The angst-ridden alt-rock that bands like Nirvana popularized in the early-1990s eventually branched off into a softer, more mature sound with such groups as the Goo Goo Dolls. Although they began as raw and rowdy Replacements-style rockers in the la…

The members of Live began playing together as teenagers in their native York, PA, under various band names. After singer Ed Kowalczyk arrived, they were on the fast track to stardom. The moody alternative-rock sound of their 1991 debut album made som…

In the midst of the early 1990s grunge boom, Counting Crows emerged as an alternative to the heavy, alienated sounds of the Kurt Cobain crowd. The California band harked back to the classic '60s folk-rock sounds of the Band, Bob Dylan, and Van Morris…

The Stone Temple Pilots are the result of a chance meeting between Scott Weiland (b. 27 October 1967, Santa Cruz, California, USA; vocals) and Robert DeLeo (b. 2 February 1966, New Jersey, USA; bass) at one of Black Flag's final shows in Los Angeles.…

Along with such peers as Tonic and Matchbox Twenty, San Francisco's Third Eye Blind broke through at a crucial juncture in the '90s music scene. In between the twilight of grunge (from which they took some influence) and the ascendancy of nu-metal, T…

Unbeknownst to most Nirvana fans, drummer David Grohl was also a singer/guitarist/songwriter who wrote numerous songs on his own during his tenure with the band. After Kurt Cobain's death in 1994, Grohl decided to head out on his own and formed the F…

Pearl Jam strode the middle of the neo-hard rock road manfully with their angst-ridden anthemic tunes bearing echoes of 1970s riff-rock. They arrived as part of Seattle's grunge explosion, with a sound less "punk" than Nirvana and less "metal" than S…

This contemporary rock act is a phenomenon: no UK act with such an indifferent reception in their homeland has experienced such success elsewhere. Formed in west London, England, their initial success in the USA was thanks to college radio, which pic…

Coming out of the grass-roots Gilman St. punk scene of the early-1990s Bay Area, Green Day exploded into the mainstream with their third album, 1994's DOOKIE. The trio's punk energy and pop hooks, influenced by first-generation punks like the Buzzcoc…

"A big slice of American cheese" was how the singer of this American country rock band once described their sound. Favoured sons of MTV, they had earlier attracted a fierce local following after formation in Tempe, Arizona, USA, in 1987. Their origin…

Growing up in the shadow of Bob Dylan would be too much for many, let alone trying to make it in the same field as the legendary troubadour. But Bob's son Jakob Dylan succeeded on his own terms when his band the Wallflowers hit it big with their own …

U2's Bono was one of the few real rock heroes of the 1980s, leading the Irish band to international recognition with a charged, political approach to music. The band's early efforts brought a stadium-size presence to alt-rock, with Bono's expressive …

Following in the footsteps their idols The Beatles, Oasis became a phenomenon in their home country in the 1990s. Taking the Fabs' template as a model, they added a thick wall of Pete Townshend-influenced guitars and stood at the vanguard of the mid-…

In 2000, Coldplay emerged seemingly out of nowhere to become a worldwide smash with their debut album PARACHUTES and hit single "Yellow." They're generally lumped in with the Britpop crowd, but, like Travis, they favor a more thoughtful, melodic pop …

Anyone who couldn't relate to the agitated sounds of late-'90s/early-'00s alt-rock but still wanted to hear something new found solace in such "mature" alternative acts as Matchbox 20. Taking the anthemic rock and balladry of Pearl Jam and smoothing …

With the assistance of its contemporaries Creed and Godsmack, 3 Doors Down helped keep the grunge flag flying in the mid-1990s in the wake of the demise of genre founders like Nirvana and Soundgarden. Combining the mammoth, sludgy riffs of the aforem…

This young US alternative rock band was formed and subsequently signed by RCA Records while guitarist Jon Siebels (b. 28 August 1979, La Crescenta, California, USA) and bass player Max Collins (b. 27 August 1978, La Crescenta, California, USA) were s…

Unbeknownst to most Nirvana fans, its drummer David Grohl was also a singer/guitarist/songwriter who wrote numerous songs during his tenure with the band. After Kurt Cobain's death in 1994, Grohl decided to head out on his own and formed the Foo Figh…

Featuring engaging singer Brett Scallions (b. 21 December 1971), Carl Bell (b. 9 January 1967; guitar), Jeff Abercrombie (b. 8 January 1969; bass) and Kevin Miller (b. 6 September 1962; drums), Fuel came to prominence in the mid-90s by developing a f…

The late-'90s witnessed a plethora of groups that specialized in mature, pop-friendly alternative rock, namely Goo Goo Dolls, Matchbox 20, and Tonic. Although Tonic didn't rack up a monster hit a la the aforementioned bands, their first two releases,…