Various, Inspiral Carpets, Marc Ribot, Mecca Normal, Bauhaus, The Soup Dragons, No Artist

Madchester

Guitar bands playing to a dancefloor clock: loose drums, wah pedals, 808s and a city on E.

Seattle Grunge

Heavy riffs played by people raised on punk, recorded cheap in the Pacific Northwest and then sold worldwide.

Boston Alternative

College radio, cheap rehearsal rooms and loud guitars: the US underground's most literate, least glamorous engine room.