Alternative Pop/Rock is essentially a catch-all term for post-punk bands from the mid-'80s to the mid-'90s. Though there is a variety of musical styles within Alternative Rock, they are all tied together since they existed outside of the mainstream. In some ways, there are two waves of alternative bands, with Nirvana's success in 1991 acting as a dividing point. In the '80s, most alternative bands were on independent labels; if they were on majors, they didn't receive as much support as most of the label's mainstream acts. During the '80s, alternative included everything from jangle pop, post-hardcore punk, funk metal, punk pop, and experimental rock. After Nirvana's popularity in the '90s, alternative included all of these subgenres, but many of the edges were sanded off because the music was now being marketed as part of the mainstream. Hard rock and punk-derived music were more commercially successful than the left-of-center pop that dominated late-'80s alternative pop/rock, so alternative lost some of its quirkier tendencies in the '90s. Most experimental bands were relegated to indie rock.
B. Criticism.
Almost since its birth, alternative music has been criticized. As with anything that is criticized, there are positive comments and negative comments. Unfortunately, many critics only had negative comments for alternative rock and its various subgenres, such as heavy metal. Here is one example, an excerpt from Heavy Metal in response to a claim that he title of the song "Suicide Solution" implies that suicide is the solution to a problem:.
" 'Suicide Solution' was a cut on the first album that Ozzy Osbourne made after he left Black Sabbath, Blizzard of Ozz. The name of the album is relevant here. It is a clever word play on The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy's tornado is converted into another turbulent weather phenomenom, which has the same two consonants as Osbourne's first name. Oz is a place ruled by a wizard, who is rather a fraud, and some of Ozzy's song, such as 'I Don't Know', are reflections of the discomfort he feels when fans see him as a miracle worker or a seer, which, he admits, he is not.
