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Alternative music of the 90s: An overview
The term alternative was introduced in the 80s by independent record labels, which produced subversive music anchored by explosive guitar riffs, fast-tempo drums and melancholic verses, mostly performed by The Cure, Echo & The Bunnymen, Smashing Pumpkins, REM and New Order.
The phenomenal evolution of alternative rock in the 90s reflected the need of the rock audience worldwide to attach to a new, post-punk sound with noisy grunge and furious guitar riffs, yet highly melodic and dangerously dark.
In this article I will not write Pearl Jam or Nirvana because it will be like trying to differentiate from what is already globally appreciated and believed. Indeed, Pearl Jam and Nirvana made alternative rock scene mainstream and popular. However, to my view, other great groups, still producing greatly, did the extra mile in changing the route of the rock music.
To my view, the most significant alternative rock groups of the 90s (in alphabetical order) are:
Coldplay
Coldplay was formed in 1998 in London and has been one of the most commercially successful group selling over 30 million albums right at the end of the 90s. Their quiet music anchored with melancholic melodic tunes made Coldplay one the most recognizable groups of the decade, mostly because of writing great songs and making music with passionate honesty.
Coldplay is also known as a political and social activist group, having a great involvement in Amnesty International, being an advocate of fair trade and giving away 10% of their huge profits to charity. It looks like, apart from their memorable, soul-serene, alternatively intense tunes, Coldplay keep on standing up for what they believe in, offering to the world a pure and honest hope to attach on.
Best releases (to my view): Yellow from the album Parachutes (2000), Clocks from the album A Rush of Blood To The Head (2002), The Scientist from the album A Rush of Blood To The Head (2002) and Speed Of Sound from the album X & Y (2005).
Placebo
Placebo was formed in London in the 1994 bearing lots of The Cure elements in their music and styling. Nail polish, heavy make-up, intense lipstick, androgynous behavior, melancholic guitar chords, explosive drums and poetic lyrics, which call to mind intense realities, made Placebo the perfect pill to take if you want to forget your misery while offering a meaning in your routine life.
The mainstream success of Placebo was recorded in the 1996 with the single Nancy Boy, which was then included in their first album Placebo (1996). The invitation and the joined performance with David Bowie in Bowie’s birthday denoted the group as a must in the glam-alternative rock scene. Placebo has already produced six albums, always promoting a glam-influenced style, and an alternate mix of culturally confusing lyrics and distorted, yet melodic guitar chords.
Best releases (to my view): 36 Degrees from the album Placebo (1996), Every You, Every Me from the album Without You I’m Nothing (1998), Days Before You Came from the album Black Market Music (2000), This Picture from the album Sleeping With Ghosts (2003) and Meds from the album Meds (2006)
Radiohead
Formed in Oxfordshire, Radiohead made a great impact with their single Creep in 1992, which was lately included in their first album Pablo Honey (1993). Atmospheric guitar chords and the idiosyncratic voice of Tom Yorke called to mind groups like Joy Division or The Smiths in a post-punk version of alternative music originally produced in the 80s.
Although Radiohead change music style almost in every album, keeping maybe some elements of electronic, synth influences in their latest albums, the group’s music is highly recognizable worldwide. Ranging from extreme instrumentation to trip-hop textures, Radiohead remain introspective and unpredictable and this is what makes them one of the most significant groups of the alternative scene.
Best releases (to my view): Creep from the album Pablo Honey (1993), Karma Police from the album OK Computer (1997), Knives Out from the album Amnesiac (2001), Where I end You Begin from the album Hail To The Thief (2003) and Jigsaw Falling Into Place from the album In Rainbows (2007)
Smashing Pumpkins
The Chicago- based group was formed in the 1988, but their mainstream success was recorded in the 1993 with their album Siamese Dream. The album sold over four million copies in the US and doubled-up sales globally, denoting Smashing Pumpkins as one of the best alternative rock groups. Moreover, the album was nominated for the Grammy Awards for the Best Alternative Music Album in the 1994.
From Siamese Dream to the present, facing difficult periods full of drugs, alcohol and intense, suicidal feelings of self-destruction, Smashing Pumpkins produced another ten albums gaining popularity and commercial success as a progressive rock group with elements of grunge, Goth rock, and psychedelic influences. Using powerful tunes anchored by distorted guitar riffs, Smashing Pumpkins managed to impose their angst-ridden lyrics and cathartic expressions of emotion to the world.
Best releases (to my view) : Disarm from the album Siamese Dream (1993), Blew Away from the album Pisces Iscariot (1994), Tonight Tonight from the album Mellon Collie and the infinite sadness (1995) and Stand Inside Your Love from the album Machina / The Machines of God (2000).
About the Author
I work as a financial and investment advisor but my passion is writing, music and photography. Writing mostly about finance, business and music, being an amateur photographer and a professional dj, I am inspired from life.
Being a strong advocate of simplicity in life, I love my family, my partner and all the people that have stood by me with or without knowing. And I hope that someday, human nature will cease to be greedy and demanding realizing that the more we have the more we want and the more we satisfy our needs the more needs we create. And this is so needless after all.
Smooth Operator – Bowie Police PSA – Spanish
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