It’s a little sad to be writing this #tbt due to a death, but today we felt Chris Cornell deserved a proper #tbt review and acknowledgement of his work.

A heart wrenchingly beautiful and sonically heavy album, Rid of Me marks PJ Harvey’s collaboration with recording engineer Steve Albini and her first foray into internationally known waters.

Their sophomore effort was highly anticipated, as the Pixies popularity peaked and Alternative music became much more widely accepted throughout the listening public.

In 1986, Charles Thompson (Black Francis), Joey Santiago and David Lovering put out a classified ad looking for a bass player who was into “Peter, Paul, and Mary and Hüsker Dü”.

Hailed as the groundbreaking album that began the post-rock movement, Millions Now Living Will Never Die cemented my love affair with music outside the standard indie realm.

If I had to pick three albums that really, really defined my adolescence, it would be the Pixie’s Doolittle, Nine Inch Nail’s Pretty Hate Machine, and Jane’s Addiction’s Ritual De Lo Habitual.

It is difficult to comprehend why The Score had to be the Fugees last album. Did the parts start to believe they added up to more than a whole? Was it that there wasn’t enough creative airspace?

1988’s Bummed was and still is a sophomore success. Arriving on the heels of the sub par Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People…, Bummed truly dropped a dime on what might be in store for us from both the Mondays and the Manchester scene.

Bridging the gap between punk, electronic, and industrial music, Primal Scream’s Bobby’s Gillespie set out to make a record that merged all of his influences, resulting in seriously one of the best album’s of the aught’s.

Being labeled “The Only Band That Matters” would be enough pressure for most bands to live with, but The Clash earned it in their own right.

Chicago’s Wilco has been a hometown staple for many years, with predecessor Uncle Tupelo hearkening back all the way to 1987.

Liz Phair’s debut and groundbreaking record gets the Throwback treatment.

The early 90’s were a veritable breeding ground for indie rock in Chicago, Illinois, and The Jesus Lizard were no exception.

After a long history in the UK music scene starting in the early 80’s, and releasing their largest selling album “Different Class” in 1995, Pulp made a left turn and put out their artsiest, and heaviest record to date, “This Is Hardcore”.

Nizter Ebb’s music went on to be pretty popular in the club circuits, and helped get us to where dance music is today.

Anybody who says they love music but hasn’t listened to this album has shamed themselves greatly.

Ziggy Stardust. The Thin White Duke. The Starman. David Bowie had many names, and created some of the most iconic rock ‘n roll under each of them.

Almost 30 years ago, Big Black released their best selling and last record ever, Songs About Fucking.

Bridging the gap between punk, rock, and reggae, Fugazi brought the politics of music into the fold, taking steps to ensure fans would be able to afford their shows and records.

American Water marked the first time that Silver Jews stopped being a Pavement side project (both bands, by the way, formed around the same time) and demonstrated their ability to be a band that puts out music that is just as good if not better than Malkmus’ main focus.

Before Tame Impala, before Temples or any other of the psych-rock bands that have been dominating the indie charts, there was the Dukes of the Stratosphear.

I had some trepidation about writing a #tbt review of this album since it doesn’t really fit the indie M.O. of this column, but to me it has always been an indie record, possibly because it was so different from everything else that was coming out at that time.

What many would consider to be the epitome of indie rock, Daydream Nation set the bar for with would later become one of the most iconic double albums to come out from a band not signed to a major label. So iconic, in fact, it was chosen by the Library of Congress to be preserved in the National Recording Registry in 2005.

I know many people would argue that I should pick an earlier Dinosaur Jr album, prior to the departure of Lou Barlow, but this was the album that introduced me to them, so nostalgia wins this round. Wikipedia calls Dinosaur Jr “Alternative Rock”, and to be quite honest, I have no idea what “Alternative Rock” means, aside from rock music that came out in the 90’s that wasn’t Ace of Base.