Favorite 90s Alternative Bands

What are some of the ones you liked?

For me, it was (and in no particular order of favorite):

Sometime Sunday
Wish For Eden/Rob Walker
Plankeye (first 3 albums)
Johnny Q. Public
Grammatrain
The Prayer Chain
Fleming & John
Hot Pink Turtle
One Bad Pig
Lust Control

I am sure that there are others that I have forgotten.  I missed a large portion of the 90s as I went through this weird phase where I really tried to like Southern Gospel.  It just wasn't me.

Who else did you like?

I missed 10 years of the 90s.
Why?
Because I had no idea there were bands playing Christian hard rock.

In the 90s I listened to the radio.

Oh jeez.... This is my favorite style of music so...

LSU (Lifesavers Underground)
Aunt Bettys
Michael Knott
Five Iron Frenzy
Showbread (they didn't sign a record deal until 2004 but they've been playing since 1997)
Stavesacre
The Crucifed
Argyle Park (and AP2)
Roper
Twotimer
Sublime
Poor Old Lu (casual fan...)

Fleming & John, Seven Day Jesus and Skillet. (I would consider Skillet's first album alternative... kinda).

With the exception of The Crucified and Precious Death.....I hated all of it.

I didn't pay much attention to what was coming out in the 90's.  My musical focus was on playing.

Quote :

(I would consider Skillet's first album alternative... kinda).

Their debut album was as grunge as grunge can be.  While some bands get slammed for it, Skillet has always chased fads and found themselves on top.  Their debut was probably the most real album for them musically.  Everything else they seem to be riding whatever is popular in hard rock at the moment.  I still dig them, though.

I wouldn't call The Pig, The Cru or Lust Control alternative.  Punk, definitely.  But alternative? No.

Through The Dark Radio wrote:

I wouldn't call The Pig, The Cru or Lust Control alternative.  Punk, definitely.  But alternative? No.

I guess it depends on how we define alternative music. Sometime Sunday is grunge. The Cru is punk. LSU is trippy, hard rock with lots of punk influence.

I've always thought of alternative music as punk and everything punk influenced - grunge, post-punk, gothic, New Wave, Jangle Pop, industrial, shoegazer, grunge, etc.

So "alternative" could include Cru (punk), REM (jangle), Nirvana (grunge), Mortal (industrial), Blondie (new wave) and Sisters of Mercy (goth).

alldatndensum wrote:

Quote :

(I would consider Skillet's first album alternative... kinda).

Their debut album was as grunge as grunge can be.

Interesting. I've had it sitting on my dresser for 2 years. Guess I should listen to it finally.

Forevertree
Torn (may not be 90s?)

Most of the alt/grunge bands I was into in the 90's were secular....but I did find a few later on in the 2000's when I started listening to Christian bands.

Undercover (especially the Devotion & Branded albums)
Mad at the World
Rose
Common Children (the Skywire album)
Stir
Human
Forevertree
Torn (the Tree album)
Spirit Creek
Fono (at least their first album, as that is all I have)
Hammertown (although technically their album came out in 2003)

These three are among my all time favorite bands!

The Violet Burning
The Prayer Chain
Poor Old Lu

Alternative to what?

oteis wrote:

These three are among my all time favorite bands!

The Violet Burning
The Prayer Chain
Poor Old Lu

How could I have forgotten The Violet Burning?  Fantastic band.

Xid wrote:

Alternative to what?

Alternative to what was being force-fed to the masses by the record industry.  Of course "the alternative" got popular enough that the recording industry started force feeding it too.

Xid wrote:

Alternative to what?

Although that definition has become somewhat ambiguous these days, I think most people saw "alternative"  or "alternative rock" as being just different from what pop radio and the 80s & early 90s hard rock/metal scene were doing when this all hit.  Today, metal would be considered alternative as that isn't the hard rock you'd hear on a radio station.

Hot funk, cool punk, even if it's old junk
It's still rock and roll to me

When it started (and still, to folks like me), alternative was in fact an alternative to mainstream music. Most alt music is influnced by punk rock, the greatest music to ever live.

Xid wrote:

Hot funk, cool punk, even if it's old junk
It's still rock and roll to me

I had just used a different line from that same song on Driven's FB page before seeing this!  Either great minds think alike, or the mass delusion has begun.  Take your pic.

I think I shall go with "great minds".

I was hoping for the more fun group delusion.  The voices in my head need some new friends.

2 great minds plus 1 group delusion equals endless hours of entertainment.

OC Supertones

How about Eloi?  I still enjoy the groups second album "Mold".  That said, I would describe Eloi as more alternative hard rock as opposed to straight alternative.

Quote :

Stir
Torn (the Tree album)

I am glad someone mentioned these two.

Dynamis wrote:

How about Eloi?  I still enjoy the groups second album "Mold". ...

Never heard of them.  I'll hit up YouTube and see if I can listen to some of their tunes.