What goes through your head when you hear someone say, "I like Alternative" in reference to their taste in music?

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You know who I see saying this a lot is rappers. Andre 3000 will talk about how he's into all kinds of music, including alternative.

― Mark (MarkR), Monday, 16 August 2004 16:42 (twenty-one years ago)

This question inspired by a recent flip through Rolling Stone's Alt Rock-o-Rama book. Is that where they anoint alternative as the true successor to classic rock? Did RS ever show the same interest in punk or new wave that they did in alternative? I guess American radio was never as accepting of these genres...but I wonder why not? This question could have been called: "Alternative Rock: What does it all mean?

― Mark (MarkR), Monday, 16 August 2004 16:50 (twenty-one years ago)

"What am I gonna eat for supper?" probably goes through my head.

― peepee (peepee), Monday, 16 August 2004 16:51 (twenty-one years ago)

i haven't heard anyone say this since 1995

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 16 August 2004 16:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I think of the anesthetization of the intellect.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Monday, 16 August 2004 16:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Are we still having this "debate"? Is it 1989 again?

― Huck, Monday, 16 August 2004 16:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Well I assume it sounds different to you now than it did in 1989.

― Mark (MarkR), Monday, 16 August 2004 16:57 (twenty-one years ago)

When you assume, you make an ASS out of U and ME

― Huck, Monday, 16 August 2004 16:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought that it went : when you ASSUME, its like we're a donkey

― peepee (peepee), Monday, 16 August 2004 17:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I can't even remember the last time I hear someone say "alternative". Even that new 103.1 station in L.A. calls itself "Indie 103.1", take that however you want.

― Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 16 August 2004 17:04 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm still waiting for "Grime 98.7"

― Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 16 August 2004 17:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Whenever I hear someone say "I like alternative" now, I take it to mean they own the entire Matchbox Twenty catalogue.

― Talent Explosion (Talent Explosion), Monday, 16 August 2004 17:18 (twenty-one years ago)

"I'm still waiting for "Grime 98.7" "

What about "twee93"?

― peepee (peepee), Monday, 16 August 2004 17:19 (twenty-one years ago)

And what would their mascots be?
Twee 93: The Calico Pussy

― Huck, Monday, 16 August 2004 17:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Seriously, whenever I hear that I think of Ted Nugent claiming "These days, my shit is the REAL alternative" around '94 or so.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Monday, 16 August 2004 17:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually, this is what I have to say to people at my work, because they wouldn't have a clue about any other term I could use. And I'm not really into the idea of going into it with them.

like:
"What do you like?" "I don't know, I guess what you'd call alternative."

― dleone (dleone), Monday, 16 August 2004 17:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Somebody in the late 90s had ads in No Depression that read: "Alternative Country is the only country and the only alternative!"
That made me gag, a little bit.

― Huck, Monday, 16 August 2004 17:29 (twenty-one years ago)

1. alternative to what lolol

2. replace "alternative" with "techno" and prepare to be amazed

― zartbitter, Monday, 16 August 2004 17:41 (twenty-one years ago)

"Idiot."

― Lee G (Lee G), Monday, 16 August 2004 18:08 (twenty-one years ago)

If it's a girl, I assume she takes it from behind.

― B-Man (Barima), Monday, 16 August 2004 18:41 (twenty-one years ago)

"You are old."

― na (Nick A.), Monday, 16 August 2004 19:00 (twenty-one years ago)

If it's a man, I assume he takes it from the urethra.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 16 August 2004 19:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Q: What goes through your head when you hear someone say, "I like Alternative" in reference to their taste in music?
A: "Oh, so you think Nickelback and Blink 182 is keen and neato, do you?"

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Monday, 16 August 2004 19:45 (twenty-one years ago)

I've never heard anyone say that, now or then.

― shookout (shookout), Monday, 16 August 2004 19:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I used to like Alternative Nation, but maybe I just thought Kennedy was hot.

― artdamages (artdamages), Monday, 16 August 2004 19:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I think of bands that aren't really all that challenging....like, say, Bush and Belly and stuff like that.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 16 August 2004 19:56 (twenty-one years ago)

i assume the person is boring and i leave the room.
but i find myself, like dleone, struggling to come up with a simple way of explaining what i do like without using the term - or saying "everything" for that matter. but that's a whole different can o' worms.

x-post - alex otm

― dyson (dyson), Monday, 16 August 2004 19:58 (twenty-one years ago)

"He has long hair! He's alternative!" Bobby Hill on Willie Nelson.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 16 August 2004 20:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Hmmm.... it appears as though the people I interact with on a daily basis are even less cool than I thought. If I say "indie" they say "500". Someone actually asked me last week if I listened to any "mainstream" (which I guess she thought was a genre, meaning music you hear on "regular" instead of "alternative" or "modern rock" stations).

But I dunno...I guess I find the subject interesting, how the word "alternative" was absorbed into mass culture. Even now, 10 years later. Hell I think it's more interesting as a topic now.

― Mark (MarkR), Monday, 16 August 2004 20:18 (twenty-one years ago)

I like the idea of making "mainstream" a genre. One could base it purely upon record sales and it couldn't be used for marketing purposes in any way.

― Evanston Wade (EWW), Monday, 16 August 2004 20:26 (twenty-one years ago)

"Strange. I always thought Alternative Music hadn't existed since '98 or so."

― Mr. Snrub, Monday, 16 August 2004 20:29 (twenty-one years ago)

"You probably like the same stuff as me, but I like it *better*"

― Jim Cassius (J.Cassius), Monday, 16 August 2004 22:07 (twenty-one years ago)

I overheard a bald man, slightly overweight yuppie say this to two women in one of those brewery restaurant things-- "Yeah, I'm into alternative... ever heard of the Verve Pipe?"

This was about a year ago.

― David Allen (David Allen), Monday, 16 August 2004 22:11 (twenty-one years ago)

"Hey, whatever happened to alternative music? It used to be the hugest thing, but I haven't heard anyone mention it in a long time. I guess everybody's too busy listening to all that terrific music being made by black people and children" Jackie Harvey

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Monday, 16 August 2004 22:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Everclear.

― Slim Pickens (Slim Pickens), Monday, 16 August 2004 23:41 (twenty-one years ago)

it actually makes me think of my older brother. he milks cows for a living. last christmas he asked me if i'd heard of the strokes.

― The Lady Ms Lurex (lucylurex), Monday, 16 August 2004 23:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Custos OTM

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 07:05 (twenty-one years ago)

That they are trying too hard and not really succeeding.

― ___ (___), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 07:24 (twenty-one years ago)

"oh fuck" usually goes through mine

― frenchbloke (frenchbloke), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 07:53 (twenty-one years ago)

This is why I never talk to anyone about music except my girlfriend and internet people.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 08:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Great. Now where's your sister?

― piers (piers), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 08:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Just kidding.

― piers (piers), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 08:06 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't have a sister. :'o(

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 08:07 (twenty-one years ago)

I flee more from people who say they listen to "indie" because that usually means "emo"

― Gear! (Gear!), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 08:09 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't think any of my friends would actually know what "Emo" was, unless it had Rod Hull's arm stuffed up it's arse.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 08:36 (twenty-one years ago)

sod off.

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 12:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Alt-Rock-A-Rama, despite its ghastly title, is a pretty fun book! Essays by Howe Gelb, drummer jokes and Mats tales from Chris Mars, goofy fiction from Graham Parker and Robyn Hitchcock, lists lists lists...I enjoyed it a lot!

What does alternative mean? Wishful thinking by people who hate the norm (and/or are in denial that they are part of it).

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 13:39 (twenty-one years ago)

I find the term 'emo' even more irritating than 'alternative'.

― Bimble (bimble), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 14:09 (twenty-one years ago)

"Strange. I always thought Alternative Music hadn't existed since '98 or so."
Change that to "'89" and you might be onto something.

also, maybe, when I hear someone talk about "Alternative", I should start asking "What do you mean when you say 'Alternative'?"

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 14:35 (twenty-one years ago)

We used to call it "college" you know

― sexyDancer, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 14:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Let's see, what does go through my head? The hollow whistle of a hot, dry wind as it slithers through the canyon. The distant scream of an eagle, and closer, the menacing rattle of a diamondback. Occasional buzzings of insects and an almost-audible withering beneath the merciless blaze of the desert sky, and then suddenly a shot like a whipcrack. A searing pain floods outward from a spot below my left shoulderblade before all gives way to blackness. An eternity of silence until, from far, far away a tiny, trickling sound reveals itself as a voice, repeating the word "Alternative" in a ghostly, affectless whisper.

― briania (briania), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 15:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Really?

Are you completely sure?

Your left shoulderblade?

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 15:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, it's pretty tough to mistake a thing like that. And don't even get me started on "emo."

― briania (briania), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 15:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Who I'd like to meet:
i wanna core boy, one i can sing with in the car, and watch tear himself to shreds on his bike

― ())(())()()()(()(LASER)()()()LA(Z)E(R)()()()((L)()()(A)(S(E)R()()()) (ex machina, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 15:52 (twenty-one years ago)

About me:
Rochestarian. Into Punk/Emo/Hardcore stuff and likes to experiences new people/things. Single for once! MCC student living at home. Transfering to Fisher in the Spring. 19 years old! Fun to talk to and open to every one! Looking for friends... maybe more if your lucky.
Who I'd like to meet:
Fun boys (and girls) to hang out with, maybe a new concert buddy or something. I dig the tight jeans, square black glasses, not afraid to look different types. Being original is a good thing.

― ())(())()()()(()(LASER)()()()LA(Z)E(R)()()()((L)()()(A)(S(E)R()()()) (ex machina, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 15:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I think of people who would have been acoustic-guitar-strumming singer-songwriters twenty years ago, but due to generational shifts prefer to convey their songs with distorted electric guitar in a band format. Or, as someone put it more succinctly above, Everclear.

― Jesse Fuchs (Jesse Fuchs), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 15:59 (twenty-one years ago)

If a cute girl is says "I like alternative," it's ok. A geeky guy, forget it.

― shookout (shookout), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 16:01 (twenty-one years ago)

OTM.

"i like alternative" means they like Usher.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 16:17 (twenty-one years ago)

What we need ... is an Alternative Usher!

― briania (briania), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 16:19 (twenty-one years ago)

An Alternative Usher
Grab it and change it it's yours
Get an Alternative Usher
Ignore the bores and their laws
Get an Alternative Usher
Be an anti-security force
Alter your native Usher
Alter you native land

― ())(())()()()(()(LASER)()()()LA(Z)E(R)()()()((L)()()(A)(S(E)R()()()) (ex machina, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 16:22 (twenty-one years ago)

"I've always wanted to be an Usher. I'm not an Usher. Therefore, my life is a failure" -- Bob Dylan.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 17:10 (twenty-one years ago)

heh

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 17:14 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/12/tv.idol.daughtry.ap/index.html

― JW (ex machina), Friday, 12 May 2006 14:58 (twenty years ago)

no way it can possibly measure up to the impossibly high watermark set by the Brett Scallions glory days

― bernard snow (sixteen sergeants), Friday, 12 May 2006 17:01 (twenty years ago)

I think to myself, "Well, they're probably not the most sophisticated music fan out there but they'd probably be a hell of a lot more fun to hang out with than some insufferable, I-know-every-microgenre-before-they're-even-invented music critic."

― glarbel, Friday, 12 May 2006 18:05 (twenty years ago)

1. They are Americans, and probably haven't heard of hardly any of the good indie that comes mainly from the UK.
2. Their favourite music probably isn't particularly alternative, as those who have a really alternative taste stopped using that term around 15 years ago

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 12 May 2006 18:16 (twenty years ago)

3. They probably dislike hip-hop and contemporary R&B, which means there is at least something positive to say about them.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 12 May 2006 18:17 (twenty years ago)

anybody who still uses the phrase "alternative music" probably also considers "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" to be "dance music"...

― hank (hank s), Friday, 12 May 2006 18:33 (twenty years ago)

-don't smoke weed with this person because you're just gonna end up listening to tool.-

― m.c. (clikatowi), Friday, 12 May 2006 18:37 (twenty years ago)

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