You're Living All Over Me
Artist: Dinosaur Jr.
Community Score: 7.42

A blitzkrieg fusion of hardcore punk, Sonic Youth-style noise freak-outs, heavy metal, and melodic hard rock in the vein of Neil Young, You're Living All Over Me was a turning point in American underground rock & roll. With its thin, unbalanced mix, the album sounds positively menacing and edgy -- Lou Barlow's bass barrels forward over Murph's... Read More

Succumbs
Artist: R.E.M.
The People Who Grinned Themselves to Death
Artist: The Housemartins
Community Score: 10.00

Comparisons to the Smiths are essentially irrelevant by the point of the Housemartins' underrated sophomore effort -- the melodies and arrangements move away from the upbeat guitar pop shimmer of London 0, Hull 4 to further explore the group's fascination with Motown and gospel, while P.D. Heaton's lyrics articulate a leftist anger and scathing... Read More

Vermillion
Artist: The Three O'Clock

It's said that Prince signed the Three O'Clock to his Paisley Park label after they were dropped by IRS having never heard a note of their music but knowing that they were friends of the Bangles, for whom he had previously written "Manic Monday." It seems like the Three O'Clock's paisley underground pop would have been a perfect fit for Prince's... Read More

Mosquitos
Artist: Stan Ridgway

Ridgway is as much a storyteller as a songwriter, and the stories are wildly imaginative on this album. The sometimes exotic musical settings effectively evoke the literary landscapes Ridgway's near-spoken vocals describe. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide Read More

Post-Mersh, Vol. 2
Artist: Minutemen

Picking up where the first volume left off, Post-Mersh, Vol. 2 contains the Minutemen's 1983 Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat LP and the 1985 Project Mersh EP. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Read More

Post-Mersh, Vol. 3
Artist: Minutemen

The third and final volume of Post-Mersh crams an extraordinary amount of music on one-disc, compiling the EPs Paranoid Time (1980), Bean-Spill (1982), and Tour-Spiel (1985), the 1981 "Joy" single, and the 1984 rarities and outtakes collection The Politics of Time. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Read More

Huevos
Artist: Meat Puppets
Community Score: 6.60

Recorded and released just a few months after the experimental Mirage, 1987's Huevos was a return to the Meat Puppets' earlier, more straight-ahead direction. The band (guitarist/singer Curt Kirkwood in particular) had always voiced their admiration of ZZ Top, and Huevos contained Billy Gibbons & Co.'s influence more than any other Puppets... Read More

Globe of Frogs
Artist: Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians

Robyn Hitchcock's first foray into U.S. major-label territory disappointed some critics but helped expand his audience beyond the realm of college radio, thanks to the radio-friendly "Balloon Man." Aided by his band the Egyptians, it's the production that mars this record, along with half of the songs. "Sleeping With Your Devil Mask," "Chinese... Read More

Bummed
Artist: Happy Mondays
Community Score: 10.00

Happy Mondays first essayed their fusion of dance-club beats, hip-hop, funk, and rock & roll on Bummed. A considerable improvement from the unfocused Squirrel and G-Man, Bummed is slightly inconsistent, but the group's sound is beginning to gel. In particular, Shaun Ryder's incoherent bluster of non sequiturs, surreal imagery, and verbal threats... Read More

Treehouse
Artist: The Grapes of Wrath

Early comparisons to R.E.M. are clearly justified on Treehouse, a jangly folk-pop masterpiece. On this, their second album, the band seem considerably more confident and focused. Crisp and bright production, courtesy of Tom Cochrane (ex-Red Rider), compliment the glorious harmonies and melancholy, introverted songs perfectly. A sadly overlooked... Read More

Bent by Nature
Artist: Glass Eye

Very edgy, angular pop. Deconstructed? Visionary! ~ Robert Gordon, All Music Guide Read More

George Best Plus
Artist: The Wedding Present

This huge collection summarizes the early portion of the Wedding Present's career, the C-86 era of jangly, revved-up indie-pop. The release compiles the band's first album and its first two singles ("Nobody's Twisting You Arm" and "Why Are You Being So Reasonable Now") -- 23 tracks worth of the hyper pop the band is known for. Apart from the... Read More