There was a period in the early-to-mid-’90s when radio stations and record labels alike started getting frisky. Grunge had exploded into the mainstream, pop-punk was on the rise, and the suits were willing to gamble a bit more than usual, reaching well outside their comfort zones on the chance that they could be the ones to capitalize on the next Nirvana or the next Green Day.

The stage was set for the rise of “alternative rock,” a phrase that, at the time, described a certain type of music that was both somewhat arty and rather catchy — but generally not as hard-edged and garage-y as the term is used today. (Think R.E.M. as opposed to, say, The White Stripes.)

I honestly don’t know if Belly would have been given a chance at any other time. Sure, the band was good-looking enough for MTV, and they wrote some very catchy songs. But they wrote lots of very offbeat songs, too; and singer Tanya Donelly’s quirky, allusive lyrics and breathy, baby-doll voice were a pretty significant departure from even the more non-traditional pop that was hitting the airwaves around the same time.

So I was as surprised as anyone when “Feed the Tree” (Amazon | iTunes) stormed the Billboard charts in early ’93 — and just as surprised when it showed up as Rock Band DLC a year ago. That’s not to say it didn’t deserve it; the track does a good job of summarizing Belly’s sound at its best: a bit of jangle, a sprinkling of four-on-the-floor power chords, and a lot of shimmer and space. Same for the lyrics: poetic, evocative, and apparently semi-autobiographical. It was just surprising (in a good way, certainly) to see a slightly off-the-beaten-path band achieve so much success.

Alas, it was not to last. Follow-up singles from their debut album, Star, didn’t approach “Feed the Tree” in terms of commercial success; and their second album, 1995′s King, barely made a blip on the mainstream radar. The band broke up the following year.

Luckily, they left two amazing albums behind. Both Star and King are positively loaded with songs as musically and lyrically interesting as they are catchy. And though Donelly’s voice lost a lot of its babydoll quality between the two albums (I suspect due to the strain of touring, if a live recording I once heard is any indication), King ended up as a more mature, confident, consistent album.

I would have loved to have seen what the band could have done with more time, but at least we have the next best thing: Donelly moved on to a healthy solo career, and continues to make music in a style very similar to Belly’s — it’s a clear evolution of Belly’s sound, and that will have to do.

If you’ve played “Feed the Tree” in Rock Band and you’d like to hear more, you can’t go wrong with either of Belly’s albums. (Here are Amazon links to Star and King — make sure you at least check out “Now They’ll Sleep” from King for some of the most delightful harmonies I know.) And though several offer much more of a folk/country feel than Belly did, Donelly’s solo albums carry the torch admirably. And of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the bands Donelly co-founded before moving to Belly: the legendary Throwing Muses and equally legendary Breeders.

I don’t know if mainstream radio will ever be willing to gamble on quirky unknowns like Belly again, but I’m sure glad they did then.