Alternative Music Blog

Alternative Beginnings

25th May, 2009 - Posted by -

There is one debate about alternative music that has people choosing sides.  When did alternative music start?  There seems to be two main answers to this question with completely different points of view.

The first answer to this question is what most people believe to be the most accurate.  Back in the 1980’s people were first heard throwing around the term “alternative” for all different types of sounds that didn’t seem to fit anywhere else.  This seems to be around the time when more music was coming out that wasn’t mainstream.

Some of the bands that are thought to have been the beginning of alternative are R.E.M. and The Pixies .  Shortly after these two bands, a couple more bands were considered to be a big part of the alternative scene.  These bands are Violent Femmes and Sonic Youth.

The second answer to this question some believe true mostly because this is when the alternative genre made a rather notably large impact.  It is said that alternative didn’t truly become a genre until the 1990’s, and when it did, it was because of the ever growing popularity of certain bands.

The biggest band attributed to this is of course Nirvana.  There is no denying that this band made people take notice of alternative music.  Other bands that were around the same time as Nirvana also helped out with this answer. Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam and many others all helped to make alternative music huge around that time.

There are other answers and theories as well, but the previous two are the most popular.  No matter what side of the fence you are on, there are some awesome bands that have been a part of the alternative scene.