No Alternative

Released in 1993 as the alt-rock scene was reaching new commercial heights, No Alternative was a compilation issued to raise money for AIDS relief. Thanks to its all-star lineup and the overall excellent quality of the rare songs included, No Alternative became an immediate must-have for underground fans. The "hidden" Nirvana track “Verse Chorus Verse" was a known special track, but rising pop star Matthew Sweet’s “Superdeformed,” Soul Asylum’s cheeky cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing,” and Sarah McLachlan’s touching “Hold On” were among the other reasons people bought this set. And there were more highlights; American Music Club’s heartbreaking “All Your Jeans Were Too Tight” addressed the tragic wasting of young people from AIDS, while Pavement’s “Unseen Power of the Picket Fence” humorously deconstructed the history of R.E.M., with the claim of “‘Time After Time’ was my least favorite song” (in its in-song critique of R.E.M.’s second album, Reckoning). Urge Overkill, The Verlaines, and Smashing Pumpkins also helped shape an era that was too quickly passed over for the pre-fab stars of the late '90s.