"No Alternative" compilation poll

I'm generally a bit tired of Pavement but Unseen Power is perhaps the best tribute song to another band ever.

The Verlaines track belatedly became my favorite. It smokes!

Barbara Manning's Joed Out is good, but I recently heard it again and it's surprisingly inferior to the Verlaines version. Also, I find humor in the PC-ifying shift from "fox fur" to "cashmir."

(For the record, I do not support the fox fur trade)

TIME AFTER TIME
IS MY LEAST FAVORITE SONG
TIME AFTER TIME IS MY LEAST FAVORITE SONG

thought of this because i was listening to the original "effigy" and it's hilarious how faithful uncle tupelo's cover is, same solos and everything

I can never pick which version I like best. CCR has that cool intro and hey, it's CCR.

But UT does away with that little swing riff after the E chord in the verses and the effect is more haunting.

(And I'm not one of those guys who regularly dissects chords and shit, but it does make a difference.)

I think of myself as a guy who has no use for Sarah McLachlan but the Sarah McLachlan on this is truly superb

This comp is so good, partly because there are so many "no use for ___________ but the ___________ on this is cool" songs.

Well, except for the Patti Smith song.

i was listening to unseen power of the picket fence and my early-20s coworker walked by and said "i feel like your music today has kind of an old-school flavor"

you shoulda been all

NOW THEYRE MARCHIN THROU GEORGIA

that's the part that was playing!

ASA. . . ASA THEYRE COMIN

TIME AFTER TIME WAS MY LEAST FAVORITE SONG

Hey wait-- I was pretty sure my version of this album had a different Beastie Boys song, "Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun"

The Urge Overkill song is pretty good too. It came out on their last album "Exit the Dragon" under a different name-- "a View of the Rain."

Songs from this album I still have: Buffalo Tom, Soul Aslyum, Urge Overkill, American Music Club, Goo Goo Dolls, Pavement, Smashing Pumpkins, Bob Mould, Barbara Manning, Verlaines, Uncle Tupelo, Beastie Boys, Breeders, Nirvana

Songs I didn't skip originally but didn't bother keeping when I made my CD-R of the above tracks: Matthew Sweet (I don't believe him), Straitjacket Fits

Songs I always skipped: Sarah MacLachlan, Soundgarden, Patti Smith

Leaning toward Pavement over AMC (only song of theirs I've yet to love) and Mould

or rather, it's the only AMC song I've loved as yet

Just out of curiosity, is anyone considering voting for Goo Goo Dolls? It's probably in the better half of this comp.

no

it's fine filler but yeah i couldn't vote for it

The Verlaines track is outstanding.

Only reason I'd vote Goo Goo Dolls is, again, because it doesn't sound like Goo Goo Dolls.

they did a cover of "never take the place of your man" with lance diamond on their 1990 album i have. always meant to explore of the indie years.

Being a Rolling Stones song, it is definitely the best Goo Goo Dolls track ever.

I had this comp, but I never actually liked it very much...which is a little strange considering I was a full on alternateen when it came out.

The Pavement track is one of the best things ever, really. So that. I remember the Beastie Boys song being a surprisingly vital re-interpretation of the original too.

I see I wasn't the only person who loved the AMC track but was then disappointed by everything else in their catalogue. Nothing struck me like "jeans" did.

I bought Mercury because of that one song and let me tell you, "Johnny Mathis' Feet" sounds nothing like Jeans.

Funny, I never thought that Jeans was one of their stronger tracks. But will vote for it in this case, as AMC are the only band on the comp who I still listen to.

hardcore repping for Unseen Power itt is another sign of the dire affliction that is Pavement standom in these here parts

I never ever want to hear Dave Pirner singing Marvin Gaye lyrics, and not with that bass line.

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, November 7, 2012 4:55 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah, this is pretty gross.

Haha, no wonder I couldn't find this initially on youtube, lol:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7daIFRfMl0

Not sure how I feel about a charity comp essentially being used as a dumping ground for stray b-sides, covers and live tracks.

Voted Manning, whose track is several measures of quality above anything else here.

Not sure how I feel about a charity comp essentially being used as a dumping ground for stray b-sides, covers and live tracks.

you should feel intimately familiar with it

oh man that Manning Joed Out <3<3 it's like I'm 17 all over again <3<3

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Voted Nirvana but always dug the Uncle Tupelo cut

forgot to vote yet, wound up tossing it to mould

lol phrasing

The Pavement song has always annoyed me, predated my fandom.

my god i can't believe i used to listen to this so much. maybe i overlistened to it because i'm pretty sure i can't deal with of these songs now.
i'll go with what i would've gone with back then: matthew sweet or buffalo tom, mostly for the guitar. oh how i loved matthew sweet and buffalo tom when i was a teen... lol. i did really like effigy too.

so do we have a poll for Sweet Relief: A Benefit for Victoria Williams is the thing

Love Buffalo Tom and like Matthew Sweet but the selections here are unessential, if hardly bad.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Why wasn't Barbara Manning born in New Zealand? Her song from this comp was as great as anything from her records. I love her.

a lot of times when Nirvana dominates a poll, i kinda loudly roll my eyes about how it's such an obvious but not really correct choice. this is not one of those times.

ah damn i missed this. i would have broken the tie. BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW.

ooh ooh do the kids soundtrack next

Effigy!

deserved more than four votes; I wish I would've voted for that but then that would've given the edge to Pavement :(

anyways I need to soon come into a copy of this CD

forgot ta vote

ooh ooh do the kids soundtrack next

― goole, Tuesday, November 13, 2012 8:01 PM (Yesterday)

I'M THE POLL NATURAL POLL for the KIDS soundtrack (1995 Harmony Korine, Lou Barlow Folk Implosion)

expected as much

i guess slitting my throat is in order?

my quantum nostalgia clip show ILX OF THE 2000s LOVES THE 90s is going to be a big hit

Possibly JacobSanders may have given up waiting for an answer but the song Barbara manning is singing is actually by the Verlaines from NZ. So they kinda got two songs on the record.

The Verlaines track belatedly became my favorite. It smokes!

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, November 8, 2012 8:40 AM (five years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This. I don't think I paid any attention to it whatsoever when I was listening to this comp at the time ('the Ver-whats?!') but goddamn did this song ever sneak up on me in recent years.

https://redhot.org/assets/05_NoAlternative-1000x1000.jpg

Loved this comp ("Glynis"!). It went on to become a stalwart of the bargain bin, along with REM's Monster.

I'm surprised to see there's no thread or poll for Red Hot's follow-up indie rock comp. So here you go: Red Hot + Bothered: The Poll

Hey Lunchie, if you like that Verlaines track you'll love their "You're Just Too Obscure For Me" comp. It picks the best bits of their 20th century work (they've since reformed and released patchy-with-strong-tracks albums).

Cool, I will check that out. They're one of the many bands for whom I've discovered an amazing song that I love and have stupidly explored no further than that.