Left of the Dial Top of the Charts

A journey through 25 years of alternative rock, one grungy chart at a time.

Green Day Good Riddance 1998

Alternative rock achieved Peak ’90s in 1998

We couldn’t recognize it for what it was, but we experienced Peak ’90s in 1998.

Radiohead Paranoid android video

The arrival of Radiohead’s ‘OK Computer’ was a big deal for alternative in 1997

How Radiohead saved alternative (sort of) from a pit of mediocrity toward the late ’90s.

Oasis Live forever 1995

1995: The year Oasis made us want to live forever

Alt-rock had a flirtation with immortality after a year mourning one of its most crushing losses.

Depeche Mode '90s in the '80s

Spring of 1993 was a portal into a bizarro 1980s

The post-punk era lived on, briefly, in the early ’90s.

the 30 best bands of the past 30 years Nirvana

Left of the Dial, Top of the Charts: A new column on alt-rock radio

Nirvana’s ascent, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers bringing us all down.