It would be interesting to carry this story forward and talk about what "alternative" has led to today. It turns out that the apparent victory of nu-metal, boy bands, and the rest at the turn of the millennium was only temporary.

Great series Steven, I enjoyed reading it and thinking about what "alternative" meant to me and American culture.

I would definitely put Cardigans in the "more going on" camp. They absolutely have more than 1 good song (and the one that people are probably most familiar with is far from their best, in my opinion).

I kinda like it too. I always thought their songs had some interesting touches that went beyond the standard 3 or 4 chords, and they had cool basslines. Admittedly, going back and listening now, the singing is harder to take than when I was 16. The guy makes Bono seem restrained and modest.

It's interesting how much of this part was devoted to Urge Overkill. I remember them as a very flash-in-the-pan group that had a couple of hits but no real lasting impact. But it sounds like they were a lot bigger in Chicago.

Would you consider releasing this and the alt-rock series as (an) e-book(s)? It would be a much more enjoyable reading experience for such long pieces.

Would you consider releasing this and the punk series as (an) e-book(s)? It would be a much more enjoyable reading experience for such long pieces.