Title: The History of Rock Music in the 1990s
Headings: The History of Rock Music in the 1990s
The History of Rock Music in the 1990s
Off to Never Never Land
Enter the “Sandman” in 1991
Lollapalooza and the Alternative Nation
Nevermind the Bollocks, Here’s Nirvana
The Grrrls With the Most Cake
Punk Goes Pop
Goo Goo, Growl Growl

Content: Inspired by the inclusive spirit of European music festivals, Ferrell created Lollapalooza, a roving extravaganza of sound that introduced the masses to underground genres. Among the first Lolla performers were industrial outfit Nine Inch Nails, funk rockers Living Colour and goth royals Siouxsie and the Banshees. Backed by a traveling freak show and an array of charitable causes, Lollapalooza gave birth to what Farrell called the Alternative Nation. Here was a near-utopia of oddball artists entertaining disaffected youth from Seattle to suburban Florida, crowd-surfing away the worry of Bush (41)’s rule. An MTV program dubbed Alternative Nation would debut in 1992, highlighting bands such as star-trippers Smashing Pumpkins, Brit-pop pioneers Oasis and an outspoken trio from Washington called Nirvana. Nevermind the Bollocks, Here’s Nirvana
Look at any rock history retrospective, and it will list at number one Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” as the most important song of the 1990s. As the nation was awash in New Jack Swing and the last gasps of hair metal, the three-chord distortion of “Teen Spirit” blew it all to smithereens. Singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain quickly became the poster boy for the grunge movement—which was a no-frills music and fashion statement that came to embody much of ’90s rock. “ Here we are now, entertain us,” Cobain screeched, letting his natty hair fly in the face of conservatives. Nirvana’s contribution to radio was extra punk in that the mainstream came to it, not the other way around.