Alternative (album)

Alternative
Compilation album by Pet Shop Boys
Released	7 August 1995
Recorded	1986–1994
Genre	Technopop, Dance, Synthpop
Length	134:12
Label	Parlophone
Producer	Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys chronology
Disco 2 (1994) Alternative (1995) Bilingual (1996)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau

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-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 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 materialised on 11 November 2011 when the duo announced, through Varsity, that they are putting out another B-sides album in February 2012 titled "Format".

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe; except where indicated. 

Disc one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"In the Night"		4:50
2.	"A Man Could Get Arrested" (Bobby Orlando version)		4:19
3.	"That's My Impression" (disco mix)		5:18
4.	"Was That What It Was?"		5:14
5.	"Paninaro"		4:40
6.	"Jack the Lad"		4:31
7.	"You Know Where You Went Wrong"		5:51
8.	"A New Life"	Tennant, Lowe, Helena Springs	4:56
9.	"I Want a Dog"		4:58
10.	"Do I Have To?"		5:14
11.	"I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too)"		4:54
12.	"Don Juan"		3:54
13.	"The Sound of the Atom Splitting" (extended version)	Tennant, Lowe, Steve Lipson, Trevor Horn	5:12
14.	"One of the Crowd"		3:55
15.	"Your Funny Uncle"		2:16

Disc two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"It Must Be Obvious"		4:24
2.	"We All Feel Better in the Dark"		4:00
3.	"Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend"		4:28
4.	"Losing My Mind"	Stephen Sondheim	4:34
5.	"Music for Boys"		3:36
6.	"Miserablism"		4:10
7.	"Hey, Headmaster"		3:06
8.	"What Keeps Mankind Alive?"	Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill	3:24
9.	"Shameless"		5:02
10.	"Too Many People"		4:17
11.	"Violence" (Hacienda Version)		4:58
12.	"Decadence"		3:56
13.	"If Love Were All"	Noël Coward	2:59
14.	"Euroboy"		4:27
15.	"Some Speculation"		6:34

Personnel

• Neil Tennant
• Chris Lowe

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 & 9
• Jonathon Ruffle - Disc 2: Track 8
• Richard Niles - Disc 2: Track 13

Guest musicians

• Blue Weaver - 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 Lipson - 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 Faltermeyer - programming on Disc 2: Track 6
• Pete Gleadall - programming on Disc 2: Tracks 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14 & 15
• Richard Coles - additional keyboards on Disc 2: Track 8
• Carol Kenyon, Katie Kissoon & 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