early-90s alt-rock vs. late-90s alt rock

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I am going to go with early 90s here because I like early smashing pumpkins; other than that any music that was popularly referred to as "alternative rock" in the 90s is not rly my thing. but I did not really listen to rock radio at all during the 90s so I am probably an unusual case.

Police Cool. (crüt), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:33 (thirteen years ago) link

the moral of the story is that I never listen to anything besides 94.5 and KISS 108 these days

― Have a slice of wine! (HI DERE)

i still listen to WAAF sometimes, but the presets in my car are now set to 94.5, KISS 108, WBUR, and FNX. really, i try to listen to WAAF as little as possible. used to be my favorite station back from, like, 1999-2003/4

ksh, Monday, 17 May 2010 21:33 (thirteen years ago) link

embarassing rap-rock hybrids are still with us TODAY (thx Weezy) - what's changed is that the blending of rap and rock in and of itself is no longer seen as a cutting edge or interesting thing. this was already becoming clear by the mid-90s, where rap-rock hybrids were at once all over the place and also totally boring.

huggable snuggable teddy bear (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:34 (thirteen years ago) link

oops sorry

huggable snuggable teddy bear (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:34 (thirteen years ago) link

I'm not even sure what contemporary bands are considered alt rock atm. I guess whenever U2, Pearl Jam or Red Hot Chili Peppers come out with a new album. Are there any big bands right now that became successful through the alt rock format?

Mordy, Monday, 17 May 2010 21:35 (thirteen years ago) link

there are no big bands anymore

huggable snuggable teddy bear (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:36 (thirteen years ago) link

I'm not even sure what contemporary bands are considered alt rock atm.

Go here.

Filmmaker, Author, Radio Host Stephen Baldwin (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:36 (thirteen years ago) link

Joanna Newsom, alt-rock auteur

ksh, Monday, 17 May 2010 21:37 (thirteen years ago) link

I was thinking less indie bands (tho clearly those bands break through) and more like AltPress/Hot Topic style bands? Gaslight Anthem, Against Me! etc sound like they'd be at home on an alt rock format. And of course newish Green Day (MCR, Fallout Boy, Paramore) have had tremendous success there.

Mordy, Monday, 17 May 2010 21:38 (thirteen years ago) link

lol there's nowhere to break through to anymore. I doubt the guys in the National are millionaires, knowhutimean

huggable snuggable teddy bear (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:39 (thirteen years ago) link

I'm pretty sure Radiohead have done well for themselves, and Vampire Weekend will turn in a tidy profit.

Filmmaker, Author, Radio Host Stephen Baldwin (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:39 (thirteen years ago) link

I was thinking more like Modest Mouse, I guess. The National, or even LCD Soundsystem or whoever aren't even having big radio success even compared to the current musical climate -- let alone historical success.

Mordy, Monday, 17 May 2010 21:40 (thirteen years ago) link

I'm not even sure what contemporary bands are considered alt rock atm.

IMO think GAPDYX + Vampire Weekend, Death Cab For Cutie and LCD Soundsystem

Have a slice of wine! (HI DERE), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:40 (thirteen years ago) link

like, the whole concept of alt-rock requires a thriving, well-funded "mainstream". which is gone.

Radiohead's been around since the early 90s tho. Be curious to see what Vampire Weekend's income is like, or how their album sales stack up to previous decades' indie darlings. Like, how many albums have they sold compared to a similarly charting band from 1996? A lot less, I'd bet.

huggable snuggable teddy bear (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:41 (thirteen years ago) link

(x-posts)

huggable snuggable teddy bear (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:41 (thirteen years ago) link

Early 90s 30+. Soundgarden rule.

rhythm fixated member (chap), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:42 (thirteen years ago) link

some big modern rock radio bands right now that weren't already huge in the '90s: Muse, 30 Seconds To Mars, The Killers, Kings Of Leon

couldn't think of anything to write instead of 'steendriver' (some dude), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:43 (thirteen years ago) link

how the hell is U2 alt rock?!

black hole sun
won't you come
and wash away the horchata

ksh, Monday, 17 May 2010 21:43 (thirteen years ago) link

Pretty sure Grizzly Bear + Animal Collective aren't getting a ton of radio play. Phoenix + Yeah Yeah Yeahs probably getting some, Death Cab (do they have new music?), Vampire Weekend for sure. Dirty Projectors not sure. How has LCD Soundsystem charted in the US? (Can only find UK chart info -- could mean US chart info is non-existent.)

Mordy, Monday, 17 May 2010 21:44 (thirteen years ago) link

fwiw, i can recall hearing Pheonix, YYYs, Death Cab, and VW on the fairly big alt station here

ksh, Monday, 17 May 2010 21:45 (thirteen years ago) link

U2 are alt rock in the sense that the Cure are alt rock

Police Cool. (crüt), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:45 (thirteen years ago) link

only they have the added stadium rock/AOR-approved factor

Police Cool. (crüt), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:45 (thirteen years ago) link

Yeah, doesn't look like an LCD Soundsystem single has ever charted in the US.

Mordy, Monday, 17 May 2010 21:45 (thirteen years ago) link

it's kind of a different metric now; I don't think you can use radio play as the one true indicator, you kind of have to merge it with filtered-by-some-undetermined-algorithm data from internet sources

Have a slice of wine! (HI DERE), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:46 (thirteen years ago) link

like my personal metric is "appears in my music video on-demand menu"

Have a slice of wine! (HI DERE), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:47 (thirteen years ago) link

i think the joke on 'n american scum' is that they were 'big in the uk'

selling your music to commercials is a far more common option these days.

Filmmaker, Author, Radio Host Stephen Baldwin (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:47 (thirteen years ago) link

black hole sun
won't you come
and wash away the horchata

LOL IRL!!

I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:47 (thirteen years ago) link

Yeah, doesn't look like an LCD Soundsystem single has ever charted in the US.

― Mordy, Monday, May 17, 2010 10:45 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

genuine q: did pixies or husker du or sonic youth ever chart in the u.s.?

yeah these Pitchfork bands you guys are mentioning definitely are popular in many senses -- but again there are (less cool) youngish alt-rock bands that have ten times their sales and ten times their radio spins, if we're really talking about actual mainstream success stories.

couldn't think of anything to write instead of 'steendriver' (some dude), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:48 (thirteen years ago) link

I remember arguing on ILX when Strawberry Jam came out (or possible Person Pitch) about what the reach of that music was. At the time, no one I knew IRL had heard of AC or Panda Bear, despite the massive amount of hype they were getting in places like ILX, Stereogum, P4k, etc. I'm sure that's gotten better for AC since Merriweather, but I think for a lot of P4k hyped bands the popularity is still pretty localized and statistically insignificant.

Mordy, Monday, 17 May 2010 21:48 (thirteen years ago) link

I'd have to look them up, hm, but Sonic Youth 100% charted in the US.

Mordy, Monday, 17 May 2010 21:49 (thirteen years ago) link

yeah they had 5 minor modern rock hits from '88 to '94

couldn't think of anything to write instead of 'steendriver' (some dude), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:50 (thirteen years ago) link

Sonic Youth charted a bunch on Modern Rock format, as did the Pixies -- not sure about Husker Du.

Mordy, Monday, 17 May 2010 21:51 (thirteen years ago) link

The Pixies only charted on the modern rock chart, as far as I can tell.

Husker Du charted nowhere.

Sonic Youth had a bunch of albums in the Hot 100 and several modern rock chart singles.

Have a slice of wine! (HI DERE), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:51 (thirteen years ago) link

AC hasn't charted at all afaik.

Mordy, Monday, 17 May 2010 21:52 (thirteen years ago) link

Pixies charted on the album chart. Doolittle is certified gold.

Filmmaker, Author, Radio Host Stephen Baldwin (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:53 (thirteen years ago) link

Sugar far outsold Husker Du.

Filmmaker, Author, Radio Host Stephen Baldwin (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:53 (thirteen years ago) link

genuine q: did pixies or husker du or sonic youth ever chart in the u.s.?

― all i wanna do is poll poll poll poll and zing and discuss mia (history mayne), Monday, May 17, 2010 5:48 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah they had 5 minor modern rock hits from '88 to '94

― couldn't think of anything to write instead of 'steendriver' (some dude), Monday, May 17, 2010 5:50 PM

VERY minor...in the Midwest about 1 in 75 people that you will run into randomly will have knowingly heard a song by any of the aforementioned bands.

lol I'd forgotten that "Brothersport" was so annoying, that may play into why AC hasn't charted

Have a slice of wine! (HI DERE), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:55 (thirteen years ago) link

sonic youth is a vaguely familiar name...and they play here comes your man at baseball games & on mall P.A.s now, but i don't think anybody really recognizes it beyond the guitar riff...husker du, i don't even know....

xxxp MPP made it pretty onto the Billboard 100 didn't it?

pretty HIGH onto

oh yeah, 13

Have a slice of wine! (HI DERE), Monday, 17 May 2010 21:57 (thirteen years ago) link

fwiw, the wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_alternative_rock include MPP in its list of 2009 Alternative Rock CDs (along with Green Day, the Dead Weather, Paramore, Pearl Jam, U2, Weezer, Wilco, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, other stuff).

Mordy, Monday, 17 May 2010 21:59 (thirteen years ago) link

Within the context of the modern rock charts, "100%" and "Kool Thing" were top 10 and therefore not minor. I still think those charts were just made up by some random dork though.

Sundar, Monday, 17 May 2010 22:05 (thirteen years ago) link

kool thing might not have been minor...but modern rock charts seemed kind of dodgy...i remember in '93 when i started to get into music, there was a two-hour block on the local top 40 station that was all modern rock, and that was all there was as far as modern rock goes...in 95 there was an actual local alt-rock station for about six months before it turned classic rock...they played stuff like the Deadlights, and the Nixons, and Loud Lucy, and Silverchair...by that time, Sonic Youth was already off the radar...

i think of "alternative" in the 90s as a marketing term, a brand of mainstream, rock-oriented pop offered to MTV-educated consumers who didn't want to think of themselves as unhip. though it carried a great deal of alt-cultural cache, "indie" (at the time) referred simply to label affiliation. since independent labels didn't then have much direct access to the radio listeners at whom alternative music was marketed, indie and alt were vastly different ballparks. alt was what commercially ambitious indie aspired to, and indie culture provided much of the cred that alt used to justify its distance from some other, ostensibly more mainstream-y mainstream. stereolab started the decade as an indie band, and like many others, ended it modestly successful alt rockers.

something like the alternative format still exists, though it seems to be playing for a much smaller slice of the pie these days. happy upside is that smaller labels and even label-less artists can compete with the majors - well, can at least get noticed and heard.

contenderizer, Monday, 17 May 2010 22:11 (thirteen years ago) link

we already have a (rather great) ace of base sounding-ass song in the billboard top ten so

The Reverend, Sunday, 23 May 2010 21:23 (thirteen years ago) link

i wonder what would win early vs late 90s polls for pop, rnb, hip hop,metal etc

pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Sunday, 23 May 2010 21:35 (thirteen years ago) link

I'll do the metal one
Early 90s Metal Vs Mid 90s Metal Vs Late 90s Metal

pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Sunday, 23 May 2010 21:37 (thirteen years ago) link


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