Robi Draco Rosa and others were heard in radio stations. Mattador released the first instance of their album Save Us From Ourselves with guitarist Ramón Ortiz, who would later go on to play with Puya. The band even opened the Iron Maiden concert at the island. On January 4, 1990, John Rodriguez aka. MetalKid, a radio personality launched the first radio program to cater only Puerto Rican artists at La Mega Station 106 FM along with Edgardo "El Bebo" Adames; giving the opportunity to dozens of acts play their music on the radio. Later that year MetalKid created Brutal Noise Music, the first record label to include metal music on their roster. Bands like Crypta, Homicide, Morbid Death, Deathkross and the Christian act Deathless among others were the first metal releases to be available under Brutal Noise. Brutal Noise joined forces with local promoter Albert Morales from ShowNet and produced concerts like Iron Maiden, Pantera, Sepultura, Slayer making the way to promote local acts on their shows. Until today this tradition still alive. In 1994, former Menudo singer Robi Rosa released his first solo album, and Mattador re-released their album, this time with Tito Rodríguez (now with Sol D'Menta) as guitarist. La Secta Allstar is the most commercially successful rock band in Puerto Rico, selling over 250,000 copies from their last album Consejo and reaching platinum. Since their debut in Puerto Rican charts in 1998.
This decade sparked the biggest spurt of local bands. Some of the most popular were:
- Advertencia (Hardcore)
- Act of Misery
- Alarma (band)
- Algarete
- Andante
- Antarctica
- Arnold Layne
- Aylk
- Bajo Presión
- BleAch (Covers band)
- Bartolo and the Nightbreakers
- Burning Face
- Club Soda (covers)
- Cojoba
- Crypta
- Cuentas Claras (Manolo Mongil)
- Clear Convictions
- D-Cent Jerks
- Deathless
- Descojon Urbano
- El Manjar De Los Dioses
- Excel
- FEEDBACK (covers)
- Fiel a la Vega
- Feka
- Flor de Metal
- Fobia Estatal
- Godless
- Golpe d' Stado
- Golpe justo
- Gran Jefe
- Hijos De Cain
- Icaro Azul
- Illusion
- Inner Dream
- K`pá Prieto
- Kabezudos de Villabajo
- Kampo Viejo
- La Experiencia de Toñito Cabanilla$$$
- La Mancha del Jardin
- La Secta Allstar
- Lopodrido
- Los Gabetes Sueltos
- Los Guacamayos
- Los Inconformes
- Los Naborias
- Magallanes
- Materia Prima
- Mosebrios
- Marka Registrada
- Mary Jane
- Mentes Contrarias
- Mythos (Mythc*s)
- Needfull Things
- Nonpoint Factor Know later as Nonpoint
- Organic Infest
- One on One (Oldies & Rock n' Roll band)
- Pacto De Sangre
- Peor es Nada
- Perpetual
- Perro Enfermo
- Pies Negros
- Porfolio After touring the local club scene, they released their debut album, Hablen Ya, in 1998.
- Presagio / Mad Hatter (CoverBand)
- Proyecto a partir de 1998 Melisa & Madre Tierra
- Puya
- Puerto Raíces
- Quejidos del Seol
- Radio Pirata
- Rainfall (Covers band)
- Sin Remedio
- Skadirt
- Skalamusa
- Skapulario
- Skalón Roto
- Sloppy Joe (Covers band)
- Sol D'Menta
- Still Heaven (Opened the Encuentro Cumbre de Rock en Español Concert in 1990 for Charly García, Hombres G, La Unión, Roupa Nova)
- Tá
- Taba Co.
- Tequila Sobrio
- Terranova
- Tierra De Nadie
- Tinieblas
- Tio Pepe (Covers Band)
- Tren Urbano
- TRIHEXA
- Undamaged
- Vivanativa
- Warfare
- Wings Of Death
These bands started to enjoy great success presenting to huge crowds at their concerts. Sol D'Menta was even signed to an international label, being the first heavy band to sign with a multinational label (Polygram). Later in 2003, they received an ASCAP award "Best Independent Rock Band". In 1996, Fiel A La Vega released its eponymous debut album reaching gold status becoming a phenomenon in the island due to their acceptance. Their success forced the local media to open more space for the rock scene in the island. The band continued their success with another gold album with their second album, and selling out four shows at the Centro de Bellas Artes, and later selling out the Roberto Clemente Coliseum. Other bands like Puya and La Secta Allstar have reached similar success.
Read more about this topic: Puerto Rican Rock Music