With an Electronic style that looked to the past with a push to the future, England’s Underworld may be one of the most important Electronic based acts of the 1990’s. They pushed the boundaries of slickly crafted House music and sold albums and impressed critics in the process. Likely, their style of music will not see recognition in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but remember stranger things have happened in Cleveland.

The 1970’s may have been full of Singer/Songwriters but the decade that followed saw that genre dry up quickly. That made the success of Tracy Chapman that much more unlikely. She didn’t exactly have MTV good looks; she sang in a style against her racial stereotype and was not even attempting to be “cool”. Despite all of that, Chapman had a major debut, and though her career cooled off, she did enjoy solid success in the mid 90’s. Two big hits may not necessarily make a Hall of Fame career, but her uniqueness may grant her a look that she may not have received otherwise.

There are a million paragraphs that we could write about Nirvana, on top of the million that have already been written. Here is what we will say to keep this as simple as possible: Whether you loved Nirvana, or whether you though they were overrated, the fact is that this is the band that changed the musical landscape.

With the music world looking for Alternative superstars, the table was set for the Offspring’s brand of Punk, Pop, and Metal to be a hit. They came across like overnight sensations (they weren’t) and their 1994 album, Smash, remains the best-selling independent album in history. They would become known for their sarcastic and fun lyrics and always rooted their themes that were easily identifiable. This made them very accessible for a band that was still labeled as Alternative. The question that the Hall of Fame voters will pose is was this band “serious” enough for them to be included.