Alternative (album)

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

Alternative
Compilation album by
Pet Shop Boys
Released7 August 1995
Recorded1985–1994
Length134:12
LabelParlophone
ProducerPet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys chronology
Disco 2
(1994)		 Alternative
(1995)		 Bilingual
(1996)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Robert Christgau[2]

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.

Alternative only really gained popularity among devoted fans of Pet Shop Boys with the exception of the United Kingdom, where it entered the chart at number two.[3] 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.

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 admitted in a radio interview with Absolute Radio that a second B-side album may be released in 2010. This materialised on 11 November 2011 when 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.TitleWriter(s)Featured onLength
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"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.TitleWriter(s)Featured onLength
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
16."Girls & Boys" (live in Rio; Japanese edition bonus track)Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James, Dave Rowntree"Paninaro '95"5:03

Personnel
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 (1995) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[4] 8
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[5] 33
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[6] 44
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[7] 44
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[8] 29
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[9] 27
European Albums (Music & Media)[10] 37
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[11] 17
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[12] 28
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[13] 31
Scottish Albums (OCC)[14] 7
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[15] 14
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[16] 19
UK Albums (OCC)[3] 2
US Billboard 200[17] 103

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[18] Silver 60,000^
United States — 68,000[19]

^ 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. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  4. "Australiancharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Alternative". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  5. "Austriancharts.at – Pet Shop Boys – Alternative" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  6. "Ultratop.be – Pet Shop Boys – Alternative" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  7. "Ultratop.be – Pet Shop Boys – Alternative" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  8. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 8533". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  9. "Dutchcharts.nl – Pet Shop Boys – Alternative" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  10. "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12 no. 35. 2 September 1995. p. 20. OCLC 29800226 – via American Radio History.
  11. "Pet Shop Boys: Alternative" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  12. "Offiziellecharts.de – Pet Shop Boys – Alternative" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  13. "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 4 January 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  14. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  15. "Swedishcharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Alternative". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  16. "Swisscharts.com – Pet Shop Boys – Alternative". Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  17. "Pet Shop Boys Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  18. "British album certifications – Pet Shop Boys – Alternative". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 28 April 2018. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Alternative in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  19. Caulfield, Keith (23 May 2006). "Ask Billboard: Pet Shop Shopping". Billboard. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.