The terms alternative rock and alternative music were coined in the 1980s to describe punk rock-inspired music genres which didn’t fit into the mainstream genres of the time. At times it was used as catch-all phrase for rock music from underground artists in the 1980s and, ironically, mainstream rock music in general in the 1990s and 2000s. More specifically, it is made up mostly of genres that appeared in the 1980s and became popular or well known by the 1990s, such as indie rock, grunge, gothic rock, and college rock. Most alternative bands were unified by their collective debt to the style and/or ethos of punk, which laid the groundwork for underground and alternative music in the 1970s. Though the genre is considered to be rock, some of its genres were influenced by folk music, reggae, techno and jazz music among other genres.
In the early 1980s a handful of college radio stations, like Danbury, Connecticut’s WXCI, and WPRB in Princeton, NJ, broadcast alternative rock in the United States. Most commercial stations ignored the genre. It was played extensively in the UK, particularly by DJs such as John Peel (who championed alternative music on BBC Radio 1), Richard Skinner, and Annie Nightingale. American college DJs such as John Soloman of WPRB echoed the alternative wave as early as 1986 on his daily radio shows. As such, alternative rock became more popular in the mid-1980s, it spread widely to other college radio stations, leading to the use of the name «college rock» in the United States. In the UK, it became the predominantly popular form of rock for young people, and many alternative bands had chart success. Finally, in the late 1980s in North America, commercial stations such as Boston, Massachusetts’s WFNX began playing alternative rock. Outside of North America, Triple J, a government-funded radio station in Australia, started broadcasting alternative rock from 1975 in Sydney. In 1990 it began broadcasting nationally, albeit with what some perceived as a «watered down» format.
Notable alternative bands of the early to mid 1980s include R.E.M., Sonic Youth, The Replacements, and Hüsker Dü from the United States, and New Order, The Smiths, The Cure, and The Jesus and Mary Chain from the United Kingdom. As the decade progressed, various alternative movements emerged and gained popularity. The late 80s saw the rise of indie, shoegazing, and Madchester in the UK, while the US underground scene and college radio were dominated by college rock bands like Pixies, Dinosaur Jr, and Throwing Muses as well as post-punk survivors from Britain.
Although these groups never generated spectacular album sales, they exerted a considerable influence on the generation of musicians who came of age in the 80s. Alternative music and the rebellious, DIY ethic it espoused became one of the inspirations for grunge, an alternative sub-genre created in the 80s that launched a large movement in mainstream music in the early 90s. The year 1991 was to become a significant year for alternative rock and in particular grunge, with the successful release of Nirvana’s second and most successful album Nevermind, Pearl Jam’s breakthrough debut Ten, Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger, and Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Led by the popularity of Nirvana, the grunge movement took alternative rock into the mainstream. While «alternative» was simply an umbrella term for a diverse collection of underground rock bands, Nirvana and similar groups gave it a reputation for being a distinct style of guitar based rock which combined elements of punk and metal; their creation met with considerable commercial success.
By the mid-90s, alternative was synonymous with grunge in the eyes of the mass media and the general public, and a supposed «alternative culture» was being marketed to the mainstream in much the same way as the hippie counterculture had in the 1960s (the existence of any such culture is debatable, and is often seen by some fans of the music to have been a creation of the media). Thus, many wildly popular post-grunge bands such as Third Eye Blind and Matchbox Twenty were labeled as «alternative» rock. Nevertheless, alternative bands who were leery of broad commercial success developed indie rock, a new genre that espoused a return to the original ethos of alternative music.
In the first decade of the 21st century, mainstream rock has continued to evolve beyond alternative’s 80s roots and low-fidelity ethos. Today’s most popular rock music acts, typified by youth-oriented modern rock groups such as Linkin Park, incorporate complex electronic beats and highly produced albums, but owe a heavy debt to their metal and grunge influences. In spite of being influenced by alternative rock, many fans of the genre do not see these bands as being alternative, but instead as part of the nu metal genre.
In 2005 the sound of alternative rock returned to the mainstream with the popularity of indie rock and post-punk revival artists such as Modest Mouse and Franz Ferdinand. This revival has caused a big stir in the rock music community and has opened the door for the renewed interest in such classic alternative bands as New Order and The Creatures.
- About.com: Alternative Music GuideSite – Arabella Clauson’s links to alternative and modern rock sites; reviews, interviews.
- Alternative Addiction – Alternative Music: new singles, unknown bands, and rare music.
- Current/Independent Music – Dedicated to the promotion of independent music. Features reviews and interviews.
- CyberMusic – A page about Alternative music, with sections on Alanis Morissette, No Doubt, Cake lyrics, an extensive report on The Music Industry.
- InSound – Indie music resource, with interviews, reviews, band profiles, downloads, store, and links.
- ModernRock.com – Featuring MP3s, new music, free artist promotion, a large selection of CDs, reviews, news, interviews, weekly Hot 30 chart, links to band sites, internet radio station and free email.
- PopEx Free Music Trading – Fantasy music share trading game. Buy and sell shares in your favourite bands, then reap the dividends when they make the news.
- SoYouWanna.com – Indie Rock – A sometimes tongue-in-cheek view of how to look and act the part of a serious indie rock fan. With pointers to labels and books to study, genre history, and general advice.
- Take A Nap – A growing database of introspective and introverted musical artists such as Hayden, Howie Beck, Elliott Smith, Lisa Germano.
- Tunefilter.com – Offering an eclectic selection of indie music reviews, best-of-year lists and CDs available for purchase from their label.
