Most meaningless term in rock 'n' roll history?

[NightTrain]

Poll question: Most meaningless term in rock 'n' roll history?

[TrogL]

1. Northern Soul is a contradiction in terms

[ProudGerman]

2. Does a contradiction beat out completely stupid?

Alternative...I've hated that term ever since they placed that moniker on new rock/modern rock. Alternative to what is what I always asked. I don't recall any other form of rock that was around that bands like Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots were alternatives to. WTF was the other option???? Alternative sounds so much like "other" on polls or multiple choice questions, its not a real choice but the option is included so as to seem inclusive.


I've always assumed it was some big hair band fan who coined the term.

[Ediacara]

5. IIRC

Kobain had said something like, "Alternative? I thought that's what they called you if you had a girl in the band."

[wtmusic]

3. progressive rock

kinda progressed nowhere...

[mitchum]

4. soft rock

[FDRrocks]

6. pop punk...

the punk is just tagged on thier as a co-opt.

[WindRavenX]

7. alternative

Alternative to what exactly? :shrug:

[Deja Q]

8. Tie between 'new wave' and 'alternartive'

Unless 'altnerative' appealed to the glbt folk.

And, while 'new', at the time, it's rather old now. :D

[electricmonk]

9. American oi

That one always annoyed me.

Out of you choices though I went with alternative. I remember around 1993 when the chain record stores started adding their alternative sections and 90% of it was just stuff they moved from the regular rock area thrown in with stuff off the larger independent labels.

[OneBlueSky]

10. Pompetus of Love . . . n/t

.

[psychopomp]

11. Rhythm and Blues

...meaning African American music. Of course, out of that appelation came Little Richard and Chuck Berry who invented the rock 'n' roll musical style.

While I'm on that point, rock 'n' roll is totally black music. What white person would have even *called* his/her music "rock 'n' roll" in the first place?

[PittPoliSci]

12. my personal favorite...

when used like this:

"I'm not emo! I'm fucking indie! You asshole!"

that is what I like to call "emo denial."

Indie is pretty worthless, cause nothing is independent, unless you, self-financed, self-produced, self-released, and played all the instruments on the album. Everyone in a band is dependent of someone else! If you aren't, your music probably sounds like shit cause you're all doing whatever you want in the first place! Fuck indie! Fuck it with a barbed-wire fence!

[IronLionZion]

13. what is it the alternative of?

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. When "alternative" became it's own recognized genre,

it became the most meaningless term.

[leftofthedial]

15. Americana

is by far the most meaningless term.

Alternative is a close second.


As Johnny Cash said, "Alternative to what?"