Manila Rock
OPM's band era: from Eraserheads' campus anthems to Ben&Ben's folk-pop empire.
What you're really asking
Manila's band tradition — OPM's rock wing — runs on singalong melody and Taglish wit: music that sounds like a barkada (your crew) at its best hour.
Where it sits
The Eraserheads detonated the nineties: Cutterpillow in 1995 made them the Beatles analogy nobody disputes, and 'Ang Huling El Bimbo' the nation's closing-time hymn. Rivermaya ran parallel with anthem after anthem; Parokya Ni Edgar made comedy a legitimate rock career.
The lineage continues through Ben&Ben's nine-piece folk-pop, streaming juggernauts with campfire hearts.
The scene
Who: the big four of nineties OPM rock and their heirs. What: hook-first rock in Tagalog and English — humor and heartbreak in the same set.
How it works: original nineties pressings (vinyl was rare then — CDs and cassettes ruled) make Filipino pressings genuinely scarce objects; recent represses sell out fast.
The leading records
Eraserheads
Cutterpillow
1995
The peak of Pinoy rock — Ang Huling El Bimbo lives here.
Rivermaya
Rivermaya
1994
The other founding engine — Ulan and 214 started here.
Parokya Ni Edgar
Khangkhungkherrnitz
1996
Comedy rock with genuine bangers — Buloy still hits.
Ben&Ben
Limasawa Street
2019
The streaming era's folk-pop standard-bearers.
Eraserheads
Ultraelectromagneticpop!
1993
Where the campus anthems begin.
Oddballs
Keep digging
- Why did Eraserheads break up?
- What does OPM actually cover?
- Which Filipino pressings exist on vinyl at all?