This nostalgic list highlights three 1990s rock ballads the writer would like to hear again when they were newly released: Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”, Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” and Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters”. It argues that each track remains popular but has lost some of the impact created by hearing it for the first time within its original cultural moment.

The article describes Aerosmith’s song as a major mainstream hit defined by its dramatic strings and melodrama, while presenting “Iris” as an enduring late-1990s example of a grungier rock sound. Metallica’s 1991 ballad is characterised as an unusually influential blend of metal and pop that helped broaden the band’s appeal and still feels difficult to replicate.