by Jackie Ballway

Created on: April 15, 2008

The 90s acted as a melting pot for musical genres. A new movement, Alternative Rock, surfaced, combining elements of punk, metal, and industrial sounds to create a rock subculture that is still thriving over a decade later. It wasn't metal, it wasn't punk, it just was. Due to this meshing of styles, however, it's very difficult to crown the "best 90s alternative songs".

The variables are left to interpretation by the voter. For me, they simply include innovation and longevity; who made the most headway and whose influence has remained the longest. Broken down into three groups, the finalists include female-lead bands, grunge bands, and punk-pop artists.

Female-lead bands thrived in the 90s. They were edgy, creative, and didn't rely on tight leather to sell their albums. Though their genre as a whole did not survive, the followers of the original Alt Chicks have.

-Siouxsie and the Banshees "Kiss Them for Me"
-Tracy Bonham "Mother Mother"
-Garbage "Queer"
-Poe "Angry Johnny"
-Cranberries "Linger"

Siouxsie Sioux was the mother of Alt Chick Rock. Her breathy lyrics sang over the pulsating music influenced the sound of artists like Shirley Manson of Garbage and opened up opportunities for acts like Poe and Tracy Bonham.

Grunge is the most obvious of the three groups, more specifically Seattle Grunge. The subgenre emerged in the 80s, but didn't pick up speed until 1991 when both Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten were released.

-Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
-Pearl Jam "Jeremy"
-Soundgarden "Black Hole Sun"
-Stone Temple Pilots "Big Empty"

Each of these bands has released albums within the last few years, either as themselves or as a compilation band featuring members from different ground-breaking groups. Dave Grohl of Nirvana went on to co-create Foo Fighters, Chris Cornell of Soundgarden joined Audioslave, Scott Weiland joined Velvet Revolver, and Pearl Jam, well, remained Pearl Jam.

The last group is my favorite: the punk-pop artists. Dipping into the wealth of the Sex Pistols, Rancid, and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, this subgroup calmed down the instruments but cranked up the gritty lyrics.

-Everclear "Heroin Girl"
-Bush "Greedy Fly"
-Smashing Pumpkins "Disarm"
-Green Day "Basket Case"
- The Offspring "Come Out and Play"
-Cake "The Distance"

Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, The Killers, all owe their success to the originators of the in-your-face-at-a-lower-decibel forefathers. The lyrics were easy to sing along to and the beat was irresistible to dance to.

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