Why Alternative Rock Music still Resonates with Today’s Generation

Everyone needs some outlet to express their emotions. What creative people do is pick one art form they are good at and choose it as a medium to express themselves. Music is one of the most common medium creative people pick to express what their normal words can’t. But commercial mainstream music caters to a wider audience, so it is mostly designed to appeal to the masses. So self-expression gets lost in the depth of commercialism.

Alternative rock music acts as an alternative to commercialism. It’s more like a do it yourself  kind of approach to music. You get to express yourself without confining to any rules and boundaries, you get to experiment. This music style gained popularity in the early to mid 1990s. Although it’s not mainstream today, it is still relevant and appealing to newer artists. Let’s explore why?

Emotional Honesty

Alternative rock music is all about expressing your deeply personal emotions. Singers get to say their internal monologue. Lyrics are deeply introspective, while writing you get to look deep inside, reflect and represent your raw catholic self. 

All the inner doubt, depression, personal struggles gain a voice of their own and come together in the form of raw vocals. Such focus on authenticity creates this deep connection with listeners who may be experiencing similar emotions, providing a sense of belonging. Today’s generation is very vocal about acknowledging one’s emotions, so people still listen to alternative rock to allow themselves to feel all their unsurfaced emotions.

Real Life Experience

Alternative rock music explores themes of alienation, introspection, angst and social critique. These themes stayed relevant throughout history and are still relevant today. With social media, one might think we got a medium to express ourselves. But now instead of becoming a self expression medium, it quickly became a tool to impress others by presenting our most perfect self image out there. So alternative rock still remains a need to find a sense of relatability about our real life experience.

Creative Freedom

The problem with commercial music is that it is made to entertain a large number of people. So topics are often kept generic, notes don’t hit deep. Whereas alternative rock  allows full artistic freedom, you get to experiment with unconventional instruments, electronic elements and unique production techniques to create distinctive sounds.  The newer generation is drawn to this music to get a sense of community and personal experience. People also appreciate artists for staying true to oneself and presenting their most authentic self in the form of music. 

Self Expression

Alternative rock still appeals to artists who want to use music as a form of self-expression, without going big on fancy instruments and perfectly curated lyrics. Mostly they make this kinda music in their basement while experimenting with whatever instruments they have. Lyrics come directly from the heart and translate in the form of unconventional melodies. 

Conclusion

Alternative rock music is still relevant because of its unconventional nature. Free spirited artists still choose this medium to express themselves and people relate because they hear what they don’t get to say often.