Alternative Music embodies an alternative musical approach and an “anything but” philosophy on the status quo of good ole’. This movement in music has been in existence in other forms throughout the years. Punk, for example, was arguably a precursor to what later developed as Alternative Music. Principle thought of Punk Rock ended up being to be antiestablishment. Punk deliberately developed a different sound than Rock during those times through the use of different chords, more distortion, more feedback, plus a real irreverent with your face attitude that at once was prevalent in Good ole’, but has long since subsided as Rock became mainstream. As soon as the subsidence into mainstream and complacency ensues, a movement inevitably arises that claims “I’m tired of this…we need something totally new, not what we should have now”. And just like that, the brand new music begins.
Yes, the word “Alternative Music” means virtually what it really seems like: some other sound from what you hear in mainstream good ole’. Now, wanting to define mainstream good ole’ is a bit like wanting to lick the bottom in a beer bottle. Consider the music you hear on your local classic rock type radio station that is certainly basically mainstream rock and roll music. Bands like REM certainly came on the music scene as Alternative, his or her sound and attitude was obviously a break through the classic rock “behemoths” of bands like Boston, Kansas, and other bands of this era that aren’t named after cities or states. Early 90’s also brought a glut of alternative bands much like the Seattle biggies Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains.
College radio has proven to become fertile ground for discovering songs. Professional radio music stations are saddled from the burden of playing popular music to be loved by listeners and advertisers to allow them to keep bazillions of dollars in advertising revenues. College radio doesn’t have that burden, and so the music choices comes from your more liberal selection, and not just the latest Maroon 5 hit. Bands like REM have expressed their appreciation for College radio as it gave them and Alternative Music a considerable boost.
The thought of Alternative Music is music and bands which are not from the mainstream. Wellllll what happens whenever a band becomes so popular that it IS THE MAINSTREAM? Ahh, the classic dilemma. The debates rage on amongst fan boys everywhere: “I liked X band when before we were holding popular” and the like. REM, as great and original because they are, gradually was a mainstream band from their sheer longevity. This isn’t to say each band that becomes mainstream suffers a decline. I’m merely pointing out that Alternative Music in the essence is different than music which is widely accepted, aka POP.
The genre of different Music happens to be challenging to define. The wave that pointed in the early 90s has subsided and contains created a lots of carbon copies in the aftermath. The one thing to accomplish now could be to have to wait for an additional big wave in music to come along and once again offer us so what can just be generally known as “Alternative Music”.
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