Alternative Rock · ranked by score

Best Alternative Rock Albums, Ranked

10 albums reviewed

A broad label for guitar bands that grew up outside the mainstream. Alternative rock built its audience through the 1980s on college radio and independent labels with R.E.M., the Pixies and Sonic Youth, and broke through commercially in the early 1990s.

We have reviewed 10 Alternative Rock albums released between 1967 and 2002, averaging 8.5 out of 10. The highest score so far goes to Radiohead's OK Computer (9.5).

9.5

The top of the pile

Highest-rated Alternative Rock albums

1
Radiohead – OK Computer (1997, 9.5)
9.5
2
Steely Dan – Aja (1977, 9.4)
9.4
3
The Cure – Disintegration (1989, 8.8)
8.8
4
Nirvana – Nevermind (1991, 8.7)
8.7
5
The Strokes – Is This It (2001, 8.5)
8.5

Through the years

By decade

1960s1 album, best rated The Velvet Underground & Nico (8.2)
1970s2 albums, best rated Aja (9.4)
1980s1 album, best rated Disintegration (8.8)
1990s4 albums, best rated OK Computer (9.5)
2000s2 albums, best rated Is This It (8.5)

What defines Alternative Rock

Alternative rock covers a wide range, from jangling guitars and noisy distortion to atmospheric textures and big melodic hooks. What unites it is a distance from the mainstream rock formula of its time.

How we score it

Originality and cohesion carry more weight than usual in this genre, because the best records have a clear identity from start to finish. The scorecard also checks whether the songs hold up once the sound of the moment fades. See the scoring methodology.

Every record, best first