25-09-2013, 13:43
Can anyone explain what makes a track alternative?
Thread Rating:
|
What is alternative
|
25-09-2013, 14:27
i think that question has been asked on the forum in the past...
the term "alternative" originated back in the early 1980s in the UK at the same time as the term "indi"... both terms were intertwined together and were used to describe bands that were... 1. self funded their own recordings 2. were signed by small independant record labels 3.weren't the radio friendly pop that was on the radio or tv 4.made music that didnt comply with and for sales, moreso for self gratification bands like The Smiths, New Order, Joy Division, Tubeway Army were classed as 'alternative' or 'indi' bands because they were outside the norm. the term 'indi' or 'alt' died out for a while around 1990ish i guess, then a few years later, young bands who may or may not have been influenced by these other 1980s groups were drawn tot hose terms as a way of describing their music...the problem with that was that they are/were not true indi/alt bands... sort of like the modern so-called punk bands...they are not true punk, they didnt come from the lower socio groups, they weren outcasts of society and they have not got the angst,anti-authoritarian attitude of the originals like Clash,Sex Pistols etc etc, that said i think green Day and Dropkick Murphy's are about as close as it gets to "real punk" nowadays! back to the question posed... i pose another question to you.... alt/indi used to be 'fringe' artists therefore by definition "alternative" was an apt title for them, but the current group of so-called alt bands fill the charts, sell millions of reocrds and sell out stadiums...that is not "alternative" that is "mainstream" IMO... so really, artist like Paul McCartney,Neil Young, Stones, Cliff Richard etc should really be called "alternative" because they dont get airplay with their new material, they dont sell in vast quantities and their music is not the normal 'mainstream' sound anymore, they are on the "outer fringes" of music!... well, thats my opinion of "alternative"...hope it helps!
"BTO....Bachman,Turner,Overweight
They were big in the 70s....for five minutes,on a Saturday,after lunch..." - Me 2014. 
25-09-2013, 18:30
Rusty, I read you with great interest and attention. Your analysis of 'alternative' tickled my curiosity, 'cause my band and I have produced (practically by ourselves and with a small studio firm) our own cd album with songs which I consider to be out of the norm, anti-authoritarian etc...
And now, as you point out, 'alternative' fill the charts and sell. I mean, if 'alternative' music is good (I hope that's our case) however 'out of the norm' it may be, why shouldn't it sell? Why shouldn't they get airplay? Obviously it's all a question of market, and what makes the bucks, right? So once you sell and fill the stadiums, you go 'mainstream'? Success immediately chucks you into 'mainstream'? Even if your music doesn't follow the norm of commercial pop? Wow. Interesting.
Cogito, ergo sum...
25-09-2013, 22:56
Macca, Stones and Neil still pack them in though!!!!...lol
CRAZY-HORSE Wrote:i think that question has been asked on the forum in the past...
The ultimate connection is between a performer and its' audience!
25-09-2013, 22:58
I prefer "out of the norm" music except for a few mainstream artists!
The ultimate connection is between a performer and its' audience!
26-09-2013, 01:52
I took it as music that doesn't fit other genres. Therefore, that is why I posted gospel here since y'all don't have a spot for that type of music.
23-10-2013, 18:24
So a band can start out 'alternative' and then cease to be when they gain popularity. And a popular artist can become 'alternative' when he or she falls out of popularity?
"I said, I found the secret to life, I found the secret to life
I'm okay when everything is not okay, is not okay" ~Tori Amos, Upside Down |
|
« Next Oldest | Next Newest »
|
