Most influential alternative rock group of the 90's?

Question

Nirvana
Pearl Jam
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Other.

Please explain why.

I will choose a best answer best on the best explanation, not based on whether I agree with the band chosen.

Answer 1

Mine is sort of an unconventional choice. I think it's faith no more, granted they came out of the eighties. but their influential albums of the early 90's like angel dust and king for a day fool for a lifetime with mike patton were the main influence for probably the biggest selling fad of the mid 90's early 2000's in rock music which was of course the abomination that is nu metal. they also are the biggest influence on incubus's singers voice listen to the song "get out" on king for a day and you'll see what i mean. slipknot, korn, limp bizkit, disturbed, and soad all state fnm and pattons other band mr. bungle as a huge influence. I really hate those bands but i think they've sold more than bands that were mainly influenced by the bands you listed. Even though they influenced crappy bands I still love FNM/Mr. Bungle.



I think Nirvana's influence is sort of overstated because most modern rock bands that took grunge's sound are more like pearl jam or alice in chains than nirvana, like creed, stone temple pilots, nickelback and godsmack for example. only seether and puddle of mudd really sound like nirvana and those bands aren't nearly as popular as the other ones i listed.



I agree with the person who said radiohead below too, I didn't even think of them but they are amazing.

Answer 2

I thought rock was dead in the Eighties, I hated Hair Bands and Punk and Disco. The 90s proved me wrong when I heard Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and Sound Garden. It seems like rock might be dying again now that those bands are gone but it just depends on what you like. It you don't like the new stuff at the time then it will seem like rock is dying. Of course music has to change or we would all be sick of the same old thing. It is harder these days to be a supergroup because nobody can match record sales of the past. People these days just download the music they want. Alot of the time it is just one song and not the whole album. In the 70s I would buy an album not for one song but for all of them. Also for the cover art of the album and what it had to say. Younger people today don't have the feeling of owning an actual physical collection. They just put music into a computer and thats it. Rock will never die because there will always be that young musician out there that is good enough to come up with something new but use the influences of the past to do something like Kurt Cobain did.

Answer 3

Definitely Nirvana, because they spawned the idea of anything that's not glam metal more so than anyone. Even if their music did not directly influence anyone (which it did), I would say by Nirvana getting the eye of record labels to sign more alternative bands, that was ultimately more influential than anyone.



Focusing purely on the music, Pearl Jam was the most influential alternative band without question, but had Nirvana not seen any success they may have never even been signed to a label.



I know a guy -- in the late 80s his band made a hair metal album. The record labels wouldn't sign him because the genre was on its way down at the time and they had too many similar artists at the time. So they revamped their sound, got rid of their perms, and made an album but the record label didn't sign them because they just signed this experimental band called Nirvana who sounds just like you guys a few days ago and they weren't sure they would have a market for it.



So he went back to school and got his teaching degree.

Answer 4

Nirvana. More people listened to them than the rest combined. I think of the Chili Peppers more as an 80s band. I know they continued to make music, but I first saw them live around '85 I think, and I can't think of anyone they obviously influenced off the top of my head.



There were alternative rock bands I liked better in the 90s, but without Nirvana's commercial success I don't know if I'd have got to hear any of them. Before Nirvana on SNL and Nevermind, none of the others were on the radio and not so many were on tour.

Answer 5

The Melvins, without them the Grunge scene and Nirvana wouldn't of existed.

Faith No More, without them the rap-rock Nu metal wouldn't have existed either.

Helmet, They paved the way for Alternative Metal.

Green Day, They popularised pop punk along with the Offspring.

Answer 6

Nirvana.

Because they created a new rock Genre, Grunge which combined elements of punk with heavy rock and created an entire new generation of rock music fans, an alternative to the popular hip hop of the day. Plus, they kicked lots of a$$!

Answer 7

Pearl Jam I love Nirvana but no one really had many influences by Nirvana. If you listen to a lot of alternative rock you can tell that it sounds like Pearl Jam in some way or form but not normally Nirvana.

Answer 8

Nirvana, best song and album of the 90s, and they started a movement of decent music from a world of awful music, is that enough?

Answer 9

nirvana-they were the ones who introduced "the" sound to an incredibly waiting and desperate generation, kurt cobain was appealing to a lot of kids and teenagers, because they saw someone who was equally confused about their place in the world, kurt Attackted insecurities and social awkwardness in his lyrics. I think he was just an awesome song writer.



pearl jam-arena-rock variation of grunge,Eddie Vedder’s booming voice, empathetic tales of teenage disillusionment and family dysfunction

Answer 10

I think it is between Nirvana, RHCP, and Smashing Pumpkins. They all have different styles of music. They all have influenced many bands.

Answer 11

Nirvana-- That whole grunge scene

Radiohead- Opened doors for the experimental, atmospheric, new music,

Answer 12

Smashing Pumpkins.



They were able to combine so many different genres of music like no one ever had. No one sounds quite like them to this day, but so many bands and different genres of music have been influenced by them.

Answer 13

I'd say nirvana because they made grunge uber popular. pearl jam weren't hat influential but they were so talented. rhcp was good but overrated and not influential

Answer 14

Weezer spawned a whole generation of nerdy indie bands

Answer 15

Oasis

Radiohead





Well these next ones had more of a negative impact.



Green Day

Blink 182

Third Eye Blind