1990: "You Can't Bring Me Down", Suicidal Tendencies

An important precursor(*) to later emo tropes in the metal genre, Suicidal Tendencies had been preaching to disaffected youth since their self titled debut - in more of a hardcore punk vein - in 1983, but by 1990 thrash had long since become the dominant strain in their crossover sound. Probably more than any other thrash band signed to a major label at the time, 1990's Lights... Camera... Revolution would mark the career apex of Suicidal Tendencies, a confluence of the swelling fan base the band had been building up over the years and a peak in media attention and airplay [1992's Art of Rebellion would achieve a higher Billboard placing than any previous album, but fan response to singles - save perhaps "Asleep at the Wheel" - was fairly tepid and the record was quickly forgotten by all but diehard fans].

To say that 1994's Suicidal for Life was poorly received would be an understatement. Considering the first four proper songs all had the word "fuck" in the title, it's no wonder that critics and aging fans alike considered the album juvenile and one dimensional. Suicidal Tendencies were dropped from Sony/Columbia afterward and have been self-releasing their own records to a dwindling core of die hard fans ever since. In all fairness, singer Mike Muir's recurring back problems have at times made tours few and far between, which has no doubt contributed to the band falling off the casual fan's radar.

(*) "Alone" from this same album would have made a better case for ST as an emo influence in the later genres of nu metal and metalcore, but in all honesty I have a harder time processing the self absorbed alienation in those types of tunes these days than I did when I was 16... so I stuck with one of their more inflammatory numbers, "You Can't Bring Me Down", even if the knee jerk defiance in this song isn't much more mature. Either way, the band were pretty gifted at incorporating compelling melody into their material, and Rocky George was always one of the more interesting lead guitar players in the genre.