10 Best Alternative Albums Of The 1990's

10. Nimrod - Green Day

After grunge had called it a day around the mid-90's, pop-punk acts like Green Day picked up the mantle for alternative rock. However, the three brats from Oakland had gotten burnt out on their own material. Billie Joe Armstrong even went on record about being restless and not wanting to play three-chord punk forever.

With Nimrod, Green Day decided to throw every style imaginable into their sound to see what would stick. For your average Green Day fan, many will be happy to see ragers like "Nice Guys Finish Last" and "Reject," but that's not the whole story of this record. Reaching for new sounds, Green Day ran the gamut of styles from classic rock ("Redundant," "Scattered") to folk ("Walking Alone") to swing ("Hitchin a Ride") to instrumental ("Last Ride In.")

And let's not forget "Good Riddance," which everyone and their mom thought was the greatest graduation song in existence. This record is the epitome of meshing genres against one another to create your own distinct sound, which fits the alternative label perfectly. In making a record with sonic right turns, Green Day threw caution to the wind with zero regard for what their critics said, which is probably the most punk thing they could have done.