Alternative (album)
Encyclopedia
Alternative is the ninth album
by UK
electronic music
duo Pet Shop Boys
. It was first released in 1995.
Alternative is a 2-disc set, consisting of 30 B-side
s 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 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 UK
, where it entered the charts at #2. A remake of the original 7-inch "Paninaro" entitled "Paninaro '95" was released as a single (which was featured in the later PopArt set) in order to promote the 2-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 has not materialised.
On 11 November 2011, the duo announced, through Varsity, that they are putting out another B-sides album in February 2012, like an ‘Alternative’ part two. But they’re calling it "Format".
Producers
Guest musicians
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
duo Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....
. It was first released in 1995.
Alternative is a 2-disc set, consisting of 30 B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
s 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 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 UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, where it entered the charts at #2. A remake of the original 7-inch "Paninaro" entitled "Paninaro '95" was released as a single (which was featured in the later PopArt set) in order to promote the 2-disc compilation.
The cover of Alternative features photographs of Tennant and Lowe in fencing masks. The first copies of the CD have a lenticular
Lenticular printing
Lenticular printing is a technology in which a lenticular lens is used to produce images with an illusion of depth, or the ability to change or move as the image is viewed from different angles...
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 has not materialised.
On 11 November 2011, the duo announced, through Varsity, that they are putting out another B-sides album in February 2012, like an ‘Alternative’ part two. But they’re calling it "Format".
Track listing
Personnel
- Neil TennantNeil TennantNeil Francis Tennant is an English musician, singer and songwriter, who, with bandmate Chris Lowe, makes up the successful electronic dance music duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...
- Chris LoweChris LoweChris Lowe is an English musician, who, with colleague Neil Tennant, makes up the pop duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...
Producers
- Pet Shop Boys - all tracks except Disc 1: Track 13
- Phil Harding - Disc 1: Track 1
- Bobby O - Disc 1: Track 2
- Shep PettiboneShep PettiboneRobert E. Pettibone, Jr. is a record producer, remixer, songwriter and club DJ, one of the most prolific of the 1980s. His earliest work known to the public was for one of New York City's top disco/dance radio stations, WRKS 98.7 "Kiss" FM, and later as remixer/producer for the disco label Salsoul...
- Disc 1: Track 7, additional production on Disc 1: Track 4 - David Jacob - Disc 1: Track 8
- Trevor HornTrevor HornTrevor Charles Horn CBE is an English pop music record producer, songwriter, musician and singer. He was born in Houghton-le-Spring in north-east England....
and Stephen LipsonStephen LipsonStephen J. Lipson is a musician and producer who has worked with numerous artists, including Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Cher, Grace Jones, Paul McCartney, Pet Shop Boys, Take That, Simple Minds, Lindisfarne, and Annie Lennox....
- Disc 1: Track 13 - Harold FaltermeyerHarold FaltermeyerHarold Faltermeyer is a German musician, keyboardist, composer and record producer.He is recognized as one of the composers/producers who best captured the zeitgeist of 1980s synth-pop in film scores...
- Disc 2: Track 6 - Stephen HagueStephen HagueStephen Hague is an American music producer most active with various British acts in the 1980s. He was an influential figure in the synthpop movement.-Early career:...
- additional production on Disc 2: Tracks 7 & 9 - Jonathon Ruffle - Disc 2: Track 8
- Richard NilesRichard NilesRichard Niles is an American composer, arranger, producer, guitarist, broadcaster and journalist. He has lived in London since 1975. Because of his extensive work across many genres Sound on Sound magazine referred to him as "one of the most versatile men in modern music".-Early years:Niles was...
- Disc 2: Track 13
Guest musicians
- Blue WeaverBlue WeaverBlue Weaver is a British keyboard player, session musician, songwriter and record producer.-Biography:...
- Fairlight programming on Disc 1: Tracks 1 & 11, Hammond organ on Disc 1: Track 11 - Adrien Cook - Fairlight programming on Disc 1: Tracks 5, 6 & 7
- Helena Springs - additional vocals on Disc 1: Track 7
- Stephen LipsonStephen LipsonStephen J. Lipson is a musician and producer who has worked with numerous artists, including Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Cher, Grace Jones, Paul McCartney, Pet Shop Boys, Take That, Simple Minds, Lindisfarne, and Annie Lennox....
- guitar on Disc 1: Track 11 - Shirley Lewis & 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 & 3
- Gary Maughan - additional keyboards on Disc 2: Track 3
- Scott Davidson - programming on Disc 2: Track 5
- Harold FaltermeyerHarold FaltermeyerHarold Faltermeyer is a German musician, keyboardist, composer and record producer.He is recognized as one of the composers/producers who best captured the zeitgeist of 1980s synth-pop in film scores...
- programming on Disc 2: Track 6 - Pete Gleadall - programming on Disc 2: Tracks 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 & 15
- Richard ColesRichard ColesRichard Coles is a musician, journalist and Church of England priest. He is known for having been the multi-instrumentalist who partnered Jimmy Somerville in the 1980s band The Communards, who achieved three Top Ten hits, including the Number 1 record and best-selling single of 1986, a Hi-NRG...
- additional keyboards on Disc 2: Track 8 - Carol KenyonCarol KenyonCarol Kenyon , is a British singer. She was born c. 1959.Although primarily known as a session vocalist on many albums and singles by a variety of prominent artists, as well as in many concerts, Kenyon has also released several singles as a solo artist...
, Katie Kissoon & Tessa NilesTessa NilesTessa Niles is an English singer, best known as a backing singer for a wide variety of artists.-Early life and career:Born in Kent, Niles began her professional singing career, as both a lead and a backing vocalist, in 1979...
- additional vocals on Disc 2: Track 9 - Bruce WoolleyBruce WoolleyBruce Woolley is an English writer, performer, record producer and composer.- Early years :Bruce Woolley was born in Loughborough, England on 11 November 1953 and was educated at Loughborough Grammar School where he learned electric guitar, began to write songs and where he met his future wife,...
- additional vocals on Disc 2: Track 10 - J.J. Belle - guitar on Disc 2: Track 11
- Sylvia Mason-JamesSylvia Mason-JamesSylvia Mason-James born in 1959 is a British singer who has worked extensively as a backing vocalist and solo artist.She started her career with the disco band Voyage in 1977....
- additional vocals on Disc 2: Track 11 - Johnny MarrJohnny MarrJohnny Marr is an English musician and songwriter. Marr rose to fame in the 1980s as the guitarist in The Smiths, with whom he formed a prolific songwriting partnership with Morrissey. Marr has been a member of Electronic, The The, and Modest Mouse...
- guitar on Disc 2: Track 12 - Frank RicottiFrank RicottiFrank Ricotti is an English jazz vibraphonist and percussionist.Ricotti played in the National Youth Jazz Orchestra while a teenager, then attended Trinity College of Music...
- 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 PresencerGerard PresencerGerard Presencer is an English jazz trumpeter who has also made a name as a session player in pop-music contexts, and as a jazz educator. He currently lives in Copenhagen, Denmark.- Biography :...
- trumpet solo on Disc 2: Track 13