Spin Alternative Record Guide

Spin Alternative Record Guide

Editors	Eric Weisbard and Craig Marks
Authors	64 contributors
Language	English
Subject	Alternative music, discography, music journalism, review
Publisher	Vintage Books
Publication date	October 1995
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (paperback)
Pages	468
ISBN	0-679-75574-8

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.