 "Generic, with benefits" | 2008-09-22 |
| - Reviewed By User: A8IFUOL8S9BZC |
| When this first appeared, No Alternative was an excellent crash course in the budding genre, from popular acts to lesser known artists and many stuck in between. While new songs from Nirvana and the Pumpkins assured wide distribution, and quite a few notable entries including Breeders and Uncle Tupelo live up to those high compilation standards, a good half of the disc has been relegated to the apathetic-audio category. |
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 "Many Highlights" | 2006-10-01 |
| - Reviewed By davidals |
Most compilations are dodgy affairs, and benefit/charity releases are especially guilty, but this sneak hit in the "Red Hot + ___" series of AIDS-benefit/awareness releases was easily the best of the bunch, and presents a surprisingly freethinking travelogue of the rock underground, circa '94, just as that underground was cruising into mainstream consciousness.
The high points here are many - American Music Club and Pavement contribute songs that rank among their best, and several artists present were right on the brink of major breakthroughs: Sarah MacLachlan (who had been kicking around Halifax since the late 80s, briefly in the industrial group Manufacture), and Soundgarden (who first surfaced on the SST label in the mid-80s). Elsewhere, two of the finest groups to emerge from New Zealand's insanely creative (and prolific) Flying Nun Records: The Straitjacket Fits and The Verlaines - also put in fine appearances. Nirvana, The Beasties, Patti Smith, and (to a lesser extent) Matthew Sweet represent the folks who'd already achieved some major recognition, and their contributions are top-notch as well.
Musically the range is all over the place - not quite as wide open as the local college radio station, but about as close as we'd get from a major label - this is perhaps a little more geared towards that same college radio/zine crowd than any sort of alt-rock mainstream. But that's as it should be, and the fact that Arista/BMG got this to be some kind of a hit at the time was a breakthrough for a multitude of reasons - this is a great collection, and it's good to see it still around.
-David Alston |
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| "The kind of CD that never leaves you" | 2005-01-23 |
| - Reviewed By shaxper202 |
No Alternative is one of those CDs that you listen to on your way to work for a month straight, finally tire of, forget for a few years, and then remember all over again, listening to it on your way to work for a month straight. The beauty of compilations and soundtracks is that, when they're done right, they're diverse enough to keep your interest far longer than an album by a single artist ever could.
Yet, what makes No Alternative excel as a compilation is the fact that it does manage to maintain some commonality amongst the diversity; enough to keep things fresh and interesting with each successive track, but all while weaving them together with an emotional thread. Urge Overkill's "Take a Walk" and American Music Club's "All Your Jeans Were Too Tight" sound nothing alike, yet somewhere, in the deep emotional core of these songs, there's some commonality. Virtually every song on this album somehow deals with loss at its center. Some are uplifting, some despairing, some jaded, and some treat it with black humor. No two can be confused for one another; no two feel like they're consciously working for this effect. Yet, on a tribute album for an AIDS foundation, each of these songs seem to have taken the underlying cause to heart in a way that makes song transitions often seamless, even when the tone, beat, and volume change abruptly. The one exception to this is Nirvana's hidden track at the end, which (while worthy of inclusion on a Nirvana's Greatest Hits album) seems to have been contributed arbitrarily.
To provide some background (I guess I should have done this first), No Alternative was compiled in 1993, at the height of the Alternative/Independent movement. As the liner notes explain, the duel purpose of the album was to raise money for AIDS research ("there's no alternative") and to dispel the myth that Alternative could be considered a single style of music with distinguishable characteristics ("there's no such thing as Alternative"). This second notion accurately reflects the variety of talent signed on for this album.
No Alternative incorperates the works of nineteen independent artists, most still on the fringe of public awareness at the time of its release. Perhaps this was a gamble by its producers to inexpensively sign artists that had a chance of making it big right before the album hit stores. However, it's more likely that this was simply an attempt to catch a glimpse at the "true" alternative, occuring right outside the music mainstream, in all its diversity. Smashing Pumpkins, Soul Asylum, and The Breeders were already Alternative brand names by the time of NA's release, Sarah McLachlan and Soundgarden's mainstream breakthroughs were still a few years away, and Urge Overkill and Matthew Sweet continued to remain on the fringe of public awareness, even while attracting large fan bases. Patti Smith and The Beastie Boys aside, I've never heard of the rest of the artists that compile this album, and I don't suspect that I ever will.
There are no bad songs on this album, but the truly best and most memorable songs are the intensely introspective "Take a Walk" (Urge Overkill), the dream-weaving, soul affirming "Glynis" (Smashing Pumpkins), and the desperate lament of "Hold On" (tremendously different alternative version by Sarah McLachlan). Nirvana's hidden "Verse Chorus Verse" is among their best work but, as previously stated, does not match the tone of the album. Fans of Patti Smith will be haunted and touched by how her "Memorial Song" differs from anything they've heard from her previously, but non-fans will be likely to scoff at the song (as I once did).
You don't need to be a fan of Alternative to appreciate No Alternative. After all, there is no Alternative. All you need is an open ear, willing to engage and appreciate various distinctive styles. But even if you approach No Alternative without that open ear, some of these songs will open it for you. There's a passion on this album that simply cannot be missed. You may not immediately hear it in Soul Asylum's cover of "Sexual Healing", but, sooner or later, one of the tracks on this album is going to catch you and, if it treats you the way it treated me, it may never let you go.
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| "Only for the Nirvana completest" | 2004-07-03 |
| - Reviewed By Anonymous |
| The only place that you can find an official release of the excellent Nirvana track 'Verse Chorus Verse'. From memory the song had been hanging around since the 'Bleach' days (1980s) yet, because Kurt was never satisfied with the way the song turned out during recording sessions, it never made it on any of the albums. The version included here is taken from the 'In Utero' sessions and easily better than many of the songs that wound up on that album, Cobain's opinion notwithstanding. Another note of trivia for those interested; often it has been said that the Nirvana track was 'hidden' because the band provided the song after all the booklets etc had been printed. But if you actually read the booklet, it refers to 19 tracks rather than 18, suggesting the the person who wrote the inlay was aware of 19 tracks before printing, and perhaps that the Nirvana track was hidden intentionally. WHo knows? In closing, the Nirvana completest will be satisfied, but apart from the Mathew Sweet opener and the live Beastie Boys track, most of the other songs are just throwaways you'll never listen to again. |
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| "only necessary for the Nirvana completest" | 2004-07-03 |
| - Reviewed By seth_carmondy |
| The only place that you can find an official release of the excellent Nirvana track 'Verse Chorus Verse'. From memory the song had been hanging around since the 'Bleach' days (1980s) yet, because Kurt was never satisfied with the way the song turned out during recording sessions, it never made it on any of the albums. The version included here is taken from the 'In Utero' sessions and easily better than many of the songs that wound up on that album, Cobain's opinion notwithstanding. Another note of trivia for those interested; often it has been said that the Nirvana track was 'hidden' because the band provided the song after all the booklets etc had been printed. But if you actually read the booklet, it refers to 19 tracks rather than 18, suggesting the the person who wrote the inlay was aware of 19 tracks before printing, and perhaps that the Nirvana track was hidden intentionally. WHo knows? In closing, the Nirvana completest will be satisfied, but apart from the Mathew Sweet opener and the live Beastie Boys track, most of the other songs are just throwaways you'll never listen to again. |
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 "Such memories" | 2004-06-07 |
| - Reviewed By User: AHD8ME19I5AMG |
| This CD has been one my favorites for over ten years...so many great songs! The best cuts:
Pavement's "Unseen power of the Picket Fence", a tribute to my favorite band R.E.M.
Two of the best break up songs ever, "All Your Jeans Were Too Tight", and "Can't Fight It" (Bob Mould's best ballad IMHO)
An incredible mix of Sarah McLachlan's "Hold On"
Urge Overkill's "Take a Walk" Lastly, no Nirvana fan should be without this album, because of the amazing "Verse Chorus Verse". |
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| "my favorite compilation" | 2003-10-02 |
| - Reviewed By stubaby |
| I must own 50 compilations discs, but this is it, my absolute favorite (DGC rarities makes for a close 2nd). The Pavement track is one of my all time favorites: "ji-ji-ji-Georgia!", must be heard and it was never released anywhere else... |
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| "You're In The Laundry Room!" | 2002-11-03 |
| - Reviewed By the_cd_guy |
| Nirvana's best songs are always the obscure ones. And "Verse Chorus Verse" is pretty obscure. This is THE ONLY place where you can find it. Highly recommended. |
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| "A trip down Gen X memory lane" | 2002-05-21 |
| - Reviewed By charlie_murtaugh |
| I just popped this CD in yesterday, for the first time probably since 1996. What a great compilation! Anyone who wants to remember what the Great Rock Realignment was all about needs to pick up this album -- as does any fan of Soundgarden, Pavement, the Smashing Pumpkins or Nirvana, all of whom contribute excellent tracks. (The last of which is uncredited.) The Pumpkins track, "Glynis," is especially wonderful, as it harkens back to the era when Billy et al. were still haunting and creepy, rather than just [mad]. It's a bit depressing to think about what was and what might have been, listening to this CD, and then to realize what we have on the radio today, but the album is also a good reference point: whenever you start to think that maybe Incubus or Linkin Park is actually a good band, you can pop this in and remind yourself what good bands really sound like. |
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| "excellent!" | 2001-02-20 |
| - Reviewed By trappings |
| this compilation was a great idea. not only are nearly all the songs brilliant, but it features great artists like smashing pumpkins, nirvana, mathew sweet, barbara manning, and urge overkill. i highly reccomend this, because it is one of the best cd purchases i have made in a long time. very worthwhile |
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