Alt-rock doesn’t necessarily have any traditional defining characteristics, other than being an alternative to whatever the mainstream rock movement is at any given time. This has been true since the 1970s.
I think a great example is bands like The White Stripes, Kings of Leon, and The Strokes, back in the late ’90s and early 2000s. They were all very different from the standard at the time, which was post-grunge/buttrock (Creed, Nickelback, etc.) Ironically, grunge itself was alt-rock in the late ’80s. It emerged as an alternative to the hair metal sound that reigned during the era. Eventually, it rose to the top and became the new standard.
Tracing back those roots, there are a few moments and people that you can identify as being precursors to alt-rock’s longevity, starting with The Velvet Underground & Nico album in 1967. The project set a standard that would be experimented with for years to come, ushering in the decade as a new era of rock. Let’s look at a few bands who made that happen in the late 1970s…
Iggy Pop – Lust for Life (1977)
After The Stooges broke up for the second time in 1974, Iggy Pop leaned into his solo career. In 1977, Pop released three albums, including Lust for Life. Pop’s second solo record, Lust for Life is a brilliant concoction of artful garage rock that subverted the mainstream artists of the year, like Meatloaf and Fleetwood Mac.
Notably, Lust for Life features “The Passenger.” A quirky jingle tune, which has since become Pop’s biggest solo song. Then there’s the title track, “Lust for Life.” The song feels a little like a surf rock homage, but you can also hear how it paved the way for 80s alternative rock bands like the Pixies and They Might Be Giants.
The Replacements
In 1978, nineteen-year-old Bob Stinson and his eleven-year-old brother Tommy Stinson began playing music together as a way for Bob to keep Tommy off the streets and help them bond. This was the beginning of what would come to be The Replacements.
Eventually, with Bob on guitar and Tommy on bass, the pair would be joined by drummer Chris Mars and vocalist Paul Westerberg.
For the first few years, the band explored punk sounds with their music, culminating in back-to-back alt-rock albums — Let It Be (1984) and Tim (1985) — that are both still widely regarded today. Rolling Stone even placed Tim on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.
Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures
Some really big rock albums dropped in 1979. AC/DC’s Highway to Hell, Pink Floyd’s The Wall, and Van Halen’s Van Halen II are just a few.
By comparison, Joy Division’s debut record, Unknown Pleasures, was undeniably an alternative sound to what was ruling the airwaves. Ultimately, however, it has been equally as influential on music as the slew of other rock records released the same year, and maybe even more so.
Going into the ’80s, Unknown Pleasures proved to be a trailblazing collection of post-punk, goth, and new wave sounds that came to define the future of alt-rock in so many ways.
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