Alternative (album)

Alternative
Compilation album by Pet Shop Boys
Released	7 August 1995
Recorded	1985–1994
Length	134:12
Label	Parlophone
Producer	Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys chronology
Disco 2 (1994) Alternative (1995) Bilingual (1996)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	[2]
Melody Maker	(favorable) [3]
NME	6/10 [4]
Select	[5]

Alternative is a compilation album by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys. It was released on 7 August 1995 by Parlophone.

Alternative is a two-disc set, consisting of 30 B-sides in chronological order. The title Alternative was a last-minute change from the title that had been long saved for such an album, Besides, but that title was taken by American rock band Sugar, who released their own B-sides compilation two months prior.^{[ citation needed ]}

A remake of the original 7-inch "Paninaro", titled "Paninaro '95", was released as a single (which was included on the later PopArt: The Hits set) to promote the two-disc compilation which reached number two in the UK Albums Chart. ^[6]

The cover of Alternative features photographs of Tennant and Lowe in fencing masks. The first copies of the CD have a lenticular image on the cover which shifts between the two photographs.

Neil Tennant revealed in a radio interview with Absolute Radio that a second B-side album may be released in 2010. On 11 November 2011, the duo announced through Varsity that they would release another B-sides album in February 2012, titled Format .

Track listing

All tracks are written by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, except where noted.

Disc one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	A-side	Length
1.	"In the Night"		"Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" (1985 release)	4:50
2.	"A Man Could Get Arrested" (10" Bobby Orlando version)		"West End Girls"	4:19
3.	"That's My Impression" (disco mix)		"Love Comes Quickly"	5:18
4.	"Was That What It Was?"		"Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" (1986 release)	5:14
5.	"Paninaro"		"Suburbia"	4:40
6.	"Jack the Lad"		"Suburbia"	4:31
7.	"You Know Where You Went Wrong"		"It's a Sin"	5:51
8.	"A New Life"	Tennant, Lowe, Helena Springs	"What Have I Done to Deserve This?"	4:56
9.	"I Want a Dog"		"Rent"	4:58
10.	"Do I Have To?"		"Always on My Mind"	5:14
11.	"I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too)"		"Heart"	4:54
12.	"Don Juan"		"Domino Dancing"	3:54
13.	"The Sound of the Atom Splitting" (extended version)	Tennant, Lowe, Steve Lipson, Trevor Horn	"Left to My Own Devices"	5:12
14.	"One of the Crowd"		"It's Alright"	3:55
15.	"Your Funny Uncle"		"It's Alright"	2:16

Disc two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	A-side	Length
1.	"It Must Be Obvious"		"So Hard"	4:24
2.	"We All Feel Better in the Dark"		"Being Boring"	4:00
3.	"Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend"		"Where the Streets Have No Name (I Can't Take My Eyes off You)"	4:28
4.	"Losing My Mind"	Stephen Sondheim	"Jealousy"	4:34
5.	"Music for Boys"		"DJ Culture"	3:36
6.	"Miserablism"		"Was It Worth It?"	4:10
7.	"Hey, Headmaster"		"Can You Forgive Her?"	3:06
8.	"What Keeps Mankind Alive?"	Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill	"Can You Forgive Her?"	3:24
9.	"Shameless"		"Go West"	5:02
10.	"Too Many People"		"I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing"	4:17
11.	"Violence" (Haçienda version)		"I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind of Thing"	4:58
12.	"Decadence"		"Liberation"	3:56
13.	"If Love Were All"	Noël Coward	"Yesterday, When I Was Mad"	2:59
14.	"Euroboy"		"Yesterday, When I Was Mad"	4:27
15.	"Some Speculation"		"Yesterday, When I Was Mad"	6:34

Japanese edition bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	A-side	Length
16.	"Girls & Boys" (live in Rio)	Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James, Dave Rowntree	"Paninaro '95"	5:03

Personnel

• Neil Tennant
• Chris Lowe

Producers

• Pet Shop Boys – all tracks except disc 1: track 13
• Phil Harding – disc 1: track 1
• Bobby O – disc 1: track 2
• Shep Pettibone – disc 1: track 7, additional production on disc 1: track 4
• David Jacob – disc 1: track 8
• Trevor Horn and Stephen Lipson – disc 1: track 13
• Harold Faltermeyer – disc 2: track 6
• Stephen Hague – additional production on disc 2: tracks 7 and 9
• Jonathon Ruffle – disc 2: track 8
• Richard Niles – disc 2: track 13

Guest musicians

• Blue Weaver – Fairlight programming on disc 1: tracks 1 and 11, Hammond organ on disc 1: track 11
• Adrien Cook – Fairlight programming on disc 1: tracks 5, 6 and 7
• Helena Springs – additional vocals on disc 1: track 7
• Stephen Lipson – guitar on disc 1: track 11
• Shirley Lewis and Dee Lewis – additional vocals on disc 1: track 11
• Chris Newman – assistant Fairlight programming on disc 1: track 12, additional programming on disc 2: track 4
• Juliet Roberts – additional vocals on disc 2: track 2
• Dominic Clarke – programming on disc 2: tracks 2 and 3
• Gary Maughan – additional keyboards on disc 2: track 3
• Scott Davidson – programming on disc 2: track 5
• Harold Faltermeyer – programming on disc 2: track 6
• Pete Gleadall – programming on disc 2: tracks 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 15
• Richard Coles – additional keyboards on disc 2: track 8
• Carol Kenyon, Katie Kissoon and Tessa Niles – additional vocals on disc 2: track 9
• Bruce Woolley – additional vocals on disc 2: track 10
• J.J. Belle – guitar on disc 2: track 11
• Sylvia Mason-James – additional vocals on disc 2: track 11
• Johnny Marr – guitar on disc 2: track 12
• Frank Ricotti – percussion and vibraphone on disc 2: track 12
• Richard Niles – string arrangement and conduction on disc 2: track 12, arrangement and conduction on disc 2: track 13
• Tony Walthers, Daniel Gaha & Lance Ellington – backing vocals on disc 2: track 13
• Gerard Presencer – trumpet solo on disc 2: track 13

Charts

Chart performance for Alternative

Chart (1995)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [7]	8
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [8]	33
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [9]	44
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [10]	44
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [11]	29
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [12]	27
European Albums ( Music & Media ) [13]	37
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [14]	17
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [15]	28
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [16]	31
Scottish Albums (OCC) [17]	7
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [18]	14
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [19]	19
UK Albums (OCC) [6]	2
US Billboard 200 [20]	103

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for Alternative

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [21]	Silver	60,000^
United States	—	68,000 [22]
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Pet Shop Boys: Alternative at AllMusic. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
2. Christgau, Robert. "Pet Shop Boys". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
3. Mathur, Paul (12 August 1995). "Pet Shop Boys - Alternative Pet Shop Boys" . Melody Maker . Vol. 72, no. 32. p. 33. Retrieved 6 March 2024– via Internet Archive.
4. Harris, John (5 August 1995). "Long Play: B-ing Boring". New Musical Express . p. 44. ISSN   0028-6362.
5. Harrison, Andrew (September 1995). "New Old Albums". Select . p. 105. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
6. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
7. "Australiancharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Alternative". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
8. "Austriancharts.at – Pet Shop Boys – Alternative" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
9. "Ultratop.be – Pet Shop Boys – Alternative" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
10. "Ultratop.be – Pet Shop Boys – Alternative" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
11. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 8533". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
12. "Dutchcharts.nl – Pet Shop Boys – Alternative" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
13. "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media . Vol. 12, no. 35. 2 September 1995. p. 20. OCLC   29800226 – via World Radio History.
14. "Pet Shop Boys: Alternative" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
15. "Offiziellecharts.de – Pet Shop Boys – Alternative" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
16. "ペット・ショップ・ボーイズのアルバム売り上げランキング" [Pet Shop Boys album sales ranking] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 11 January 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
17. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
18. "Swedishcharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Alternative". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
19. "Swisscharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Alternative". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
20. "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
21. "British album certifications – Pet Shop Boys – Alternative". British Phonographic Industry. 1 August 1995. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
22. Caulfield, Keith (23 May 2006). "Ask Billboard: Pet Shop Shopping". Billboard. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.