Sign In
 
 
 

'80s Alternative

All downloads compatible with iPod®
MP3
 

Description of '80s Alternative

 
The term "alternative" was coined in the late '80s to describe American and British underground music. Its roots were based in punk and post-punk, and its instrumentation was aggressively guitar-based. The sounds varied: the jangle-pop of R.E.M. and the Smiths, the noise-rock of Sonic Youth and the Pixies, the indie rock of the Replacements and U2 (at the time), and the experimentalism of the Talking Heads and Butthole Surfers. Independent record labels, including SST, Touch and Go, Homestead and Dischord, would prove important in fostering the various movements in alternative music. While near-exclusive airplay on college radio was key in developing local audiences (thus the synonymous earlier term of "college rock"), MTV's 120 Minutes, a program airing all alt videos, became a national platform for many of these bands. All of these elements would pave the way for bands such Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Red Hot Chili Peppers to enter the mainstream in the early '90s.
 

Top '80s Alternative Tracks

 
Play Track Artist Price
1. Beautiful Day U2
$1.29
2. One U2
$1.29
3. Magnificent U2
$1.29
4. Losing My Religion R.E.M.
$1.29
5. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight U2
$1.29
6. Vertigo U2
$1.29
7. With Or Without You U2
$1.29
8. No Line On The Horizon U2
$1.29
9. It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) R.E.M.
$1.29
10. Where Is My Mind? Pixies
$0.99
11. Moment Of Surrender U2
$1.29
12. Where The Streets Have No Name U2
$0.99
13. Jane Says Jane's Addiction
$1.29
14. Man On The Moon R.E.M.
$1.29
15. Mysterious Ways U2
$0.99
16. Burning Down The House Talking Heads
$1.29
17. Everybody Hurts R.E.M.
$1.29
18. Get On Your Boots U2
$1.29
19. Unknown Caller U2
$1.29
20. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (Remastered) U2
$1.29
21. Breathe U2
$1.29
22. Lovesong The Cure
$1.29
23. With Or Without You (Remastered) U2
$1.29
24. Fall On Me R.E.M.
$1.29
25. And She Was Talking Heads
$1.29
26. City Of Blinding Lights U2
$0.99
27. Stand Up Comedy U2
$1.29
28. Pepper Butthole Surfers
$1.29
29. Sunday Bloody Sunday U2
$0.99
30. Where The Streets Have No Name (Album Version - Remastered) U2
$0.99
31. Once In A Lifetime Talking Heads
$1.29
32. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For U2
$1.29
33. White As Snow U2
$1.29
34. Walk On U2
$0.99
35. Cedars Of Lebanon U2
$1.29
36. Runaway Train Soul Asylum
$0.99
37. All I Want Is You U2
$0.99
38. FEZ-Being Born U2
$1.29
39. Shiny Happy People R.E.M.
$0.99
40. Here Comes Your Man Pixies
$0.99
41. Boys Don't Cry The Cure
$1.29
42. Take Me To The River Talking Heads
$1.29
43. Orange Crush R.E.M.
$1.29
44. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want The Smiths
$1.29
45. The One I Love R.E.M.
$1.29
46. Elevation U2
$0.99
47. Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own U2
$0.99
48. Gigantic Pixies
$0.99
49. Stand R.E.M.
$1.29
50. This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) Talking Heads
$1.29
 

'80s Alternative Key Albums

 
13 Songs

Fugazi

$9.99
Daydream Nation
(Bonus Tracks)

Sonic Youth

$14.99
Let It Be

The Replacements

$8.99
Made To Be Broken

Soul Asylum

$8.99
Murmur

R.E.M.

$9.99
Nothing's Shocking

Jane's Addiction

$9.99
Remain In Light [digital]
(Bonus Tracks)

Talking Heads

$10.99
Skylarking

XTC

$9.99
Surfer Rosa

Pixies

$9.99
The Head On The Door

The Cure

$9.99
Up On The Sun

Meat Puppets

$8.99
Vs.

Mission of Burma

$8.99
War

U2

$9.99
You're Living All Over Me

Dinosaur Jr.

$8.99

 

Filed Under

 
Alt/Punk  >  Indie/Alternative  >  '80s Alternative
 

'80s Alternative Key Artists

 
Butthole Surfers

This Texas band have been
making brain-damaged
Psychedelic freak rock
since 1982. The Butthole
Surfers came closest to m...

Dinosaur Jr.

Trio led by Indie Rock
guitar god J. Mascis played a
very loud, very slow kind of
Hardcore. These days we
call it Noise Rock.

Fugazi

Washington, D.C.'s Fugazi
formed in 1988; they
consistently set new
standards for Punk -- in
music and in business pra...

Jane's Addiction

L.A. band Jane's Addiction
formed in 1984. By 1987,
they released their
eponymous debut on Triple
X Records. Jane's Addicti...

Meat Puppets

With a mixture of indie,
punk, country music and
LSD, the Meat Puppets
helped carve a new musical
niche. Formed in Arizona...

Mission of Burma

Smart, guitar-heavy,
post-punk pioneers whose
jittery, passionate approach
influenced many an indie
rocker. Time (and covers...

Pixies

The band that begat
Nirvana, pioneers of the
quiet
verse/eardrum-piercing
chorus technique. In 1986...

R.E.M.

R.E.M.'s jangling guitars,
mysterious-but-melodic
vocals and DIY touring
method pretty much
defined 1980s indie rock....

Sonic Youth

Born out of the New York
no wave scene in 1981,
Sonic Youth grew into one
of the most successful art
rock bands in the world....

Soul Asylum

Flannel-wearing Indie Rock
guitar heroes in the '80s,
they briefly became
celebrity-dating MTV stars
in the early '90s. In the ea...

Talking Heads

The artistically-inclined
Talking Heads got their start
in the punk stomping
grounds of New York's
CBGB. David Byrne, Tina...

The Cure

The Cure have been playing
mope rock for depressed
teens since 1976. Think of it
in terms of units of black
eyeliner sold. Originally c...

The Replacements

Legendarily self-destructive
college radio heroes whose
material ranged from sloppy
thrash to surprisingly
tender ballads. Guitarist B...

The Smiths

Formed in Manchester by
Johnny Marr and Morrissey,
the Smiths were the
definitive English Indie Rock
band of the '80s. Morrisse...

They Might Be Giants

They Might Be Giants were
big faves in the 1980s and
early '90s, playing super
quirky alternative pop
rock. The band used to of...

U2

The evolution of U2's music
is ongoing, and each record
seems to bring a
never-before-encountered
style to their oeuvre. Oth...

Violent Femmes

Quirky folk/Punk trio best
described as Jonathan
Richman's nastier younger
brothers. Much more than a
clever cult band --their st...

XTC

From herky-jerky
post-punk to full-blown
baroque psychedelia, XTC
have managed to create a
formidable pop catalog. D...

Rhapsody Memberships

What does Rhapsody membership mean?
Learn about the Membership Plans

Download Your MP3s Easily

Install the Rhapsody Music Store Downloader

Need Help?

Visit our Help Center
AMG - Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC.
© 2001-2009 Listen.com, a subsidiary of RealNetworks