Timeline of alternative rock

1970s

Syd Barrett

Lou Reed

John Cale

Iggy Pop

Nico

Marc Bolan and T-Rex

Modern Lovers

David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars

Roxy Music

Brian Eno

Robert Fripp

Mike Oldfield

Albums Lou Reed releases Rock 'n' Roll Animal

1973

Bands formed

New York Dolls

Television

1975

Bands formed

Blondie

Patti Smith

Ramones

Richard Hell and the Voidoids

Sex Pistols

The Stranglers

Talking Heads

1976

Bands formed

Black Flag (as Panic)

The Cars

The Cure

The Buzzcocks

The Fall

Joy Division

U2

1977

Bands formed

Gang of Four

The Misfits

1978

Bands formed

Echo and the Bunnymen

Killing Joke

Events

SST Records is founded in Long Beach, California by Greg Ginn

1979

Bands formed

Cocteau Twins

Fastbacks

Felt

Fishbone

Hüsker Dü

Mission of Burma

The Replacements

The The

1980s

Events

Sub Pop is founded as the fanzine Subterranean Pop in Seattle, Washington.

4AD is founded in London, England by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent.

1980

Bands formed

Depeche Mode

Malfunkshun

Meat Puppets

Minutemen

New Model Army

New Order

R.E.M.

The Church

The Sisters of Mercy

Violent Femmes

Disbandments

Wire

Joy Division

Events

Dischord Records is founded in Washington D.C. by Ian MacKaye.

1981

Bands formed

10,000 Maniacs

Clan of Xymox

Beastie Boys

Butthole Surfers

The U-Men

Dream Syndicate

James

Sonic Youth

Soul Asylum (As Loud Fast Rules)

Talk Talk

Sort Sol

Events

Founding of New Zealand's Flying Nun Records; approximate start date for the Dunedin Sound genre

1982

Bands formed

Beat Happening

Big Black

Faith No More

Guadalcanal Diary

The Pogues

Primal Scream

Scratch Acid

The Smiths

Spacemen 3

Swans

They Might Be Giants

Albums

Bauhaus – The Sky's Gone Out

Cocteau Twins – Garlands

The Cure – Pornography

Dream Syndicate – The Days of Wine and Roses

The Fall – Hex Enduction Hour

Mission of Burma – Vs.

R.E.M. – Chronic Town EP

Siouxsie and the Banshees – A Kiss in the Dreamhouse

Sonic Youth – Sonic Youth

Events

The Haçienda nightclub opens in Manchester, England.

1983

Bands formed

American Music Club

Camper Van Beethoven

The Cult

The Flaming Lips

Green River

Guided by Voices

The Housemartins

The Lemonheads

My Bloody Valentine

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Throwing Muses

The Tragically Hip

Disbandments

Bauhaus

Mission of Burma

Albums

Bauhaus – Burning from the Inside

Big Black – Bulldozer EP

Cocteau Twins – Head Over Heels

Depeche Mode – Construction Time Again

Echo & the Bunnymen – Porcupine

New Order – Power, Corruption & Lies

R.E.M. – Murmur

Sonic Youth – Confusion Is Sex

Talking Heads – Speaking in Tongues

The The – Soul Mining

U2 – War (breakthrough)

Violent Femmes;- Violent Femmes

Events

R.E.M.'s album Murmur is named Rolling Stone's best album of 1983.

Creation Records is founded by Alan McGee.

1984

Bands formed

Dinosaur Jr.

Fields of the Nephilim

The Jesus and Mary Chain

The Lemonheads

Melvins

The Offspring (Then Manic Subsidal)

Soundgarden

The Wedding Present

Ween

Yo La Tengo

Albums

Butthole Surfers – Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac

Cocteau Twins – Treasure

The Cure – The Top

Depeche Mode – Some Great Reward

Echo & the Bunnymen – Ocean Rain

Felt – The Splendour of Fear

Felt – The Strange Idols Pattern and Other Short Stories

Guadalcanal Diary – Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man

Hüsker Dü – Zen Arcade

Meat Puppets – Meat Puppets II

Minutemen – Double Nickels on the Dime

Public Image Ltd – This Is What You Want... This Is What You Get

R.E.M. – Reckoning

The Red Hot Chili Peppers – The Red Hot Chili Peppers

The Replacements – Let It Be

Scratch Acid – Scratch Acid EP

Siouxsie and the Banshees – Hyæna

The Smiths – The Smiths (breakthrough)

Soul Asylum – Say What You Will, Clarence... Karl Sold the Truck

U2 – The Unforgettable Fire

Violent Femmes – Hallowed Ground

Events

Sonic Youth bandmates vocalist-guitarist Thurston Moore and vocalist-bassist Kim Gordon get married.

1985

Bands formed

Happy Mondays

Jane's Addiction

Love and Rockets

Pussy Galore

Radiohead (as On a Friday)

Screaming Trees

The Stone Roses

Disbandments

Minutemen

Reunions

The Feelies

Wire

Albums

Beat Happening – Beat Happening

Big Black – Atomizer

Kate Bush – Hounds of Love

Camper Van Beethoven – Telephone Free Landslide Victory

The Cure – The Head on the Door

Dinosaur Jr. – Dinosaur

The Fall – This Nation's Saving Grace

Felt – Ignite the Seven Cannons

Green River – Come on Down

Hüsker Dü – New Day Rising

Hüsker Dü – Flip Your Wig

The Jesus and Mary Chain – Psychocandy

Love and Rockets – Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven

Meat Puppets – Up on the Sun

Mekons - Fear and Whiskey

New Order – Low-Life

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Freaky Styley

R.E.M. – Fables of the Reconstruction

The Replacements – Tim

The Sisters of Mercy – First and Last and Always

The Smiths – Meat Is Murder

Sonic Youth – Bad Moon Rising

Talking Heads – Little Creatures

Events

The Minutemen's D. Boon dies in a car crash on December 22.

1986

Bands formed

The Afghan Whigs

Galaxie 500

Goo Goo Dolls

The House of Love

Inspiral Carpets

The La's

Manic Street Preachers (as Betty Blue)

The Mission UK

No Doubt

Pixies

The Posies

Sebadoh

Shudder to Think

The Sugarcubes

Stone Temple Pilots (as Mighty Joe Young)

Urge Overkill

Green Day

Albums

Butthole Surfers – Rembrandt Pussyhorse

The Church - Heyday

Depeche Mode – Black Celebration

The Fall – Bend Sinister

Felt – Let the Snakes Crinkle Their Heads to Death

Felt – Forever Breathes the Lonely Word

The Feelies – The Good Earths

Guadalcanal Diary – Jamboree

The Housemartins – London 0 Hull 4

Hüsker Dü – Candy Apple Grey

Love and Rockets – Express

New Order – Brotherhood

Public Image Ltd – Album

R.E.M. – Lifes Rich Pageant

Scratch Acid – Just Keep Eating

Siouxsie and the Banshees – Tinderbox

Talk Talk – The Colour of Spring

The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead

Sonic Youth – Evol

Soul Asylum – Made to Be Broken

Soul Asylum – While You Were Out

Talk Talk – The Colour of Spring

Talking Heads – True Stories

The The – Infected

They Might Be Giants – They Might Be Giants

Violent Femmes – The Blind Leading the Naked

XTC – Skylarking

Events

MTV begins airing 120 Minutes, a program devoted to videos by alternative artists.

NME magazine in the UK releases the C86 cassette compilation, which becomes a seminal release in British indie rock.

1987

Bands formed

Alice in Chains

Fugazi

Galaxie 500

Gin Blossoms

Green Day (as Sweet Children)

The Jesus Lizard

Local H

Pale Saints

Slint

Uncle Tupelo

Nirvana

Disbandments

Hüsker Dü

The Smiths

Albums

10,000 Maniacs – In My Tribe

Big Black – Songs About Fucking

Butthole Surfers – Locust Abortion Technician

The Cure – Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me

Depeche Mode – Music for the Masses

Dinosaur Jr. – You're Living All Over Me

Echo & the Bunnymen – Echo & the Bunnymen

Faith No More - Introduce Yourself

Felt – Poem of the River

Guadalcanal Diary – 2X4

Guided by Voices – Devil Between My Toes

Guided by Voices – Sandbox

Happy Mondays – Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out)

The Housemartins – The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death

Hüsker Dü – Warehouse: Songs and Stories

Jane's Addiction – Jane's Addiction

The Jesus and Mary Chain – Darklands

The Lemonheads – Hate Your Friends

Love and Rockets – Earth, Sun, Moon

Midnight Oil – Diesel and Dust (breakthrough)

Pixies – Come on Pilgrim

Primal Scream – Sonic Flower Groove

Public Image Ltd – Happy?

R.E.M. – Document (breakthrough)

Red Hot Chili Peppers – The Uplift Mofo Party Plan

The Replacements – Pleased to Meet Me

Soundgarden;- Screaming Life

Scratch Acid – Berserker

Siouxsie and the Banshees – Through the Looking Glass

The Sisters of Mercy – Floodland

The Smiths – Strangeways, Here We Come

Sonic Youth – Sister

U2 – The Joshua Tree

The Wedding Present – George Best

Wire – The Ideal Copy

Events

R.E.M.'s "The One I Love" unexpectedly becomes a Top Ten hit on the American pop charts, helping to increase alternative rock's mainstream profile and earning the band a major label deal.

No Doubt's original lead singer John Spence commits suicide.

MTV introduces the Buzz Bin in the fall of 1987, which put various alternative videos into special rotation for a period of time. Many of these videos would become breakout hits and enter normal heavy rotation as well as the top 40, especially during the alternative boom of the following decade.

1988

Bands formed

311

Barenaked Ladies

The Beautiful South

Better Than Ezra

Blur (as Circus and later Seymour)

The Boo Radleys

The Breeders

The Charlatans

Jesus Jones

Live (as Public Affection)

Lush

Mother Love Bone

Mudhoney

Nine Inch Nails

Ride

The Smashing Pumpkins

Spin Doctors

Sublime

Disbandments

Big Black

Green River

The Housemartins

Albums

Barenaked Ladies – Buck Naked

Beat Happening – Jamboree

Butthole Surfers – Hairway to Steven

Cocteau Twins – Blue Bell Knoll

Dinosaur Jr. – Bug

The Feelies – Only Life

Felt – The Pictorial Jackson Review

Felt – Train Above the City

Fishbone – Truth and Soul

Fugazi – Fugazi EP

Galaxie 500 – Today

Happy Mondays – Bummed

Robyn Hitchcock – Globe of Frogs

The House of Love – The House of Love

Jane's Addiction – Nothing's Shocking

The Lemonheads – Creator

Morrissey – Viva Hate

Mudhoney – Superfuzz Bigmuff EP

Peter Murphy – Love Hysteria

My Bloody Valentine – Isn't Anything

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Tender Prey

Pixies – Surfer Rosa

R.E.M. – Green

Siouxsie and the Banshees – Peepshow

Soundgarden - Ultramega OK

Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation

Soul Asylum – Hang Time

The Sugarcubes – Life's Too Good

The Church - Starfish (breakthrough)

Talk Talk – Spirit of Eden

Talking Heads – Naked

They Might Be Giants – Lincoln

U2 – Rattle and Hum

Wire – A Bell Is a Cup ... Until It Is Struck

Events

Mother Love Bone and Mudhoney form from members of Green River after they break up.

Sub Pop begins the Sub Pop Singles Club.

Hillel Slovak, guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers dies from a heroin overdose. Jack Irons leaves the band. They are replaced by John Frusciante and Chad Smith.

Rolling Stone names R.E.M. "America's Best Rock 'n' Roll Band" and places them on the cover.

Gwen Stefani becomes lead singer of No Doubt.

Talk Talk leave Parlophone/EMI after poor management revolving the release and promotion of Spirit of Eden and how this might affect the recording of what later became Laughing Stock.

Alternative rock finds additional exposure in the mainstream, as The Cure, Midnight Oil, and The Church all break into the top 40 with "Just Like Heaven" (#40), "Beds Are Burning" (#17) and "Under the Milky Way" (#26) respectively.

Billboard introduces the Modern Rock chart in September. "Peek-a-Boo" from Siouxsie and the Banshees is the very first song to top the chart.

Chuck Mosley leaves Faith No More.

1989

Bands formed

Cap'n Jazz

The Charlatans

Codeine

Helmet

Hole

Hum

Mazzy Star

Mercury Rev

Neutral Milk Hotel

Ocean Colour Scene

Pavement

Red House Painters

Spiritualized

Suede

Superchunk

Swervedriver

Teenage Fanclub

Toadies

Disbandments

Guadalcanal Diary

Dream Syndicate

Felt

Albums

Beat Happening – Black Candy

The Cure – Disintegration (breakthrough)

Faith No More – The Real Thing (breakthrough)

Felt – Me and a Monkey on the Moon

Fugazi – Margin Walker EP

Galaxie 500 – On Fire

Goo Goo Dolls – Jed

Gin Blossoms – Dusted

Guadalcanal Diary – Flip-Flop

Guided by Voices – Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia

The Jesus and Mary Chain – Automatic

Jesus Jones – Liquidizer

The Lemonheads – Lick

Love and Rockets – Love and Rockets (breakthrough)

Meat Puppets – Monsters

Mudhoney – Mudhoney

New Order – Technique (breakthrough)

Nine Inch Nails – Pretty Hate Machine

Nirvana – Bleach

The Offspring - The Offspring

Pixies – Doolittle

Primal Scream – Primal Scream

Primus – Suck on This

Public Image Ltd – 9

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Mother's Milk

Slint – Tweez

Soundgarden – Louder Than Love

The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses (breakthrough)

The The – Mind Bomb

Violent Femmes – 3

The Wedding Present – Bizarro

Wire – IBTABA

Events

New Order, Public Image Ltd, and The Sugarcubes embark on the "Monsters of Alternative Rock" tour.

Matador Records is founded.

The documentary film 101 is released, telling the story of how Depeche Mode became a major draw in the United States without any major radio airplay and climaxing with their famous Rose Bowl concert in Pasadena, California.

Mike Patton becomes the new frontman of Faith No More.

Love and Rockets scores a surprise smash with So Alive, which peaks at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and tops the Modern Rock chart for 5 weeks.

The Cure also scores a major hit with "Love Song", peaking at #2 on the Billboard singles charts. The album Disintegration is their most critically and commercially successful album.

Soundgarden signs a major label deal with A&M Records, the first Seattle act to do so.

1990

Bands formed

Blind Melon

Catherine Wheel

The Cranberries

Curve

Drive Like Jehu

Failure

Goats Don't Shave

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

Kyuss

Pearl Jam (as Mookie Blaylock)

Shed Seven

Travis

The Verve (as Verve)

The Brian Jonestown Massacre

Disbandments

Camper Van Beethoven

Mother Love Bone

Albums

311 – Dammit!

311 – Downstairs EP

Barenaked Ladies – Barenaked Lunch EP

The Beautiful South – Choke

Alice in Chains – Facelift

The Boo Radleys – Ichabod and I

The Breeders – Pod

The Charlatans – Some Friendly

Cocteau Twins – Heaven or Las Vegas

Codeine – Frigid Stars LP

Depeche Mode – Violator (breakthrough)

Echo & the Bunnymen – Reverberation

Fugazi – Repeater

Galaxie 500 – This Is Our Music

Goo Goo Dolls – Hold Me Up

Green Day – 39/Smooth

Guided by Voices – Same Place the Fly Got Smashed

Happy Mondays – Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches

Helmet – Strap It On

The House of Love – The House of Love

Jane's Addiction – Ritual de lo Habitual (breakthrough)

The La's – The La's

Mother Love Bone – Apple

Mudhoney – Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles

Pale Saints – The Comforts of Madness

Peter Murphy – Deep

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – The Good Son

Pixies – Bossanova

Primus – Frizzle Fry

Ride – Nowhere

The Sisters of Mercy – Vision Thing

Social Distortion – Social Distortion

Sonic Youth – Goo (breakthrough)

Soul Asylum – And the Horse They Rode In On

They Might Be Giants – Flood

Uncle Tupelo – No Depression

Ween – GodWeenSatan: The Oneness

Wire – Manscape

Events

Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone is found dead.

Sonic Youth signs with DGC records. Upon recommendations from Kim Gordon, Nirvana follows suit.

1991

Bands formed

Adorable

Archers of Loaf

AFI

Belly

Cake

Candlebox

Dave Matthews Band

Everclear

Far

Guster

HIM

Jim Rose Circus

Kerbdog

Luna

Luscious Jackson

Oasis

Primitive Radio Gods

Rage Against the Machine

Slowdive

Sponge

Stereolab

Sub Sub (later became Doves)

Disbandments

Galaxie 500

Jane's Addiction

The Replacements

Spacemen 3

Talk Talk

Talking Heads

Albums

311 – Unity

Barenaked Ladies – The Yellow Tape

Beat Happening – Dreamy

Blur – Leisure

Dinosaur Jr. – Green Mind

Drive Like Jehu – Drive Like Jehu

Fishbone – The Reality of My Surroundings

Fugazi – Steady Diet of Nothing

Hole – Pretty on the Inside

Jesus Jones – Doubt

The Jesus Lizard – Goat

Kyuss – Wretch

Live – Mental Jewelry

Mercury Rev – Yerself Is Steam

Morrissey – Kill Uncle

Mudhoney – Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge

My Bloody Valentine – Loveless (breakthrough)

Nirvana – Nevermind (breakthrough)

Pearl Jam – Ten (breakthrough)

Pixies – Trompe le Monde

Spin Doctors - Pocket Full of Kryptonite (breakthrough)

Primal Scream – Screamadelica (breakthrough)

Primus – Sailing the Seas of Cheese

R.E.M. – Out of Time

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magik (breakthrough)

Sebadoh – Sebadoh III

Siouxsie and the Banshees – Superstition

Slint – Spiderland

The Smashing Pumpkins – Gish

Soundgarden – Badmotorfinger (breakthrough)

Matthew Sweet – Girlfriend

Swervedriver – Raise

Talk Talk – Laughing Stock

Teenage Fanclub – Bandwagonesque

Temple of the Dog – Temple of the Dog (breakthrough)

Throwing Muses – The Real Ramona

U2 – Achtung Baby

Violent Femmes – Why Do Birds Sing?

The Wedding Present – Seamonsters

Wire – The Drill

Wire – The First Letter

Events

Nirvana releases Nevermind, popularizing grunge in the mainstream, especially due to the hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

The first ever Lollapalooza takes place.

The first Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is given out.

During a Manic Street Preachers interview by NME journalist Steve Lamacq, Richey Edwards carved the words "4 Real" into his arm with a razor blade to prove the band's sincerity in music.

Barenaked Ladies' The Yellow Tape goes platinum in Canada. It is the first indie release in Canada to ever do this. Sales are partly fueled by controversy regarding Toronto mayor June Rowlands banning the group from playing a show at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto because she thought the name "Barenaked Ladies" objectified women.

1992

Bands formed

Ash

blink-182

Built to Spill

Bush

The Cardigans

Elastica

Everclear

Grandaddy

Nada Surf

Our Lady Peace

Porno for Pyros

Rancid

Reel Big Fish

Seven Mary Three

Silverchair (as Innocent Criminals)

Soul Coughing

Stereophonics (as Tragic Love Company)

Sixpence None the Richer

Sunny Day Real Estate

The Verve Pipe

Weezer

Puddle of Mudd

Disbandments

The Feelies

The Happy Mondays

Pixies

Public Image Ltd

The Sugarcubes

Wire (second disbandment)

Albums

311 – Hydroponic

Alice in Chains – Dirt (breakthrough)

Alice in Chains – Sap EP

Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes

Barenaked Ladies – Gordon

Beat Happening – You Turn Me On

The Beautiful South – 0898 Beautiful South

Blind Melon – Blind Melon (breakthrough)

The Boo Radleys – Everything's Alright Forever

Catherine Wheel – Ferment

The Charlatans – Between 10th and 11th

Codeine – Barely Real EP

The Cure – Wish

Curve - Doppelgänger

Failure – Comfort

Faith No More – Angel Dust

Far – Listening Game

Gin Blossoms – New Miserable Experience

Goats Don't Shave – The Rusty Razor

Green Day – Kerplunk

Guided by Voices – Propeller

Happy Mondays – Yes Please!

PJ Harvey – Dry

Helmet – Helmet

The House of Love – Babe Rainbow

The Jesus and Mary Chain – Honey's Dead

The Jesus Lizard – Liar

Kyuss – Blues for the Red Sun

L7 – Bricks Are Heavy

The Lemonheads – It's a Shame About Ray

Luna – Lunapark

Lush – Spooky

Manic Street Preachers – Generation Terrorists

Morrissey – Your Arsenal

Mudhoney – Piece of Cake

Nine Inch Nails – Broken EP

No Doubt – No Doubt

Ocean Colour Scene – Ocean Colour Scene

Pale Saints – In Ribbons

Pavement – Slanted and Enchanted

Public Image Ltd – That What Is Not

R.E.M. – Automatic for the People

Rage Against the Machine – Rage Against the Machine (breakthrough)

Ride – Going Blank Again

Screaming Trees – Sweet Oblivion

Sonic Youth – Dirty

Soul Asylum – Grave Dancer's Union (breakthrough)

Stone Temple Pilots – Core (breakthrough)

Sublime – 40oz. to Freedom

Sugar – Copper Blue

They Might Be Giants – Apollo 18

Ween – Pure Guava

Events

Alternative rock fully breaks into the American mainstream consciousness, as albums and singles by bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Toad the Wet Sprocket, R.E.M., Soul Asylum, The Cure, and Nine Inch Nails reach the Top 40 of the Billboard charts.

The grunge speak hoax appears in the November 15 issue of The New York Times.

Trent Reznor founds Nothing Records.

Merge Records is founded by members of Superchunk.

Red Hot Chili Peppers' guitarist John Frusciante quits the band; he returns in 1998.

1993

Bands formed

Black Grape

Björk

The Bluetones

Collective Soul

Eraserheads

Filter

Folk Implosion

Garbage

Modest Mouse

Jimmy Eat World

The Presidents of the United States of America

Billy Talent (Formerly Pezz)

Soul Coughing

Snow Patrol

Super Furry Animals

Supergrass

Third Eye Blind

Veruca Salt

Harvey Danger

Disbandments

Echo & the Bunnymen

The House of Love

Reunions

Buzzcocks

Albums

311 – Music

Adorable – Against Perfection

Archers of Loaf - Icky Mettle (breakthrough)

Björk – Debut (breakthrough)

Blur – Modern Life Is Rubbish

The Boo Radleys – Giant Steps

The Breeders – Last Splash (breakthrough)

Built to Spill – Ultimate Alternative Wavers

Butthole Surfers – Independent Worm Saloon

Buzzcocks – Trade Test Transmissions

Catherine Wheel – Chrome

Collective Soul – Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid (breakthrough)

The Cranberries – Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We? (breakthrough)

Depeche Mode – Songs of Faith and Devotion

Dinosaur Jr. – Where You Been

Eraserheads – UltraElectroMagneticPop!

The Fall – The Infotainment Scan

The Flaming Lips – Transmissions from the Satellite Heart

Fugazi – In on the Kill Taker

Goo Goo Dolls – Superstar Car Wash

Guided by Voices – Vampire on Titus

PJ Harvey – Rid of Me

The House of Love – Audience with the Mind

Hum – Electra 2000

Jesus Jones – Perverse

The Juliana Hatfield Three – Become What You Are

The Lemonheads – Come on Feel the Lemonheads

Manic Street Preachers – Gold Against the Soul

Mazzy Star – So Tonight That I Might See

Mercury Rev – Boces

Mudhoney – Five Dollar Bob's Mock Cooter Stew

New Order – Republic

Nirvana – In Utero

Pearl Jam – Vs.

Liz Phair – Exile in Guyville

Porno for Pyros – Porno for Pyros (breakthrough)

Primus – Pork Soda (breakthrough)

Radiohead – Pablo Honey (breakthrough)

The Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream (breakthrough)

Stereolab – Transient Random Noise Bursts With Announcements

Swervedriver – Mezcal Head

Suede – Suede (breakthrough)

The The – Dusk

U2 – Zooropa

The Verve – A Storm in Heaven

The Verve Pipe – Pop Smear

Events

Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder appears on the cover of the October 25 issue of Time as part of its feature article on the rising popularity of alternative rock.

Nirvana plays MTV Unplugged on November 18.

1991: The Year Punk Broke, a documentary chronicling the Summer 1991 European tour of Sonic Youth, is released. The film also features Courtney Love of Hole, Dinosaur Jr., The Ramones, and most notably, Nirvana, a month shy of the release of their breakthrough Nevermind.

Former Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro joins the Red Hot Chili Peppers after numerous guitarist changes.

1994

Bands formed

The Dandy Warhols

Evanescence

Foo Fighters

Guano Apes

Hoobastank

Muse (as Gothic Plague, later Fixed Penalty, and later Rocket Baby Dolls)

Peatbog Faeries

Placebo

The Rasmus

Sigur Rós

Sleater-Kinney

Snow Patrol

Skunk Anansie

Spacehog

Supergrass

Wilco

Disbandments

Adorable

Codeine

Nirvana

Uncle Tupelo

Albums

311 – Grassroots

Adorable – Fake

Alice in Chains – Jar of Flies EP

Barenaked Ladies – Maybe You Should Drive

The Beautiful South – Miaow

Beck – Mellow Gold (breakthrough)

Blur – Parklife (UK breakthrough)

Jeff Buckley – Grace

Built to Spill – There's Nothing Wrong with Love

Bush – Sixteen Stone (breakthrough)

Cake – Motorcade of Generosity

The Charlatans – Up to Our Hips

Codeine – The White Birch

The Cranberries – No Need to Argue

Curve – Cuckoo

Dinosaur Jr. – Without a Sound

Drive Like Jehu – Yank Crime

Eraserheads – Circus

Failure – Magnified

Far – Quick

Frente – Marvin The Album

Green Day – Dookie (breakthrough)

Guided by Voices – Bee Thousand

Helmet – Betty

Hole – Live Through This (breakthrough)

The Jesus and Mary Chain – Stoned & Dethroned

Kerbdog – Kerbdog

Kyuss – Welcome to Sky Valley

Live – Throwing Copper (breakthrough)

Luna – Bewitched

Lush - Split

Manic Street Preachers – The Holy Bible

Meat Puppets – Too High to Die

Morrissey – Vauxhall and I

Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral (breakthrough)

Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York

The Nixons – Halo

Oasis – Definitely Maybe (breakthrough)

The Offspring – Smash (breakthrough)

Pavement – Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (breakthrough)

Pearl Jam – Vitalogy

Liz Phair – Whip-Smart

Portishead – Dummy

Powderfinger – Parables for Wooden Ears

Primal Scream – Give Out But Don't Give Up

Pulp – His 'n' Hers

R.E.M. – Monster

Ride – Carnival of Light

Shed Seven – Change Giver

Sonic Youth – Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star

Soundgarden – Superunknown

Sponge – Rotting Pinata

Stereolab – Mars Audiac Quintet

The Stone Roses – Second Coming

Stone Temple Pilots – Purple

Sublime – Robbin' the Hood

Suede – Dog Man Star

Sunny Day Real Estate – Diary

They Might Be Giants – John Henry

Toadies – Rubberneck

Veruca Salt – American Thighs

The Wedding Present – Watusi

Ween – Chocolate and Cheese

Weezer – Weezer (breakthrough)

Events

Kurt Cobain of Nirvana commits suicide on April 5; his body is found April 8.

Kristen Pfaff of Hole dies on June 16.

Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" becomes a hit single; the album Superunknown debuts at #1 on the album charts. Some cite it as the last major hit of the grunge era.

The term post-rock is coined by Simon Reynolds to describe the music of the likes of Stereolab and Disco Inferno.

Manic Street Preachers' Richey Edwards is admitted to a psychiatric hospital around the release of The Holy Bible and misses some shows.

The Brett Anderson/Bernard Butler songwriting partnership of Suede is ended when Butler walks out over musical differences.

The music video for Weezer's "Buddy Holly" is included on the Windows 95 operating system disc.

Mazzy Star has some success with the single "Fade into You", becoming the biggest hit for dream pop in the mainstream.

1995

Bands formed

Radio Dept

Biffy Clyro (as Screwfish/Skrewfish)

Blue October

Days of the New

Kill Hannah

Kula Shaker

Mad Season

Mando Diao

Mansun

Matchbox Twenty

Matthew Good Band

Mogwai

Mojave 3

The Rentals

Sparklehorse

Disbandments

American Music Club

Drive Like Jehu

Kyuss

Meat Puppets

Slowdive

Sunny Day Real Estate

The Verve (reform in 1996)

Albums

311 – 311 (breakthrough)

Alice in Chains – Alice in Chains

AFI – Answer That and Stay Fashionable

Archers of Loaf- Vee Vee

Better Than Ezra – Deluxe

Björk – Post

Black Grape – It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah

Blind Melon – Soup

Blink 182 – Cheshire Cat

Blur – The Great Escape

The Boo Radleys – Wake Up! (breakthrough)

Catherine Wheel – Happy Days

The Charlatans – The Charlatans

Collective Soul – Collective Soul

The Dandy Warhols – Dandys Rule OK

Elastica – Elastica

Eraserheads – Cutterpillow

Everclear – Sparkle and Fade

Faith No More – King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime

Filter – Short Bus

The Flaming Lips – Clouds Taste Metallic

Foo Fighters – Foo Fighters

Fugazi – Red Medicine

Garbage – Garbage (breakthrough)

Goo Goo Dolls – A Boy Named Goo

Green Day – Insomniac

Guided by Voices – Alien Lanes

PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love

Hum – You'd Prefer an Astronaut

Incubus – Fungus Amongus

Kyuss – ...And the Circus Leaves Town

Local H – Ham Fisted

Luna – Penthouse

Mad Season – Above

Matthew Good Band – Last of the Ghetto Astronauts

Mercury Rev – See You on the Other Side

Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill (breakthrough)

Morrissey – Southpaw Grammar

Mudhoney – My Brother the Cow

No Doubt – The Beacon Street Collection

No Doubt – Tragic Kingdom (breakthrough)

Oasis – (What's the Story) Morning Glory?

Our Lady Peace – Naveed

Pavement – Wowee Zowee

The Presidents of the United States of America – The Presidents of the United States of America (breakthrough)

Primus – Tales from the Punchbowl

Pulp – Different Class

Radiohead – The Bends

Red Hot Chili Peppers – One Hot Minute

Red House Painters – Ocean Beach

The Rentals – Return of the Rentals

Seven Mary Three – Churn

Seven Mary Three – American Standard

Silverchair – Frogstomp (breakthrough)

Siouxsie and the Banshees – The Rapture

The Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (Most commercially successful album)

Sonic Youth – Washing Machine

Spacehog – Resident Alien

Sparklehorse – Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot

Soul Asylum – Let Your Dim Light Shine

Supergrass – I Should Coco (breakthrough)

Sunny Day Real Estate – LP2

Swervedriver – Ejector Seat Reservation

The The – Hanky Panky

The Verve – A Northern Soul

Wilco – A.M.

Events

Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon is found dead on October 21.

Richard James Edwards of the Manic Street Preachers disappears on February 1. He was presumed deceased in November 2008. The following year, the band released Journal for Plague Lovers containing only songs penned by Edwards.

The Smashing Pumpkins release Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 and selling nearly 10 million copies becoming the most successful double album in alternative rock.

Third wave ska becomes popular, with bands such as No Doubt, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Reel Big Fish, and Sublime seeing commercial success.

The "Battle of Britpop" occurs between Blur and Oasis when they release their "Country House" and "Roll With It" singles on the same day.

Alan Wilder leaves Depeche Mode, claiming lack of credit for the band's work and Dave Gahan's battle with drugs as primary reasons for leaving. The band continues as a three-piece band.

1996

Bands formed

Coldplay

!!!

A

Belle & Sebastian

Camera Obscura

Fountains of Wayne

Gomez

Linkin Park

The Shins

Switchfoot

Disbandments

Pale Saints

The Pogues

Ride

Siouxsie and the Banshees

The Stone Roses

Sublime

Reunions

Echo & the Bunnymen

Albums

AFI – Very Proud of Ya

Alice in Chains – Unplugged

Barenaked Ladies – Rock Spectacle

The Beautiful South – Blue Is the Colour

Beck – Odelay

Belle & Sebastian – If You're Feeling Sinister

Belle & Sebastian – Tigermilk

Better Than Ezra – Friction, Baby

Blind Melon – Nico

The Bluetones – Expecting to Fly

The Boo Radleys – C'mon Kids

Bush – Razorblade Suitcase

Butthole Surfers – Electriclarryland

Buzzcocks – All Set

The Cranberries – To the Faithful Departed

The Cure – Wild Mood Swings

Cake – Fashion Nugget

Dave Matthews Band – Crash

Eraserheads – Fruitcake

Failure – Fantastic Planet

Far – Tin Cans with Strings to You

Fountains of Wayne – Fountains of Wayne

Gin Blossoms – Congratulations... I'm Sorry

Guided by Voices – Under the Bushes, Under the Stars

Guided by Voices – Tonics and Twisted Chasers

Kula Shaker – K

The Lemonheads – Car Button Cloth

Local H – As Good as Dead

Lush – Lovelife

Manic Street Preachers – Everything Must Go (breakthrough)

Modest Mouse - This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About

Nirvana – From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah

Ocean Colour Scene – Moseley Shoals (breakthrough)

Pearl Jam – No Code

Peatbog Faeries – Mellowosity

Phish – Billy Breathes

Placebo – Placebo

Porno for Pyros – Good God's Urge

Powderfinger – Double Allergic

The Presidents of the United States of America – II

Primitive Radio Gods – Rocket

The Rasmus – Peep

Rage Against the Machine – Evil Empire

Red House Painters – Songs for a Blue Guitar

R.E.M. – New Adventures in Hi-Fi

Ride – Tarantula

Shed Seven – A Maximum High

Sleater-Kinney – Call the Doctor

Soundgarden – Down on the Upside

Sponge – Wax Ecstatic

Stereolab – Emperor Tomato Ketchup

Stone Temple Pilots – Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop

Sublime – Sublime (breakthrough)

Suede – Coming Up

Superdrag – Regretfully Yours

Super Furry Animals – Fuzzy Logic

They Might Be Giants – Factory Showroom

The Verve Pipe – Villains

Ween – 12 Golden Country Greats

Weezer – Pinkerton

Wilco – Being There

Events

The Smashing Pumpkins' touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin dies of an overdose on July 12 while using heroin with drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. Chamberlin is subsequently fired and the band continues as a three-piece until his return in 1999.

Alice in Chains makes their last appearance with singer Layne Staley on MTV Unplugged.

Hype!, a documentary about the grunge scene of the early 1990s, is released.

R.E.M. sign a new deal with Warner Bros. worth $80 million. At the time, it was the largest record contract in history.

Bradley Nowell of genre-crossing band Sublime dies of a heroin overdose. The band splits up soon after Nowell's death.

Oasis performs for 225,000 in two nights at Knebworth. Ticket applications for the show were in excess of 1 million.

A studio fire destroys the master tapes for Sub Sub's second album, but the band decide to start from scratch on a third album, renaming themselves Doves.

Chris Acland drummer of Lush is found dead from suicide at his parent's house. Thus ending Lush. Lush officially announced their breakup in 1998

1997

Bands formed

Death Cab for Cutie

DeVotchKa

Eisley

Elbow

Motion City Soundtrack

Queens of the Stone Age

The Shins

The White Stripes

Zebrahead

Lostprophets

Three Days Grace

Thursday

Disbandments

Cocteau Twins

Failure

Gin Blossoms

Jane's Addiction

Porno for Pyros

Soundgarden – believed by many to signal the end of grunge's mainstream success

Throwing Muses

The Wedding Present

Weezer

Reunions

Jane's Addiction

Sunny Day Real Estate

The Verve

Albums

311 – Transistor

A – How Ace Are Buildings

AFI – Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes

Björk – Homogenic

Blink 182 – Dude Ranch

Blur – Blur (US breakthrough)

Built to Spill – Perfect from Now On

Catherine Wheel – Adam and Eve

The Charlatans – Tellin' Stories (breakthrough)

Collective Soul – Disciplined Breakdown

The Dandy Warhols – ...The Dandy Warhols Come Down

Depeche Mode – Ultra

Dinosaur Jr. – Hand It Over

Echo & the Bunnymen – Evergreen

Eraserheads – Bananatype

Eraserheads – Sticker Happy

Everclear – So Much for the Afterglow

Faith No More – Album of the Year

Foo Fighters – The Colour and the Shape (breakthrough)

Green Day – Nimrod

Guano Apes – Proud Like a God

Guided by Voices – Mag Earwhig!

Helmet – Aftertaste

HIM – Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666

Hole – The First Session

Incubus – Enjoy Incubus

Incubus – S.C.I.E.N.C.E.

Jesus Jones – Already

Kerbdog – On The Turn

Live – Secret Samadhi

Luna – Pup Tent

Mansun – Attack of the Grey Lantern

Matthew Good Band – Underdogs

Modest Mouse – The Lonesome Crowded West

Mogwai – Mogwai Young Team

Morrissey – Maladjusted

Oasis – Be Here Now

Ocean Colour Scene – Marchin' Already

Our Lady Peace – Clumsy

Pavement – Brighten the Corners

Primal Scream – Vanishing Point

Primus – Brown Album

Radiohead – OK Computer

Radiohead – Airbag / How Am I Driving? EP

The Rasmus – Playboys

Seven Mary Three – RockCrown

Sigur Rós – Von

Silverchair – Freak Show

Sleater-Kinney – Dig Me Out

Spiritualized – Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space

Stereolab – Dots and Loops

Stereophonics – Word Gets Around

Sixpence None the Richer - "Sixpence None the Richer"

Super Furry Animals – Radiator

Supergrass – In It for the Money

Swervedriver – 99th Dream

Switchfoot – The Legend of Chin

Veruca Salt – Eight Arms to Hold You

The Rasmus – Playboys

Third Eye Blind – Third Eye Blind (breakthrough)

Travis – Good Feeling

The Verve – Urban Hymns (breakthrough)

Ween – The Mollusk

Events

Solo artist Jeff Buckley dies on 29 May as a result of accidental drowning in the Mississippi River.

Jane's Addiction reunites; later that year, they disband again.

On hiatus while Scott Weiland is in rehab and working on a solo album, members of Stone Temple Pilots form Talk Show; the new band lasts for only a short time.

R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry announces his retirement; the rest of the band continue as a three-piece.

Oasis' Be Here Now becomes the UK's fastest-selling album.

Radiohead release album OK Computer which hits in over 1000 charts.

1998

Bands formed

Thirty Seconds to Mars

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Breaking Benjamin

CKY

The Cooper Temple Clause

Doves

Eagles of Death Metal

Gorillaz

Interpol

Metric

The Rapture

The Strokes

Disbandments

Black Grape

Faith No More

Goats Don't Shave

Helmet

Kerbdog

The Lemonheads

Lush

Shudder to Think

Reunions

Bauhaus

Albums

Barenaked Ladies – Stunt (breakthrough)

The Beautiful South – Quench

Beck – Mutations

Belle & Sebastian – The Boy with the Arab Strap

Better Than Ezra – How Does Your Garden Grow?

The Bluetones – Return to the Last Chance Saloon

The Boo Radleys – Kingsize

Cake – Prolonging The Magic

Graham Coxon – The Sky Is Too High

Eels – Electro-Shock Blues

Eraserheads – Aloha Milkyway

Far – Water & Solutions

Fugazi – End Hits

Jerry Cantrell – Boggy Depot

Garbage – Version 2.0 (Most commercially successful album)

Goo Goo Dolls – Dizzy Up the Girl

Hole – Celebrity Skin

Hum – Downward Is Heavenward

James Iha – Let It Come Down

Local H – Pack Up The Cats

Manic Street Preachers – This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours

Mansun – Six

Mercury Rev – Deserter's Songs

Alanis Morissette – Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie

Mudhoney – Tomorrow Hit Today

Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Oasis – The Masterplan

Pearl Jam – Yield

Liz Phair – Whitechocolatespaceegg

Placebo – Without You I'm Nothing (breakthrough)

Powderfinger – Internationalist

Pulp – This Is Hardcore

Queens of the Stone Age – Queens of the Stone Age

The Rasmus – Hell of a Tester

R.E.M. – Up

The Rasmus – Hell of a Tester

Seven Mary Three – Orange Ave.

Shed Seven – Let It Ride

The Smashing Pumpkins – Adore

Sonic Youth – A Thousand Leaves

Soul Asylum – Candy from a Stranger

Soul Coughing – El Oso

Spacehog – The Chinese Album

Sparklehorse – Good Morning Spider

Sunny Day Real Estate – How It Feels to Be Something On

Scott Weiland – 12 Bar Blues

Events

For the first year since it began, Lollapalooza does not take place, and goes on hiatus for six years.

John Frusciante returns to the Red Hot Chili Peppers after a six-year hiatus.

1999

Bands formed

A Perfect Circle

The All-American Rejects

Broken Social Scene

Electric Eel Shock

Enon

My Vitriol

The National

Phoenix

The Calling

The Vines

Disbandments

Blind Melon – after years of struggling to continue on without Shannon Hoon.

The Boo Radleys

Far

The Jesus Lizard

The Jesus and Mary Chain

Kula Shaker

Love and Rockets

Luscious Jackson

Pavement

The Rentals

The Verve (second disbandment)

Reunions

Wire (second reunion)

Weezer

Albums

311 – Soundsystem

AFI – Black Sails in the Sunset

AFI – All Hallow's EP

A – A vs. Monkey Kong

Beck – Midnite Vultures

Blink 182 – Enema of the State (breakthrough)

Blur – 13

Built to Spill – Keep It Like a Secret

Bush – The Science of Things

Buzzcocks – Modern

The Charlatans – Us and Us Only

CKY – Volume 1

Collective Soul – Dosage

Chris Cornell – Euphoria Morning

The Cranberries – Bury the Hatchet

Echo & the Bunnymen – What Are You Going to Do with Your Life?

Eraserheads – Natin99

Filter – Title of Record

The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin

Foo Fighters – There Is Nothing Left to Lose

Fountains of Wayne – Utopia Parkway

Guided by Voices – Do the Collapse

HIM – Razorblade Romance

Incubus – Make Yourself

Kula Shaker – Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts

Luna – The Days of Our Nights

Matthew Good Band – Beautiful Midnight

Mogwai – Come On Die Young

Muse – Showbiz

Nine Inch Nails – The Fragile

Ocean Colour Scene – One from the Modern

Our Lady Peace – Happiness... Is Not a Fish That You Can Catch

Pavement – Terror Twilight

Primus – Antipop

Pezz (Billy Talent) – Watoosh!

The Rapture – Mirror

Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication

The Rentals – Seven More Minutes

Sigur Rós – Ágætis byrjun

Silverchair – Neon Ballroom

Sleater-Kinney – The Hot Rock

Sponge – New Pop Sunday

Stone Temple Pilots – No. 4

Suede – Head Music

Super Furry Animals – Guerrilla

Supergrass – Supergrass

Switchfoot – New Way to Be Human

They Might Be Giants – Long Tall Weekend

The Verve Pipe – The Verve Pipe

The White Stripes – The White Stripes

Third Eye Blind – Blue

Thursday – Waiting

Travis – The Man Who (breakthrough)

Wilco – Summerteeth

Events

The No WTO Combo attempts to play at the WTO Meeting of 1999, but are unable to do so due to conflicts with the police.

They Might Be Giants release "Long Tall Weekend" which is the first major full-length album released exclusively on the Internet by an established band.

2000

Bands formed

British Sea Power

The Decemberists

Kings of Leon

The Stills

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Disbandments

At the Drive-In

Catherine Wheel

Hum

Rage Against the Machine

The Rentals

Screaming Trees

The Smashing Pumpkins

Soul Coughing

Reunions

Meat Puppets

Albums

A Perfect Circle – Mer de Noms (breakthrough)

At the Drive-In – Relationship of Command

Barenaked Ladies – Maroon

The Beautiful South – Painting It Red

The Bluetones – Science & Nature

Catherine Wheel – Wishville

Coldplay – Parachutes (breakthrough))

Collective Soul – Blender

Graham Coxon – The Golden D

The Cure – Bloodflowers

The Dandy Warhols – Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia

Doves – Lost Souls

Elastica – The Menace

Everclear – Songs from an American Movie Vol. One: Learning How to Smile

Everclear – Songs from an American Movie Vol. Two: Good Time for a Bad Attitude

Flying Saucer Attack - Mirror

Grandaddy – The Sophtware Slump

Green Day – Warning

Guano Apes – Don't Give Me Names

Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory (breakthrough)

Mansun – Little Kix

Modest Mouse – The Moon and Antarctica

No Doubt – Return of Saturn

Oasis – Standing on the Shoulder of Giants

Pearl Jam – Binaural

Placebo – Black Market Music

Powderfinger – Odyssey Number Five

The Presidents of the United States of America – Freaked Out and Small

Primal Scream – XTRMNTR

Primitive Radio Gods – White Hot Peach

Queens of the Stone Age – Rated R

Radiohead – Kid A

Rage Against the Machine – Renegades

Sleater-Kinney – All Hands on the Bad One

The Smashing Pumpkins – Machina/The Machines of God

The Smashing Pumpkins – Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music

Sonic Youth – NYC Ghosts & Flowers

Sunny Day Real Estate – The Rising Tide

Super Furry Animals – Mwng

Switchfoot – Learning to Breathe

The The – NakedSelf

U2 – All That You Can't Leave Behind

Ween – White Pepper

The White Stripes – De Stiji

Events

The Smashing Pumpkins announce their breakup, indicating that "Machina" was intended as their final album during production, and play a farewell concert on December 2. They release Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music for free to music downloaders on the internet after feuds between Billy Corgan and Virgin Music emerged.

Soul Coughing split up in 2000 after longstand arguments over royalties following their biggest releases Irresistible Bliss and El Oso.

2001

Bands formed

Audioslave

The Black Keys

Deerhunter

Fall Out Boy

Franz Ferdinand

Jet

The Kooks

The Libertines

Mae

My Chemical Romance

Ratatat

TV on the Radio

The Zutons

Zwan

Disbandments

The Afghan Whigs

At The Drive-In

Elastica

Fastbacks

Sunny Day Real Estate (second disbandment)

Toadies

Albums

 !!! – !!!

311 – From Chaos

AFI – The Art of Drowning

Better Than Ezra – Closer

Björk – Vespertine

Blink 182 –Take Off Your Pants and Jacket

Built to Spill – Ancient Melodies of the Future

Bush – Golden State

Butthole Surfers – Weird Revolution

Cake – Comfort Eagle

The Calling –Camino Palmero (breakthrough)

Camera Obscura – Biggest Bluest Hi Fi

The Charlatans – Wonderland

The Cranberries – Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

Dave Matthews Band – Everyday

Depeche Mode – Exciter

Echo & the Bunnymmen – Flowers

Elbow – Asleep in the Back

Eraserheads – Carbon Stereoxide

Fugazi – The Argument

Garbage - Beautiful Garbage

Gorillaz – Gorillaz (breakthrough)

Graham Coxon – Crow Sit on Blood Tree

Guided by Voices – Isolation Drills

HIM – Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights

Hoobastank – Hoobastank

Incubus – Morning View (breakthrough)

Jesus Jones – London

Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American (breakthrough)

Manic Street Preachers – Know Your Enemy

Matthew Good Band – The Audio of Being

Mercury Rev – All Is Dream

Mogwai – Rock Action

Muse – Origin of Symmetry

My Vitriol – Finelines

New Order – Get Ready

Nickleback – Silver Side Up (breakthrough)

No Doubt – Rock Steady

Ocean Colour Scene – Mechanical Wonder

Our Lady Peace – Spiritual Machines

Radiohead – Amnesiac

The Rasmus – Into

R.E.M. – Reveal

Seven Mary Three – The Economy of Sound

Shed Seven – Truth Be Told

The Shins – Oh, Inverted World

Spacehog – The Hogyssey

Sparklehorse – It's a Wonderful Life

Stone Temple Pilots – Shangri-La Dee Da

The Strokes – Is This It (breakthrough)

Super Furry Animals – Rings Around the World

They Might Be Giants – Mink Car

Toadies – Hell Below/Stars Above

Travis – The Invisible Band

The Verve Pipe – Underneath

Thursday – Full Collapse (breakthrough)

Weezer – Weezer

The White Stripes – White Blood Cells

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – "Yeah Yeah Yeahs (EP)'

Events

The Matthew Good Band breaks up. Good continues as a solo artist.

Manic Street Preachers become first major modern band to play a gig in Cuba. The gig is attended by Fidel Castro.

At the Drive-In split down the middle, one half becoming an emo-focused rock group, Sparta, the other half continuing in the progressive rock vein as The Mars Volta.

2002

Bands formed

Arctic Monkeys

Editors

The Fray

The Killers

LCD Soundsystem

Silversun Pickups

Wild Beasts

Disbandments

Bush

Hole

Eraserheads

Spacehog

Reunions

Gin Blossoms

Jane's Addiction (second reunion)

Siouxsie and the Banshees

Talking Heads

Albums

30 Seconds to Mars – 30 Seconds to Mars

A – Hi-Fi Serious

Audioslave – Audioslave (breakthrough)

Beck – Sea Change

Breaking Benjamin – Saturate

The Breeders – Title TK

Jerry Cantrell – Degradation Trip

CKY – Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild

Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head

Graham Coxon – The Kiss of Morning

Doves – The Last Broadcast

Filter – The Amalgamut

The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (breakthrough)

Foo Fighters – One by One

Goo Goo Dolls – Gutterflower

Guided by Voices – Universal Truths and Cycles

Hot Hot Heat – Make Up the Breakdown

Interpol – Turn on the Bright Lights

Jet – Dirty Sweet

The Libertines – Up the Bracket

Local H – Here Comes the Zoo

Luna – Romantica

Motion City Soundtrack – I Am the Movie

Muse – Hullabaloo

My Chemical Romance – I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love

Oasis – Heathen Chemistry

Our Lady Peace – Gravity

Pearl Jam – Riot Act

Primal Scream – Evil Heat

Queens of the Stone Age – Songs for the Deaf (breakthrough)

Red Hot Chili Peppers – By the Way

Sigur Rós – ( )

Silverchair – Diorama

Sleater-Kinney – One Beat

Sonic Youth – Murray Street

Suede – A New Morning

Sixpence None the Richer - "Divine Discontent"

Supergrass – Life on Other Planets

Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends

The Music – The Music

The Vines – Highly Evolved (breakthrough)

Weezer – Maladroit

Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (breakthrough)

Events

Eraserheads vocalist Ely Buendia and Lead guitarist Marcus Adoro left the band.

Layne Staley of Alice in Chains dies on April 5; his body is found days later.

Nirvana's "You Know You're Right", a previously unreleased song, becomes a hit single.

Graham Coxon, the guitarist of Blur, quits the band.

2003

Bands formed

The Academy Is...

All Time Low

Arcade Fire

Babyshambles

Bloc Party

The Bravery

Clor

Glasvegas

Hard-Fi

Kaiser Chiefs

The Wombats

Disbandments

The Cranberries

Mansun

Shed Seven

Stone Temple Pilots

Zwan

Albums

311 – Evolver

AFI – Sing the Sorrow (breakthrough)

A Perfect Circle – Thirteenth Step

Barenaked Ladies – Everything to Everyone

The Beautiful South – Gaze

Billy Talent – Billy Talent

Blink 182 - Blink 182

The Bluetones – Luxembourg

Blur – Think Tank

Buzzcocks – Buzzcocks

Camera Obscura – Underachievers Please Try Harder

Cat Power – You Are Free

The Cooper Temple Clause – Kick Up the Fire, and Let the Flames Break Loose

The Dandy Warhols – Welcome to the Monkey House

Death Cab for Cutie – Transatlanticism

Elbow – Cast of Thousands

Evanescence – Fallen (breakthrough)

The Fall – The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country on the Click)

Fall Out Boy - Take This To Your Grave

Fountains of Wayne – Welcome Interstate Managers

Guano Apes – Walking on a Thin Line

Guided by Voices – Earthquake Glue

HIM – Love Metal

Hoobastank – The Reason (breakthrough)

Jane's Addiction – Strays

Jet – Get Born (breakthrough)

Kings of Leon – Youth and Young Manhood

Linkin Park – Meteora

Mae – Destination: Beautiful

The Mars Volta – De-Loused in the Comatorium

Matthew Good – Avalanche

Mogwai – Happy Songs for Happy People

Muse – Absolution (breakthrough)

Ocean Colour Scene – North Atlantic Drift

The Offspring - Splinter

Peatbog Faeries – Welcome to Dun Vegas

Placebo – Sleeping with Ghosts

Powderfinger – Vulture Street

Primitive Radio Gods – Mellotron On!

Primitive Radio Gods – Still Electric

Primus – Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People

Radiohead – Hail to the Thief

The Rapture – Echoes

The Rasmus – Dead Letters

The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow

Sponge – For All the Drugs in the World

Streetlight Manifesto – Everything Goes Numb

The Strokes – Room on Fire

Super Furry Animals – Phantom Power

Supergrass – Road to Rouen

Switchfoot – The Beautiful Letdown

Third Eye Blind – Out of the Vein

Thursday – War All the Time (breakthrough)

Travis – 12 Memories

TV on the Radio – Young Liars

The White Stripes – Elephant (breakthrough)

Wire – Send

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever to Tell

Yellowcard – Ocean Avenue (breakthrough)

Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea

Events

The first Lollapalooza in six years takes place.

Elliott Smith dies at age 34.

2004

Bands formed

The Dead 60s

Jack's Mannequin

Louis XIV

Manchester Orchestra

Paramore

Panic! at the Disco

The Tears

Warpaint

Young the Giant

Disbandments

Guided by Voices

The Libertines

Sixpence None the Richer

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Suede

Reunions

Kula Shaker

Helmet

Pixies

The Wedding Present

Albums

 !!! – Louden Up Now

A Perfect Circle – eMOTIVe

Arcade Fire – Funeral

Ash – Meltdown

Melissa Auf der Maur – Auf der Maur

Björk – Medúlla

The Calling –Two

Cake – Pressure Chief

The Charlatans – Up at the Lake

Collective Soul – Youth

Graham Coxon – Happiness in Magazines

The Cure – The Cure

Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand (breakthrough)

Green Day – American Idiot

Guided by Voices – Half-Smiles of the Decomposed

Hawthorne Heights – The Silence in Black and White (breakthrough)

Helmet – Size Matters

Incubus – A Crow Left of the Murder

Interpol – Antics

Jimmy Eat World – Futures

Kings of Leon – Aha Shake Heartbreak

The Killers – Hot Fuss (breakthrough)

The Libertines – The Libertines

Local H – Whatever Happened to P.J. Soles?

Luna – Rendezvous

Manic Street Preachers – Lifeblood

Mansun – Kleptomania

Matthew Good – White Light Rock & Roll Review

Modest Mouse – Good News for People Who Love Bad News

Morrissey – You Are the Quarry

My Chemical Romance – Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (breakthrough)

The Presidents of the United States of America – Love Everybody

Ratatat – Ratatat

R.E.M. – Around the Sun

Seven Mary Three – Dis/Location

Sonic Youth – Sonic Nurse

Stereolab – Margerine Eclipse

They Might Be Giants – The Spine

TV on the Radio – Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes

U2 – How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

The Used – In Love and Death

The Vines – Winning Days

Wilco – A Ghost Is Born

Events

Influential British DJ John Peel, whose advocacy helped increase the profiles of many punk and alternative acts, dies on October 25.

Pixies reunite and release a new single entitled "Bam Thwok".

Lollapalooza is cancelled due to low ticket sales.

Brett Anderson quits Suede and reunites with former Suede bandmate Bernard Butler to form The Tears.

Red Hot Chili Peppers release their first ever live album Live in Hyde Park. The album was recorded during the three record breaking shows performed in Hyde Park, London. The shows broke the record for the most money made at a live show (a record previously held by The Beatles).

No Doubt goes on hiatus while frontwoman Gwen Stefani pursues a solo career.

2005

Bands formed

Bombay Bicycle Club

Charli XCX

Dirty Pretty Things

Foals

The Horrors

MGMT

The Raconteurs

The View

The xx

Disbandments

Curve

Guided by Voices

Luna

blink-182

The Calling

Reunions

The House of Love

The Lemonheads

Albums

30 Seconds to Mars – A Beautiful Lie (breakthrough)

311 – Don't Tread on Me

A – Teen Dance Ordinance

Audioslave – Out of Exile

Beck – Guero

Bloc Party – Silent Alarm (breakthrough)

The Bravery – The Bravery

Jimmy Chamberlin Complex – Life Begins Again

CKY – An Answer Can Be Found

Clor – Clor

Coldplay – X&Y

Billy Corgan – TheFutureEmbrace

The Dandy Warhols – Odditorium or Warlords of Mars

Dave Matthews Band – Stand Up

The Dead 60s – The Dead 60s

Death Cab for Cutie – Plans

Deerhunter – Turn It Up Faggot

Depeche Mode – Playing the Angel

Doves – Some Cities

Echo & the Bunnymen – Siberia

Editors – The Back Room

Eisley – Room Noises

Elbow – Leaders of the Free World

Fall Out Boy - From Under The Cork Tree (breakthrough)

Foo Fighters – In Your Honor

Franz Ferdinand – You Could Have It So Much Better

The Fray – How to Save a Life

Garbage – Bleed Like Me

Gorillaz – Demon Days

Hard-Fi – Stars of CCTV

HIM – Dark Light

Hot Hot Heat – Elevator

The House of Love – Days Run Away

Jack's Mannequin – Everything in Transit

Kaiser Chiefs – Employment

LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem

Mae – The Everglow

Mercury Rev – The Secret Migration

Motion City Soundtrack – Commit This to Memory (breakthrough)

New Order – Waiting for the Sirens' Call

Nine Inch Nails – With Teeth

Oasis – Don't Believe the Truth

Ocean Colour Scene – A Hyperactive Workout for the Flying Squad

Our Lady Peace – Healthy in Paranoid Times

Panic! at the Disco – A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (breakthrough)

Queens of the Stone Age – Lullabies to Paralyze

The Rasmus – Hide from the Sun

Sigur Rós – Takk...

Sleater-Kinney – The Woods

Sponge – The Man

Super Furry Animals – Love Kraft

Supergrass – Road to Rouen

Switchfoot – Nothing Is Sound

The Wedding Present – Take Fountain

Weezer – Make Believe

The White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan

Events

U2 are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Billy Corgan announces his intention to reform The Smashing Pumpkins after five years of disbandment.

Audioslave become only the second major rock band to play a gig in Cuba, following Manic Street Preachers in 2001.

Garbage announce a long hiatus after their final show supporting Bleed Like Me.

The surviving members of Alice in Chains reform to play their first concert in nine years at a tsunami benefit concert with former Damageplan vocalist Pat Lachman. The band launches a world tour with William Duvall taking the vocal spot, while many guests vocalists perform at various shows, including Maynard James Keenan, Billy Corgan and Phil Anselmo.

2006

Bands formed

Cage the Elephant

Carolina Liar

The Enemy

Friendly Fires

Los Campesinos!

Vampire Weekend

Disbandments

Clor

Sleater-Kinney

Grandaddy

Reunions

The Smashing Pumpkins

Toadies

Albums

AFI – Decemberunderground

Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (breakthrough)

Audioslave – Revelations

Barenaked Ladies – Barenaked Ladies Are Me

The Beautiful South – Superbi

Beck – The Information

Billy Talent – Billy Talent II

Blue October – Foiled

The Bluetones – The Bluetones

Built to Spill – You in Reverse

Camera Obscura – Let's Get Out of This Country

The Charlatans – Simpatico

Graham Coxon – Love Travels at Illegal Speeds

The Decemberists – The Crane Wife

Ratatat – Classics

Evanescence – The Open Door

Goo Goo Dolls – Let Love In

Helmet – Monochrome

Hoobastank – Every Man for Himself

Incubus – Light Grenades

Jet – Shine On

The Killers – Sam's Town

The Kooks – Inside In/Inside Out

The Lemonheads – The Lemonheads

The Mars Volta – Amputechture

Mogwai – Mr Beast

Morrissey – Ringleader of the Tormentors

Muse – Black Holes and Revelations

My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade

Pearl Jam – Pearl Jam

Placebo – Meds

Powderfinger – Dream Days at the Hotel Existence

Primal Scream – Riot City Blues

Primitive Radio Gods – Sweet Venus

The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers

The Rapture – Pieces of the People We Love

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Stadium Arcadium

The Shins – Wincing The Night Away

Sonic Youth – Rather Ripped

Silversun Pickups – Carnavas

Sparklehorse – Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain

Soul Asylum – The Silver Lining

Stereolab – Fab Four Suture

The Strokes – First Impressions of Earth

Switchfoot – Oh! Gravity.

Thursday – A City by the Light Divided

TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain

The Vines – Vision Valley

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones

Yellowcard – Lights and Sounds

Thom Yorke – The Eraser

Events

The Smashing Pumpkins officially reunite, issuing an announcement on their website in April.

Grant McLennan of The Go-Betweens dies.

Alice in Chains reforms, featuring Comes With the Fall singer William DuVall replacing Layne Staley.

2007

Ringo Deathstarr Bands formed

Alt-J

Catfish and the Bottlemen

Defrage

Girls

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Tame Impala

Two Door Cinema Club

Twin Atlantic

White Lies

Disbandments

Audioslave

The Beautiful South

The Cooper Temple Clause

Reunions

Garbage

The Jesus and Mary Chain

My Bloody Valentine

Rage Against the Machine

Shed Seven

Shudder to Think

The Verve (second reunion)

Albums

 !!! – Myth Takes

Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam

Arcade Fire – Neon Bible

Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare

Ash – Twilight of the Innocents

Babyshambles – Shotter's Nation

Barenaked Ladies – Barenaked Ladies Are Men

Björk – Volta

Bloc Party – A Weekend in the City

The Bravery – The Sun and the Moon

Bright Eyes – Cassadaga

Chris Cornell – Carry On

The Cooper Temple Clause – Make This Your Own

Deerhunter – Cryptograms

Editors – An End Has a Start

Eisley – Combinations

The Enemy – We'll Live and Die in These Towns

Fall Out Boy – Infinity On High

Foo Fighters – Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace

Fountains of Wayne – Traffic and Weather

Happy Mondays – Uncle Dysfunktional

Hard-Fi – Once Upon a Time in the West

HIM – Venus Doom

The Horrors – Strange House

Interpol – Our Love to Admire

Jimmy Eat World – Chase This Light

Kaiser Chiefs – Yours Truly, Angry Mob

Kings of Leon – Because of the Times

Klaxons – Myths of the Near Future

Kula Shaker – Strangefolk

LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver

Linkin Park – Minutes to Midnight

Mae – Singularity

Manic Street Preachers – Send Away the Tigers

Maxïmo Park – Our Earthly Pleasures

Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

Motion City Soundtrack – Even If It Kills Me

Nine Inch Nails – Year Zero

Ocean Colour Scene – On the Leyline

Paramore – Riot! (breakthrough)

The Presidents of the United States of America – These Are the Good Times People

Queens of the Stone Age – Era Vulgaris

Radiohead – In Rainbows

Sandra Nasic – The Signal

Silverchair – Young Modern

The Smashing Pumpkins – Zeitgeist

The Shins – Wincing the Night Away

St. Vincent – Marry Me

Sponge – Galore Galore

Super Furry Animals – Hey Venus!

Travis – The Boy with No Name

The White Stripes – Icky Thump

Wilco – Sky Blue Sky

Wolfstone – Terra Firma

Tyler Joseph – No Phun Intended

Yellowcard – Paper Walls

Events

R.E.M. are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Audioslave disbands after third album: Cornell returned to a solo career for the time being; Commerford, Wilk and Morello performed with Zach De La Rocha as Rage Against The Machine at Coachella Music Festival playing together for the first time since 2001.

The Smashing Pumpkins perform their first concerts since 2000.

Conflicting reports are released about the status of New Order, with bassist Peter Hook insisting that band has broken up, while Bernard Sumner and Stephen Morris issued a statement denying Hook's statements.

Factory Records founder Tony Wilson dies.

My Bloody Valentine reunite, and announce plans to release a third album that they have been working on since 1996.

Radiohead releases In Rainbows over the Internet and allows fans to set their own purchase price.

2008

Bands formed

The Drums

Imagine Dragons

Passion Pit

Pulled Apart by Horses

Sleigh Bells

Tonight Alive

Disbandments

Bauhaus

Reunions

Eraserheads

Far

Love and Rockets

No Doubt

Spacehog

Stone Temple Pilots

Sixpence None the Richer

Albums

Atlas Sound – Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel

Bauhaus – Go Away White

Beck – Modern Guilt

Bloc Party – Intimacy

The Breeders – Mountain Battles

British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music?

Cage the Elephant – Cage the Elephant

Carolina Liar – Coming to Terms

Cat Power – Jukebox

The Charlatans – You Cross My Path

Coldplay – Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends

The Cure – 4:13 Dream

Death Cab for Cutie – Narrow Stairs

Deerhunter – Microcastle

Deerhunter – Weird Era Cont.

Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid

Filter – Anthems for the Damned

Friendly Fires – Friendly Fires

Glasvegas – Glasvegas

Jack's Mannequin – The Glass Passenger

The Killers – Day & Age

Kings of Leon – Only by the Night (breakthrough)

The Kooks – Konk

Last Shadow Puppets – The Age of the Understatement

Local H – Twelve Angry Months

Mercury Rev – Snowflake Midnight

MGMT – Oracular Spectacular (breakthrough)

Mogwai – The Hawk Is Howling

Muse – HAARP

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!

Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts I–IV

Nine Inch Nails – The Slip

Oasis – Dig Out Your Soul

The Offspring - Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace

Panic! at the Disco – Pretty. Odd.

Primal Scream – Beautiful Future

The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely

The Rasmus – Black Roses

Ratatat – LP3

R.E.M. – Accelerate

Sixpence None The Richer - The Dawn of Grace

Seven Mary Three – Day & Nightdriving

Sigur Rós – Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

Supergrass – Diamond Hoo Ha

Toadies – No Deliverance

Travis – Ode to J. Smith

TV on the Radio – Dear Science

Seven Mary Three – Day & Nightdriving

The Smashing Pumpkins – American Gothic EP

Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (breakthrough)

The Verve – Forth

The Vines – Melodia

The Wedding Present – El Rey

Weezer – Weezer

Wire – Object 47

Events

After thirteen years of disappearance, Manic Street Preachers' Richard James Edwards is officially declared presumed deceased in November.

After two solo albums, Gwen Stefani reunites with No Doubt to begin songwriting and subsequent tour in 2009.

After six years since they disbanded, Eraserheads performs again in one stage in their Reunion Concert held in The Fort, Taguig City Metro Manila. But after 15 songs, the concert was cut short when Lead Vocalist Ely Buendia was rushed to the hospital for medical attention.

Scott Weiland leaves Velvet Revolver to reunite with Stone Temple Pilots for a reunion tour starting in 2008, and a new album in 2010.

John Frusciante leaves Red Hot Chili Peppers a second time.

Nine Inch Nails releases Ghosts I-IV and The Slip under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-SA) license.

2009

Bands formed

Atoms for Peace

Beady Eye

Broken Bells

Django Django

Echosmith

Foster the People

Grouplove

Highly Suspect

New Politics

Them Crooked Vultures

The Dead Weather

X Ambassadors

Twenty One Pilots

Disbandments

Dirty Pretty Things

Fall Out Boy

Oasis

Shudder to Think (second disbandment)

Silver Jews

The Verve (third disbandment)

Violent Femmes

Reunions

blink-182

Blur

Guano Apes

Hole

Skunk Anansie

Sunny Day Real Estate (second reunion)

Albums

30 Seconds to Mars – This Is War

311 – Uplifter

Alice In Chains – Black Gives Way to Blue

Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

Arctic Monkeys – Humbug

Atlas Sound – Logos

Billy Talent – Billy Talent III

The Bravery – Stir the Blood

Built to Spill – There Is No Enemy

Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career

CKY – Carver City

Graham Coxon – The Spinning Top

The Dead Weather – Horehound

Default – Comes and Goes

Depeche Mode – Sounds of the Universe

Dinosaur Jr. – Farm

Doves – Kingdom of Rust

Echo & the Bunnymen – The Fountain

Editors – In This Light and on This Evening

The Enemy – Music for the People

Franz Ferdinand – Tonight: Franz Ferdinand

Girls – Album

Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown

The Horrors – Primary Colours

Jet – Shaka Rock

Julian Casablancas – Phrazes for the Young

The Lemonheads – Varshons

Manic Street Preachers – Journal for Plague Lovers

Meat Puppets – Sewn Together

Morrissey – Years of Refusal

Muse – The Resistance

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Paramore – Brand New Eyes

Passion Pit – Manners

Pearl Jam – Backspacer

Placebo – Battle for the Sun

Powderfinger – Golden Rule

Silversun Pickups – Swoon

Sonic Youth – The Eternal

Sparklehorse – Dark Night of the Soul (With Danger Mouse)

St. Vincent – Actor

Super Furry Animals – Dark Days/Light Years

Switchfoot – Hello Hurricane

Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures

Three Days Grace – Life Starts Now

U2 – No Line on the Horizon

The Verve Pipe – A Family Album

Thursday – Common Existence

Weezer – Raditude

White Lies – To Lose My Life...

Wilco – Wilco (The Album)

The xx – xx

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It's Blitz!

Events

Alice in Chains releases their first studio album in 14 years with new lead singer William DuVall.

Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor declares that the band is done with touring for the foreseeable future.

2010

Bands formed

Cults

Howler

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

The Vaccines

Wolf Alice

Disbandments

Far (second disbandment)

Supergrass

Sparklehorse

Reunions

Bush

Faith No More

Guided by Voices

The Libertines

Pavement

Soundgarden

Suede

Albums

 !!! – Strange Weather, Isn't It?

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

The Black Keys – Brothers (breakthrough)

The Bluetones – A New Athens

The Charlatans – Who We Touch

Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest

The Drums – The Drums

Far – At Night We Live

Feeder – Renegades

Filter – The Trouble with Angels

Girls – Broken Dreams Club EP

Gorillaz – Plastic Beach

Helmet – Seeing Eye Dog

Hole – Nobody's Daughter

Interpol – Interpol

Jimmy Eat World – Invented

Kings of Leon – Come Around Sundown

Klaxons – Surfing the Void

Kula Shaker – Pilgrims Progress

Linkin Park – A Thousand Suns

LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening

Manic Street Preachers – Postcards from a Young Man

MGMT – Congratulations

Motion City Soundtrack – My Dinosaur Life

My Chemical Romance – Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys

The National – High Violet

Neon Trees – Habits

New Politics – New Politics

Ocean Colour Scene – Saturday

Ratatat – LP4

Sleigh Bells – Treats

Soundgarden;- Telephantasm

Stone Temple Pilots – Stone Temple Pilots

Toadies – Feeler

Two Door Cinema Club – Tourist History

Vampire Weekend – Contra

Weezer – Death to False Metal

Weezer – Hurley

Events

Stone Temple Pilots release their first album in nine years after reuniting.

Soundgarden reforms and is one of the headliners at Lollapalooza.

2011

Bands formed

Distortion Mirrors

Drenge (band)

Savages (band)

Disbandments

R.E.M.

The White Stripes

Thursday

Reunions

Archers of Loaf

Pulp

The Stone Roses

Endless Bob Brown

Albums

Arctic Monkeys – Suck It And See

Atlas Sound – Parallax

The Black Keys - El Camino

Beady Eye – Different Gear, Still Speeding

Björk – Biophilia

blink-182 – Neighbourhoods

Bright Eyes – The People's Key

Bush – The Sea of Memories

Cake – Showroom of Compassion

Cage the Elephant – Thank You, Happy Birthday

Carolina Liar – Wild Blessed Freedom

Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto

Cults – Cults

The Decemberists – The King Is Dead

The Drums – Portamento

Eisley – The Valley

Elbow – Build a Rocket Boys!

Evanescence – Evanescence

Foo Fighters – Wasting Light

Foster the People – Torches (breakthrough)

Fountains of Wayne – Sky Full of Holes

Friendly Fires – Pala

Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost

Gorillaz – The Fall

Guano Apes – Bel Air

Hard-Fi – Killer Sounds

The Horrors – Skying

Incubus – If Not Now, When?

Jane's Addiction – The Great Escape Artist

Jónsi – Go

Kaiser Chiefs – The Future Is Medieval

Kasabian – Velociraptor!

The Kooks – Junk of the Heart

Mogwai – Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds – Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Belong

Panic! at the Disco – Vices & Virtues

PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

Primus – Green Naugahyde

Radiohead – The King of Limbs

The Rapture – In the Grace of Your Love

Red Hot Chili Peppers – I'm with You

R.E.M. – Collapse into Now

Social Distortion – Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes

St. Vincent – Strange Mercy

The Strokes – Angles

Switchfoot – Vice Verses

They Might Be Giants – Join Us

Thursday – No Devolución

Tonight Alive - What Are You So Scared Of?

TV on the Radio – Nine Types of Light

The Vines – Future Primitive

White Lies – Ritual

Wire – Red Barked Tree

Yellowcard – When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes

Events

Mike Starr, former bassist of Alice in Chains, dies of an overdose on March 8.

Arcade Fire wins the Album of the Year award at the Grammy Awards.

Thirty Seconds to Mars set a Guinness World Record for the most shows played during a single album cycle.

Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth separate after 27 years of marriage. Consequently, the band itself goes on hiatus.

2012

Bands formed

Elektric Orbit

Black spectrum

Disbandments

Jet

Reunions

Codeine

Deaths

Mitch Lucker, lead singer of metal band Suicide Silence, after a motorcycle accident at Huntington Beach, California

Albums

Alt-J - An Awesome Wave

Animal Collective - Centipede Hz

Beach House - Bloom

Billy Talent - Dead Silence

Bloc Party – Four

Butt Nothings – Attack on Memory

Dinosaur Jr. - I Bet on Sky

Django Django - Django Django

Everclear - Invisible Stars

Graham Coxon – A+E

The Enemy – Streets in the Sky

Feeder – Generation Freakshow

Garbage – Not Your Kind of People

Green Day - ¡Uno!

Green Day - ¡Dos!

Green Day - ¡Tre!

Guided by Voices – Let's Go Eat the Factory

Howler – America Give Up

Imagine Dragons – Night Visions (breakthrough)

The Killers – Battle Born

Linkin Park – Living Things

Lotus Plaza - Spooky Action at a Distance

Muse - The 2nd Law

No Doubt - Push and Shove

The Offspring - Days Go By

Rocket Juice & the Moon – Rocket Juice & the Moon

Sleigh Bells – Reign of Terror

The Smashing Pumpkins – Oceania

Soundgarden - King Animal

Soul Asylum – Delayed Reaction

Tame Impala - Lonerism

The Wedding Present – Valentina

2013

Bands formed

Royal Blood

Events

On February 3, 2013, My Bloody Valentine releases "m b v", their third title, and first album since their 22-year-long hiatus began in 1991.

Sonic Youth disbands, with the separation of Moore and Gordon's marriage.

Nine Inch Nails returns on tour in February, supporting the new album "Hesitation Marks".

Disbandments

My Chemical Romance

Elektric Orbit

Lostprophets

Sonic Youth

Deaths

Lou Reed, founder of Velvet Underground, and frequent collaborator with Alt Rock acts.

Chi Cheng, Deftones bassist after nearly 5 years of medical complications from an automotive collision.

Reunions

Elektric Orbit

Fall Out Boy

Albums

!!! - Thr!!!er

30 Seconds to Mars - Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams

A Day to Remember - Common Courtesy

AFI - Burials

Alice in Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here

Arcade Fire - Reflektor

Arctic Monkeys - AM

Barenaked Ladies - Grinning Streak

Bosnian Rainbows - Bosnian Rainbows

Biffy Clyro - Opposites

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Specter at the Feast

Blue October - Sway

British Sea Power - Machineries of Joy

Cage The Elephant - Melophobia

The Courteeners - Anna

Depeche Mode - Delta Machine

Echosmith - Talking Dreams

Eels - Wonderful, Glorious

Fall Out Boy - Save Rock And Roll

Foals - Holy Fire

Filter - The Sun Comes Out Tonight

Franz Ferdinand - Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action

Frightened Rabbit - Pedestrian Verse

Jim James - Regions of Light and Sound of God

Jimmy Eat World - Damage

Johnny Marr - The Messenger

The Joy Formidable - Wolf's Law

Kings of Leon - Mechanical Bull

Local Natives - Hummingbird

Manic Street Preachers - Rewind the Film

MGMT - MGMT

My Bloody Valentine - MBV

The National - Trouble Will Find Me

New Order - Lost Sirens

New Politics - A Bad Girl in Harlem

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away

Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks

Panic! At the Disco - Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!

Palma Violets - 180

Paramore - Paramore

Pearl Jam - Lightning Bolt

Placebo - Loud Like Love

Primal Scream - More Light

Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork

The Red Paintings - The Revolution Is Never Coming

Savages - Silence Yourself

Stereophonics - Graffiti on the Train

The Strokes - Comedown Machine

Suede - Bloodsports

Tonight Alive - The Other Side

Travis - Where You Stand

Twenty One Pilots - Vessel

Vampire Weekend Modern Vampires of the City

Wavves - Afraid of Heights

White Lies - Big TV

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito

Yo La Tengo - Fade

Youth Lagoon - Wondrous Bughouse

2014

Bands formed

No Devotion

Reunions

Slowdive

The Libertines

Ride

Albums

311 - Stereolithic

Anberlin - Lowborn

Beck - Morning Phase

The Black Keys - Turn Blue

Broken Bells - After the Disco (breakthrough)

Bush - Man on the Run

Coldplay - Ghost Stories

Dirty Heads - Sound of Change

Elbow - The Take Off and Landing of Everything

Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways

Foster the People - Supermodel

The Fray - Helios

The Horrors - Luminous

Interpol - El Pintor

Jack White - Lazaretto

Kaiser Chiefs - Education, Education, Education and War

Linkin Park - The Hunting Party

Morrissey - World Peace Is None of Your Business

Pixies - Indie Cindy

The Presidents of the United States of America - Kudos to You!

The Pretty Reckless - Going to Hell (breakthrough)

Royal Blood - Royal Blood (breakthrough)

The Smashing Pumpkins - Monuments to an Elegy

Spoon - They Want My Soul

Switchfoot - Fading West

Thurston Moore - The Best Day

TV on the Radio - Seeds

U2 - Songs of Innocence

Warpaint - Warpaint

Weezer - Everything Will Be Alright in the End

Young the Giant - Mind Over Matter (breakthrough)

2015

Disbandments

Klaxons

Events

In November 2015, Foo Fighters announce an open-ended hiatus after releasing the EP, Saint Cecilia.

Reunions

The Bluetones

Deaths

Scott Weiland, former vocalist of Stone Temple Pilots dies on December 3.

Albums

Ash - Kablammo!

Björk - Vulnicura

Blur - The Magic Whip

Cage the Elephant - Tell Me I'm Pretty

The Charlatans - Modern Nature

Coldplay - A Head Full of Dreams

Collective Soul - See What You Started by Continuing

Courtney Barnett - Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit

Editors - In Dream

Faith No More - Sol Invictus

Fall Out Boy - American Beauty/American Psycho

Halsey - Badlands

Imagine Dragons - Smoke + Mirrors

The Libertines - Anthems for Doomed Youth

Lifehouse - Out of the Wasteland

Melanie Martinez - Cry Baby

Modest Mouse - Strangers to Ourselves

Mumford & Sons - Wilder Mind

Muse - Drones

New Order - Music Complete

No Devotion - Permanence

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday

Nothing But Thieves - Nothing But Thieves

Ratatat - Magnifique

Ryn Weaver - The Fool

Silversun Pickups - Better Nature

Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love

Stereophonics - Keep the Village Alive

Tame Impala - Currents

Third Eye Blind - Dopamine

Twenty One Pilots - Blurryface (breakthrough)

Wolf Alice - My Love Is Cool

2016

Reunions

At the Drive-In

Thursday

The Number Twelve Looks Like You

Deaths

David Bowie dies on January 10 due to liver cancer.

Albums

Animal Collective – Painting With

Billy Talent – Afraid of Heights

Blink-182 – California

Dinosaur Jr. – Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not

Garbage – Strange Little Birds

Green Day – Revolution Radio

Jimmy Eat World – Integrity Blues

Kings Of Leon – Walls

Nine Inch Nails – Not the Actual Events EP

Panic! at the Disco – Death of a Bachelor

Pixies – Head Carrier

Primal Scream – Chaosmosis

Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool

Red Hot Chili Peppers – The Getaway

Soul Asylum – Change of Fortune

Suede – Night Thoughts

Sum 41 – 13 Voices

Young the Giant – Home of the Strange

Weezer – Weezer

White Lies – Friends