Alternative
This section covers album stories, birthdays, and anniversaries from artists across alternative and indie rock, plus notes on vinyl reissues as they come out. Alternative music grew up alongside independent labels, and many of its defining albums were pressed in comparatively modest runs the first time around, which is part of why later represses and anniversary editions get treated as real events rather than routine catalog work. Expect stories about how records were actually made — home studios, small budgets, unlikely breaks — and context on the pressings collectors look for when a favorite title finally returns to vinyl.
254 STORIES
Why Did PJ Harvey Walk Away from a Working Band?
PJ Harvey left Automatic Dlamini in January 1991 to form her own trio, and within two years had released Dry and Rid of Me. The band dissolved in 1993 after opening for U2.
· 4 min read
G Herbo: From Fazoland to the Billboard Top Ten
G Herbo went from a sixteen-year-old Chicago cypher rapper to a Billboard top-ten artist. His record now carries PTSD, a federal fraud conviction and a community wellness program.
· 4 min read
Still: Joy Division's Final, Flawed Document
Released on Factory Records in 1981, Still pairs Joy Division studio outtakes with an illegally taped final concert at Birmingham University on 2 May 1980.
· 3 min read
How Pearl Jam Made Vs. a Raw, Record-Breaking Second Album
Pearl Jam recorded Vs. in 1993 with producer Brendan O'Brien, trading studio polish for jam sessions and single-take intensity. The album sold 950,378 copies in its first five days.
· 4 min read
How R.E.M. Made Automatic for the People
R.E.M.'s eighth album grew out of demos cut in the winter of 1990, when Peter Buck steered the Athens band toward a quieter, organ-heavy sound.
· 3 min read
How Thom Yorke's Bad Eye Shaped Radiohead's Strangest Leap
Thom Yorke was born with a paralysed left eye and wore a patch as a child. That refusal to fix what made him different shaped Radiohead's turn from Creep to Kid A.
· 3 min read
Chris Lowe: The Architect Who Built Pet Shop Boys
Chris Lowe trained as an architect before meeting Neil Tennant in a King's Road hi-fi shop in 1981. That chance encounter redirected him toward Pet Shop Boys.
· 5 min read
Why Did Green Day Walk Away From Their Winning Formula on Warning?
In 2000, Green Day produced their sixth album Warning themselves after a planned collaboration with producer Scott Litt fell apart. The record traded punk speed for acoustic guitars and folk textures.
· 4 min read
How Sinéad O'Connor Tore Up Her Own Career on Live TV
Sinéad O'Connor tore up a photograph of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live. She had just sung Bob Marley's 'War' a cappella, changing one word to accuse the church of child abuse.
· 4 min read
Josh Klinghoffer: From Teenage Drummer to Hall of Fame
Josh Klinghoffer went from a self-taught teenage drummer to lead guitarist of Red Hot Chili Peppers. He replaced John Frusciante in 2010 and was replaced by him in 2019.
· 3 min read
How The Killers Bet the Neon on a Casino Sign
The Killers named their second album Sam's Town after the Las Vegas casino sign bassist Mark Stoermer grew up staring at. The 2006 record split critics and fans in two.
· 3 min read
Oasis and the Album That Outran Everyone
Oasis released (What's the Story) Morning Glory? on the 2nd of October 1995, and it went on to become the most-purchased studio album in UK history.
· 4 min read
Jim Root: The Last Man into Slipknot
Jim Root nearly turned Slipknot down before joining as guitarist #4 in 1999, becoming the last member of the lineup that held from 1999 to 2010.
· 3 min read
Radiohead's Kid A: The Album That Almost Broke the Band
In a barn in Oxfordshire, the biggest guitar band of the late nineties sat surrounded by modular synthesizers and a growing pile of unfinished tape. Radiohead, …
· 4 min read
Robby Takac: The Goo Goo Dolls Bassist Who Built a Scene
Robby Takac, born September 30, 1964, rose from Buffalo punk bands to become the rhythmic anchor of Goo Goo Dolls. He then built a nonprofit festival and record label.
· 4 min read
Les Claypool: Why the Primus Bassist Walked Away From Metallica
Les Claypool, born September 29, 1963 in Richmond, California, walked into a Metallica audition in 1986. He lost it by being 'too good,' freeing him to build Primus.
· 5 min read
Led Zeppelin Live: How One 1971 Set Rewired Rock
On September 29, 1971, Led Zeppelin played a set in Osaka that captured the band's live power months before their fourth album became an institution.
· 4 min read
Brett Anderson: The Voice That Outgrew Britpop
Brett Anderson, born in Lindfield in 1967, moved from garage bands and science A-levels to fronting Suede. He then built a parallel solo career that outlasted Britpop.
· 4 min read
Why did Julien Baker's Sprained Ankle resonate so deeply?
Julien Baker's 2015 debut Sprained Ankle turned a nineteen-year-old's confession into a quiet anthem. It mapped faith, addiction, and mental illness with structural precision.
· 5 min read
New Order's Brotherhood: Why the Split-Personality Album Worked
New Order's 1986 album Brotherhood split itself between synth and guitar sides. The deliberate fracture produced a breakthrough single and a lasting cult reputation.
· 4 min read
Red Hot Chili Peppers: The Album All Four Founders Made
The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, released September 29, 1987, is the only Red Hot Chili Peppers studio album with all four founding members. Kiedis, Flea, Slovak, and Irons never shared a studio again.
· 3 min read
Why did St. Vincent hand her guitar to Jack Antonoff?
Annie Clark's path from Berklee student to self-producing artist saw her hand guitar duties to Jack Antonoff on Masseduction. She reclaimed full control on All Born Screaming.
· 4 min read
Nirvana: How a $65,000 Record Ended Glam Metal
Nirvana's Nevermind, recorded for $65,000, arrived in September 1991. Within months, it unseated the biggest rock bands and dragged alternative music into the mainstream.
· 4 min read
Why Does the Prodigy Experience Still Sound Like 1992?
Liam Howlett's Experience, the 1992 debut by The Prodigy, still sounds like a hardcore set bolted to a jungle break, thirty-four years later.
· 4 min read