 | | Though Everclear's Northwestern grunge-punk style was hardly revolutionary when the band rose to popularity in 1995, the trio's hook-ridden songs and Art Alexakis' "us against them" lyrics were taken to heart by bored Gen-X teens. |
 | | When Seattle grunge went mainstream, it was only a matter of time before the ripple effect was felt in regions other than the Pacific Northwest. |
 | | By blending contemporary power pop with elements of the post-grunge era, Gin Blossoms briefly emerged as torchbearers of the lighter side of alternative rock. |
 | | Live rose to success on the strength of its anthemic music and idealistic, overtly spiritual songwriting, two hallmarks that earned the group frequent comparisons to U2. |
 | | Although often lumped into the post-grunge category, Third Eye Blind sported a brighter sound than many of their late-'90s peers, taking as much influence from classic pop/rock traditions as the angst-ridden music that dominated the decade. |
 | | Of all the major alternative rock bands of the early '90s, Smashing Pumpkins were the group least influenced by traditional underground rock. |
 | | Named in honor of a sketch by the Monty Python comedy troupe, Toad the Wet Sprocket became one of the most successful alternative rock bands of the early '90s, boasting a contemporary folk-pop sound that wielded enough melody and R. |
 | | Oasis shot from obscurity to stardom in 1994, becoming one of Britain's most popular and critically acclaimed bands of the decade in the process. |
 | | Stone Temple Pilots were able to turn alternative rock into stadium rock; naturally, they became the most critically despised band of their era. |
 | | Led by guitarist/vocalist Gavin Rossdale, Bush became the first post-Nirvana British band to hit it big in America. |
 | | Primarily known for their post-grunge blockbuster hit "The Freshmen," the Verve Pipe formed in 1992 in Lansing, Michigan, where frontman Brian Vander Ark pieced his group together from the ashes of two local bands. |
 | | Pearl Jam rose from the ashes of Mother Love Bone to become the most popular American rock & roll band of the '90s. |
 | | Vocalist/guitarist Emerson Hart formed the alternative/roots band Tonic in 1993 with guitarist Jeff Russo (a childhood friend), bassist Dan Rothchild, and drummer Kevin Shepard. |
 | | Whereas most up-and-coming alternative bands of the early '90s borrowed from the leaders of the pack (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Nine Inch Nails, etc. |
 | | As one of the most popular groups to emerge in the post-grunge alternative rock aftermath, Weezer received equal amounts of criticism and praise for their hook-heavy guitar pop. |
 | | Candlebox rode the grunge bandwagon to multi-platinum success in the early '90s, despite howls of protest from the Seattle faithful who considered their music a watered-down version of the genuine article. |
 | | When Foo Fighters released a debut album written and recorded entirely by leader Dave Grohl -- at that point known only as the powerhouse drummer for Nirvana -- in the summer of 1995, few would have guessed that the group would wind up as the one band to survive the '90s alt-rock explosion unscathed. |
 | | Few bands have had a more complicated relationship with commercial success than Soul Asylum. In the 1980s, they lurked in the shadows of the Minneapolis alternative rock scene, then dominated by the Replacements and Hüsker Dü, and their first tenure on a major label ended with the band being unceremoniously dropped after their expected commercial breakthrough was both a critical and a sales disappointment. |
 | | There were many pseudo-hippie, jam-oriented blues rockers in New York during the early '90s, but only the Spin Doctors made it big. |
 | | Punk-pop trio Eve 6 scored three Top 40 singles (as well as eight modern rock hits) during the late '90s and early 2000s. |
 | | Although the members of Marcy Playground met in New York City during the mid-'90s, both singer/guitarist John Wozniak and bassist Dylan Keefe originally hailed from Minneapolis, and drummer Dan Rieser grew up in Ohio. |
 | | Prior to Nirvana, alternative music was consigned to specialty sections of record stores, and major labels considered it to be, at the very most, a tax write-off. |
 | | Jane's Addiction were one of the most hotly pursued rock bands when they gained notice in Los Angeles in the mid-'80s, with record companies at their feet. |
 | | 311's fusion of reggae and rap-metal was created in Omaha, Nebraska, where singer/guitarist Nick Hexum, DJ/singer S. |
 | | As part of the mid-'90s revival of roots-rock, the Wallflowers held a special connection to one of the original inspirations: vocalist/songwriter/guitarist Jakob Dylan. |
 | | Early in their career, the Goo Goo Dolls were frequently dismissed by critics as mere imitators of the Replacements; however, they refined and mainstreamed their sound to become one of the most popular adult alternative rock bands of the 1990s, selling millions of records to audiences largely unfamiliar with their influences. |
 | | Soundgarden made a place for heavy metal in alternative rock. Their fellow Seattle rockers Green River may have spearheaded the grunge sound, but they relied on noise rock in the vein of the Stooges. |
 | | After the breakup of Trip Shakespeare, Minneapolis natives Dan Wilson and John Munson teamed up with drummer Jacob Slichter to form Semisonic in 1993. |
 | | With their angst-filled hybrid of Van Morrison, the Band, and R.E.M., Counting Crows became an overnight sensation in 1994. |
 | | Silverchair quickly rose to international stardom in 1995 by mining a mix of Nirvana and Pearl Jam on their debut album, Frogstomp. |
 | | Incubus became one of the most popular alt-metal bands of the new millennium, setting themselves apart from a crowded field with a tireless touring ethic and a broad musical palette. |
 | | Within the alternative world, Seven Mary Three have often been compared to the mainstream-sounding, garage/arena rock of post-Ten Pearl Jam, but the group insists that their refusal to alienate themselves from the rest of the world makes them different. |
 | | Formed in 1988 as a garage punk band, Sublime rose to fame in the mid-'90s on the back of the California punk explosion engendered by Green Day and the Offspring, though Sublime boosted their punk influences with heavy elements of reggae and ska. |
 | | Few rock groups of the '80s broke down as many musical barriers and were as original as the Red Hot Chili Peppers. |
 | | Best-known for their ubiquitous hit "The Distance," Cake epitomized the postmodern, irony-drenched aesthetic of '90s geek rock. |
 | | The Offspring's metal-inflected punk became a popular sensation in 1994, selling over four million albums on an independent record label. |
 | | With the return of the punks in the mid-'90s came a resurgence of their slightly more commercial rivals, new wave bands. |
 | | The Presidents of the United States of America were one of the most unlikely success stories of the post-grunge alternative rock scene in Seattle. |
 | | A major player throughout the post-grunge boom of the late '90s, Lit featured the combined talents of frontman A. |
 | | The Santa Barbara, CA, band Dishwalla made a big splash in 1996 with their catchy pop single "Counting Blue Cars. |
 | | Our Lady Peace was one of the most successful Canadian bands of the post-grunge era, issuing platinum-selling album after platinum-selling album while also enjoying modest acclaim in America. |
 | | During Cracker's heyday in the 1990s, the Virginia-based band molded elements of alternative pop/rock and country into several irreverent, buzzworthy anthems. |
 | | R.E.M. marked the point when post-punk turned into alternative rock. When their first single, "Radio Free Europe," was released in 1981, it sparked a back-to-the-garage movement in the American underground. |
 | | At the time of their 1990 debut, the kind of rock & roll the Black Crowes specialized in was sorely out of style. |
 | | Once best known for his tenure in the rap unit House of Pain, Everlast successfully reinvented himself in 1998 with the best-selling Whitey Ford Sings the Blues, a largely acoustic, hip-hop-flavored effort in the genre-crossing mold of Beck. |
 | | Initially pegged as something as a voice of a generation when “Loser” turned into a smash crossover success, Beck did wind up crystallizing much of the post-modern ruckus of the ‘90s alternative explosion, but in unexpected ways. |
 | | Best known as the creators of the 1995 grunge staple "Possum Kingdom," the Toadies formed in 1989 and spent their infancy playing shows in Fort Worth, TX. |
 | | Belying their origins as a raucous funk metal band, Sugar Ray created several of the most breezily infectious summer singles of the late '90s, hitting on an appealing combination of sunny pop, lightly funky hip-hop grooves, and reggae lilt. |
 | | Out of all the post-Nirvana alternative bands to break into the pop mainstream, Green Day were second only to Pearl Jam in terms of influence. |
 | | The new-school punk trio blink-182 were formed in the suburbs of San Diego, California around guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge, bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus, and drummer Scott Raynor. |
