The Effect of the Beatles’ White Album on 1988-1995’s US Alt-Rock Explosion
The Beatles’ White Album was the single biggest influence on US alternative rock as it burst into the mainstream in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
Nirvana
The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the ’90s: 20 – 1
The fifth and final part of the 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the ’90s, includes Portishead, Blur, Björk, R.E.M., Nine Inch Nails, and more.
The 100 Best Alternative Singles of the 1980s: 80 – 61
Just imagine songs this extreme making the American Top 40, let alone the Top 10… unthinkable.
Top 10 Most Notable Career Suicide Albums
Career suicide albums fall into two camps: those that were released ahead of their time, and those that set new standards in awful. The best thing that could be said about the later category is that these albums are oftentimes just as fascinating as an artist's best work.
Between the Grooves of Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’
Our writers undertake a track-by-track analysis of the most celebrated album of the 1990s: Nirvana's Nevermind. From the surprise hit that brought grunge to the masses, to the hidden cacophonous noise-fest that may not even be on your copy of the record, it's all here.
Smells Like MTV: Music Video and the Rise of Grunge
MTV's central role in delivering grunge to a national audience in the early 1990s demonstrated the network's power as a creator and definer of culture.
The 20 Most Memorable Songs of 1991
So much remarkable music was released in 1991 that it's difficult to choose just 20 memorable songs without a few omissions.
My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Loveless’ and the Un-Invention of Cock Rock
My Bloody Valentine's Loveless stands as an album of (at least) equal importance to Nirvana's Nevermind. A great deal of its importance is how it offers a gender-bending sonic style that severed the entrenched connections between the electric guitar and masculine phallic power.
The Year Alternative Rock Went Massive and Defined a Decade
Musically 1991 will forever be remembered as the year alternative rock conquered the masses. We explore how alternative became the dominant form of rock music in the 1990s.
Counterbalance No. 3: Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’
Our Counterbalance team takes on the "Greatest Albums of All Time". This time it's Nirvana's Nevermind. Dust off your flannel shirt... it's going to be a grungy good time!
Nirvana’s ‘MTV Unplugged in New York’ 25 Years Later
Recorded in late 1993 and achieving notoriety as leader Kurt Cobain's epitaph, Nirvana's MTV Unplugged in New York is back for a 25th anniversary reissue. Are the new rehearsal tracks enough to justify buying the album again?