Alan Cross' Ten Classic Alternative Albums

When I was looking through Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures as I prepare to assess their credentials for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I found that it was on a list of the Ten Classic Alternative Albums by a widely respected Canadian writer called Alan Cross published in fact as far back as 1995. People like “janitor-x” do give the impression that the heyday of alternative music occurred before that time, though.

The list was:

1. The Velvet Underground and Nico by the Velvet Underground
2. Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band
3. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie
4. The Ramones by the Ramones
5. Talking Heads ‘77 by Talking Heads
6. Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols by the Sex Pistols
   
7. This Year’s Model by Elvis Costello and the Attractions
8. Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division
9. The B’52s by the B’52s

I cannot find the tenth album, but whilst the book from which it was taken, The Alternative Music Almanac, is one of the better-known music guides, the list does seem to have very little of note in it. Apparently, The Alternative Music Almanac contains a good deal of information about may other important bands that was not used by Cross in making his list.