History Main / AlternativeRock

Meanwhile, most of the folkier, softer or college-rock artists in the alternative scene largely migrated to a new radio format called adult album alternative or "AAA," an eclectic format that catered to those who wanted a lighter side to the alt-rock scene, alt-rock fans who disliked nu metal, post-grunge, or emo, and people who missed the singer-songwriter days of the 1970s. The format also incorporated other genres including folk, blues, jazz, world music, jam bands, and even classic rock. Despite being self-consciously "mellow" like adult contemporary stations, AAA aspired to a level of artistic credibility. The format birthed a mini-genre of alt-rock that saw considerable success with acts like Music/MatchboxTwenty, Music/GooGooDolls, Music/SarahMcLachlan, Music/CountingCrows, Music/SherylCrow and former Music/TenThousandManiacs frontwoman Natalie Merchant, while veteran alternative acts like Music/{{REM}}, Music/{{U2}}, and Music/DavidByrne also found homes there, with older material by these artists mixed in. Additionally, artists who were popular on the touring circuit but weren't often played on mainstream alt-rock radio, like Music/JackJohnson and the Music/DaveMatthewsBand, became major hitmakers on AAA radio. The format was tuned into the Americana, AlternativeCountry, and indie rock scenes much earlier than alternative radio was, with bands like Music/{{Wilco}} and Music/{{Spoon}} gaining traction there first while studiously avoiding the hard rock dominating other alternative stations in the late '90s and early 2000s. Some AAA artists such as Norah Jones and John Mayer even saw bursts of crossover success. Indeed, AAA stations are seen as "tastemakers," as new artists have become popular on these stations before breaking through to the mainstream. The format is a LighterAndSofter counterpart to active rock, playing classic and contemporary artists, though the balance of classic to modern music varies from station to station. For these reasons, AAA might be the SpiritualSuccessor to the original "freeform" stations of the late '60s and early alternative rock stations.

In the mid '90s, a contrived search by major labels to find "the next Nirvana" saw most of the international underground scene trawled, which briefly did see a bunch of varied genre bands being signed to major labels as "alternative artists," such as Japanese experimental band Music/{{Boredoms}}, Art Punk group Music/ButtholeSurfers, South Carolinian roots rockers Music/HootieAndTheBlowfish, English hardcore electronica group Music/TheProdigy, Oklahoman Psych-Punkers The Music/FlamingLips, and the Swing Revival or SkaPunk fad bands. Major labels scrambled to acquire the major independent labels as well as the back catalogs of artists they'd signed, reissuing their older albums to cash in on the alternative boom. However, once major labels and rock radio began to embrace PostGrunge and NuMetal, these artists were dropped in droves, with few exceptions (such as The Music/FlamingLips). It wasn't smooth sailing for the artists that weren't dropped by their major labels, either. Following the departure of key personnel, the previously artist-friendly Creator/ElektraRecords garnered the industry nickname "Neglektra", with acts like Music/TheAfghanWhigs, Music/{{Ween}}, Music/TheyMightBeGiants and even Music/{{Metallica}} reporting that they felt mismanaged and underpromoted by the label. Most of these artists did not feel compelled to re-sign a new contract with their labels when their deal was up with them, and many returned to independent or self-run labels for the rest of their career. Additionally, many commercial modern rock radio stations, which had previously been fairly adventurous in the styles and subgenres they had featured on air, eventually [[{{Flanderization}} found their playlists mostly pared down]] to the stereotypical heavy guitar-oriented alt-rock bands by the late '90s.[[note]]Not coincidentally, this shift all started taking place right after the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Act_of_1996 Telecommunications Act of 1996]] took effect in the US, with its removal of the cap on how many stations a company could own resulting in a heavy consolidation of American radio and in turn lead to more unique/local artists going by the wayside in favor of music with much more mass appeal, explaining just why the sound of modern rock radio suddenly changed so drastically during the late '90s/early 2000s.[[/note]]

In the mid '90s, a contrived search by major labels to find "the next Nirvana" saw most of the international underground scene trawled, which briefly did see a bunch of varied genre bands being signed to major labels as "alternative artists," such as Japanese experimental band Music/{{Boredoms}}, Art Punk group Music/ButtholeSurfers, South Carolinian roots rockers Music/HootieAndTheBlowfish, English hardcore electronica group Music/TheProdigy, Oklahoman Psych-Punkers The Music/FlamingLips, and the Swing Revival or SkaPunk fad bands. Major labels scrambled to acquire the major independent labels as well as the back catalogs of artists they'd signed, reissuing their older albums to cash in on the alternative boom. However, once major labels and rock radio began to embrace PostGrunge and NuMetal, these artists were dropped in droves, with few exceptions (such as The Music/FlamingLips). It wasn't smooth sailing for the artists that weren't dropped by their major labels, either. Following the departure of key personnel, the previously artist-friendly Creator/ElektraRecords garnered the industry nickname "Neglektra", with acts like Music/TheAfghanWhigs, Music/{{Ween}}, Music/TheyMightBeGiants and even Music/{{Metallica}} reporting that they felt mismanaged and underpromoted by the label. Most of these artists did not feel compelled to re-sign a new contract with their labels when their deal was up with them, and many returned to independent or self-run labels for the rest of their career. Additionally, many commercial modern rock radio stations, which had previously been fairly adventurous in the styles and subgenres they had featured on air, eventually [[{{Flanderization}} found their playlists mostly pared down]] to the stereotypical heavy guitar-oriented alt-rock bands by the late '90s.[[note]]Not coincidentally, this shift all started taking place right after the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Act_of_1996 Telecommunications Act of 1996]] took effect in the US, with its removal of the cap on how many stations one could own resulting in heavy monopolization of the American radio industry and in turn lead to more eccentric/local artists going by the wayside in favor of music with much more mass appeal, explaining just why the sound of modern rock radio suddenly changed so drastically during the late '90s/early 2000s.[[/note]]

** 1992 - ''Music/Apollo18''

* PopPunk (a matter of debate: while traditionally just a poppier offshoot of standard punk that came about before the emergence of modern alt-rock, some people now treat it as a subgenre due to it often taking quite heavy influence from (and overlapping with) the genre since the 1990s, thanks in no small part to many early alternative artists such as Music/HuskerDu and Music/TheReplacements adopting a similar punk-infused power pop sound inspired by bands such as Music/{{Buzzcocks}})

[[ShapedLikeItself Rock that is alternative]]. Weird. Different, somehow. [[{{Pun}} Alternatively,]] you could define the term as any form of rock that doesn't fit the criteria for "classic" first-wave rock, ProgressiveRock, PunkRock, PostPunk, hard rock, straight HeavyMetal (and its variants), or any other form of rock that held a prominent mainstream presence before 1987-1991. Also known as 'indie' in the UK.[[note]]In North America, 'indie' is most often specificaly used to describe a quirkier more DIY-oriented subgenre of alternative rock, while in the UK (and the rest of Europe more generally) 'indie' isn't as distinct and can describe stuff that Americans would generally just call alternative; it's worth noting that the use of 'indie' in North America was similarly quite broad up until the 1990s, as the alternative rock label [[NewerThanTheyThink didn't really catch on until then]]. Also like 'alternative', 'indie' is not to be taken literally; many key indie rock bands have left their independent labels to sign to major labels and the term "indie rock" now describes the general aesthetic and overall sound these bands perform.[[/note]]

[[ShapedLikeItself Rock that is alternative]]. Weird. Different, somehow. [[{{Pun}} Alternatively,]] you could define the term as any form of rock that doesn't fit the criteria for "classic" first-wave rock, ProgressiveRock, PunkRock, PostPunk, hard rock, straight HeavyMetal (and its variants), or any other form of rock that held a prominent mainstream presence before 1987-1991. Also known as "indie" in the UK.[[note]]In North America, 'indie' describes a specific much more DIY-oriented subgenre of alternative rock, while in the UK (and the rest of Europe more generally) 'indie' is moreso used to describe most of what Americans would call 'alternative'; it's worth noting that the use of indie in North America was originally much closer to the European definition up until the 1990s, as the alternative rock label didn't really catch on until then. Also like 'alternative', the 'indie' in the genre's name is not to be taken literally; many key indie rock bands have left their independent labels to sign to major labels and the term "indie rock" now describes the general aesthetic and overall sound these bands perform.[[/note]]