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I would agree with most of the above posters: most of those bands were not "alternative" at all.
The most importand alternative bands of all time...Dead Can Dance, Kraftwerk, Throbbing Gristle, and Bauhaus, as they actually started movements, as opposed to jumping on them years later.
Every band takes influence from previous bands, so it's often hard to tell who started what. If anything, The Velvet Underground were the first "alternative" band.
R.E.M. also did not copy any of these bands. How about Joy Division? I'm sure they would count. They came around at about the same time as the other bands you mentioned.
I'm not a big fan of the term alternative, but many of these bands are not "alternative" at all. Soundgarden is simply hard rock/grunge, Alice in Chains is hard rock, the Beastie Boys are simply "rock" or "rap/rock", U2 is in no way alternative (okay, MAYBE in their earliest days), and Green Day is simply pop/punk.
I voted for Radiohead as it is my favorite band of all-time and one of the few modern bands that I would be okay with being called "alternative".
How could the metalheads boo AIC? Especially when Facelift was released? Its a very dark and somewhat heavy disc, one of the best ever!!!!
I could see them booing AIC after Jar of Flies or Dirt was released, but Facelift?????
Because Alice in Chains isn't metal.
If you think that Alice in Chains is metal you need to listen to more Metallica, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Slayer, Death, and Opeth.
I'm not even a big fan of metal, but I do know what is and isn't metal, and Alice in Chains is clearly on the "not metal" side. They're just plain hard rock with a grunge-influenced vocalist.
Every band takes influence from previous bands, so it's often hard to tell who started what. If anything, The Velvet Underground were the first "alternative" band.
R.E.M. also did not copy any of these bands. How about Joy Division? I'm sure they would count. They came around at about the same time as the other bands you mentioned.
I'm not a big fan of the term alternative, but many of these bands are not "alternative" at all. Soundgarden is simply hard rock/grunge, Alice in Chains is hard rock, the Beastie Boys are simply "rock" or "rap/rock", U2 is in no way alternative (okay, MAYBE in their earliest days), and Green Day is simply pop/punk.
I voted for Radiohead as it is my favorite band of all-time and one of the few modern bands that I would be okay with being called "alternative".
I agree with most of this. I would call VU underground (pretty obvious). REM would probably have considered themselves "college rock" as the term "alternative" was not around then to my knowledge. I think alternative sprang from college rock in general.
I don't know that I could distinguish metal from hard rock in an objective way though I know what I think subjectively (Guns n' Roses: rock. Metallica: metal).
If there is a band now that should be considered alternative in the popular sense I would vote for Radiohead. As much as I love them (and I really love them) I can't believe how popular they are considering the relative subtlety of the music. Not who I would have predicted to be a stadium band.
I still think R.E.M. laid the groundwork for the term "alternative" itself. Even if you don't like the music, their story is unique in the music business.
Last edited by msnorman67; 10-07-2008 at 06:41 AM..
Reason: two letters
Husker Du was around at the same as REM and are considered widely (yes by many of the musicians in the bands listed on this thread) as one of, if not the most influential artists of what eventually became to be known as "alternative rock". REM may have been considered rock only for the fact that they used guitars, but there really wasn't anything rock about them. The origins began in in the late 70's and early 80's as punk rock / hardcore bands started slowing things down while keeping the same raucus nature of the music in tact. Many of the bands on labels like SST and Discord Records figured out that there was a huge college audience beyond the hardcore scene which was quickly degenerating into cheesy speed metal. Bands like Husker Du, The Replacements, Sonic Youth were the influential ones in the early 80's followed by bands like Dinosaur Jr. who ended up touring the UK and giving Brits the ammunition they needed to start forming Shoegaze bands like My Bloody Valentine, Ride and Swervedriver. Not saying REM wasn't good, in fact, I love everything up to and including Lifes Rich Pagent... they just were not any type of ROCK influence.
Husker Du was around at the same as REM and are considered widely (yes by many of the musicians in the bands listed on this thread) as one of, if not the most influential artists of what eventually became to be known as "alternative rock". REM may have been considered rock only for the fact that they used guitars, but there really wasn't anything rock about them. The origins began in in the late 70's and early 80's as punk rock / hardcore bands started slowing things down while keeping the same raucus nature of the music in tact. Many of the bands on labels like SST and Discord Records figured out that there was a huge college audience beyond the hardcore scene which was quickly degenerating into cheesy speed metal. Bands like Husker Du, The Replacements, Sonic Youth were the influential ones in the early 80's followed by bands like Dinosaur Jr. who ended up touring the UK and giving Brits the ammunition they needed to start forming Shoegaze bands like My Bloody Valentine, Ride and Swervedriver. Not saying REM wasn't good, in fact, I love everything up to and including Lifes Rich Pagent... they just were not any type of ROCK influence.
They were the best band, much less best alternative band, of the 1980's. They were certainly better than fellow Twin Cities rivals/friends the Replacements, and scores of bands from the Pixies to Superchunk would have sounded much different had there been no Husker Du. Bob Mould's post-Husker career (solo, with Sugar, and then solo again) has also been excellent (with the exception of much of Modulate).
I also need to give a shout out to Mission of Burma. No band has ever combined melody, arty dissonance, and ear splitting punk-influenced rock as effectively as MoB. Pearl Jam named their second album after MoB's only full-length album from the first part of their career (Vs.). MoB reformed after nearly 20 years in 2002 (they broke up in the first place only because guitarist Roger Miller had tinnitus, or ringing of the ears) and has since put out 2 strong full-length albums.
Of the many bands listed in the poll I find many not to be alternative. I think alternative would be bands that are controversial (for lyrics or behavior) and get little play on radio.
So...
Sex Pistols (before Sid Vicious)
The Stooges
New York Dolls
Velvet Underground
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wtf?
