what would be catagoreized as "alternative music"?

Answer 1

Anything widely accepted and played often on MTV is not "alternative". Bands who play in common styles and have the same lyrics and instrumentals are not "alternative". Thus, Green Day and AFI are not alternative. Alternative is undiscovered. The very word "alternative" is defined as "different". Thus, any music you hear with four guitar chords and mindless lyrics is not alternative. One of my favorite alternative bands is The Mars Volta. They combine indie rock, jazz-fusion, prog, and salsa in one band, with complex lyrics that tell intricate stories.


...and I'm sorry if any of that sounded pretentious.

Answer 2

R.E.M. was the biggest band in what was called College Radio but was redesignated Alternative after they started hitting the charts. Of course then they were rejected by their fans because after 6 albums and 6 years of touring cheap and barely making ends meet they signed with Warner and had a fluke hit with "Stand" which brought in a bunch of teenybopper fans and the cool people got all pissy.

REM, 10,000 Maniacs, the Lemonheads, Sonic Youth, the Pixies, the Replacements were all big Alternative bands when they were on independent labels but were getting major radio play.

What is alternative now? Probably bands that never get TV play and don't all look like they were made in Hollywood.

Answer 3

"Alternative music" is just that, an alternative to mainstream. Indie rock is an alternative to mainstream rock, just as bluegrass and alt-country are alternatives to mainstream country music. If you want to get a grasp of what "alternative music" means and is, replace those two words with "alternative types of music", and you're on your way.

Answer 4

This is a list of what users on last.fm consider to be alternative music. It may not be correct, but it'll give you an idea.

http://www.last.fm/tag/alternative/artists

Answer 5

Old--Nirvana, The Pixies, Skinny Puppy

New -- AFI, Academy Is, Idlewild

Answer 6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_music

theres all the information on alternative music, what categorized as alternative, and the history of alternative music. hope that helps.

bands i consider alternative is:

nirvana
foo fighters
my chemical romance,
the offspring
nickelback
three days grace
green day(maybe old green day)

Answer 7

anything other than Sinatra, Blues, Jazz, and of coursr, Italian Opera.

Answer 8

I think Greenday is alternative.