 They rejected the dominant synth-pop of the early 1980s, marking a return to group-based guitar rock.Few of these early bands achieved mainstream success, although exceptions to this rule include R.E.M., the Smiths, and the Cure.Despite a general lack of spectacular album sales, the original alternative rock bands exerted a considerable influence on the generation of musicians who came of age in the 1980s and ended up breaking through to mainstream success in the 1990s.