The 100 Best Alternative Rock Songs of All Time

What makes a great alternative rock song? It has to sound like nothing else that was on the radio when it came out, and it has to still hit hard decades later. These are the 100 songs our programmers would put on the ultimate alternative playlist: 25 from each era, from post-punk to the present.

The list is grouped by decade and then roughly chronological, not ranked. Arguing about the order is half the fun, so tell us what we missed by sending a request or dedication.

What makes a great alternative rock song?

• Originality. It introduced a sound, a mood or an idea.
• Influence. Other bands borrowed from it.
• Longevity. It still sounds fresh on the radio today.
• Emotion. It means something to the people who love it.

The 1980s: building the alternative foundation

#	Song	Artist	Year
1	Love Will Tear Us Apart	Joy Division	1980
2	A Forest	The Cure	1980
3	Once in a Lifetime	Talking Heads	1980
4	Radio Free Europe	R.E.M.	1981
5	Pretty in Pink	The Psychedelic Furs	1981
6	Spellbound	Siouxsie and the Banshees	1981
7	Blue Monday	New Order	1983
8	This Charming Man	The Smiths	1983
9	Blister in the Sun	Violent Femmes	1983
10	The Killing Moon	Echo & the Bunnymen	1984
11	Just Like Honey	The Jesus and Mary Chain	1985
12	Makes No Sense at All	Hüsker Dü	1985
13	There Is a Light That Never Goes Out	The Smiths	1986
14	Never Let Me Down Again	Depeche Mode	1987
15	Just Like Heaven	The Cure	1987
16	The One I Love	R.E.M.	1987
17	Alex Chilton	The Replacements	1987
18	Where Is My Mind?	Pixies	1988
19	Teen Age Riot	Sonic Youth	1988
20	Freak Scene	Dinosaur Jr.	1988
21	Jane Says	Jane’s Addiction	1988
22	Under the Milky Way	The Church	1988
23	Debaser	Pixies	1989
24	I Wanna Be Adored	The Stone Roses	1989
25	Higher Ground	Red Hot Chili Peppers	1989

The 1990s: alternative rock takes over

#	Song	Artist	Year
26	Enjoy the Silence	Depeche Mode	1990
27	Smells Like Teen Spirit	Nirvana	1991
28	Alive	Pearl Jam	1991
29	Losing My Religion	R.E.M.	1991
30	Under the Bridge	Red Hot Chili Peppers	1991
31	Would?	Alice in Chains	1992
32	Creep	Radiohead	1992
33	Plush	Stone Temple Pilots	1992
34	Killing in the Name	Rage Against the Machine	1992
35	Loser	Beck	1993
36	Today	The Smashing Pumpkins	1993
37	Black Hole Sun	Soundgarden	1994
38	Basket Case	Green Day	1994
39	Buddy Holly	Weezer	1994
40	Zombie	The Cranberries	1994
41	Hurt	Nine Inch Nails	1994
42	Cut Your Hair	Pavement	1994
43	Wonderwall	Oasis	1995
44	Common People	Pulp	1995
45	Only Happy When It Rains	Garbage	1995
46	1979	The Smashing Pumpkins	1996
47	Paranoid Android	Radiohead	1997
48	Song 2	Blur	1997
49	Bitter Sweet Symphony	The Verve	1997
50	Everlong	Foo Fighters	1997

The 2000s: a new generation emerges

#	Song	Artist	Year
51	Everything in Its Right Place	Radiohead	2000
52	Yellow	Coldplay	2000
53	Last Nite	The Strokes	2001
54	New Slang	The Shins	2001
55	Obstacle 1	Interpol	2002
56	No One Knows	Queens of the Stone Age	2002
57	Seven Nation Army	The White Stripes	2003
58	Maps	Yeah Yeah Yeahs	2003
59	Time Is Running Out	Muse	2003
60	Mr. Brightside	The Killers	2003
61	Take Me Out	Franz Ferdinand	2004
62	Float On	Modest Mouse	2004
63	Wake Up	Arcade Fire	2004
64	I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor	Arctic Monkeys	2005
65	Banquet	Bloc Party	2005
66	I Will Follow You into the Dark	Death Cab for Cutie	2005
67	Hang Me Up to Dry	Cold War Kids	2006
68	Supermassive Black Hole	Muse	2006
69	All My Friends	LCD Soundsystem	2007
70	Fake Empire	The National	2007
71	The Pretender	Foo Fighters	2007
72	Kids	MGMT	2007
73	A-Punk	Vampire Weekend	2008
74	Sex on Fire	Kings of Leon	2008
75	Dog Days Are Over	Florence + The Machine	2008

The 2010s and beyond: modern favorites

#	Song	Artist	Year
76	Pumped Up Kicks	Foster the People	2010
77	Midnight City	M83	2011
78	Lonely Boy	The Black Keys	2011
79	Shake It Out	Florence + The Machine	2011
80	R U Mine?	Arctic Monkeys	2012
81	Do I Wanna Know?	Arctic Monkeys	2013
82	Pompeii	Bastille	2013
83	Cigarette Daydreams	Cage the Elephant	2013
84	Seasons (Waiting on You)	Future Islands	2014
85	Figure It Out	Royal Blood	2014
86	The Less I Know the Better	Tame Impala	2015
87	Stressed Out	Twenty One Pilots	2015
88	Somebody Else	The 1975	2016
89	Amsterdam	Nothing But Thieves	2017
90	Don’t Delete the Kisses	Wolf Alice	2017
91	Little Dark Age	MGMT	2017
92	Motion Sickness	Phoebe Bridgers	2017
93	Danny Nedelko	IDLES	2018
94	Caution	The Killers	2020
95	Heat Waves	Glass Animals	2020
96	Chaise Longue	Wet Leg	2021
97	Seventeen Going Under	Sam Fender	2021
98	Mystery	Turnstile	2021
99	Nothing Matters	The Last Dinner Party	2023
100	Starburster	Fontaines D.C.	2024

Why these songs still matter

Put “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Mr. Brightside” and “Starburster” back to back and you hear four decades of the same instinct: take rock music somewhere it has not been before. That is what keeps alternative music alive, and it is why we program classics and new music together. Our monthly Alternative Rock Top 20 shows which new songs might make the next version of this list.

Frequently asked questions

What is considered alternative rock?

Rock that grew from punk and independent scenes and favors originality over formula. Read What Is Alternative Rock? for the full answer.

What is the most famous alternative rock song?

Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is the song most often named, with “Losing My Religion,” “Creep” and “Mr. Brightside” close behind.

What decade was alternative rock most popular?

The 1990s, when grunge, Britpop and alternative radio dominated rock.

Can I request these songs?

Yes. Send a request or dedication and our team will consider it for airplay.

About this article: Written and fact-checked by The Alternative One editorial team, the programmers and music writers behind the station’s on-air shows. Last reviewed October 2, 2026. Read our editorial standards or tell us about a correction.