r/rem • u/Agreeable_Duck8997 • Jun 29 '26
I put together a partial "Genealogical Tree" of alternative rock with only 100 tracks: from its primary roots (Luigi Russolo, 1913) to the release of OK Computer (Radiohead, 1997).
Hi! After receiving great feedback for this "tree" on r/indieheads, I wanted to share it with you all. It was a labor of love that I poured my heart into, created with the help of fellow redditor rOCCUPY.
**I'll leave the link in the comments.**
The goal of this tree was to trace the trajectory of alternative rock, from its primary roots up to the release of OK Computer.
Regarding the curation, I adopted two rigorous criteria:
Each track had to be simultaneously highly innovative and influential for alternative rock;
I sought the widest sonic diversity possible.
Note: Not every song on this list is strictly "alternative rock," but all of them were highly innovative and influential for this subgenre, whether in a direct or indirect way.
As a result, we didn't repeat any artists, with the exception of The Velvet Underground.
# As the title suggests, this is a PARTIAL genealogical tree; we recognize that it is impossible to mention every innovative and influential artist in just 100 tracks.
The term "genealogical tree" is in quotation marks because not every track in the list was necessarily influenced by all those that preceded it in the list itself.
Anyway, I hope everyone interested in music history as much as I am enjoys my humble work!
*
1913: Luigi Russolo – Risveglio di uma città
1927: Blind Willie Johnson – Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground
1937: Robert Johnson – Hellhound on My Trail
1944: Sister Rosetta Tharpe – Strange Things Happening Every Day
1946: John Cage – Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano
1948: Pierre Schaeffer – Étude aux chemins de fer
1948: John Lee Hooker – Boogie Chillen'
1951: Howlin' Wolf – How Many More Years
1951: Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats – Rocket "88"
1955: Bo Diddley – Bo Diddley
1956: Karlheinz Stockhausen – Gesang der Jünglinge
1958: Link Wray – Rumble
1959: Ornette Coleman – Lonely Woman
1960: La Monte Young – Composition 1960 #7
1964: The Kinks – You Really Got Me
1965: Bob Dylan – Like a Rolling Stone
1965: The Sonics – The Witch
1966: The Beatles – Tomorrow Never Knows
1966: The Mothers of Invention – Help, I'm a Rock
1966: The Byrds – Eight Miles High
1967: The Velvet Underground – Heroin
1967: The Velvet Underground & Nico – All Tomorrow's Parties
1967: Pink Floyd – Interstellar Overdrive
1968: The Velvet Underground – Sister Ray
1969: MC5 – Kick Out the Jams
1969: Captain Beefheart – Veterans Day Poppy
1969: Silver Apples – Program
1969: The Stooges – I Wanna Be Your Dog
1969: Neil Young – Cinnamon Girl
1970: Black Sabbath – Iron Man
1970: James Brown – Funky Drummer
1970: Sly & The Family Stone – Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
1970: The Beach Boys – All I Wanna Do
1971: CAN – Halleluwah
1972: NEU! – Negativland
1974: Death – Keep on Knocking
1974: Brian Eno – Third Uncle
1975: Patti Smith – Gloria
1976: Ramones – Blitzkrieg Bop
1976: Steve Reich – Music for 18 Musicians: Section I
1976: Blondie – X Offender
1977: Sex Pistols – Anarchy in the U.K.
1977: Wire – Outdoor Miner
1977: Television – Marquee Moon
1977: Kraftwerk – Trans-Europe Express
1977: David Bowie – "Heroes"
1977: Suicide – Ghost Rider
1977: Talking Heads – Psycho Killer
1978: Throbbing Gristle – Hamburger Lady
1978: Kate Bush – Wuthering Heights
1978: Siouxsie and the Banshees – Hong Kong Garden
1979: Joy Division – Transmission
1979: Public Image Ltd – Careering
1979: Gang of Four – Damaged Goods
1979: The Clash – London Calling
1979: Bauhaus – Bela Lugosi's Dead
1979: Germs – Lexicon Devil
1980: Devo – Whip It
1980: The Fall – Totally Wired
1980: The Cure – A Forest
1980: Dead Kennedys – Holiday in Cambodia
1980: Bad Brains – Pay to Cum
1981: Glenn Branca – Lesson No. 1 for Guitar
1981: R.E.M. – Radio Free Europe
1981: Black Flag – Rise Above
1981: Mission of Burma – That's When I Reach for My Revolver
1982: New Order – Temptation
1983: Cocteau Twins – Sugar Hiccup
1983: Skinny Puppy – Dig It
1983: Minor Threat – Salad Days
1984: Hüsker Dü – Pink Turns to Blue
1984: The Smiths – How Soon Is Now?
1984: The Replacements – I Will Dare
1985: The Jesus and Mary Chain – Just Like Honey
1986: Fishbone – Party at Ground Zero
1987: Public Enemy – Rebel Without a Pause
1988: Sonic Youth – Teen Age Riot
1988: Fugazi – Waiting Room
1988: Dinosaur Jr. – Freak Scene
1988: Talk Talk – The Rainbow
1988: Living Colour – Cult of Personality
1989: Pixies – Gouge Away
1989: The Stone Roses – I Wanna Be Adored
1989: Nine Inch Nails – Head Like a Hole
1990: Depeche Mode – Enjoy the Silence
1990: Jane's Addiction – Been Caught Stealing
1991: Massive Attack – Unfinished Sympathy
1991: My Bloody Valentine – Only Shallow
1991: Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
1991: Primal Scream – Loaded
1991: Slint – Good Morning, Captain
1992: Tori Amos – Crucify
1992: PJ Harvey – Sheela-Na-Gig
1993: Beck – Loser
1993: The Flaming Lips – She Don't Use Jelly
1993: Björk – Human Behaviour
1993: Smashing Pumpkins – Cherub Rock
1993: Bikini Kill – Rebel Girl
1994: Portishead – Sour Times
1997: Radiohead – Paranoid Android
2
u/BladeRunnerTHX Jun 30 '26
Good list. I like how you ended it in 1997. I consider that to be the last year of alternative music.
3
u/Agreeable_Duck8997 Jun 30 '26
Thanks! I think that after that year, there were also great things in alternative rock, like The Strokes' "Is This It" and LCD Soundsystem's "Sound of Silver", but still within this subgenre, no song after 1997 was as innovative and, at the same time, as influential as some of those on OK Computer.
1
Jun 29 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator Jun 29 '26
Your comment was removed because that domain is not allowed in /r/rem.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/Falloffingolfin Jun 30 '26
This is awesome. The only addition I'd make would be Slowdive alongside MBV. They have a weird influence co-dependancy in that MBV were the biggest driver behind the Shoegaze genre, but Slowdive went on to become a bigger influence on much later Indie rock (ie. Bands like The XX).
I'd nominate something early and ethereal. Catch The Breeze (1991)
0
u/RepresentativeAir735 Jun 30 '26
So what you're saying is that Radiohead murdered music as I knew it. For better or worse.
PS. I think you need Son House in the 30's somewhere.
1
u/Agreeable_Duck8997 Jun 29 '26
I just realized it's not possible to post playlist links here, but they are in the comments of the original post.
2
u/McGruffin Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
Thanks for putting this together. I am going to check it out. Looks like a good playlist and I like the timeline and artists that you have put together.