No Alternative is an alternative rock compilation album of various artists, including The Smashing Pumpkins with "Glynis". It was released in 1993 to benefit AIDS relief. It was released with two different versions of album art: the standard version depicting a boy (without the Nirvana song listed on the back and liner notes), and the alternate version depicting a girl (some with and some without the Nirvana song listed on the back and liner notes). The song "Glynis" is a dedication to former Red Red Meat bassist Glynis Johnson, who passed away from AIDS-related complications in 1992.[1]
A television special hosted by MTV and a VHS home video release featured live performances, music videos, and information about AIDS.
On April 20, 2013, as part of the annual internationally celebrated Record Store Day, No Alternative was released for the first time on vinyl as a special 20th anniversary edition LP, limited to 3000 copies with stamped numbering.[2]Stereogum lauded the album in a retrospective piece, saying that "it captures the American alternative scene at its commercial, cultural, and critical peak."[3] In an interview with Radio New Zealand, producer Paul Heck discussed the history of the Red Hot Organization and the anniversary of No Alternative, saying that the response from the musicians asked to contribute was "overwhelmingly positive" and that some artists even wrote songs specifically for the compilation.[4]
No Alternative climbed to number 56 on the Billboard 200 in 1993, becoming the most commercially successful benefit album of the year.[5] It was certified gold (500,000 copies sold) in 1995 by the RIAA.
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