If Nirvana were the Beatles of grunge, then Pearl Jam were the Rolling Stones.

The band that was originally named Mookie Blaylock, would be the largest beneficiary of the grunge movement, and of the genre easily the most principled.  Perhaps the embodiment of American music for decades, Pearl Jam would become a huge band, but arguably could have been more successful had they “played by the rules”.

The Prodigy were one of the most successful electronic bands of the 1990’s, but there were many who did not necessarily view them as electronic.

Out of Buffalo, New York, Mercury Rev did not exactly come from a musical hot spot, but they are one of those rare American bands that are bigger overseas than they are in their native country.

Considered the pioneers of Stoner Metal, Kyuss developed an earthy type of Metal that had the traditional aggression associated with Metal but with a spaced out feel.  This Alternative form of Metal was unique and gave them critical love and a solid fan base, but it failed to generate any significant album sales.  As unique as they were, it was a difficult band to imitate and it still trying to be sorted out just how influential they really were.  Should members of this band get in, it would be from with Queens of the Stone Age.

As the first Latin Hip Hop group of note, Cypress Hill’s first two albums featured a slowed up groove with pounding basses that could almost be described as a Stoner Groove.  This sound proved to be influential on other Hip Hop artists that followed and their sound was a true alternative to other West Coast rappers.  The problem was that their later effort was substantially weaker almost to point of self-parody.  For Cypress Hill to have a realistic chance for induction, the amount of artists who cite them as influential will have to substantially increase.