Alternative music, also tagged as alternative rock music and alt-rock refers to the type of rock music that initially emerged in the early 1980’s that defined the sound of rock bands inspired by the punk rock. However, it was denied subscription to the conventional types of that period. Alternative music includes sub-types like indie rock, gothic rock, post-punk, Britpop, grunge, and New Wave. This alternative music was famous for its use of guitar instrumentations and popular with the college clusters and music undergrounds in 1980’s. Despite the refusal of the mainstream to accept this alternative rock music, it has undeniably made commercial success especially in 1960.

The following rock artists and bands, although were not very successful commercially,  have laid the foundation for the alternative music type and made efforts that influenced a new generation of alternative rock artists and bands in the late 1980 and early of 1990:

• R.E.M.
• The Replacements
• Talking Heads
• The Feelies
• Big Black
• Husker Du
• Sonic youth
• Violent Femmes

It was when R.E.M. and Jane’s Addiction received gold and platinum status with their alternative music, it led the way for the breakthrough of the genre. It was the Nirvana, an alternative rock band, which hurled alternative music into the mainstream and created an “alternative nation” advocacy in Seattle and helped other alternative rock artists and bands to emerge like Smashing Pumpkins, Rage Against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Goo Goo Dolls, and many more. In UK, Oasis, Suede, Pulp, Radiohead, and Blur came out.