Grunge, Alternative
This page is really an extension of Glam Rock & Punk - as the roots of grunge and 90s alternative rock can all be traced back to the punk movement. The distinction between Grunge and Alternative is a bit fuzzy: Alternative is supposedly a subcategory of grunge. To my ears, it was a little bit more radio friendly, slightly more refined, while maintaining links to the grunge sound. In the beginning of the "alternative" era, bands like STP and Pearl Jam could be classified as both, however, near the end of the "alternative" era, you would be hard pressed to find any grunge-iness in the big hits by the new crop of "alternative" artists.
Grunge
The foundations of grunge were laid by the Pixies in the late 1980s:
- Here Comes Your Man - Their biggest hit is not entirely indicative of the style. This one starts with a Beatle-esq opening guitar chord.
- Trompe Le Monde - this is much closer to the grunge style to follow.
Trompe Le Monde heavily influenced Kurt Cobain and the rest of the band Nirvana. Very rarely are we able to pinpoint an origin of a style, but grunge can be said to have started in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle, essentially), with bands Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam.
While Soundgarden had some success in 1987 and 1988, their style wasn't really "grunge" so to speak. Their style was/is more like hard rock / art rock / metal with a little bit of punk mixed in. Certainly, there is a virtuosity in the instrumentalists and the singer. Grunge is less clean, less virtuosic, and more like "metal-i-fied punk" sound. For this, we turn to Nirvana. I don't think there is anyone who can dispute that Nirvana *is* the epitome of the grunge sound.
They had two big monster hits from their second album Nevermind:
It's hard to understate how popular they were in the early 90s. You couldn't escape their music on the radio, especially some songs from their MTV Unplugged performance.
On April 5, 1994, Kurt Cobain killed himself, and sent shockwaves through the rock world. It was almost as big as the deaths of Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin or Jim Morrison were in 1970s.
The MTV Unplugged performance was turned into an album, which went to #1 shortly after Kurt's death, and their cover of David Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World" was really really big on the radio at the time, as well.
Drummer David Grohl went on to form the Foo Fighters and find great success there as the lead singer and guitarist.
Pearl Jam
Another Seattle based grunge band, they were formed from the remnants of several other grunge bands and San Diego vocalist Eddie Vedder. Their first album Ten was a huge hit, and the song Jeremy was huge - the song was about a kid who committed suicide in a school classroom with a gun, and the video was pretty graphic for the time. It included the lyrics:
"Daddy didn't give attention Oh, to the fact that mommy didn't care"
Which were not truthful, and caused real harm to the kid's parents and friends.
- Jeremy
- Evenflow - another big hit for Pearl Jam
They did have a softer, folkier side as well, from their follow up album, a song with one of the longest titles in rock/pop/folk:
- Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town
Alice in Chains
A lot of radio hits came from this band as well. They were almost a refined version of grunge, with hard hitting percusion, vocals, and guitars.
- Man in the Box - probably their biggest hit.
- No Excuses
On April 5, 2002, the lead singer Layne Staley overdosed on drugs and died in his apartment. His body was not discovered until April 19th, as he had been living as a recluse for the past few years.
Stone Temple Pilots
Many rock history texts seem to ignore Stone Temple Pilots. There are people who swear they can't tell the difference between Pearl Jam and STP. They were labelled "Pearl Jam Clones" and accused of ripping off Pearl Jam's style. Upon reflection, you can hear some vocal similarities, especially on STP's first really big album "Core", and their mega hit "Plush". There is a tri-tone leap in the vocals in Plush and Evenflow that sounds almost identical, but beyond that, the songs are different. I suppose it's the same as those who can't tell the difference between Billy Joel and Elton John. Do you pay attention to the details, or just the broad strokes?
- Plush - which, as heard above in the quick snippet, has some similarities to a Pearl Jam sound.
Another big hit for them was an acoustic version of "Big Empty" that really helped differentiate them from the rest of the grunge movement, and, as a preview of their second album "Purple", helped build hype and get a bunch of hits off of that album.
Of the hits from the second album, their biggest was
- Interstate Love Song
Note in the video link below that singer Scott Weiland is doing some of the glam rock stuff with his pink feather jacket near the end. This sounds more refined and studio polished than the more 'live' Pearl Jam style (video below): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjJL9DGU7Gg (the actual song starts 35 seconds in).
STP's third album was a real departure from their first two, and didn't do as well in the charts, with a somewhat different vocal style on the entire album.
- Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart
- Lady Picture Show - STP says this was inspired by Bad Finger's Apple of My Eye
Scott Weiland was in and out of rehab, was fired from the band in 2013, and was discovered dead in the bathroom of his tour bus in 2015, with multiple drugs and alcohol found in his bloodstream. Many were surprised he made it that long, considering his history with drugs and the earlier deaths of Kurt Cobain and Lane Staley.
Blind Mellon
Another big band in the 90s, with a more alternative style (rather than grunge) was Blind Mellon, who were just getting going before lead singer Shannon Hoon died of a drug overdose at age 28.
- No Rain
- Tones of Home
The grunge movement might also be just as well known for the deaths of the band lead singers (mostly to drug problems):
Kurt Cobain (1994) - Nirvana
Shannon Hoon (1995) - Blind Melon
Lane Staley (2002) - Alice in Chains
Scott Weiland (2015) - STP
Chris Cornell (2017) - Soundgarden
Riot Grrrl
This was an attempt to start a "Women In Rock" movement in the Pacific Northwest, and although they had some bands that eventually opened for Nirvana, the movement somewhat floundered, and many of the bands formed through the organization like Bikini Kill and Calamity Jane ended up breaking up after a short career. However, this wave did inspire a new wave of female singer-songwriters like Ani DiFranco, Jewel, Alanis Morrissette, PJ Harvey, Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones, and Sarah McLaughlin.
Specifically, Alanis Morissette - her debut album Jagged Little Pill with the debut hit "You Oughta Know" was huuuuuge. Everywhere. You couldn't escape it. I think this album did a lot to shape rock music going forward.
- You Oughta Know - also noteable is that Flea (from Red Hot Chili Peppers) was playing bass on this tune.
- Right Through You
Other Alternative Artists
No Doubt was another massive seller. Their third album "Tragic Kingdom" had six or seven hits, and all were massive. This band was more of a precursor to ska, but mixed the alternative and rock styles of the time.
- Just a Girl - first bit hit.
- Spiderwebs - another solid big hit, you'll hear more of the ska sounds in this one.
- Don't Speak - massive ballad-style hit, written by the lead singer Gwen Stefani about her breakup with the bass player Tony Kanal.
Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Soul Asylum, Pavement, Hole, Garbage, and Jane's Addiction were all to varying degrees other popular alternative groups. More on that in the questions
Pop Punk
In the 1990's a new offshoot of 80s punk style combined with alternative to become what I call Pop Punk.
- The main characteristics of punk - high energy, punk attitude, distorted guitar, simple chords, lots of repetition, was taken a little further with the group Green Day. They added melodic hook lines, tuneful choruses, and a bit more of a refinement of the general punk aesthetic. In general, they were the "mainstream" version of punk.
- Basket Case - Their first big hit
- American Idiot
They continued in this vein for a long while, but they also experimented with a softer side, and had another resurgent hit:
- Wake Me Up When September Ends