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Description of '90s Alternative

 
The term "'90s Alternative" is almost redundant. After all, the '90s was the decade that popularized the term "alternative," spread it all over the radio and then nearly mass-marketed it into meaninglessness. At the outset of the '90s, alternative was a synonym for 1980s underground -- the cutting-edge college rock of bands like R.E.M. and the Pixies. Then, in 1991, Nirvana released Nevermind, and the underground suddenly found itself very mainstream. MTV's Video Music Awards and the Grammys both added "alternative" categories, Perry Farrell coined the term "Alternative Nation" to describe the droves of Lollapalooza attendees, and alternative itself quickly became a giant umbrella that applied to a host of rather commercially successful styles and bands: grunge-rockers like Soundgarden, pop-punks like Green Day, dream-pop acts like Smashing Pumpkins, indie rockers like Liz Phair, even electro-experimentalists like Bjork and alt-pop artists like Alanis Morissette. As early as 1993, critics were asking, "Alternative to what?", but for a genre that had become a rather generic blanket term, "alternative" housed some of the most exciting and diverse music of the '90s.
 

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'90s Alternative Key Artists

 
Alanis Morissette

Canadian alterna-pop icon
raised eyebrows with racy,
emasculative lyrics, but she
has lots of male fans.
They're all nervous. Alani...

Alice in Chains

This heavily influential band
had a sound too unique to
be considered Metal, yet
more visceral than your
basic rock. It's vocalist La...

Beck

Beck's post modern take on
beats, folk music and funk
has earned him both critical
and commercial success.
Beck's grandfather was a...

Bjork

Reykjavik, Iceland's Bjork
continues her exploration
of electronica and the
points at which it intersects
pop music. Before her sol...

Cibo Matto

New York duo via Japan
with a love of food, musical
genre-hopping and
pervading sense of
starry-eyed wonder. Sea...

Hole

Fronted by celebrity rock
widow Courtney Love, Hole
was one of the more visible
alt-rock bands of the '90s.
Hole's ascent (or descent...

Lisa Loeb

With sharp hooks and
catchy choruses, Lisa
Loeb's folk-pop is treated to
a healthy dose of pop
sheen. Loeb got her start...

Liz Phair

Liz Phair made a big splash
in the mid-1990s with her
smart, aware take on indie
rock. Phair considers her
debut, "Exile in Guyville,"...

Nirvana

In case you missed it,
Nirvana changed the entire
musical landscape in the
early '90s with their no-frills
Grunge. Childhood friend...

Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam went from grunge
also-rans to one of the most
popular stadium rock bands
of the 1990s and beyond.
After Mother Love Bone si...

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Alongside fellow L.A. band
Jane's Addiction, the Chili
Peppers proved influential
among modern rock and
metal groups. Original me...

Shonen Knife

A female trio from Japan,
Shonen Knife serve up
ultra-catchy pop-punk
anthems with lyrics about
all things cute.

Sinead O'Connor

With a shaved head, big
attitude, and innovative
Adult Alternative songs,
O'Connor helped pioneer
the women's music move...

Smashing Pumpkins

Signed in the midst of early
'90s grunge-mania, the
Smashing Pumpkins went
from playing clubs to arenas
by decade's end. Billy Co...

Stone Temple Pilots

Sure, they were a Pearl Jam
knockoff when they
started, but they soon
found a stronger, less
derivative voice. Maybe it...

The Breeders

Platinum selling spin-off of
the Pixies whose
well-constructed noisy pop
turned Kim Deal into a rock
star back in '93. The band...

The Cranberries

The Cranberries' melodic
indie guitar pop jangles
comfortably next to Dolores
O'Riordan's powerful,
caterwauling vocals. The...

The Flaming Lips

The Flaming Lips play
nasal-inflected indie rock
touched with psychedelia
and consistently
experimental sonic textur...

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