But all in all, No Alternative has its moments of pure glory, and moments of recycled pessismism, and useless trite. It is with 19 tracks, and 78 mins of running time, a good buy, and good addidtion to any collection


Pretty good album, very worthy cause   August 10, 2000
 8 out of 15 found this review helpful

"No Alternative" is a compilation CD that features a vast array of talented, up-and-coming young rock 'n' roll artists valiantly doing their part to raise money for AIDS research. Though its shelf life is long past, this CD is a good representation of what was hot in the early 1990s. There are some uppers and downers here, as well as an assortment of different musical styles to keep things interesting. Some good songs grace this album, as do average ones, as do songs that are mostly forgettable. Here's a quick breakdown:

The good: Matthew Sweet, Buffalo Tom, Urge Overkill, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Nirvana.

The bad: Beastie Boys, The Breeders.

The Average: Pavement, Bob Mould, Sara McLachlan, Uncle Tupelo.

The obscure and forgettable: American Music Club, Straightjacket Fits, Barbara Manning, The Verlaines.

The lame covers: Soul Asylum, Goo Goo Dolls.

"No Alternative" ends with Patti Smith singing a sweet "memorial tribute" dedicated to AIDS victims, played in what sounds like a hot sweaty gymnasium. After a few kind words, Smith spontaneously bursts into a short songbirdlike vocal performance, minus accompanying instruments or frills. The crowd erupts after she finishes and the album ends -- but the album doesn't actually end. Quickly after Smith's song, an unlisted Nirvana track explodes into being, coming off as positively rambunctious compared to the previous low-key Smith tribute. Nirvana's song is a surprising and stirring finale, fitting even, given that Kurt Cobain was a humble and compassionate leader in speaking out for the less fortunate in society. Undoubtedly, both Nirvana and Soundgarden contributed vintage, completely rocking songs to this CD, each of which could have been A-side tunes for their own albums.

Overall, "No Alternative" hearkens back to a dear era in rock 'n' roll music, a time when aspiring young artists with guitars seemed to lurk everywhere and the music always rocked wherever you turned your head or your radio dial. This is no Singles: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, to be sure, but the gesture by these groups to lend a supporting hand in the fight against AIDS was commendable; it's easy to see how much these bands cared about what they were doing.


The kind of CD that never leaves you   January 23, 2005
 8 out of 8 found this review helpful

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.



excellent!   February 19, 2001
 5 out of 6 found this review helpful

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