10 Best Alt-Rock Albums Of The 80's
8. Nothing's Shocking - Jane's Addiction
For all the labels you want to put on it, there is really no way to define what alt-rock was in the 80's. The key to each act's alt-rock credibility was its way of using musical ideas that were outside the norm, with Jane's Addiction being one of the more outlandish of the era.
With their debut release Nothing's Shocking, the band changed the game for rock music with their eclectic mix of funk and hard rock. The band's songs were like if Led Zeppelin had stopped writing blues rock ragers and decided to take their intensity into the funk arena. Songs like "Mountain Song" have a sound that absolutely pummels while also having a unique attention to rhythm that makes it instantly infectious. While the rhythm section is absolutely killer throughout the record, the real shot in the arm in the band is guitarist Dave Navarro, whose fiery leads and undeniable grooves made him one of the few alt-rock guitar heroes.
Together with bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction showed how to take all of these disparate influences and put them into one delectable package. With Nothing's Shocking, alt-rock had one of its first outlandish outfits.