Eli5 why rock n’ roll music in the 90s was called alternative? What was it alternative to? What defined it as a separate genre?

Question

Eli5 why rock n’ roll music in the 90s was called alternative? What was it alternative to? What defined it as a separate genre?

In: 1778

Answer 1

It was actually called “alternative-rock” and it usually had a lot more grunge sound to it. This was a time when grunge music really came into popularity and took off. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, sound garden and tons more kept making rock n roll music but they didn’t sound anything like 70s rock n roll or 80s hair metal bands. So just calling it “alternative” stuck since it was the alternative to what had already come.