L3oKas7Ro's "Greatest Alternative Albums"

Well executed pop music is not a bad thing. Something needn’t be bland in order to appeal to a large group of people. The Beatles WHITE ALBUM from your list is a clear example. I can’t truly classify as “alternative” something which probably 75% of a given 100 people might have in their record collections (or at least in their Limewire downloads).

I’d also say The Clash has a TON of pop sensibility to their stuff (“Radio Clash” and “Rock the Casbah” come to mind first) and that it’s not a “bad” thing.

Yes, just because something is popular doesn’t mean it’s good. But just because something obtains only a small coterie of cloistered devotees doesn’t prove that it’s “too good for the unwashed masses to understand” either.