No Alternative

For the political slogan, see There is no alternative.

No Alternative
Compilation album by various artists
Released	October 26, 1993
Recorded	1991–1993
Genre	Alternative rock grunge
Length	74:21
Label	Arista
Producer	Paul Heck Butcher Bros. Joe Chiccarelli Richard Dashut Billy Corgan Chris Mundy Paul Fox Bruce Kaphan Pierre Marchand Christopher Shaw
Red Hot Benefit series chronology
Red Hot + Dance (1992) No Alternative (1993) Red Hot + Country (1994)
Singles from No Alternative
"Hold On" Released: February 1994

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[2]
Deseret News	[3]
Los Angeles Times	[4]
Orlando Sentinel	[5]

No Alternative is an alternative rock compilation album produced by Paul Heck and Chris Mundy that was released in 1993. It was the third compilation put together by the Red Hot Organization, a charity dedicated to raising money for and awareness of AIDS relief. ^[6] The album features original tracks and cover versions from bands who went on to define the alternative rock scene of the 1990s. It was released with two different versions of album art: the standard version depicting a boy (without the Nirvana song listed on the back and liner notes), ^[7] and the alternate version depicting a girl (some with and some without the Nirvana song listed on the back and liner notes).

A television special hosted by MTV and a VHS home video release featured live performances, music videos, and information about AIDS.

On 20 April 2013, as part of the annual internationally celebrated Record Store Day, No Alternative was released for the first time on vinyl as a special 20th anniversary edition LP. ^[8] Stereogum lauded the album in a retrospective piece, saying that "it captures the American alternative scene at its commercial, cultural, and critical peak." ^[9] In an interview with Radio New Zealand, producer Paul Heck discussed the history of the Red Hot Organization and the anniversary of No Alternative, saying that the response from the musicians asked to contribute was "overwhelmingly positive" and that some artists even wrote songs specifically for the compilation. ^[10]

Album track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Artist	Length
1.	"Superdeformed"	Matthew Sweet	Matthew Sweet	3:58
2.	"For All to See"	Buffalo Tom	Buffalo Tom	3:36
3.	"Sexual Healing"	Odell Brown, Marvin Gaye, David Ritz	Soul Asylum	4:45
4.	"Take a Walk"	Urge Overkill	Urge Overkill	4:39
5.	"All Your Jeans Were Too Tight"	Mark Eitzel	American Music Club	3:33
6.	"Bitch"	Mick Jagger, Keith Richards	Goo Goo Dolls with Lance Diamond	3:17
7.	"Unseen Power of the Picket Fence"	Scott Kannberg, Stephen Malkmus	Pavement	3:53
8.	"Glynis"	Billy Corgan	The Smashing Pumpkins	4:53
9.	"Can’t Fight It"	Bob Mould	Bob Mould	3:49
10.	"Hold On"	Sarah McLachlan	Sarah McLachlan	4:23
11.	"Show Me"	Ben Shepherd	Soundgarden	2:48
12.	"Brittle"	Shayne Carter, Straitjacket Fits	Straitjacket Fits	3:24
13.	"Joed Out"	Graeme Downes	Barbara Manning and the San Francisco Seals	3:52
14.	"Heavy 33"	Graeme Downes	The Verlaines	4:21
15.	"Effigy"	John Fogerty	Uncle Tupelo	5:59
16.	"It's the New Style" (Live)	Beastie Boys, Rick Rubin	Beastie Boys and DJ Hurricane	2:20
17.	"Iris" (Live)	Kim Deal	The Breeders	3:44
18.	"Memorial Song" (Live)	Patti Smith	Patti Smith	3:33

Hidden track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Artist	Length
19.	"Verse Chorus Verse" (*Note [a] )	Kurt Cobain	Nirvana	3:24

Cassette track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Artist	Length
1.	"Superdeformed"	Matthew Sweet	Matthew Sweet
2.	"For All to See"	Buffalo Tom	Buffalo Tom
3.	"Sexual Healing"	Odell Brown, Marvin Gaye, David Ritz	Soul Asylum
4.	"Take a Walk"	Urge Overkill	Urge Overkill
5.	"All Your Jeans Were Too Tight"	Mark Eitzel	American Music Club
6.	"Bitch"	Mick Jagger, Keith Richards	Goo Goo Dolls with Lance Diamond
7.	"Unseen Power of the Picket Fence"	Scott Kannberg, Stephen Malkmus	Pavement
8.	"Glynis"	Billy Corgan	The Smashing Pumpkins
9.	"Can’t Fight It"	Bob Mould	Bob Mould
10.	"Hold On"	Sarah McLachlan	Sarah McLachlan
11.	"Show Me"	Ben Shepherd	Soundgarden
12.	"Brittle"	Shayne Carter, Straitjacket Fits	Straitjacket Fits
13.	"Joed Out"	Graeme Downes	Barbara Manning and the San Francisco Seals
14.	"Heavy 33"	Graeme Downes	The Verlaines
15.	"Effigy"	John Fogerty	Uncle Tupelo
16.	"It's the New Style" (Live)	Beastie Boys, Rick Rubin	Beastie Boys and DJ Hurricane
17.	"Iris" (Live)	Kim Deal	The Breeders
18.	"Burning Spear" (Live)	Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Richard Edson	Sonic Youth
19.	"Hot Nights" (Live)	Jonathan Richman	Jonathan Richman
20.	"Memorial Tribute" (Live)	Patti Smith	Patti Smith
21.	"Verse Chorus Verse" ( [b] )	Kurt Cobain	Nirvana

Home video track listing

No Alternative
Video by various artists
Released	February 22, 1994
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	65:00
Label	PolyGram Video
Director	various

1. Matthew Sweet – "Superdeformed"
   • directed by Kevin Kerslake
2. Neneh Cherry – "Athens, Georgia 1993"
   • directed by Jim McKay & Michael Stipe
3. Urge Overkill – "Take a Walk"
   • directed by Matt Mahurin
4. Hole, Luscious Jackson, Free Kitten, Huggy Bear & Bikini Kill – "No Alternative Girls"
   • directed by Tamra Davis
5. The Smashing Pumpkins – "Hot Heads"
   • directed by Jennie Livingston
6. Sarah McLachlan – "Hold On"
   • directed by Nick Gomez
7. The Breeders – "Iris"
   • directed by Hal Hartley
8. Patti Smith – "Memorial Tribute"
   • directed by Derek Jarman

US live performances:

9. Goo Goo Dolls – "Bitch"
   • directed by Beth McCarthy
10. The Smashing Pumpkins – "Glynis"
    • directed by Beth McCarthy
11. The Smashing Pumpkins – "Today"
    • directed by Beth McCarthy
12. Buffalo Tom – "For All to See"
    • directed by Beth McCarthy

UK live performances:

13. The Breeders – "Iris"
    • directed by Neil Breakwell
14. Suede – "The Next Life"
    • directed by Derek Jarman

Spoken word:

15. Maggie Estep – "No More Mr Nice Girl"
16. Lou Reed – "Busload of Faith"
17. David Wojnarowicz – "Untitled"

Charts

Chart (1993–1994)	Peak position
Australia Alternative Albums ( ARIA ) [11]	15
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [12]	46
US Billboard 200 [13]	56
US Top 100 Pop Albums ( Cashbox ) [14] [15]	21

Notes

1. The song is labelled as "Verse Chorus Verse", but is generally referred to by its original name of "Sappy" in order to avoid confusion with another, abandoned Nirvana song with the former name.
2. This track is not listed on the tracklisting.

References

1. No Alternative at AllMusic
2. Christgau, Robert (2000-10-15). "No Alternative". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s . Macmillan Publishing. ISBN   9780312245603.
3. Vice, Jeff (1993-12-17). "3 COMPILATIONS BY VARIOUS ARTISTS HIT THE MARKET". Deseret News . Archived from the original on March 4, 2018. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
4. Hochman, Steve (1993-12-19). "In Brief". Los Angeles Times – via ProQuest.
5. Gettelman, Parry (1993-12-10). "'No Alternative' And 'Born To Choose'". Orlando Sentinel . Retrieved 2018-03-04.
6. Gomez, Jeff (2023). There Was No Alternative. McFarland Books. p. 4. ISBN   978-1-4766-8976-0.
7. "Short Takes" (PDF). Music & Media . November 20, 1993. p. 17. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
8. "No Alternative (20 anniversary edition)". Dusty Groove . Retrieved 22 March 2013.
9. "No Alternative Turns 20". 28 October 2013.
10. "Red Hot - Paul Heck". 9 November 2013.
11. "Alternative Charts Top 20". ARIA Report . January 23, 1994. p. 12. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
12. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2353". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
13. "Billboard 200" (PDF). Billboard . November 27, 1993. p. 126. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
14. "US Top 100 Pop Albums" (PDF). Cashbox . November 27, 1993. p. 12. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
15. "US Top 100 Pop Albums" (PDF). Cashbox . December 4, 1993. p. 12. Retrieved July 3, 2022.

Further reading

• Gomez, Jeff (2023). There Was No Alternative. McFarland Books. ISBN 978-1-4766-8976-0.

External links

• No Alternative at NYU's Fales Library and Special Collections' Guide to the Red Hot Organization Archive (1989–2004)