Alternative

Among popular music, three main genres dominated this time: techno, or very simple beat-based electronic music, hip-hop, or beat based rhyming poetry constructed around samples, pop angst industrial, and alternative rock, which is a fusion of 1980s indie rock with punk rock and some of the more appealing techniques of 1980s metal. Clearly Nirvana bursting onto the scene (with the less popular but more archetypal Mudhoney) in 1991 was the inception of alternative rock radio domination, while the early popularity of Nine Inch Nails showcased pop industrial, and too many artists to name dominated hip-hop and techno (examples: The Orb, the Crystal Method, Cypress Hill, Public Enemy). Together these musics seem to have little in common, but when interpreted for their basic artistic direction, all are very similar.