10 Most Iconic Alternative Rock Albums

The era of alternative rock before Nirvana is a bit of a cultural dead zone. Even though plenty of artists managed to notch a few hits before the grunge boom happened, it's hard not to see the alt-rock stronghold existing before the early '90s. Then again, if you only see the heavyhitters, you might just miss out on some of the most eclectic music ever made.

Given what was happening around the late '80s with the introduction of hair metal, Faith No More was a true freak of nature, combining every genre they could think of under one roof. Much like the other eccentrics like Frank Zappa before them, their willingness to experiment gave us one of the more adventurous rock albums to be released at the end of the '80s with Angel Dust, with songs like Midlife Crisis being the lynchpin of what would become the heavier side of alternative, with an emphasis on groove instead of a coherent melody.

Hell, this album deserves praise on its own for introducing us to Mike Patton, whose massive vocal range and oddball behavior made him one of the early kings of the alternative rock spectrum. Whereas other bands may have liked to follow trends, this is what the Red Hot Chili Peppers would have sounded like if they were given the heavy rock chops of Metallica. It might sound like a genre car crash, and yet it still finds a way into your head just the same.