Born William Earl Collins on October 26, 1951, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Bootsy Collins was fronting his own band with his brother Catfish when James Brown's backing group walked out over a pay dispute in 1970. The band stepped in as the new J.B.'s, and over eleven months Collins laid down the thunderous, downbeat driven bass lines on "Sex Machine," "Super Bad," and "Soul Power" that reshaped funk itself. He soon left for George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic, forming Bootsy's Rubber Band in 1976 and building a cosmic alter ego around his star shaped glasses and custom Space Bass, scoring a number one R&B hit with "Bootzilla." His slap and pop style echoes through Flea, Deee-Lite's "Groove Is in the Heart," and his own Grammy winning vocal turn on Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice." Parliament-Funkadelic entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

On October 26, 1992, German thrash titans Kreator released Renewal, their sixth studio album and the most radical left turn of their career. Recorded at Morrisound Studios in Tampa, Florida, the record folded industrial textures into Mille Petrozza's trademark snarl and Frank Gosdzik's riffing, a jarring departure from the pure speed of Pleasure to Kill and Coma of Souls that split fans right down the middle. The track "Karmic Wheel" even sampled audio from the infamous 1987 on air suicide of politician R. Budd Dwyer, underscoring how far the band was willing to push beyond thrash orthodoxy. It also marked the final appearance of original bassist Rob Fioretti, closing out the classic lineup era. Though Renewal divided critics at the time, it's since been reassessed as a bold, ahead of its curve experiment. Produced by Tom Morris and Kreator.

On October 26, 1999, Dream Theater released Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory, their first concept album and a direct sequel to "Metropolis Pt. 1" from 1992's Images and Words. The story follows a man named Nicholas who uncovers a past life as Victoria Page, a woman whose murder was tangled in love, jealousy, and betrayal, a narrative inspired by the film Dead Again. It was the first album to feature keyboardist Jordan Rudess, whose intricate playing alongside John Petrucci's guitar work and Mike Portnoy's drumming pushed the band's progressive metal ambitions to new heights across the album's sprawling, interlocking songs. Rock Hard gave it a perfect score, and a 2012 Rolling Stone readers poll voted it the greatest progressive rock album of all time. Produced by John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy.