by James Di Fiore

Created on: April 16, 2008

The 1980s taught us some very valuable lessons in music. While we now know that playing the keyboard guitar was not really the way to go, the electro pop and melancholy rock tunes did pave the way for the birth of what would become the source of some of the best new music in the 1990s - Alternative Rock.

Spearheading this decade's rise in alternative music talent was Seattle based group Nirvana. They played simple melodies, had an average lead singer and wore the role of the disgruntled teenager well. They also tapped into a teen angst that had no outlet through the feathered banged softies from the 80s. 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' became the anthem for a generation of rockers and the soundtrack life in high school. The band's intriguing qualities was not their infallible abilities to play their instruments (David Grol was the only accomplished musician), but their ability to mesh an average band into the psyche of North American youth with relative ease.

In contrast, Pearl Jam made their mark through lead singer Eddy Vedder's deep, soulful vocals and a music writing quality unmatched at the time. Even Pearl Jam's concepts were revolutionary, typified through tracks like 'Jeremy', a recounting of a bullied student who committed suicide in front of his classmates. Pearl Jam's ability to sink into story lines and still keep the attention span of one of the most distracted generations was an accomplishment unseen by most critics, giving the band legendary status within a few years of breaking out.

If there was an antithesis to Pearl Jam it would have to be Stone Temple Pilots. Not that they had opposite styles, but fans from the two camps often feuded about which band was the king of alternative rock. 'Vasoline' was a gut-wrenching ballad and the firepower behind the album 'Purple' that went on to sell 5 million copies worldwide. Amazingly, Pearl Jam and STP traded band members for a mini-project known as Temple of The Dog - a one album experiment that brought the vocals of Vedder together with Scott Weiland, a move that angered as many fans as it pleased. 'Hunger Strike' received critical acclaim but the two bands did not pursue the idea any further.

There is a list of hundreds of bands born out of the alternative rick years, but the trinity of the movement was Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots - carving a path for garage heads and angst-ridden teens thirsty for an outlet to express themselves. Alternative music lives on, but similar to hip hop, has been on the receiving end of criticism claiming the genre has sold out. Either way, the movement that began 20 years ago have spawned several top bands, and the feathered bangs have yet to make an encore.

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