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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 20, 2022 21:43:18 GMT -5
THE ULTIMATE ALTERNATIVE 255 “Alternative” as we know it isn’t really a genre of music so much as it is a collection of genres lumped together that act as the flipside to mainstream radio. Such genres and scenes include punk, grunge, new wave, emo, electronica, nu metal, and britpop, just to name a few. Scouring through this vast collection to get the very best of the best is hard, but I’ve made a valiant attempt here. Bias will be present in any list as much as one might pretend it isn’t there, but I’ve tried to be fairly objective here in spite of the challenge ahead of me. A list this big sounds like it would be difficult to assemble, and it was, but not for lack of songs. Just cutting it down to 255 was an undertaking, and ranking them all used a lot of sweat glands. But here it is, a massive and varied list featuring the originators, the game-changers, and the chart-stormers. And don’t judge me too harshly, I’m only doing this because Toz76 won’t. Without further ado, here they are, the greatest alternative songs of all time.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 20, 2022 21:51:37 GMT -5
255. The Offspring - “The Kids Aren’t Alright”
Flipping a song title from The Who on its head, The Offspring had a top 10 Modern Rock Tracks hit with this song about failed lives. It remains one of their most beloved songs for its emotional statement in a short and simple package.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 20, 2022 21:55:58 GMT -5
254. Smash Mouth - “All Star”
Sometimes being a meme pushes a song into the history books, and that’s definitely the case for Smash Mouth’s most iconic single. A big hit upon release, its comedic usage in internet videos has given it a new lease on life, one unlikely to be forgotten.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 20, 2022 22:01:16 GMT -5
253. Owl City - “Fireflies”
A sonic wonderworld that topped the Billboard Top 100 for two weeks, this 2009 Owl City track is a quasi-lullaby that’s actually about insomnia. It became a huge hit worldwide and now remains one of the biggest synth-pop songs of the 21st century.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 20, 2022 22:06:17 GMT -5
252. Candlebox - “Far Behind”
Mother Love Bone left a huge legacy on ‘90s alt after the death of frontman Andrew Wood, and this hit from Candlebox’s debut was written in his honor. It stayed in the charts for half a year and remains one of their most beloved songs.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 20, 2022 22:11:51 GMT -5
251. Screaming Trees - “Nearly Lost You”
Now lost in the shuffle of time, Screaming Trees were at one time pioneers of an exciting movement in alt history called grunge. Heard of it? This single from their sixth album Sweet Oblivion is their biggest song, a reminder of their talent.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 20, 2022 22:17:46 GMT -5
250. Radiohead - “No Surprises”
On an album as groundbreaking as OK Computer, it should be hard to stand out among the classics littering the record. Yet “No Surprises”, with its lulling calm and despairing lyrics does just that. Coupled with the iconic video of Thom Yorke in a helmet slowly filling with water and you have a song for the ages.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 20, 2022 22:24:11 GMT -5
249. Bauhaus - “She’s in Parties”
The O.G. goth group, Bauhaus’s last single is one of their most beloved songs. By the time its parent album Burning From the Inside was released, the band had already parted ways, and would remain disbanded until 2005.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 20, 2022 22:31:02 GMT -5
248. R.E.M. - “Everybody Hurts”
A straightforward message of hope in a beautiful ballad format, this Automatic for the People cut has become one of R.E.M.’s most iconic tracks. Former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones did the song’s string arrangements, heightening its emotional impact tenfold.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 21, 2022 21:05:47 GMT -5
247. The Cure - “Friday I’m in Love”
In a world of darkness, sometimes it takes an on-the-nose sort of happy song to provide a spark in the dark. That’s exactly what this 1992 song is — a snappy, catchy sing-along that was so infectious it became a worldwide hit.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 21, 2022 21:08:43 GMT -5
246. INXS - “Need You Tonight”
“Need You Tonight” is something of an oddity in the INXS catalogue, more electronic than most of their other songs. Yet somehow that resonated with audiences, providing them their only #1 on the Top 100.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 21, 2022 21:14:36 GMT -5
245. Cocteau Twins - “Heaven or Las Vegas”
Lush and colorful, this Scottish group put a definitive stamp on dream pop with this single from their 1990 album of the same name. It would be their last and most memorable alt chart hit.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 21, 2022 21:23:24 GMT -5
244. A Tribe Called Quest - “Can I Kick It?”
This 1990s hip hop classic, one of Quest’s most iconic songs, samples Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side”. The group has never made a dime on it due to the sample, but it’s a massively popular track from the blooming days of one of modern music’s biggest genres.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 21, 2022 21:26:53 GMT -5
243. Capital Cities - “Safe and Sound”
One of those songs that seems to get pegged for every commercial, and honestly, why not? With its smooth production and iconic trumpet line, this duo’s breakout hit is an iconic wave of tranquility.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 21, 2022 21:31:35 GMT -5
242. Deep Blue Something - “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”
The ‘90s could be a fucking wild place for lyrical inspiration sometimes, and this one hit wonder track is such an instance. The song’s entire point is that a couple liking the same film is basis for keeping the relationship alive. Weird, but it seemed to resonate, even though no one remembers Deep Blue Something for anything but this song.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 21, 2022 21:41:15 GMT -5
241. Green Day - “Wake Me Up When September Ends”
One of Green Day’s most emotional songs, this single means a lot of things to a lot of people. For Billie Joe Armstrong, it was a recollection of his feelings in the wake of his father’s death. In wider US culture, the song became a memoriam to the victims of both Hurricane Katrina and the September 11th terror attacks. And the music video, about a couple being shattered by war, exemplified American Idiot, the album, in its rawest protestation of the horrors in the post-9/11 world.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 21, 2022 21:48:06 GMT -5
240. L7 - “Pretend We’re Dead”
The signature song of one of grunge’s most iconic female groups, this song was written after a breakup and became a moderate success. It stayed in the modern rock charts for a full twenty weeks and is now one of the classics of the genre.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 21, 2022 21:52:02 GMT -5
239. Veruca Salt - “Seether”
Picked up early on by college and alt radio, the success of this single propelled Veruca Salt to fame, and the video became a success on MTV. It’s about rage from a woman’s perspective, and its raw sound and lyrics have made it a classic of the grunge era.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 23, 2022 14:13:07 GMT -5
238. Nickelback - “How You Remind Me”
Nickelback may be one of music’s biggest jokes, but they clearly have been doing something right to remain popular with their fanbase all these years later. This single from their third album is their most famous song, topping the Hot 100 and becoming one of the most played songs on 2000s radio.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Aug 23, 2022 14:17:52 GMT -5
237. Sum 41 - “Fat Lip”
These skater bois released their most famous song on their 2001 debut album All Killer No Filler. Namedropping their influences in a tight rap rock / punk package, it reached number 66 in the Hot 100 and topped the Modern Rock Tracks chart.
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