People didn't get to see how other towns interpreted the underground ethos, and so they developed their own unique versions of it.

As a journalist, I'm not supposed to be the subject, but as an author, I'm fair game - another ingredient in the media soup.

There's no glamour in Nirvana, no glamour at all, in fact.

The American indie underground made music for like-minded people who thought for themselves. Thinking for yourself is intrinsically subversive.

Just as not all popular albums are wonderful, not all wonderful albums are popular.

Nine Inch Nails' sound is dominated by clanging synths and sardonic, shrieking vocals.

Now that the generation that grew up on '80s indie-rock has attained influential positions in the culture, that music is the new yardstick. And that will shift yet again some day.