namkcuR
ONE love, blood, life
I guess you could say this whole forum is an appreciation of the history of alternative rock, but I'm going to make this thread anyway 
Alternative Rock is very close to my heart. It's often been used as sort of an umbrella term, so maybe it can be more easily appreciated if we look at the eras that are being umbrellaed(is that a word?).
Please note that the years I'm giving to bookend each of these eras are just rough, basic ideas of when these groups and artists were around. They may not be exactly right, they may not be accurate for every band in a given era/category, but they're generally accurate enough imo.
The Pioneers(late 60s/early 70s) - David Bowie, Velvet Underground/Lou Reed
There's probably a small handful of others that should go in this category, but I'm not thinking of them at the moment. But really, the more I listen to certain Bowie records(The Man Who Sold The World, Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Diamond Dogs), the more I'm convinced that if there's any one person from the old-old-school that you could apply the label of 'Godfather of Alternative Rock' to, it's him. I haven't really listened to a whole lot of Velvet Underground, but from what I have heard, they were definitely one of the earliest forerunners of alternative rock as well.
Punk(1976-1980) - The Clash, Sex Pistols, Ramones, Elvis Costello, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, early U2(I mean, this is where they started and what influenced their first two or three records), Joan Jett
Does this need any expalantion? This era was short-lived but tremendously prolfiic. It came and went with the blink of an eye but its influence on on rock music all the way up to today is, in a word, immeasurable. Punk was the first 'big bang' of alternative rock.
New Wave(1980-1989) - The Police, Talking Heads, Joy Division, Morrissey, The Pretenders, Blondie, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Eurythmics, Duran Duran, The Buggles, Go-Go's, Tears For Fears, Thompson Twins, INXS, REM, U2(a lot of what they were doing on UF and JT is very new-wave-y), Red Hot Chili Peppers(early, Slovak era), Jane's Addiction
Most of the 'punk' group's big success was contained in a very concentrated period of time, but they opened the door for THIS group, which was much more diverse both stylistically and musically and lasted much longer than 'punk'. I am using the term 'New Wave' rather loosely here because there are some bands that were alternative but maybe not new wave, but who were a little more difficult to categorize...as a result, there are some bands - REM, Jane's Addiction, RHCP(early, Slovak-era), for example - who aren't really new wave per se, but they were definitely around during that time period and wouldn't fit anywhere else. And let's not forget that Jane's Addiction's frontman Perry Farrell is one of THE important figures in the spread and popularization of alternative rock.
Post-Stadium Rock AKA "Grunge"(1989-1995) - Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Silverchair
The second 'big bang' of alternative rock. There is a nice symmetry here, where Grunge was to 'Modern Alternative'/Post-Grunge what Punk was to New Wave - the short, concentrated period of new, generation-defining rock music that opened the floodgates for a second era of countless other acts.
Modern "Alternative" Rock/Post-Grunge(1991[but didn't really explode until 94/95] - ??) - Green Day, Foo Fighters, Oasis, Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, Red Hot Chili Peppers(Frusciante/Chad Smith era), U2(Achtung/Zooropa/Pop era), Weezer, Counting Crowes, Bush, Radiohead, Rage Against The Machine, Tori Amos, Fionna Apple, Beck, No Doubt(they were alternative back then anyway), New Radicals, Garbage, etc
Most of these groups/artists had their heydey in the mid-late 90s, but oh what a heydey it was. This is the first group of bands/artists many of think of when the word 'alternative' is said. Green Day, Foo Fighters, Radiohead, and Red Hot Chili Peppers are all still making relevant records but I think a good handful of them(Pumpkins, Nails, Crowes, Bush, Radicals, even Oasis) will be stuck in the 90s niche.
There are the U2s, the Pearl Jams, the Elvis Costellos, the RHCPs(what a transformation they have made over the years - they started as a joke and ended one of the major influences on a generation of alternative rock), dare I say even the Radioheads that transcend the eras/categories from which they came and remain relevant, but I think most of these bands fit in at least one of the categories/eras/niches I've mentioned.
So, there you have it. Discuss. Appreciate.
Oh, and GnR might belong there somewhere, but they don't make sense in 'New Wave' or 'Grunge'. They were more metal than anything else. I dunno.
Alternative Rock is very close to my heart. It's often been used as sort of an umbrella term, so maybe it can be more easily appreciated if we look at the eras that are being umbrellaed(is that a word?).
Please note that the years I'm giving to bookend each of these eras are just rough, basic ideas of when these groups and artists were around. They may not be exactly right, they may not be accurate for every band in a given era/category, but they're generally accurate enough imo.
The Pioneers(late 60s/early 70s) - David Bowie, Velvet Underground/Lou Reed
There's probably a small handful of others that should go in this category, but I'm not thinking of them at the moment. But really, the more I listen to certain Bowie records(The Man Who Sold The World, Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Diamond Dogs), the more I'm convinced that if there's any one person from the old-old-school that you could apply the label of 'Godfather of Alternative Rock' to, it's him. I haven't really listened to a whole lot of Velvet Underground, but from what I have heard, they were definitely one of the earliest forerunners of alternative rock as well.
Punk(1976-1980) - The Clash, Sex Pistols, Ramones, Elvis Costello, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, early U2(I mean, this is where they started and what influenced their first two or three records), Joan Jett
Does this need any expalantion? This era was short-lived but tremendously prolfiic. It came and went with the blink of an eye but its influence on on rock music all the way up to today is, in a word, immeasurable. Punk was the first 'big bang' of alternative rock.
New Wave(1980-1989) - The Police, Talking Heads, Joy Division, Morrissey, The Pretenders, Blondie, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Eurythmics, Duran Duran, The Buggles, Go-Go's, Tears For Fears, Thompson Twins, INXS, REM, U2(a lot of what they were doing on UF and JT is very new-wave-y), Red Hot Chili Peppers(early, Slovak era), Jane's Addiction
Most of the 'punk' group's big success was contained in a very concentrated period of time, but they opened the door for THIS group, which was much more diverse both stylistically and musically and lasted much longer than 'punk'. I am using the term 'New Wave' rather loosely here because there are some bands that were alternative but maybe not new wave, but who were a little more difficult to categorize...as a result, there are some bands - REM, Jane's Addiction, RHCP(early, Slovak-era), for example - who aren't really new wave per se, but they were definitely around during that time period and wouldn't fit anywhere else. And let's not forget that Jane's Addiction's frontman Perry Farrell is one of THE important figures in the spread and popularization of alternative rock.
Post-Stadium Rock AKA "Grunge"(1989-1995) - Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Silverchair
The second 'big bang' of alternative rock. There is a nice symmetry here, where Grunge was to 'Modern Alternative'/Post-Grunge what Punk was to New Wave - the short, concentrated period of new, generation-defining rock music that opened the floodgates for a second era of countless other acts.
Modern "Alternative" Rock/Post-Grunge(1991[but didn't really explode until 94/95] - ??) - Green Day, Foo Fighters, Oasis, Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, Red Hot Chili Peppers(Frusciante/Chad Smith era), U2(Achtung/Zooropa/Pop era), Weezer, Counting Crowes, Bush, Radiohead, Rage Against The Machine, Tori Amos, Fionna Apple, Beck, No Doubt(they were alternative back then anyway), New Radicals, Garbage, etc
Most of these groups/artists had their heydey in the mid-late 90s, but oh what a heydey it was. This is the first group of bands/artists many of think of when the word 'alternative' is said. Green Day, Foo Fighters, Radiohead, and Red Hot Chili Peppers are all still making relevant records but I think a good handful of them(Pumpkins, Nails, Crowes, Bush, Radicals, even Oasis) will be stuck in the 90s niche.
There are the U2s, the Pearl Jams, the Elvis Costellos, the RHCPs(what a transformation they have made over the years - they started as a joke and ended one of the major influences on a generation of alternative rock), dare I say even the Radioheads that transcend the eras/categories from which they came and remain relevant, but I think most of these bands fit in at least one of the categories/eras/niches I've mentioned.
So, there you have it. Discuss. Appreciate.
Oh, and GnR might belong there somewhere, but they don't make sense in 'New Wave' or 'Grunge'. They were more metal than anything else. I dunno.
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to the inclusion of Guns and Roses at the end of the initial post. What about them is even remotely alternative? They were signed to a major label and blew the roof off the radio and MTV. That's pretty damned mainstream to me.
or... The Garden featuring Alice Cooper 
