What is the difference between Rock and Alternative Rock?

Music is apart of everyday life. Whether driving in the car, watching a movie, or looking at a commercial, music is apart of those activities. There are many genres that a person can choose from. Rock and alternative rock are two of those genres. Between the two, rock is much older.

Rock had been around for two decades before the alternative rock was created. Alternative rock was created as a way to break away from rock for the musicians who were unable to obtain a record deal. Rock is a mainstream genre, while the alternative rock is a subgenre of the mainstream genre of rock.

Rock music came before alternative, and when it hit, it took the world by storm. It began with Elvis Presley and the Beatles, and it was transformed decade by decade into the style of rock music that is out today. On the other hand, the alternative began to emerge in the 1980s with acts like The Cure and REM breaking ground. It was created from a myriad of different types of music.

At the time, alternative mostly stayed within the confines of The United States and The United Kingdom. It was best known as college rock in the US and indie rock in the UK. One thing was for sure, alternative rock did not like to operate within the mainstream. Rock n' roll music is typically more poppy, and it is generally accepted by both rock stations and the top 40 stations. In the '90s alternative rock started with a bang, as Kurt Cobain and Nirvana change the face of alternative music forever. Now, alternative has become tamer. In the '90s, alternative had a more important message.

Rock music and alternative rock music are actually two different genres of music. They are both loved and generally accepted by music lovers all over the world. Rock music had actually emerged and been off about two decades before the alternative rock eventually sprung out of the mainstream rock.

Alternative rock can be referred to as a sub-genre of the particular mainstream rock genre music. That is to say that alternative rock seems to be like rock or taken from rock in its entirety. Alternative rock was actually created to serve as a breakaway by bands that did not sign with the mainstream music labels, but then rock evolved from more than just one existing genres.

Alternative rock is actually said to include various styles that are not typically rock and some others, too, that are termed as a hardcore rock. Most music lovers prefer alternative rock to the rock.