Jane's Addiction (1988) Alternarock hero Perry Farrell at his finest.
myspace.com/janesaddictionmyspace
Nirvana (1989) Grunge gods killed hair metal (good) paved way for post-grunge clowns such as Candlebox (bad).
myspace.com/nirvana
Deicide (1990) Highly influential satanic death metal band from Tampa.
myspace.com/thestenchofredemption
Uncle Tupelo (1990) Alt-country godfathers.
myspace.com/uncletupelo
Green Day (1991) Stoner punks turned political arena rockers.
myspace.com/greenday
Pearl Jam (1991) Grunge's greatest survivors.
myspace.com/tenclub
Smashing Pumpkins (1991) Alternative movement's main art-rock outfit.
myspace.com/smashingpumpkins
PJ Harvey (1992) Black-dress-wearing prom queen of '90s alt-rock.
myspace.com/pjharvey
Pavement (1992) Lo-fi indie rockers inspire thousands of tone-deaf acolytes.
matadorrecords.com/pavement
Rage Against the Machine (1992) Winning fusion of hard rock, hip-hop, funk and extreme politics.
myspace.com/ratm
Radiohead (1993) The most important rock band to release its debut album in the past 20 years.
myspace.com/radiohead
Sublime (1992) Bong-friendly mashup of punk and reggae inspires hordes of red-eyed imitators.
myspace.com/sublime
Sunny Day Real Estate (1994) Despite being from Seattle, emo trailblazers bucked the grunge trend of the mid-'90s.
myspace.com/onedayistoppedbreathing
Tool (1993) Dark, art-rock-informed metal.
myspace.com/tooltheband
Beck (1994) Spacey funkster with a folk side — and a sense of humor.
myspace.com/beck
Bikini Kill (1994) Seminal "riot grrrl" punks.
myspace.com/bikiniriotkill
Oasis (1994) Britpop chiefs; huge Beatles fans.
myspace.com/oasis
Weezer (1994) The premier power-pop band of the post-grunge era.
myspace.com/weezer
Modest Mouse (1996) Quirky indie-rockers with an ear for pop hooks.
myspace.com/modestmouse
Mogwai (1997) Scottish post-rockers offer moody instrumentals and ambient washes tailor-made for headphones.
myspace.com/mogwai
Bright Eyes (1998) Super-earnest singer/songwriter Conor Oberst.
myspace.com/brighteyes
The White Stripes (1999) Rock's fiercest duo smartly updated the blues for the new millennium.
myspace.com/thewhitestripes
Interpol (2002) Leaders of the recent post-punk revival blitz; think Joy Division sans the English accents.
myspace.com/interpol
Animal Collective (2003) Wildly eclectic experimental rock dosed with patchouli.
myspace.com/animalcollectivetheband
The Mars Volta (2003) Prog-metal mayhem.
myspace.com/themarsvolta
This article appears in Apr 30 – May 6, 2008.