Lived to Tell
Artist: Eleventh Dream Day

Recorded, as the credits state and a photo in the album artwork confirms, "in a tobacco barn on the Niland's farm in Cub Run, Kentucky." Whether that provided the air of ripping, fiery country-goes-to-hell guitar work that permeates Lived to Tell may not be known, but clearly the setting didn't hurt the band any. Whatever pressure from Atlantic... Read More

Mule
Artist: Mule

Featuring drummer Jim Kimball and bassist Kevin Munro (aka Kevin Strickland) from the Laughing Hyenas and former Wig frontman P.W. Long (aka Preston Cleveland) on guitar and vocals, Mule came out of the gate as a gang of Midwest roots-punk all-stars, and if their self-titled debut album is sometimes flawed by Long's overly mannered vocals,... Read More

Cunning Stunts
Artist: The Cows

The release of Cunning Stunts signals a "maturity" to the Cows, but it really means that riffs and hooks are starting to emerge from their usual tar pit of sound. Although Shannon Selberg's ranting and raving dominate the proceedings, it's guitarist Thor Eisenstrager who steals the show with his frenetic playing and bold experimentation. Not the... Read More

Puzzle
Artist: Dada

Guitar riffs permeate dada's pleasing debut Puzzle, wedded to thick slices of an equally important influence -- 60s psychedelia. The L.A. trio offers plenty to keep the ears busy: the orchestral sadness of "Timothy," and insidious melody of "Dog, " strung-out ravings of "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, " and over-the-edge teen-angst of "Dizz Knee... Read More

Happy Hour
Artist: King Missile
Community Score: 10.00

With this King Missile found themselves with a fluke hit, thanks to the knowingly idiotic "Detachable Penis." It's not quite the "My Ding-a-Ling" of its time, but it did get airplay, MTV coverage, and the like, Hall telling a sad tale of waking up in the morning, finding the titular organ missing, and then having to search for it, all while... Read More

Corpse Love: The First Year
Artist: Pussy Galore
A History (1982-1985)
Artist: The Golden Palominos

This repackaging of the band's first two albums documents its shift from an avant-funk supergroup of downtown New York improvisers (including John Zorn and Arto Lindsay) to a more mainstream supergroup of traditional and underground rock icons (including Jack Bruce, Michael Stipe, and Richard Thompson). Because the albums are so very different,... Read More

Fakebook
Artist: Yo La Tengo
Community Score: 9.50

Recommending Fakebook as the best place to begin a relationship with Yo La Tengo is slightly disingenuous, mainly because Yo La Tengo has never made another record like it, and perhaps never will. So, as completely wonderful as this record is, it's an accurate representation of one side of Yo La Tengo, and assuming that everything sounds like... Read More

GodWeenSatan: The Oneness
Artist: Ween
Community Score: 8.00

Dean and Gene Ween were barely out of their teens when they recorded GodWeenSatan: The Oneness, and it shows: it's juvenile in the best sense of the word, mixing their sprawling sense of humor with punk, heavy metal, and a surprising amount of pop literacy. At a whopping 23 tracks long, the album features a lot of noodling and lots of... Read More

Ankety Low Day
Artist: Tone Dogs
The Real Ramona
Artist: Throwing Muses
Community Score: 8.02

The Real Ramona marked the perfect balance of Throwing Muses' angular songwriting and latent pop tendencies. Where Hunkpapa tried, somewhat unsuccessfully, to mix these elements, this album succeeds with surreal pop songs like "Counting Backwards" and "Red Shoes." They're catchy and riveting, clearly linked to the band's early material yet more... Read More

Deep
Artist: Peter Murphy
Community Score: 7.50

Perhaps the stars were right, or perhaps his American company, flush from the unexpected success of Murphy's former bandmates in Love and Rockets, just decided to give Murphy a well-deserved publicity push. Whatever it was, with Deep Murphy scored an honest to goodness American radio/MTV hit thanks to the tender, lively "Cuts You Up," a love... Read More

Drunk With Passion
Artist: The Golden Palominos

The 1991 album Drunk With Passion is the fifth installment of drummer Anton Fier's ongoing, ever-changing project known as Golden Palominos. As always, there's no shortage of musical heavyweights plying their trade on this edition. Guitarist Richard Thompson and bassist Bill Laswell are Palomino veterans. The vocal chores are handled by... Read More

Bohemia
Artist: Mae Moore
Community Score: 6.00

Moore finds herself with a fine supporting crew on Bohemia, first and foremost thanks to the production and co-writing help of Steve Kilbey from the Church. Bandmate Peter Koppes adds guitar to one song, while Kilbey's Jack Frost partner, Grant McLennan, contributes throughout; meanwhile, Moore's fellow Canadian, Gordon Downie, shares vocals... Read More