In an age when alternative rock bands fill stadiums and ascend the pop charts, it invites the question: “alternative" to what? Early on, the alternative movement was a reaction to the commercial excesses of mainstream rock. Alt-rock instead brought quirky hooks, a do-it-yourself ethos, deeply personal songwriting and genre-bending adventures to audiences hungry for something different. Although it truly exploded in the early ’90s, the roots of alternative rock started with the punk revolution of the late ’70s, when bands like the Sex Pistols, Ramones and The Clash proved that just about anyone could get up on stage or make a record. Throughout the ’80s, an international network of under-the-radar bands developed, nurtured by a vibrant gigging scene. While hardcore kept the traditional loud-and-fast sound of punk alive, many newer bands had their own distinctive styles: R.E.M.'s jangling, folk-influenced rock, Sonic Youth's dissonant noise, The Cure's epic gloom, The Smiths’ petulant indie and New Order's electronic grooves.

Eventually, these bands were dubbed "alternative rock", thanks to their left-of-centre sounds and attitudes. By the early ’90s though, grunge bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam were combining punk’s raw energy with classic hard-rock hooks and entering the pop charts. Suddenly, other alternative heroes like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Soundgarden found massive audiences, while the Madchester scene spawned acts such as The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. Over the next decade, alternative bands of various subgenres introduced a whole generation of young rockers to punk (Green Day), hip-hop (Rage Against the Machine), industrial (Nine Inch Nails), art rock (Radiohead), power pop (Weezer), psychedelia (The Flaming Lips), metal (Tool), Britpop (Oasis), electronic music (The Prodigy) and much more. By the 21st century, alternative rock had grown popular enough to allow bands like Foo Fighters and Coldplay to sell out stadiums in minutes. At the same time, the anything-goes spirit of alternative rock remained alive and well, with newer bands embracing garage rock (The White Stripes), post-punk (The Libertines) and New Wave (The Killers).