“Kim Thayil is one of the coolest and most inventive guitar players ever… Chris Cornell is definitely in my Mount Rushmore of singers”: Mark Tremonti weighs in on the biggest bands of the ’90s (including Creed)

In the spirit of the Summer of ’99 tour, we asked Mark Tremonti to weigh in on some of the biggest bands of the ’90s. Just for kicks, we threw in a surprise at the end.

Hole

Hole – Celebrity Skin (Official Music Video) – YouTube

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“Great songwriting – great emotional, moody tunes. I like it when somebody puts it all out there and doesn’t hold back, and that was definitely Courtney Love.”

Stone Temple Pilots

Stone Temple Pilots – Vasoline (Official Music Video) [HD] – YouTube

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“Great band. Iconic. Some of the best musicianship to this day. I loved seeing them live. We had our ups and downs with their old frontman back in the day, but they wrote some tremendous albums.”

Soundgarden

Soundgarden – Rusty Cage – YouTube

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“One of my favorite bands of all time. Kim Thayil is one of the coolest and most inventive guitar players ever. He was a huge inspiration to me as a guitarist and songwriter. Chris Cornell is definitely in my Mount Rushmore of singers, no matter the genre. Matt Cameron on the drums was absolutely phenomenal.”

Weezer

Weezer – Buddy Holly (Official Music Video) – YouTube

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“I never bought any Weezer records, but I’ve always appreciated what they did. I think they’re great songwriters, and they definitely had their thing. I remember somebody telling me at the time that Weezer and Veruca Salt had signed two of the biggest record deals for new bands. When I heard Weezer, I was like, ‘I get it. They know how to write a song.’”

Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam – Alive (Official Video) – YouTube

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“Pearl Jam were the biggest band in the world when I was in college. You couldn’t walk anywhere without hearing Ten coming out of every dorm room. It was a very special record. I remember seeing the video for Alive on Headbangers Ball, and it seemed so different. 

“Eddie Vedder’s voice grabbed everybody right out of the gate. The Temple of the Dog record was another special record to me – incredibly emotional and so well-written. Chris Cornell and Eddie Vedder back to back were so good. I must have played Hunger Strike a couple of thousand times.”

Creed

Creed – With Arms Wide Open (Official HD Music Video) – YouTube

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“When I think of Creed, it’s almost like another lifetime. I feel like I was a kid when we first came out. It was such a long time ago when we were doing it, and now all these old videos are popping up of us playing the clubs before our record deal. 

“It’s funny how different things were. We had mosh pits and we were all aggressive; I tried to push the metal thing. It was before With Arms Wide Open kind of tamed down our crowd a little bit.”