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Top 200 90s Alternative Rock Songs

(288 votes)

By popular demand this list will now involve grunge, mainstream punk rock, and some metal in addition to the college rock, Britpop, post-grunge, and acoustic rock that I had on the list before. Basically it will be a more accurate representation of what you would have heard on alternative rock radio stations in the 90s. I still won’t be including indie rock songs however.. Since I am adding a ton of new songs I have decided to extend the list to 200. Enjoy. Discuss this list on The Rock Czar's Forum: http://therockczar.com/simplemachinesforum

No.	Song	Artist	Album	Year	Last Rank
1	Karma Police	Radiohead	OK Computer	1997	1
2	No Excuses	Alice in Chains	Jar of Flies	1994	2
3	Smells Like Teens Spirit	Nirvana	Nevermind	1991	N/A
4	Bittersweet Symphony	The Verve	Urban Hymns	1997	9
5	Heaven Beside You	Alice in Chains	Alice in Chains	1995	3
6	One Headlight	The Wallflowers	Bringing Down the Horse	1996	4
7	Jesus Christ Pose	Soundgarden	Badmotorfinger	1991	N/A
8	Bullet With Butterfly Wings	Smashing Pumpkins	Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness	1995	N/A
9	Lithium	Nirvana	Nevermind	1991	N/A
10	1979	Smashing Pumpkins	Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness	1995	5
11	Paranoid Android	Radiohead	OK Computer	1997	12
12	Down in a Hole	Alice in Chains	Dirt	1992	8
13	Nutshell	Alice in Chains	Jar of Flies	1994	7
14	Otherside	Red Hot Chili Peppers	Californication	1999	6
15	Losing My Religion	REM	Out of Time	1991	10
16	Everlong	Foo Fighters	The Colour and the Shape	1997	N/A
17	Cherub Rock	Smashing Pumpkins	Siamese Dream	1993	N/A
18	Come As You Are	Nirvana	Nevermind	1991	N/A
19	Wonderwall	Oasis	(What's the Story) Morning Glory?	1995	13
20	The Way	Fastball	All the Pain Money Can Buy	1998	14
21	I Stay Away	Alice in Chains	Jar of Flies	1994	N/A
22	Brain Stew	Green Day	Insomniac	1995	N/A
23	Creep	Stone Temple Pilots	Core	1992	15
24	In Bloom	Nirvana	Nevermind	1991	N/A
25	Rotten Apple	Alice in Chains	Jar of Flies	1994	16
26	Heart Shaped Box	Nirvana	In Utero	1993	N/A
27	Plush	Stone Temple Pilots	Core	1992	N/A
28	The Man Who Sold The World (Cover)	Nirvana	MTV Unplugged in New York	1994	17
29	Californication	Red Hot Chili Peppers	Californication	1999	24
30	Ænima	Tool	Ænima	1996	N/A
31	Grind	Alice in Chains	Alice in Chains	1995	N/A
32	Mr. Jones	Counting Crows	August and Everything After	1993	19
33	Personal Jesus	Depeche Mode	Violator	1990	N/A
34	Under The Bridge	Red Hot Chili Peppers	Blood Sugar Sex Magik	1991	18
35	Bound for the Floor	Local H	As Good As Dead	1996	N/A
36	Touch, Peel and Stand	Days of the New	Days of the New	1997	N/A
37	Man In The Box	Alice in Chains	Facelift	1990	N/A
38	Your Woman	White Town	Women In Technology	1997	N/A
39	No Shelter	Rage Against the Machine	The Battle of Los Angeles	1999	N/A
40	All The Small Things	Blink-182	Enema of the State	1999	N/A
41	Would?	Alice in Chains	Dirt	1992	N/A
42	In The Meantime	Spacehog	Resident Alien	1995	20
43	Dumb	Nirvana	In Utero	1993	25
44	You Ought to Know	Alanis Morissette	Jagged Little Pill	1995	N/A
45	All I Want	Toad the Wet Sprocket	Fear	1991	21
46	December	Collective Soul	Collective Soul	1995	23
47	Dirt	Alice in Chains	Dirt	1992	N/A
48	Mayonaise	Smashing Pumpkins	Siamese Dream	1993	N/A
49	Song 2	Blur	Blur	1997	N/A
50	A Long December	Counting Crows	Recovering the Satellites	1996	27
51	Santa Monica	Everclear	Sparkle & Fade	1995	30
52	Rooster	Alice in Chains	Dirt	1992	N/A
53	Counting Blue Cars	Dishwalla	Pet Your Friends	1995	29
54	Buddy Holly	Weezer	Blue Album	1994	N/A
55	Burden In My Hand	Soundgarden	Down on the Upside	1996	34
56	Soma	Smashing Pumpkins	Siamese Dream	1993	40
57	Junkhead	Alice in Chains	Dirt	1992	N/A
58	Flagpole Sitta	Harvey Danger	Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone?	1998	N/A
59	Enter Sandman	Metallica	Metallica	1991	N/A
60	I Alone	Live	Throwing Copper	1994	26
61	Run	Collective Soul	Dosage	1999	32
62	Find The River	REM	Automatic for the People	1992	47
63	A Tout Le Monde	Megadeth	Youthanasia	1994	N/A
64	Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm	Crash Test Dummies	God Shuffled his Feet	1993	31
65	Unglued	Stone Temple Pilots	Purple	1994	N/A
66	Low	Cracker	Kerosene Hat	1993	33
67	Streets of Philadelphia	Bruce Springsteen	Soundtrack: Philadelphia	1993	35
68	Interstate Love Song	Stone Temple Pilots	Purple	1994	41
69	Self Esteem	The Offspring	Smash	1994	N/A
70	Sex and Candy	Marcy Playground	Marcy Playground	1997	36
71	Lucky Man	The Verve	Urban Hymns	1997	37
72	Semi Charmed Life	Third Eye Blind	Third Eye Blind	1997	39
73	Thief	Our Lady Peace	Happiness... Is Not A Fish That You Can Catch	1999	28
74	Possum Kingdom	Toadies	Rubberneck	1994	N/A
75	Rape Me	Nirvana	In Utero	1993	N/A
76	Zero	Smashing Pumpkins	Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness	1995	N/A
77	Tyler	Toadies	Rubberneck	1994	N/A
78	Lucky	Radiohead	OK Computer	1997	46
79	Blow up the Outside World	Soundgarden	Down on the Upside	1996	N/A
80	Drive	REM	Automatic for the People	1992	49
81	Iris	Goo Goo Dolls	Dizzy Up the Girl	1998	38
82	Today	Smashing Pumpkins	Siamese Dream	1993	N/A
83	Big Empty	Stone Temple Pilots	Purple	1994	54
84	Hate To Feel	Alice in Chains	Dirt	1992	N/A
85	Mary Jane's Last Dance	Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers	Greatest Hits	1993	43
86	Why I'm Here	Oleander	February Son	1999	N/A
87	Sour Girl	Stone Temple Pilots	No. 4	1999	45
88	Closing Time	Semisonic	Feeling Strangely Fine	1998	62
89	Nearly Lost You	Screaming Trees	Sweet Oblivion	1992	N/A
90	Say It Ain't So	Weezer	Blue Album	1994	N/A
91	What's The Frequency, Kenneth?	REM	Monster	1994	51
92	Carnival	Natalie Merchant	Tigerlily	1995	87
93	Crazy Life	Toad the Wet Sprocket	Coil	1997	71
94	Never Let You Go	Third Eye Blind	Blue	1999	63
95	Linger	The Cranberries	Everybody Else is Doing It	1993	91
96	Losing A Whole Year	Third Eye Blind	Third Eye Blind	1997	N/A
97	You Learn	Alanis Morissette	Jagged Little Pill	1995	76
98	Runaway Train	Soul Asylum	Grave Dancer's Union	1992	68
99	All My Friends	Counting Crows	This Desert Life	1999	67
100	Don't Look Back In Anger	Oasis	(What's the Story) Morning Glory?	1995	44
101	Rhinoceros	Smashing Pumpkins	Gish	1991	52
102	Hand In My Pocket	Alanis Morissette	Jagged Little Pill	1995	55
103	Ava Adore	Smashing Pumpkins	Adore	1998	N/A
104	Rain When I Die	Alice in Chains	Dirt	1992	N/A
105	Tighter & Tighter	Soundgarden	Down on the Upside	1996	58
106	Only in Dreams	Weezer	Blue Album	1994	N/A
107	Killing in the Name of	Rage Against the Machine	Rage Against the Machine	1992	N/A
108	Outshined	Soundgarden	Badmotorfinger	1991	N/A
109	One of Us	Joan Osborne	Relish	1995	90
110	Tonight, Tonight	Smashing Pumpkins	Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness	1995	69
111	Zombie	The Cranberries	No Need To Argue	1994	85
112	Saint Joe on the School Bus	Marcy Playground	Marcy Playground	1997	N/A
113	Bittersweet Me	REM	New Adventures in Hi-Fi	1996	74
114	Good Morning Baby	Bic Runga and Dan Wilson	Soundtrack: American Pie	1999	N/A
115	Good	Better than Ezra	Deluxe	1995	78
116	Take a Picture	Filter	Title of Record	1999	95
117	The Chemicals Between Us	Bush	The Science of Things	1999	N/A
118	The Good Life	Weezer	Pinkerton	1996	N/A
119	We Are	Vertical Horizon	Everything You Want	1999	70
120	Whats My Age Again?	Blink-182	Enema of the State	1999	N/A
121	Don't Follow	Alice in Chains	Jar of Flies	1994	81
122	Selling The Drama	Live	Throwing Copper	1994	80
123	On a Plain	Nirvana	Nevermind	1991	N/A
124	Bulls on Parade	Rage Against the Machine	Evil Empire	1996	N/A
125	Ironic	Alanis Morissette	Jagged Little Pill	1995	N/A
126	Drive	Incubus	Make Yourself	1999	N/A
127	Stranger By the Day	Shades Apart	Eyewitness	1999	N/A
128	Love Spreads	Stone Roses	Second Coming	1994	83
129	Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth	Primitive Radio Gods	Rocket	1996	77
130	Cuts You Up	Peter Murphy	Deep	1990	N/A
131	Enjoy The Silence	Depeche Mode	Violator	1990	N/A
132	Fake Plastic Trees	Radiohead	The Bends	1995	N/A
133	Weapon and the Wound	Days of the New	Days of the New	1997	N/A
134	Over Now	Alice in Chains	Alice in Chains	1995	N/A
135	Prophecy	Remy Zero	Villa Elaine	1998	59
136	Fell On Black Days	Soundgarden	Superunknown	1994	84
137	Headache	Frank Black	Teenager of the Year	1994	N/A
138	High	Feeder	Polythene	1998	N/A
139	Compliment	Collective Soul	Dosage	1999	N/A
140	Woodburning	Toad the Wet Sprocket	Dulcinea	1994	96
141	About A Girl (Live)	Nirvana	MTV Unplugged in New York	1994	N/A
142	Creep	Radiohead	Pablo Honey	1993	72
143	In the Garage	Weezer	Blue Album	1994	N/A
144	Gotta Get Away	The Offspring	Smash	1994	N/A
145	Nothing Else Matters	Metallica	Metallica	1991	N/A
146	Shine	Collective Soul	Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid	1993	N/A
147	Breed	Nirvana	Nevermind	1991	N/A
148	Casual Affair	Tonic	Lemon Parade	1996	N/A
149	Fade Into You	Mazzy Star	So Tonight That I Might See	1993	93
150	My Friends	Red Hot Chili Peppers	One Hot Minute	1995	54
151	Black Hole Sun	Soundgarden	Superunknown	1994	48
152	My Name is Jonas	Weezer	Blue Album	1994	N/A
153	Out of My Head	Fastball	All the Pain Money Can Buy	1998	N/A
154	Beautiful Disaster	311	Transistor	1997	N/A
155	Champagne Supernova	Oasis	(What's the Story) Morning Glory?	1995	94
156	All I Know	Screaming Trees	Dust	1996	N/A
157	Gone Away	The Offspring	Ixnay on the Hombre	1997	N/A
158	Santeria	Sublime	Sublime	1996	N/A
159	Columbia	Oasis	Definitely Maybe	1994	N/A
160	The Freshman	Verve Pipe	Villains	1996	42
161	All Over You	Live	Throwing Copper	1994	65
162	The Unforgiven	Metallica	Metallica	1991	N/A
163	Jeremy	Pearl Jam	Ten	1991	N/A
164	Hold Her Down	Toad the Wet Sprocket	Fear	1991	N/A
165	Piece Of Pie	Stone Temple Pilots	Core	1992	N/A
166	Silvergun Superman	Stone Temple Pilots	Purple	1994	N/A
167	Black	Pearl Jam	Ten	1991	50
168	Warm Machine	Bush	The Science of Things	1999	N/A
169	Rocket	Smashing Pumpkins	Siamese Dream	1993	N/A
170	Whiskey In The Jar (Cover)	Metallica	Garage Inc.	1998	N/A
171	Closer	Nine Inch Nails	Downward Spiral	1994	N/A
172	Just	Radiohead	The Bends	1995	89
173	Hows It Gonna Be	Third Eye Blind	Third Eye Blind	1997	N/A
174	Jumper	Third Eye Blind	Third Eye Blind	1997	N/A
175	Mysterious Ways	U2	Achtung Baby	1991	N/A
176	Army Ants	Stone Temple Pilots	Purple	1994	N/A
177	Uno	Muse	Showbiz	1999	N/A
178	Everything You Want	Vertical Horizon	Everything You Want	1999	N/A
179	My Iron Lung	Radiohead	The Bends	1995	64
180	Desperately Wanting	Better than Ezra	Friction, Baby	1996	N/A
181	What The Hell Have I?	Alice in Chains	Nothing Safe	1999	N/A
182	Hello Kitty Kat	Smashing Pumpkins	Pisces Iscariot	1994	N/A
183	Walk On The Ocean	Toad the Wet Sprocket	Fear	1991	N/A
184	Break It Down Again	Tears for Fears	Elemental	1993	N/A
185	Laid	James	Laid	1993	N/A
186	Morning Glory	Oasis	(What's the Story) Morning Glory?	1995	86
187	Head Over Feet	Alanis Morissette	Jagged Little Pill	1995	N/A
188	Quiet	Smashing Pumpkins	Siamese Dream	1993	N/A
189	The Day I Tried to Live	Soundgarden	Superunknown	1994	N/A
190	Far Behind	Candlebox	Candlebox	1993	100
191	King Nothing	Metallica	Load	1996	N/A
192	Lake Of Fire (Cover)	Nirvana	MTV Unplugged in New York	1994	N/A
193	Scar Tissue	Red Hot Chili Peppers	Californication	1999	N/A
194	The Difference	The Wallflowers	Bringing Down the Horse	1996	92
195	Muscle Museum (Live)	Muse	Showbiz	1999	N/A
196	The Bends	Radiohead	The Bends	1995	66
197	Sweet 69	Babes In Toyland	Nemesisters	1995	N/A
198	Pepper	Butthole Surfers	Electriclarryland	1996	73
199	Underneath the Sky	Oasis	The Masterplan	1998	N/A
200	Disarm	Smashing Pumpkins	Siamese Dream	1993	N/A

	Updated 02/22/08: Extended from 100 to 200

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TRC - Alternative

IP:98.204.202.247 | 2008-02-18 18:53:06

Before anyone has a heart attack, I wanted to clarify what I mean by alternative rock. Basically my definition includes britpop, college rock, post-grunge, and softer rock. I will not, for the most part, include grunge, punk, metal, etc. Some grunge bands will be listed here, but mainly those artists' softer songs (i.e. Alice in Chains' "No Excuses" or Nirvana's "The Man Who Sold the World"). Also, some alternative bands harder songs may not make the list (Smashing Pumpkins' "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"). Just trying to avoid getting berated on semantics. As always, comments are much appreciated, as are personal lists.
Thanks, TRC.