10 Best Alternative Rock Bands Of All Time

5. R.E.M.

Quintessential Lyric: (From 'The One I Love')

“This one goes out to the one I love / This one goes out to the one I've left behind / A simple prop to occupy my time / This one goes out to the one I love"

Anthem: Nightswimming

Nightswimming is somewhat of an outlier in the band's catalogue, featuring bassist Mike Mills on piano, strings arranged by John Paul Jones (former Led Zeppelin bassist), and Deborah Workman underpinning the latter section of the song on oboe. These all combine to create a poignant atmosphere. While the band wouldn't see this arrangement again, it shows the blueprints for their future success. Experimentation was the key.

Stipe's vocals here are a prime example of his evocative delivery and the power and beauty of his voice as he comes to terms with lyrics that attempt to grasp at an idealistic, care-free sense of nostalgia.

Defining Album: Out of Time (1991)

Michael Stipe is one of often overlooked architects in propelling alternative rock out of the underground. It was with Out of Time that the band expanded from cult appreciation to garnering a worldwide strong fandom. It was a great album with a solid theme that distilled the band's essence, backed-up with mega-singles Losing My Religion and Shiny Happy People.

Contributor

An English Lit. MA Grad trying to validate my student debt by writing literary fiction and alternative non-fiction.