Alternative for the Masses: The ’90s Alt-Rock Revolution—An Oral History

Music journalist Prato (Lanegan) delivers a comprehensive oral history of what he deems “rock’s last truly great movement.” Pulling from conversations with members of such 1990s alt-rock bands as the Pixies, Dinosaur Jr., and Slint (plus figures like musician and actor Fred Armisen, MTV VJ Kennedy, and producer Steve Albini), the author tracks the genre’s evolution. Alt-rock, he finds, began as a reaction to the popular “commercial hair bands” of the 1980s, combining strains of punk, hardcore, and college rock. Embracing distortion and liberal politics, alternative slowly took over the mainstream, aided by the popularity of the Lollapalooza festival and the superstardom of Nirvana. Along the way, alternative also came to serve as an umbrella term for stylistically diverse pocket genres like shoegaze, pop-punk, and riot grrrl. The book also probes alt-rock’s intersection with drugs and addiction, its sometimes retrograde treatment of women, the relationship between major and minor record labels, and its signature guitar styles. It adds up to a multifaceted portrait of a vital chapter in rock history. Photos. (Oct.)