Alternative Rock

The band that broke grunge into the mainstream and reshaped 1990s rock.

Stadium-filling Irish rockers who fused post-punk drive with anthemic ambition.

Restless art-rock innovators reshaping what guitar music could be.

Athens, Georgia jangle-pop trailblazers who built American college rock.

Seattle's enduring grunge standard-bearers with a deep catalog.

L.A. funk-rockers turned long-running alternative rock institution.

Dave Grohl-led rock workhorse, the most successful post-Nirvana band.

Manchester swagger and Beatlesque hooks at the center of Britpop.

Britpop chameleons whose restless reinventions outlasted the era.

Goth-tinged post-punk turned arena-filling alternative rock.

Manchester icons whose four albums defined British indie.

Bleak Mancunian post-punk whose two albums shaped a generation.

Loud-quiet-loud Boston quartet who taught alternative rock how to be weird.

New York noise-rock pillars who connected the underground to the mainstream.

Politically charged rap-rock whose riffs fused funk-metal and protest.

Genre-blending L.A. rockers whose debut redefined post-grunge radio.

Sheffield indie-rockers whose internet-fueled rise rewrote breakthrough playbooks.

British alt-rockers turned global stadium-pop colossus.

Bombastic British trio fusing prog ambition and arena spectacle.

Chicago dream-grunge band of double-album scale and shoegaze color.

Power-pop nerds with two iconic 90s records and a long, divisive run.

Las Vegas synth-rockers behind one of the defining 2000s debuts.

Tennessee brothers who arc-ed from southern garage to stadium rock.

Armenian-American L.A. quartet weaving folk, metal, and political rage.

Sacramento metallers blending shoegaze textures with crushing weight.

Liverpool post-punk band of cinematic atmosphere and Doors-y drama.

Massachusetts indie noise legends whose loud-soft template shaped 90s alt-rock.

Minneapolis ramshackle rockers beloved for songwriting and chaos in equal measure.

Twin Cities trio who proved hardcore could carry melody and ambition.

Boston post-punks whose noisy intelligence prefigured indie rock.

Mesa, Arizona band whose 'Bleed American' became emo's mainstream entry.

Trent Reznor's industrial-rock juggernaut whose 'Downward Spiral' is genre-defining.

Mike Scott's pan-Celtic 'big music' band of folk-rock grandeur.

Scottish New Wave band whose bagpipe-toned guitars stamped a unique sound.

Glasgow art-rockers turned 80s arena hitmakers.

Buenos Aires trio who became Latin America's biggest rock band.

Mexico City eclectics whose music spans rock en español, electronica, and more.

Guadalajara band who became one of the most popular Latin rock acts.

Mexico City rock-en-español pioneers of dark, danceable rock.

Buenos Aires alt-rockers whose sleek strangeness defines modern Argentine rock.

Bogotá rock-en-español band of folk-tinged genre play.

Zaragoza band who became one of Spain's biggest rock exports.

Bordeaux alt-rockers, one of France's most acclaimed rock bands.

Perth progressive band whose 'Sound Awake' is modern Australian prog canon.

Sydney garage-rockers central to the early-2000s rock revival.

Brisbane band, one of Australia's most successful 2000s rock acts.

Newcastle teen-grunge phenomenons who matured into ambitious art rock.

Sydney pub-rock turned protest-rock, fronted by future minister Peter Garrett.

Sydney garage-power-poppers and longtime Australian rock favorites.

Trans-Tasman rockers behind enduring hits like 'Don't Dream It's Over'.

Sydney indie-rock veterans whose 90s peak set Australian alternative rock.

Cave's Berlin-formed band of literary, often gothic alternative rock.

Perth band of gothic Western Australia, beloved by 80s indie.

Brisbane indie-pop band of literary jangle and slow-burn international acclaim.

Melbourne pub-rock big-band of brassy anthems and beloved deep cuts.

Sydney band whose 'Under the Milky Way' became a global indie touchstone.

Sydney band of stadium-scale indie rock and emotional candor.

Kingston band synonymous with Canadian rock identity for three decades.

Montreal collective whose 'Funeral' is a 2000s indie cornerstone.

Toronto indie-rock collective and 2000s Canadian indie hub.

Toronto synth-rock band of Emily Haines vocals and propulsive hooks.

Mississauga melodic-punk-rockers and a Canadian rock radio mainstay.

Norwood post-grunge mainstays of 2000s active-rock radio.

Hanna, Alberta band whose post-grunge anthems made them global hitmakers.

Vancouver post-grunge band aligned with the Nickelback-era radio sound.

Toronto alt-rockers and one of Canada's biggest 90s rock exports.

Leeds gothic-rock band founded by ex-Sisters of Mercy members.

Leeds jangle-and-noise indie band beloved by John Peel.

Sheffield band whose Jarvis Cocker-led wit and class observation defined Britpop.

London band who lit Britpop's fuse with glam-tinged urban romance.

Wigan band whose 'Urban Hymns' is one of Britpop's biggest sellers.

Oxford trio whose 'I Should Coco' captured Britpop's youthful rush.

Leicester indie-rockers of swaggering, electronic-leaning rock.

London indie-rockers of late-2000s UK chart prominence.

London indie-rockers of layered guitars and acclaimed late-period work.

London band drifting between dream pop, grunge, and indie folk.

London indie-rockers of polyrhythmic playfulness and warm production.

Cincinnati-via-Brooklyn band of literary baritone indie rock.

Issaquah indie-rockers whose oddball songcraft became a 2000s mainstream act.

Bellingham indie-rockers of melancholy melodicism.

Chicago alt-country pioneers turned restless American art-rock band.

Louisville band of reverbed Americana and jam-band live reach.

Seattle indie-rockers of widescreen Americana and harmony.

Austin indie-rockers of taut, minimalist groove and crisp production.

Courtney Love-led L.A. band whose 'Live Through This' is a 90s pillar.

Anglo-American band fronted by Shirley Manson whose 90s alt-rock hits remain canonical.

Sacramento alt-rockers of trumpet-flecked deadpan and unmistakable groove.

Brooklyn duo of clever, durable alt-pop across many decades.

Berkeley band whose 'August and Everything After' became a 90s alt-rock standard.

Columbia, S.C. band whose 'Cracked Rear View' was a 90s mass-market behemoth.

Florida band whose Rob Thomas-led adult-alternative dominated late-90s radio.

Buffalo alt-rockers turned soft-rock hitmakers behind 'Iris'.

York, Pennsylvania alt-rockers whose 'Throwing Copper' was a 90s ubiquity.

London band whose post-Nirvana grunge-rock found massive U.S. crossover.

San Diego band whose Weiland-fronted grunge-rock topped 90s charts.

Chris Cornell-RATM supergroup of brawny post-grunge rock.

Soundgarden-Pearl-Jam tribute project whose lone album is a grunge cornerstone.

Sub Pop fuzz-rock standard-bearers and grunge OGs.

Mark Lanegan-fronted grunge band of psychedelic shading.

Texas chaos-rock band whose live shows were 80s underground legend.

Boise indie band whose Doug Martsch-led guitar sprawl is hugely influential.

Hoboken indie lifers fluent in everything from drone to bossa nova.

Stockton lo-fi indie cornerstone whose albums remain indie-rock canon.

Lou Barlow's lo-fi indie band, an essential 90s touchstone.

Dayton indie-rock institution of Robert Pollard's prolific four-track songwriting.

Glasgow rock chameleons whose 'Screamadelica' fused indie and dance.

Manchester band whose self-titled debut anchored Madchester and shaped Britpop.

Manchester baggy-rave-rockers central to Madchester.

Oldham Madchester organ-rock band, an early 90s indie crossover.

Northwich indie-rockers and a long-running Britpop survivor.

Glasgow-formed band whose 'Chasing Cars' became a global radio staple.

Cwmaman, Welsh rock veterans of working-class Britpop carried into the 21st century.

Welsh rockers whose literary, politicized arena-indie outlasted their dramatic 90s.

Welsh band fronted by Cerys Matthews, late-Britpop crossover hitmakers.

Damon Albarn's animated band crossing alt-rock with hip hop and electronica.

London band of androgynous glam-tinged alt-rock and 90s-into-2000s prominence.

London band fronted by Skin, whose Britrock crunch broke into late-90s charts.

Belfast trio whose noise-pop crunch made them 90s UK rock mainstays.

Limerick band fronted by Dolores O'Riordan whose 90s alt-rock hits remain ubiquitous.

Dublin band of Celtic-tinged soulful rock.

Brooklyn-via-Minneapolis bar-rockers of literary Craig Finn songwriting.

Seoul indie-rock band among Korea's most acclaimed contemporary rock acts.