Alternative rock

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Alternative (music))
Jump to: navigation, search



By the end of the decade, alternative rock's mainstream prominence declined due to a number of events that caused Grunge and Britpop to fade and led to the hiatus of the Lollapalooza festival. Nevertheless, post-grunge remained commercially viable into the start of the 21st century, with the success of Creed and Matchbox Twenty and Radiohead's critical acclaim, and the success of some post-Britpop groups like Coldplay. Emo attracted attention in the larger alternative rock world, and the term was applied to a variety of artists, including multi-platinum acts. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, several alternative rock bands emerged, including The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, and Interpol, that drew from post-punk and new wave. Post-punk revival artists such as Modest Mouse and The Killers had commercial success in the early and mid 2000s. By 2010, in the United States the term alternative rock fell out of common usage and the term indie rock was used.

Origin of term[edit]

Before the term alternative rock came into common usage around 1990, the sort of music to which it refers was known by a variety of terms.[3] In 1979, Terry Tolkin used the term Alternative Music to describe the groups he was writing about.[4] In 1979 Dallas radio station KZEW had a late night new wave show entitled "Rock and Roll Alternative".[5] "College rock" was used in the United States to describe the music during the 1980s due to its links to the college radio circuit and the tastes of college students.[6] In the United Kingdom, dozens of small do it yourself record labels emerged as a result of the punk subculture. According to the founder of one of these labels, Cherry Red, NME and Sounds magazines published charts based on small record stores called "Alternative Charts". The first national chart based on distribution called the Indie Chart was published in January 1980; it immediately succeeded in its aim to help these labels. At the time, the term indie was used literally to describe independently distributed records.[7] By 1985, indie had come to mean a particular genre, or group of subgenres, rather than simply distribution status.[6]

The use of the term alternative to describe rock music originated around the mid-1980s;[8] at the time, the common music industry terms for cutting-edge music were new music and post modern, respectively indicating freshness and a tendency to re contextualize sounds of the past.[2][9] Individuals who worked as DJs and promoters during the 1980s claim the term originates from American FM radio of the 1970s, which served as a progressive alternative to top 40 radio formats by featuring longer songs and giving DJs more freedom in song selection. According to one former DJ and promoter, "Somehow this term 'alternative' got rediscovered and heisted by college radio people during the 80s who applied it to new post-punk, indie, or underground-whatever music".[10] At first the term referred to intentionally non–mainstream rock acts that were not influenced by "heavy metal ballads, rarefied new wave" and "high-energy dance anthems".[11] Usage of the term would broaden to include new wave, pop, punk rock, post-punk, and occasionally "college"/"indie" rock, all found on the American "commercial alternative" radio stations of the time such as Los Angeles' KROQ-FM. The use of alternative gained further exposure due to the success of Lollapalooza, for which festival founder and Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell coined the term Alternative Nation. In the late 1990s, the definition again became more specific.[2] In 1997, Neil Strauss of The New York Times defined alternative rock as "hard-edged rock distinguished by brittle, '70s-inspired guitar riffing and singers agonizing over their problems until they take on epic proportions".[11]

Defining music as alternative is often difficult because of two conflicting applications of the word. Alternative can describe music that challenges the status quo and that is "fiercely iconoclastic, anticommercial, and antimainstream", but the term is also used in the music industry to denote "the choices available to consumers via record stores, radio, cable television, and the Internet."[12] However alternative music has paradoxically become just as commercial and marketable as the mainstream rock, with record companies using the term "alternative" to market music to an audience that mainstream rock does not reach.[13] Using a broad definition of the genre, Dave Thompson in his book Alternative Rock cites the formation of the Sex Pistols as well as the release of the albums Horses by Patti Smith and Metal Machine Music by Lou Reed as three key events that gave birth to alternative rock.[14] Until recent years when indie rock became the most common term in the US to describe modern pop and rock,[15] the terms "indie rock" and "alternative rock" were often used interchangeably; whilst there are aspects which both genres have in common, indie rock was regarded as a British-based term, unlike the more American alternative rock.[16]




The 1980s[edit]




—Mark Josephson, Executive Director of the New Music Seminar speaking in 1988[22]

Problems playing this file? See media help.

Throughout the 1980s, alternative rock remained mainly an underground phenomenon. While on occasion a song would become a commercial hit or albums would receive critical praise in mainstream publications like Rolling Stone, alternative rock in the 1980s was primarily relegated[by whom?] to independent record labels, fanzines, and college radio stations. Alternative bands built underground followings by touring constantly and by regularly releasing low-budget albums. In the case of the United States, new bands would form in the wake of previous bands, which created an extensive underground circuit in America, filled with different scenes in various parts of the country.[17] Although American alternative artists of the 1980s never generated spectacular album sales, they exerted a considerable influence on later alternative musicians and laid the groundwork for their success.[23] By 1989 the genre had become popular enough that a package tour featuring New Order, Public Image Limited and The Sugarcubes toured the United States arena circuit.[24]


American underground in the 1980s[edit]


American indie record labels SST Records, Twin/Tone Records, Touch and Go Records, and Dischord Records presided over the shift from the hardcore punk that then dominated the American underground scene to the more diverse styles of alternative rock that were emerging.[28] Minneapolis bands Hüsker Dü and The Replacements were indicative of this shift. Both started out as punk rock bands, but soon diversified their sounds and became more melodic.[17] Michael Azerrad asserted that Hüsker Dü was the key link between hardcore punk and the more melodic, diverse music of college rock that emerged. Azerrad wrote, "Hüsker Dü played a huge role in convincing the underground that melody and punk rock weren't antithetical."[29] The band also set an example by being the first group from the American indie scene to sign to a major record label, which helped establish college rock as "a viable commercial enterprise."[30] By focusing on heartfelt songwriting and wordplay instead of political concerns, The Replacements upended a number of underground scene conventions; Azerrad noted that "along with R.E.M. [The Replacements] were one of the few underground bands that mainstream people liked."[31]

By the late 1980s, the American alternative scene was dominated by styles ranging from quirky alternative pop (They Might Be Giants and Camper Van Beethoven), to noise rock (Sonic Youth, Big Black, The Jesus Lizard[32]) and industrial rock (Ministry, Nine Inch Nails). These sounds were in turn followed by the advent of Boston's Pixies and Los Angeles' Jane's Addiction.[17] Around the same time, the grunge subgenre emerged in Seattle, Washington. Grunge was based around a sludgy, murky guitar sound that synthesized heavy metal and punk rock.[33] Largely based around the Seattle indie label Sub Pop, grunge bands were noted for their thrift store fashion which favored flannel shirts and combat boots suited to the local weather.[34] Early grunge bands Soundgarden and Mudhoney found critical acclaim in the U.S. and UK, respectively.[17]

By the end of the decade, a number of alternative bands began to sign to major labels. While early major label signings Hüsker Dü and The Replacements had little success, acts who signed with majors in their wake such as R.E.M. and Jane's Addiction achieved gold and platinum records, setting the stage for alternative's later breakthrough.[35][36] Some bands such as Pixies had massive success overseas while they were ignored domestically.[17]


British genres and trends of the 1980s[edit]


Gothic rock developed out of late-1970s British post-punk. With a reputation as the "darkest and gloomiest form of underground rock", gothic rock utilizes a synthesizer-and-guitar based sound drawn from post-punk to construct "foreboding, sorrowful, often epic soundscapes", and the genre's lyrics often address literary romanticism, morbidity, religious symbolism, and supernatural mysticism.[39] This genre among bands that took inspiration from late-1970s British post-punk groups, Joy Division and Siouxsie and the Banshees.[40] Bauhaus' debut single "Bela Lugosi's Dead", released in 1979, is considered to be the proper beginning of the gothic rock genre.[41] The Cure's "oppressively dispirited" albums Seventeen Seconds (1980), Faith (1981), Pornography (1982) and their opus Disintegration (1989) cemented that group's stature in that style and laid the foundation for its large cult following.[42]


Other forms of alternative rock developed in the UK during the 1980s. The Jesus and Mary Chain's sound combined the Velvet Underground's "melancholy noise" with Beach Boys pop melodies and Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" production,[46][47] while New Order emerged from the demise of post-punk band Joy Division and experimented with techno and house music.[25] The Mary Chain, along with Dinosaur Jr., C86 and the dream pop of Cocteau Twins, were the formative influences for the shoegazing movement of the late 1980s. Named for the band members' tendency to stare at their feet and guitar effects pedals[48] onstage rather than interact with the audience, shoegazing acts like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive created an overwhelmingly loud "wash of sound" that obscured vocals and melodies with long, droning riffs, distortion, and feedback.[49] Shoegazing bands dominated the British music press at the end of the decade along with the Madchester scene. Based around The Haçienda, a nightclub in Manchester owned by New Order and Factory Records, Madchester bands such as Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses mixed acid house dance rhythms with melodic guitar pop.[50]

Popularization in the 1990s[edit]


Problems playing this file? See media help.



Nirvana's surprise success with Nevermind heralded a "new openness to alternative rock" among commercial radio stations, opening doors for heavier alternative bands in particular.[54] In the wake of Nevermind, alternative rock "found itself dragged-kicking and screaming ... into the mainstream" and record companies, confused by the genre's success yet eager to capitalize on it, scrambled to sign bands.[55] The New York Times declared in 1993, "Alternative rock doesn't seem so alternative anymore. Every major label has a handful of guitar-driven bands in shapeless shirts and threadbare jeans, bands with bad posture and good riffs who cultivate the oblique and the evasive, who conceal catchy tunes with noise and hide craftsmanship behind nonchalance."[56] However, many alternative rock artists rejected success, for it conflicted with the rebellious, D.I.Y. ethic the genre had espoused before mainstream exposure and their ideas of artistic authenticity.[57] Grunge made it possible for a niche movement, no matter how radical, to prove its marketability and be co-opted by the mainstream, cementing the formation of an individualist, fragmented culture.[58]

Grunge explosion[edit]

Main article: Grunge

Other grunge bands subsequently replicated Nirvana's success. Pearl Jam had released its debut album Ten a month before Nevermind in 1991, but album sales only picked up a year later.[59] By the second half of 1992 Ten became a breakthrough success, being certified gold and reaching number two on the Billboard 200 album chart.[60] Soundgarden's album Badmotorfinger and Alice in Chains' Dirt, along with the Temple of the Dog album collaboration featuring members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, were also among the 100 top-selling albums of 1992.[61] The popular breakthrough of these grunge bands prompted Rolling Stone to nickname Seattle "the new Liverpool."[34] Major record labels signed most of the prominent grunge bands in Seattle, while a second influx of bands moved to the city in hopes of success.[62]

At the same time, critics asserted that advertising was co-opting elements of grunge and turning it into a fad. Entertainment Weekly commented in a 1993 article, "There hasn't been this kind of exploitation of a subculture since the media discovered hippies in the '60s."[63] The New York Times compared the "grunging of America" to the mass-marketing of punk rock, disco, and hip hop in previous years. As a result of the genre's popularity, a backlash against grunge developed in Seattle.[34] Nirvana's follow-up album In Utero (1993) was an intentionally abrasive album that Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic described as a "wild aggressive sound, a true alternative record."[64] Nevertheless, upon its release in September 1993 In Utero topped the Billboard charts.[65] Pearl Jam also continued to perform well commercially with its second album, Vs. (1993), which topped the Billboard charts by selling a record 950,378 copies in its first week of release.[66]


Main article: Britpop

With the decline of the Madchester scene and the unglamorousness of shoegazing, the tide of grunge from America dominated the British alternative scene and music press in the early 1990s.[25] As a reaction, a flurry of British bands emerged that wished to "get rid of grunge" and "declare war on America", taking the public and native music press by storm.[67] Dubbed "Britpop" by the media, this movement represented by Pulp, Oasis, Suede, and Blur was the British equivalent of the grunge explosion, in that the artists propelled alternative rock to the top of the charts in their home country.[25] Britpop bands were influenced by and displayed reverence for British guitar music of the past, particularly movements and genres such as the British Invasion, glam rock, and punk rock.[68] In 1995 the Britpop phenomenon culminated in a rivalry between its two chief groups, Oasis and Blur, symbolized by their release of competing singles on the same day. Blur won "The Battle of Britpop", but Oasis soon eclipsed the other band in popularity with its second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995),[69] which went on to become the third best-selling album in the UK's history.[70]

Other trends[edit]

Long synonymous with alternative rock as a whole, indie rock became a distinct form following the popular breakthrough of Nirvana. Indie rock was formulated as a rejection of both alternative rock's absorption into the mainstream by artists who could not or refused to cross over, and a wariness of its "macho" aesthetic. While indie rock artists share the punk rock distrust of commercialized music, the genre does not entirely define itself against that, as "the general assumption is that it's virtually impossible to make indie rock's varying musical approaches compatible with mainstream tastes in the first place".[71]

Labels such as Matador Records, Merge Records, and Dischord, and indie rockers like Pavement, Superchunk, Fugazi, and Sleater-Kinney dominated the American indie scene for most of the 1990s.[72] One of the main indie rock movements of the 1990s was lo-fi. The movement, which focused on the recording and distribution of music on low-quality cassette tapes, initially emerged in the 1980s. By 1992, Pavement, Guided by Voices and Sebadoh became popular lo-fi cult acts in the United States, while subsequently artists like Beck and Liz Phair brought the aesthetic to mainstream audiences.[73] The period also saw alternative confessional female singer-songwriters. Besides the previously mentioned Liz Phair, Lynda Thomas, PJ Harvey and the massively successful Alanis Morissette fit into this sub group.[74][75][76]



Post-rock was established by Talk Talk's Laughing Stock and Slint's Spiderland albums, both released in 1991. Post-rock draws influence from a number of genres, including Krautrock, progressive rock, and jazz. The genre subverts or rejects rock conventions, and often incorporates electronic music. While the name of the genre was coined by music journalist Simon Reynolds in 1994, the sound of the genre was solidified by the release of Millions Now Living Will Never Die (1996) by the Chicago group Tortoise. Post-rock became the dominant form of experimental rock music in the 1990s and bands from the genre centered around the Thrill Jockey, Kranky, Drag City, and Too Pure record labels.[79] A related genre, math rock, peaked in the mid-1990s. In comparison to post-rock, math rock is more "rockist" and relies on complex time signatures and intertwining phrases.[80] While by the end of the decade a backlash had emerged against post-rock due to its "dispassionate intellectuality" and its perceived increasing predictability, a new wave of post-rock bands such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Sigur Rós emerged who further expanded the genre.[79]


Decline of popularity[edit]

By the end of the decade, alternative rock's mainstream prominence declined due to a number of events, notably the death of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain in 1994 and Pearl Jam's lawsuit against concert venue promoter Ticketmaster, which in effect barred the group from playing many major venues around the United States.[57] In addition to the decline of grunge bands, Britpop faded as Oasis's third album, Be Here Now (1997), received lackluster reviews and Blur began to incorporate influences from American alternative rock.[83] A signifier of alternative rock's declining popularity was the hiatus of the Lollapalooza festival after an unsuccessful attempt to find a headliner in 1998. In light of the festival's troubles that year, Spin said, "Lollapalooza is as comatose as alternative rock right now".[84]


In the mid-1990s Sunny Day Real Estate defined the "emo" genre for many. Weezer's Pinkerton album was also influential. By 2000 and on into the new decade emo was one of the most popular rock music genres.[37] Popular acts included platinum selling success of Bleed American by Jimmy Eat World (2001) and Dashboard Confessional's The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most (2003).[86] The new emo had a much more mainstream sound than in the 1990s and a far greater appeal amongst adolescents than its earlier incarnations.[86] At the same time, use of the term "emo" expanded beyond the musical genre, becoming associated with fashion, a hairstyle and any music that expressed emotion.[87] The term "emo" has been applied by critics and journalists to a variety of artists, including multi-platinum acts such as Fall Out Boy[88] and My Chemical Romance[89] and disparate groups such as Paramore[88] and Panic! at the Disco,[90] even when they reject the label.

21st century and revival[edit]


By 2010, in the United States the term alternative rock fell out of common usage. Most references to rock music today are to the indie rock genre, a term that had previously limited usage on alternative rock channels and media.[15] While there have been conflicting opinions on the relevance of alternative rock to mainstream audiences beyond 2010,[94][95] Dave Grohl commented on an article from the New York Daily News[96] stating that rock is dead, "... speak for yourself... Rock seems pretty alive to me."[97]

See also[edit]



  1. ^ Allmusic Neo-psychedelia essay
  3. ^ Azerrad (2001), p. 446.
  4. ^ Azerrad (2001).
  6. ^ a b Reynolds, p. 391
  9. ^ Reynolds, p. 338.
  14. ^ Alternative Rock by Dave Thompson, reprinted by Google Books
  21. ^ Reynolds, p. 392–93.
  23. ^ Azerrad (2001), p. 3–5.
  26. ^ Charlton, p. 349.
  27. ^ "REM Biography". Sing 365. Retrieved 20 June 2013. 
  28. ^ Reynolds, p. 390.
  30. ^ Azerrad (2001), p. 159.
  31. ^ Azerrad (2001), p. 196.
  33. ^ "Genre – Grunge". AllMusic. Retrieved October 6, 2007. 
  35. ^ a b Azerrad (1994), p. 160.
  36. ^ Azerrad (1994), p. 4.
  37. ^ a b Allmusic emo genre essay
  38. ^ Spitz, Marc. "Robert Smith". Spin. November 2005
  40. ^ Reynolds, p. 352.
  41. ^ Reynolds, p. 359.
  42. ^ Reynolds, p. 357–58.
  43. ^ Reynolds, p. 392.
  49. ^ "Genre – Shoegaze". AllMusic. Retrieved October 6, 2007. 
  50. ^ "Genre – Madchester". AllMusic. Retrieved October 12, 2007. 
  51. ^ Lyons, p. 120.
  53. ^ Azerrad (1994), p. 229–30.
  61. ^ Lyons, p. 136.
  62. ^ Azerrad (2001), p. 452–53.
  68. ^ Harris, p. 202.
  69. ^ Harris, p. xvii.
  71. ^ "Indie Rock". AllMusic. Retrieved August 2, 2009. 
  72. ^ Azerrad (2001), pp. 495–97.
  73. ^ "Lo-Fi". AllMusic. Retrieved August 2, 2009. 
  77. ^ Allmusic Smashing Pumpkins bio
  78. ^ a b "Post-Grunge". AllMusic. Retrieved August 28, 2007. 
  79. ^ a b "Post-Rock". AllMusic. Retrieved July 28, 2009. 
  80. ^ "Math Rock". AllMusic. Retrieved August 6, 2009. 
  82. ^ Allmusic Third Wave Ska Revival
  83. ^ Harris, p. xix.
  85. ^ Harris, p. 369–70.

External links[edit]