# Spin Alternative Record Guide

The Spin Alternative Record Guide is a music reference book compiled by the American music magazine Spin and published in 1995 by Vintage Books. It was edited by the rock critic Eric Weisbard and Craig Marks, who was the magazine's editor-in-chief at the time. The book has essays and reviews from a number of prominent critics on albums, artists and genres considered relevant to the alternative music movement. Contributors who were consulted for the guide include Ann Powers, Rob Sheffield, Simon Reynolds and Michael Azerrad.
The book did not sell particularly well and received a mixed reaction from reviewers in 1995. The quality and relevance of the contributors' writing were praised, while the editors' concept and comprehensiveness of alternative music were seen as ill-defined. Nonetheless, it inspired a number of future music critics and helped to revive the career of the folk artist John Fahey, whose music was covered in the guide.

## Content

Spanning 468 pages, the Spin Alternative Record Guide compiles essays by 64 music critics on recording artists and bands who either predated, were involved in, or had developed from alternative rock. Each artist's entry is accompanied by their discography, with albums rated with a score between one and ten. Unlike the third edition of The Rolling Stone Album Guide (1992), which limited its discographies to albums currently in-print on CD, the Spin Alternative Record Guide offered more comprehensive album discographies. The entries are accompanied by album artwork.
The book's editors included contributions from noted journalists and critics such as Charles Aaron, Gina Arnold, Michael Azerrad, Byron Coley, Ann Powers, Simon Reynolds, Alex Ross, Rob Sheffield and Neil Strauss. Sheffield wrote the bulk of the guide's entries, while Powers "allowed her home to become command central on the book for many months". Though he did not contribute his own writing, Robert Christgau assisted in the creation of the guide by loaning out records from his personal collection as needed.
The contributors curated an overall "Top 100 Alternative Albums" list in an appendix, ranking the Ramones' 1976 self-titled debut album at number one. A few dozen personal top-ten record lists from contributors and musicians are interspersed throughout the book. The musicians who provided their own top-ten lists are Mark Arm, Lori Barbero, Lou Barlow, Kurt Bloch, King Coffey, Digable Planets (members Craig "Knowledge" Irving and Mariana "Ladybug" Vieira), Tanya Donelly, Greg Dulli, Gordon Gano, Greg Graffin, Kristin Hersh, Georgia Hubley, Calvin Johnson, Jon Langford, Courtney Love, Barbara Manning, Mac McCaughan, Buzz Osborne (listed as King Buzzo), Joey Ramone, Jim Reid, Lætitia Sadier, Sally Timms, Steve Turner and Josephine Wiggs.

### Scope and definition of "alternative"

Even by the standards of the time, the Spin Alternative Record Guide took an unusually inclusive approach to the boundaries of what "alternative" could mean. Before 1991, the genre "alternative rock" conventionally referred to post-punk and college rock. Within a few years, "alternative" had broadened into a catchall term for any rock bands outside the mainstream, regardless of their particular style — even as, paradoxically, "alternative" music became hugely popular and commercially successful. As a result, "alternative" was increasingly derided as a vague or even incoherent category.
As summarized by the scholar Gayle Wald, the book's introduction defined "alternative" rock as "an aesthetic that disavows, or evinces critical mistrust of, earlier rock subjectivities as well as the music industry itself". Rather than limiting its scope strictly within the musical genre of "rock" per se, the guide's coverage encompassed a wide range of non-rock artists who had adopted an anti-commercial stance or were aligned with a particular subculture. In an introductory essay titled "What Is Alternative Rock?", Weisbard explored the genre's origins and, more broadly, "alternative sensibilities" in other musical traditions. "Alternative rock lacks the proud boundaries that rock's original tradition kept so well guarded," he wrote:
   More than jazz, blues, country, or any other musical genre, old-style rock was defined by a mass appeal you didn't have to sneer at, the mythic popularity of the universal youth music that turned the repressed fifties into the rebellious sixties ... Alternative rock, on the other hand, is still anti-generationally dystopian, subculturally presuming fragmentation; it's built on an often neurotic discomfort over massified culture, takes as its archetype bohemia far more than youth, and never expects that its popular appeal, such as it is, will have much of a social impact.
The book's selection of music was shaped by the generation gap between the baby boomers and Generation X. Marks said that he and Weisbard "saw [the book] as a way to give definition to second-generation rock 'n' roll". In this respect, the book was both intended and received as a generational counterpoint to The Rolling Stone Album Guide.
The guide has 379 entries in total. An entry in the book typically covers a single artist or band, a set of closely affiliated artists, a multi-volume series of various artists compilations or a selected discography representing an entire musical genre. Records in the guide were chosen from a variety of genres considered relevant to alternative music's development. These include 1970s punk rock, 1980s college rock, 1990s indie rock, noise music, reggae, electronic, new wave, heavy metal, krautrock, synthpop, disco, alternative country, hip hop, grunge, worldbeat and avant-garde jazz. Acknowledging the possibility that their selections and exclusions would be objectionable to some readers, Weisbard wrote in the introduction, "Not all these choices are defensible: As stated at the onset, alternative lacks strong boundaries. But we had to draw the line somewhere." Weisbard and Marks said the book was meant to be "suggestive" of alternative music, rather than "comprehensive".
Most artists associated with classic rock are excluded. For example, the guide omits the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Cream, Peter Gabriel, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, Van Halen and Frank Zappa — even though each of these artists meaningfully influenced "alternative" music to some extent. However, a handful of artists associated with the "classic rock" era can be found in the guide, among them Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Neil Young and AC/DC.
A range of mainstream pop artists spanning a variety of styles are given entries, including Culture Club, Duran Duran and Lenny Kravitz. Some pop musicians are afforded prominent placement and a perhaps surprisingly high degree of acclaim. For instance, the very first alphabetical entry is the Swedish pop supergroup ABBA. Madonna's 1990 greatest hits album The Immaculate Collection is ranked as the 11th best alternative record. Other non-rock artists reviewed in the book include the jazz composer Sun Ra, the country singer-songwriter Lyle Lovett and the Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

### Rating system

* 1950s (2.2%)
* 1960s (8.9%)
* 1970s (35.8%)
* 1980s (36.6%)
* 1990–1995 (16.5%)
Records received a rating between one and ten points based on the judgment of the reviewer. A red dingbat beside a record's title indicated that it also appeared in the Top 100 at the back of the book. Several records in the Top 100 received a score lower than 10, while many records that received a 10 did not appear in the Top 100, because an individual reviewer's assessment could conflict with the list's collective consensus (and vice versa). Still, there was some editorial oversight and control of the ratings, as Weisbard later explained:
   I don't remember messing too much with what writers said. I remember Byron Coley wanted to give every single thing he wrote about practically a 10 [laughs], and I thought that was a little excessive, so I remember taking all of his number scores down a couple of pegs—and that's probably in some ways reflective of me not being as close to Byron Coley—but in most cases, I didn't worry about it too much. I have a vague memory of arguing with Rob Sheffield about giving Madonna's Immaculate Collection less than a 10 when we were going to put it in the Top 100 ... Rob is somebody who very much has his own vision of things, but has earned the right to have that. But so, if I remember correctly—and I might not, it's been twenty years—we let that one go and it's just a difference of opinion within the book.

#### Records that received a 10

The following 172 records received the guide's highest score from the reviewer who rated the discography of the given artist, compilation series, or genre. A record with a 10 was deemed to be either "[a]n unimpeachable masterpiece or a flawed album of crucial historical significance".
Key :
| † | Indicates a various artists compilation album; the name listed is either the name of the compilation series or the name of the record label. |
| # | Indicates the record is a compilation of either a particular artist or various artists. |
Records assigned a score of 10 in the Spin Alternative Record Guide :
| Artist / series / label | Title | Year | Reviewed by |
| ABBA | The Singles: The First Ten Years # | 1982 | Barry Walters |
| ABBA | ABBA Gold # | 1992 | Barry Walters |
| Air | Air Lore | 1979 | K. Leander Williams |
| Albert Ayler | Spiritual Unity | 1964 | K. Leander Williams |
| Albert Ayler | Nuits de la Fondation Maeght, Volume 1 | 1971 | K. Leander Williams |
| Beastie Boys | Licensed to Ill | 1986 | Rob Sheffield |
| Beastie Boys | Paul's Boutique | 1989 | Rob Sheffield |
| Beck | Mellow Gold | 1994 | Eric Weisbard |
| The B-52's | The B-52's | 1979 | Johnny Huston |
| Big Star | Radio City | 1974 | Eric Weisbard |
| Big Star | #1 Record/Radio City # | 1992 | Eric Weisbard |
| Big Star | Third/Sister Lovers | 1978 | Eric Weisbard |
| Black Flag | Damaged | 1981 | Eric Weisbard |
| Blondie | Parallel Lines | 1978 | Rob Sheffield |
| Boogie Down Productions | Criminal Minded | 1987 | dream hampton |
| David Bowie | Changesbowie # | 1990 | Rob Sheffield |
| Buzzcocks | Singles Going Steady # | 1979 | Barry Walters |
| John Cage | The 25-Year Retrospective Concert of the Music of John Cage | 1994 | Neil Strauss |
| John Cale | Paris 1919 | 1973 | Ann Powers |
| Can | Soon Over Babaluma | 1974 | Simon Reynolds |
| Captain Beefheart | Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) | 1978 | Jeff Salamon |
| Cheap Trick | Cheap Trick | 1977 | Jim Greer |
| Chic | Dance, Dance, Dance: The Best of Chic # | 1991 | Barry Walters |
| The Clash | The Clash | 1977 | Rob Sheffield |
| The Clash | The Clash [US version] | 1979 | Rob Sheffield |
| The Clean | Compilation # | 1986 | Rob Sheffield |
| Ornette Coleman | Something Else!!!!: The Music of Ornette Coleman | 1958 | K. Leander Williams |
| Ornette Coleman | The Shape of Jazz to Come | 1959 | K. Leander Williams |
| Ornette Coleman | Ornette! | 1962 | K. Leander Williams |
| Ornette Coleman | Ornette on Tenor | 1962 | K. Leander Williams |
| Ornette Coleman | The Unprecedented Music of Ornette Coleman | 1968 | K. Leander Williams |
| Ornette Coleman | Dancing in Your Head | 1977 | K. Leander Williams |
| Ornette Coleman | Of Human Feelings | 1982 | K. Leander Williams |
| Ornette Coleman & Pat Metheny | Song X | 1986 | K. Leander Williams |
| Elvis Costello | This Year's Model | 1978 | Bill Wyman |
| Elvis Costello | 2½ Years # | 1993 | Bill Wyman |
| Descendents | Milo Goes to College | 1982 | Eric Weisbard |
| Descendents | Two Things at Once # | 1987 | Eric Weisbard |
| Dinosaur Jr. | You're Living All Over Me | 1987 | Rob Sheffield |
| The Disco Years series † | The Disco Years, Volume One: Turn the Beat Around (1974–1978) # | 1990 | Chuck Eddy |
| Joe Ely | Honky Tonk Masquerade | 1978 | Terri Sutton |
| The English Beat | I Just Can't Stop It | 1980 | Will Hermes |
| Brian Eno | Another Green World | 1975 | Ann Powers |
| Brian Eno | Brian Eno II: Vocal # | 1993 | Ann Powers |
| Brian Eno | Brian Eno I: Vocal # | 1994 | Ann Powers |
| Fairport Convention | Unhalfbricking | 1969 | Derk Richardson |
| The Fall | Slates | 1981 | Mike Rubin |
| The Fall | This Nation's Saving Grace | 1985 | Mike Rubin |
| The Fall | 458489 A Sides # | 1990 | Mike Rubin |
| The Feelies | Crazy Rhythms | 1980 | Eric Weisbard |
| The Flesh Eaters | A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die | 1981 | Byron Coley |
| Flipper | Album – Generic Flipper | 1981 | Andy Newman |
| The Flying Burrito Brothers | The Gilded Palace of Sin | 1969 | Eric Weisbard |
| The Flying Burrito Brothers | Farther Along: The Best of the Flying Burrito Brothers # | 1988 | Eric Weisbard |
| Funkadelic | Maggot Brain | 1971 | Mike Rubin |
| Funkadelic | The Best of the Early Years Volume One # | 1977 | Mike Rubin |
| Funkadelic | One Nation Under a Groove | 1978 | Mike Rubin |
| Funkadelic | Music for Your Mother: Funkadelic 45s # | 1992 | Mike Rubin |
| Gang of Four | Entertainment! | 1979 | Ivan Kreilkamp |
| The Go-Betweens | 1978–1990 # | 1990 | Eric Weisbard |
| The Go-Go's | Beauty and the Beat | 1981 | Rob Sheffield |
| PJ Harvey | Rid of Me | 1993 | Ann Powers |
| PJ Harvey | To Bring You My Love | 1995 | Ann Powers |
| Hole | Live Through This | 1994 | Ann Powers |
| Michael Hurley / The Unholy Modal Rounders / Jeffrey Frederick & the Clamtones | Have Moicy! | 1976 | Craig Marks and Jeff Salamon |
| Hüsker Dü | Zen Arcade | 1984 | Eric Weisbard |
| Hüsker Dü | New Day Rising | 1985 | Eric Weisbard |
| Ice Cube | Death Certificate | 1991 | Michael Eric Dyson |
| The Jam | Sound Affects | 1980 | Rob Sheffield |
| Freedy Johnston | Can You Fly | 1992 | Eric Weisbard |
| Joy Division | Closer | 1980 | Evelyn McDonnell |
| Kronos Quartet | Morton Feldman: Piano and String Quartet | 1993 | Evelyn McDonnell |
| Fela Kuti | Zombie | 1977 | K. Leander Williams |
| Fela Kuti | Original Sufferhead | 1984 | K. Leander Williams |
| Fela Kuti | Army Arrangement | 1985 | K. Leander Williams |
| Fela Kuti | Original Sufferhead: Classic Fela # | 1991 | K. Leander Williams |
| Lyle Lovett | Pontiac | 1987 | Greg Sandow |
| Luaka Bop (label) † | Brazil Classics 1: Beleza Tropical # | 1989 | Will Hermes |
| Madonna | Like a Prayer | 1989 | Rob Sheffield |
| Meat Puppets | Meat Puppets II | 1984 | Rob Sheffield |
| The Mekons | Fear and Whiskey | 1985 | Eric Weisbard |
| The Mekons | Original Sin # | 1989 | Eric Weisbard |
| The Mekons | The Mekons Rock 'n Roll [UK version] | 1989 | Eric Weisbard |
| Mercury Records † | Electronic Music/Musique Concrète # | 1979 | Neil Strauss |
| Minor Threat | Complete # | 1989 | Terri Sutton |
| Minutemen | Double Nickels on the Dime | 1984 | Rob Sheffield |
| Mission of Burma | Mission of Burma # | 1988 | Rob Sheffield |
| Moby | Everything Is Wrong | 1995 | Charles Aaron |
| The Modern Lovers | The Modern Lovers | 1976 | Rob Sheffield |
| Motörhead | No Sleep 'til Hammersmith | 1981 | Jonathan Gold |
| My Bloody Valentine | Loveless | 1991 | James Hunter |
| New Order | Substance # | 1987 | Andrew Goodwin |
| New York Dolls | New York Dolls | 1973 | Andrew Goodwin |
| New York Dolls | Rock'n Roll # | 1994 | Andrew Goodwin |
| Nirvana | Nevermind | 1991 | Eric Weisbard |
| NRBQ | At Yankee Stadium | 1978 | Jim Walsh |
| NRBQ | Peek-A-Boo: The Best of NRBQ 1969–1989 # | 1990 | Jim Walsh |
| Nuggets series † | Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968 # | 1972 | Byron Coley |
| N.W.A | Straight Outta Compton | 1989 | Greg Sandow |
| The Only Ones | The Only Ones | 1978 | Jim Walsh |
| The Only Ones | Special View # | 1979 | Jim Walsh |
| Parliament | Mothership Connection | 1975 | Mike Rubin |
| Parliament | Parliament's Greatest Hits # | 1984 | Mike Rubin |
| Gram Parsons | Grievous Angel | 1974 | Eric Weisbard |
| Gram Parsons | GP/Grievous Angel # | 1990 | Eric Weisbard |
| Pavement | Slanted and Enchanted | 1992 | Eric Weisbard |
| Pere Ubu | The Modern Dance | 1978 | Eric Weisbard |
| Pere Ubu | Dub Housing | 1978 | Eric Weisbard |
| Lee "Scratch" Perry | Some of the Best # | 1985 | Milo Miles |
| Pet Shop Boys | Introspective | 1991 | Rob Sheffield |
| Liz Phair | Exile in Guyville | 1993 | Rob Sheffield |
| Pixies | Surfer Rosa | 1993 | Eric Weisbard |
| Pogues | Rum Sodomy & the Lash | 1985 | Rob Sheffield |
| The Pretenders | The Pretenders | 1979 | Ann Powers |
| Prince | Dirty Mind | 1980 | Eric Weisbard |
| Prince | Sign o' the Times | 1987 | Eric Weisbard |
| Prince | The Hits/The B-Sides # | 1993 | Eric Weisbard |
| Public Enemy | It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back | 1988 | Michael Eric Dyson |
| Public Image Ltd | Metal Box | 1979 | Simon Reynolds |
| Public Image Ltd | Second Edition | 1980 | Simon Reynolds |
| The Raincoats | The Raincoats | 1993 | Rob Sheffield |
| Ramones | Ramones | 1976 | Rob Sheffield |
| Ramones | Rocket to Russia | 1977 | Rob Sheffield |
| R.E.M. | Murmur | 1983 | Eric Weisbard |
| The Replacements | Let It Be | 1984 | Rob Sheffield |
| The Roches | The Roches | 1979 | Ann Powers |
| Roxy Music | Siren | 1975 | Rob Sheffield |
| Run-DMC | Raising Hell | 1986 | Eric Weisbard |
| Run-DMC | Together Forever: Greatest Hits 1983–1991 # | 1991 | Eric Weisbard |
| Sasha & John Digweed | Renaissance: The Mix Collection # | 1994 | Barry Walters |
| Sex Pistols | Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols | 1977 | Eric Weisbard |
| Shanachie (label) † | The Indestructible Beat of Soweto # | 1985 | Will Hermes |
| Sonny Sharrock | Guitar | 1986 | Mike Rubin |
| Sonny Sharrock | Ask the Ages | 1991 | Mike Rubin |
| Siouxsie and the Banshees | Once Upon a Time: The Singles # | 1981 | Joy Press |
| Slayer | Reign in Blood | 1986 | Greg Sandow |
| The Slits | Cut | 1979 | Joy Press |
| The Smashing Pumpkins | Siamese Dream | 1993 | James Hunter |
| Patti Smith | Horses | 1975 | Rob Sheffield |
| The Smiths | The Queen Is Dead | 1986 | Rob Sheffield |
| Sonic Youth | Daydream Nation | 1988 | Eric Weisbard |
| The Stooges | The Stooges | 1969 | Mike Rubin |
| The Stooges | Fun House | 1970 | Mike Rubin |
| Sugar Hill Records † | Old School Rap – The Sugar Hill Story (To the Beat Y'all) # | 1992 | Milo Miles |
| Sun Ra | Sun Song | 1957 | K. Leander Williams |
| Sun Ra | The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra | 1961 | K. Leander Williams |
| Sun Ra | The Magic City | 1965 | K. Leander Williams |
| Sun Ra | Sound of Joy | 1968 | K. Leander Williams |
| Sun Ra | Solo Piano | 1977 | K. Leander Williams |
| Sun Ra | Somewhere Else | 1993 | K. Leander Williams |
| Talking Heads | Remain in Light | 1980 | Jeff Salamon |
| Television | Marquee Moon | 1977 | Rob Sheffield |
| Richard and Linda Thompson | I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight | 1974 | Derk Richardson |
| Richard and Linda Thompson | Shoot Out the Lights | 1977 | Derk Richardson |
| Henry Threadgill | Just the Facts and Pass the Bucket | 1983 | K. Leander Williams |
| Throwing Muses | Throwing Muses (1986) | 1986 | Evelyn McDonnell |
| A Tribe Called Quest | The Low End Theory | 1991 | Colson Whitehead |
| U2 | Achtung Baby | 1991 | Ann Powers |
| Edgard Varèse | Poème Électronique | 1990 | Neil Strauss |
| The Vaselines | The Way of The Vaselines: A Complete History # | 1992 | Eric Weisbard |
| Caetano Veloso | A Arte de Caetano Veloso # | 1988 | Will Hermes |
| The Velvet Underground | The Velvet Underground & Nico | 1967 | Eric Weisbard |
| The Velvet Underground | The Velvet Underground | 1969 | Eric Weisbard |
| The Velvet Underground | 1969: The Velvet Underground Live | 1974 | Eric Weisbard |
| Violent Femmes | Violent Femmes | 1983 | Bill Wyman |
| Lucinda Williams | Lucinda Williams | 1988 | Craig Marks |
| Wire | Pink Flag | 1977 | Eric Weisbard |
| X | Wild Gift | 1981 | Rob Sheffield |
| X-Ray Spex | Germfree Adolescents | 1978 | Rob Sheffield |
| Young Marble Giants | Colossal Youth | 1980 | Eric Weisbard |
| Neil Young | Tonight's the Night | 1975 | Eric Weisbard |
| Neil Young | Rust Never Sleeps | 1979 | Eric Weisbard |
| Notes ↑ Sorted under "Threadgill, Henry". 1 2 3 Sorted under "Electronic Music/Musique Concrète". ↑ Sorted under "Flatlanders". ↑ Sorted under "Thompson, Richard". ↑ Sorted under "Parsons, Gram". 1 2 Sorted under "P-Funk" (see also: Parliament-Funkadelic). ↑ Sorted under "Have Moicy!", an entry about the album and the discographies of the affiliated musicians. 1 2 Sorted under "Indestructible Beat of Soweto, The: Worldbeat Compilations". ↑ Sorted under "House Music All Night Long". ↑ Sorted under "Tropicália". |||||

## Publication and reception

In October 1995, Vintage Books published the Spin Alternative Record Guide in the United States. It was the first book compiled by Spin. After nine years in the red, the magazine had its first profitable year in 1994. Looking to expand into other print media, its founder and publisher, Bob Guccione Jr., struck a deal to publish three books through Vintage. Its release was roughly timed to commemorate the magazine's 10th anniversary. The book's suggested retail price was US$20 (equivalent to $41 in 2024). The price was comparable with its competitors, with most music reference books priced at or below $25 in 1995. It was published simultaneously by Random House of Canada, where it retailed for CA$27.95 (equivalent to $50 in 2023). According to Matthew Perpetua, the guide was reportedly "not a huge seller".
Reviewing the book in 1995, Adam Mazmanian from Library Journal recommended the Spin Alternative Record Guide to "both public and academic libraries". He found its reviews superior in "length and scope" to The Rolling Stone Album Guide (1992), which also offered complete discographies of artists ranging from Jonathan Richman to Throbbing Gristle. Mazmanian further argued that "this guide fills a gap in the literature of modern music" at a time when "alternative" has developed a ubiquitous presence in the marketing of popular music. In New York magazine, Kim France called it "a well-edited, unpretentious, and comprehensive look at all the crazy stuff the kids are listening to these days". Matt Kopka of Publishers Weekly wrote that Spin's guide "may be as close to a surefire hit as the season can offer".
The Booklist critic Gordon Flagg was more qualified in his praise. He applauded the accuracy of the artist entries and the quality of the contributors' reviews, but found Weisbard's conception of "alternative" ill-defined and recommended The Trouser Press Record Guide (1991) as a more comprehensive option. Even more critical was Billboard magazine's Beth Renaud, who called much of the writing biased and the organization unencyclopedic. She said Weisbard's "obligatory" essay is outdated and vague in defining alternative rock and that the contributors "gush" over artists usually covered by Spin's magazine publication, with many relevant artists omitted in place of more perplexing additions. In a 1999 survey of various music guides for the Riverfront Times, Jason Toon labeled the Spin Alternative Record Guide as a "must to avoid" and dismissed it as a "flimsy, shallow ... slicked-up cash-in job".

## Influence and reappraisal

Having edited the book, Weisbard put his pursuit of a PhD at UC Berkeley on hold and accepted a job offer from Spin, which was the beginning of his career as a rock critic. Meanwhile, the guide's entry on the folk guitarist John Fahey introduced his music to a new generation of listeners. His entry in the guide was written by Byron Coley, who had previously profiled Fahey for Spin in 1994 at a time when the musician lived in reclusion and was commonly believed to be dead. According to Ben Ratliff at the New York Times, Coley's writings helped to revive Fahey's career by drawing renewed attention from record labels and the alternative scene. For his part, Fahey appreciated the guide's effect on his career and especially its association of his music with contemporary alternative subculture. With the arrival of a younger audience, Fahey felt vindicated in his long-standing misgivings about the marketing of his back catalog to an older demographic of listeners interested in traditionalist folk and new-age music. He wrote about the Spin guide in the liner notes of his 1997 album City of Refuge:
   My category is alternative, period. I object to another categorization. ... For many years I was listed in the Schwann Catalogue [sic] under popular. That is a much more accurate category than folk or new age. But, the most accurate category is Alternative. If you will only take the time to read the spread on me in the 1995 Spin Alternative Record Guide ... and look at who is included in this book and who is not, and what it says about various people, then you will have a very clear understanding of what I have always tried to do. These people understand what I am doing more than any other group of people ever has.
The book has been cited as a bellwether of trends in critical consensus from the time of its publication. For example, the book's favorable treatment of ABBA marked a significant step in the revival of the band's reputation among critics. While ABBA had always been massively popular on an international scale, earlier critics had tended to dismiss their music as frivolous, unhip, or otherwise unworthy of serious attention. Conversely, the guide's omission of the English band Talk Talk — who had released commercially successful synth-pop before adopting an experimental approach on their last two albums, which were later seen as forebears of post-rock — signaled the low point of that group's reputation among American critics.
   Personally, the book introduced me to a wide range of artists, gave me historical perspective, and got me hooked on a style of criticism that is extremely knowledgeable but also conversational and funny.
The Spin Alternative Record Guide was a landmark in the construction of an "alternative canon", alongside The Trouser Press Record Guide and Martin C. Strong's The Great Alternative and Indie Discography. It exerted a major influence on the next generation of music critics. American pop culture critic Chuck Klosterman cited the Spin Alternative Record Guide as one of his five favorite books, saying in 2011, "I fear this might be out of print, but it's probably my favorite music book of all time. Since its 1995 publication, I doubt a year has passed when I didn't reread at least part of it." In response to a question from a 2019 interview with The New York Times Book Review, Klosterman named it as the one book he would require Donald Trump to read, providing no further explanation of his choice. Robert Christgau wrote that while most music guides and encyclopedia books were unremarkable, the Spin Alternative Record Guide was one of the few "useful exceptions" because of what he felt was the "sharpest writing" from contributors such as Weisbard and Sheffield. Idolator's Chris Molanphy, on the other hand, said in retrospect that the book's list of the 100 best albums catered to "hipper, Gen-Xier tastes".
In 2011, the Spin Alternative Record Guide was included in the Pitchfork staff's list of their favorite music books. In an essay accompanying the list, Perpetua said the book's writers — either top critics at the time or those who have since become important figures in music journalism — outline the "alternative sensibility" by recognizing and connecting music from disparate genres in "an inclusive, open-minded survey, but it's defined as much by what's left out — pretty much all Boomer-oriented rock — as what it includes". According to Perpetua, the "number of young readers [who] pursued music criticism" because of the book was far greater than the copies it sold. Matthew Schnipper, editor of The Fader, bought the book after it was published and said he used it as a consumer guide for ten years. Along with its influence on future critics, the book was cited by the guitarist William Tyler as his only source of music education growing up in the pre-Internet age, having found it in a bookstore around the time it was published. "They had entries for all these different people that I had never heard of: Can, John Zorn, [John] Fahey, whatever."

## Contributors

The full list of 64 contributors appears at the back of the book. Each write-up in the guide has a single author with the exception of the entry on the 1976 album Have Moicy! and its associated artists, co-written by Marks and Salamon. The table below notes the number of entries written by each contributor, as well as the number-one record on their top ten list (if one was provided).
Spin Alternative Record Guide contributors :
| Name of contributor | # | Top record choice | Top record choice | Ref. |
| Name of contributor | # | Title | Artist | Ref. |
| Charles Aaron | 5 | Nevermind | Nirvana | |
| Grant Alden | 1 | — | — | |
| Steve Anderson | 5 | Marquee Moon | Television | |
| Gina Arnold | 14 | — | — | |
| Michael Azerrad | 1 | Nevermind | Nirvana | |
| Jonathan Bernstein | 10 | The Lexicon of Love | ABC | |
| Jesse Berrett | 1 | — | — | |
| Jason Cohen | 1 | Singles Going Steady | Buzzcocks | |
| Cheo Coker | 2 | — | — | |
| Byron Coley | 11 | — | — | |
| Carol Cooper | 4 | — | — | |
| Renee Crist | 4 | Slanted and Enchanted | Pavement | |
| Michael Eric Dyson | 2 | — | — | |
| Chuck Eddy | 3 | Appetite for Destruction | Guns N' Roses | |
| S. H. Fernando Jr. | 2 | — | — | |
| Jen Fleissner | 5 | Wild Gift | X | |
| Lee Foust | 1 | — | — | |
| Elysa Gardner | 2 | — | — | |
| Richard Gehr | 1 | Lick My Decals Off, Baby | Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band | |
| Jonathan Gold | 3 | — | — | |
| Andrew Goodwin | 2 | — | — | |
| Jim Greer | 2 | — | — | |
| dream hampton | 2 | Ask Rufus | Rufus & Chaka Khan | |
| Howard Hampton | 1 | — | — | |
| James Hannaham | 6 | Entertainment! | Gang of Four | |
| Will Hermes | 7 | The Velvet Underground & Nico | The Velvet Underground | |
| James Hunter | 9 | Gentlemen | The Afghan Whigs | |
| Johnny Huston | 6 | Throwing Muses (1986) | Throwing Muses | |
| Frank Kogan | 2 | — | — | |
| Ivan Kreilkamp | 5 | Fear and Whiskey | The Mekons | |
| Bob Mack | 1 | — | — | |
| Peter Margasak | 1 | — | — | |
| Craig Marks | 4 | Wild Gift | X | |
| Evelyn McDonnell | 5 | Easter | Patti Smith | |
| Rob Michaels | 2 | — | — | |
| Milo Miles | 9 | Soul Makossa | Manu Dibango | |
| Paul Miller | 2 | — | — | |
| Ed Morales | 1 | — | — | |
| Andy Newman | 3 | — | — | |
| Chris Norris | 8 | It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back | Public Enemy | |
| Ann Powers | 14 | Entertainment! | Gang of Four | |
| Joy Press | 7 | Throwing Muses (1986) | Throwing Muses | |
| David Prince | 2 | — | — | |
| Simon Reynolds | 9 | Fun House | The Stooges | |
| Derk Richardson | 1 | — | — | |
| Alex Ross | 5 | Terminal Tower: An Archival Collection | Pere Ubu | |
| Jeffrey Rotter | 1 | Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) | Brian Eno | |
| Mike Rowell | 1 | — | — | |
| Mike Rubin | 6 | Fun House | The Stooges | |
| Jeff Salamon | 7 | — | — | |
| Greg Sandow | 4 | — | — | |
| Rob Sheffield | 54 | Germfree Adolescents | X-Ray Spex | |
| Doug Simmons | 1 | — | — | |
| Mark Sinker | 1 | The Modern Dance | Pere Ubu | |
| Natasha Stovall | 5 | Paid in Full | Eric B. & Rakim | |
| Neil Strauss | 8 | Forever Changes | Love | |
| Terri Sutton | 8 | London Calling | The Clash | |
| Stephen Tignor | 1 | — | — | |
| Jim Walsh | 3 | The Clash | The Clash | |
| Barry Walters | 5 | Aladdin Sane | David Bowie | |
| Eric Weisbard | 58 | Zen Arcade | Hüsker Dü | |
| Colson Whitehead | 6 | — | — | |
| K. Leander Williams | 5 | — | — | |
| Bill Wyman | 5 | — | — | |