Dig - "Believe"

Alternative pop/rock quintet Dig formed in Los Angeles in early 1991, with vocalist and guitarist Scott Hackwith, guitarist Dix Denney, guitarist Jon Morris, bassist Phil Friedmann, and drummer Matt Tecu.

After gaining a following around the area and releasing the Runt EP in 1992, the group signed to Radioactive/MCA late that year and released their self-titled debut album in 1993. The single "Believe" spent almost three months in MTV's Buzz Bin and prompted the release of Dig's second album, Defenders of the Universe, in mid-1996. Life Like followed in early 1999.

Mazzy Star - "Fade Into You"

If psychedelic music had a voice in '90s post-punk, Mazzy Star may have been its strongest reincarnation. That does not necessarily mean that fans of Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead will find the band to their liking, however.

Mazzy Star preferred the dark side of psychedelia, as exemplified by the most distended tracks of the Doors and the Velvet Underground. Their fuzzy guitar workouts and plaintive folky compositions are often suffused in a dissociative ennui that is very much of the 1990s, however much their textures may recall the drug-induced states of vintage psychedelia.

Folk Implosion - "Natural One"

Barlow's prodigious creative energy has manifested itself in 20 albums. From an early gig playing bass in Dinosaur Jr., to leading indie-rock standard bearer Sebadoh and releasing cassettes of his lo-fi home-taping solo project Sentridoh, through to scoring a Top 40 hit with "Natural One" from the Kids soundtrack with Folk Implosion, his quality-to-quantity ratio has been inordinately high.

This is especially impressive given the variety contained in his discography. Each of those bands and projects had its own distinct identity, as defined by Barlow and his collaborators.

Soul Asylum - "Somebody To Shove"

Soul Asylum are the quintessential little band that could. It only took ten years to turn them from a teenage garage band into multi-platinum selling rock stars.

Guitarist Dan Murphy, bassist Karl Mueller, and drummer Dave Pirner formed in 1981 as Loud Fast Rules in Minneapolis, Minnesota. When the shambolic, no-longer-teenage band burst onto the scene in 1984, Soul Asylum had added Grant Young on drums and switched Pirner to rhythm guitar and vocals for the loud and fast Twin/Tone album Say What You Will, Clarence... Karl Sold the Truck.

Luscious Jackson - "Naked Eye"

With their dark, hip-hop-influenced alternative rock, Luscious Jackson re-creates the dense, multicultural, bohemian world of New York in a collage of sound, where Spanish guitars, jazzy keyboards, funky beats, and breathy, singsong vocals combine into one.

Like the Beastie Boys, Luscious Jackson's eclecticism does not acknowledge boundaries. Instead, it takes freely from every kind of music. The band's first two recordings, 1992's In Search of Manny and 1994's Natural Ingredients, earned the band a cult following and positive critical reviews.

Big Head Todd & The Monsters - "Bittersweet"

During the late '80s and early '90s, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, the Colorado-based trio of guitarist and keyboard player Todd Park Mohr, bassist Rob Squires, and drummer Brian Nevin, built their audience through constant touring and playing college towns across the country.

With these tours, they built a solid fan base before they had even signed to a major label. Although they have released several records, they have not always been able to completely transfer the live appeal of their laid-back, slightly jazzy, blues-based pop to tape.

Nevertheless, each of their records contains many fine moments. 1993's Sister Sweetly, which went gold and stayed on the charts for more than a year, showed that they were continuing to improve their songwriting as well as their playing.

Mad Season - "River Of Deceit"

Quite a few side projects containing members of renowned Seattle-based rock bands appeared throughout the '90s. Most failed to expand beyond a small cult following comprised mainly of fans of their primary bands, but there were a few exceptions, especially Temple of the Dog and Mad Season.

Mad Season included members of Alice in Chains, vocalist Layne Staley; Pearl Jam, guitarist Mike McCready; and the Screaming Trees, drummer Barrett Martin. The only non-Seattle-based musician was bassist John Baker Saunders, who previously played with blues artists including Hubert Sumlin and the Lamont Cranston Band.