When Tanya Donnelly sings “be there when I feed the tree,” it becomes a plea to stay committed to her even after her death. There’s a touching metaphor at the heart of Belly’s “Feed the Tree”: The tree in question refers to one that you would bury a loved one under. Is it folk? Is it hip-hop? And what’s with the sitar loop – is it raga rock? Whatever you call it, Beck’s idiosyncratic “Loser” became a runaway hit, transforming the struggling songwriter into a major label concern – and alternative’s next big thing. Despite the implied romance of a lyric like “I was handed down a bike / With a crooked old wheel / But I rode it on a million lanes / The way that you made me feel,” the words “I love you” are never spoken – just a chaste “I’m your number one fan.” Beck – Loser (1993) “I’m Your No.1 Fan” is perhaps as close as they could get to writing an out-and-out love song, and even then, they tell it slant. Throughout their career, The Beautiful South spiked their melodic indie-pop with acerbic humor. Rather than signal a stylistic retreat for the trio, it instead offered further proof of their restless musical curiosity and willingness to shake up their sound.Ĭlick to load video The Beautiful South – I’m Your No.1 Fan (1992) The Beastie Boys returned to their punk roots with “Sabotage,” a white-hot blast of rage and noise that sounded equally at home on rock and rap radio. In the boys club that was 90s alt-rock, Morissette made the sound of female anger impossible to ignore. The spark that lit its success was lead single “You Oughta Know”-half unfiltered expression of sexuality and half brutal takedown of a selfish ex (“And every time I scratch my nails down someone else’s back / I hope you feel it”). Alanis Morissette – You Oughta Know (1995)Īlanis Morissette’s first two albums weren’t even released outside of her native Canada, but she struck gold with Jagged Little Pill, a runaway smash that sold over 33 million copies around the world. “La femme d’argent” is a seven-minute pleasure cruise through the cosmos, so immaculate on the ears that there’s no need to turn on – just tune in and chill out. Glassy and downtempo, it felt like a throwback to space-age pop or the “sounds of the future” of the past. In contrast with their fellow countrymen Daft Punk, Air made electronic music that was designed for lounging as opposed to clubbing. And then there’s the fact that it appeared on the soundtracks to creepy teen films like The Curve and Cruel Intentions. Is Aimee Mann’s 1995 single “You Could Make a Killing” about making a lot of money, or is it about a literal act of murder? It’s probably the former, but there’s something unsettling about the ambient sound effects in the song’s opening seconds – which bring to mind screeching tires and police sirens – as well as lyrics that seem to hint at something unspeakable. Aimee Mann – You Could Make a Killing (1995) If only everyone who attempted this song at karaoke night could muster the same sense of world-weariness.

When Linda Perry sings, “Twenty-five years and my life is still / Tryin’ to get up that great big hill of hope / For a destination” at the start of 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up?,” her voice practically cracks with disappointment, as if she’s been living and searching for even longer. Looking to explore some of our best alternative songs of the 90s? Check out our exclusive playlist on Spotify. You’ll see a lot of grunge and Brit-pop represented below, but alternative was a worldwide phenomenon, and that’s why you’ll also see artists from Mexico, Iceland, France, and more.įrom one-hit wonders to era-defining anthems, here are some of the best 90s alternative songs. We’ve got groups whose work in the 80s laid the groundwork for a 90s breakout, and some that were just getting started when they were catapulted to stardom. There’s no one particular sound to alternative, which is why any attempt to whittle the genre down to just 100 songs is almost a Sisyphean endeavor. Suddenly, A&R executives and MTV kids alike were eager to find the next Nirvana or Alanis Morissette, the next songwriter to pen an anthem that would define a generation. These subgenres, and their stylistic origins, existed on the fringes until, paradoxically, alternative rock went mainstream. For one, “alternative” resists easy definition: It’s less of a genre unto itself, such as jazz or blues, and more of a descriptor, an umbrella term that encompasses various strains of guitar-driven music, including grunge, indie rock, shoegazing, and emo, to name a few. What makes music “alternative”? It’s been three decades since the advent of alternative rock, and it’s still a tricky question to answer.

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