Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?
Artist: The Cranberries
Community Score: 8.27

Title aside, what the Cranberries were doing wasn't that common at the time, at least in mainstream pop terms; grunge and G-funk had done their respective big splashes via Nirvana and Dr. Dre when Everybody came out first in the U.K. and then in America some months later. Lead guitarist Noel Hogan is in many ways the true center of the... Read More

Happy Nowhere
Artist: Dog's Eye View
Community Score: 8.00
Oyster
Artist: Heather Nova
Community Score: 8.90

In some ways, Heather Nova is more talented than many of her female singer/songwriter contemporaries. She has an appealing voice, strong lyrics, and memorable melodies -- that is, when she delivers. Unfortunately, many of her albums are uneven, with Nova delivering the goods as often as she misses the mark. The best moments on her second album,... Read More

Cigarettes & Alcohol - EP
Artist: Oasis
Community Score: 7.00
Whatever - EP
Artist: Oasis
Pure
Artist: The Golden Palominos

If you live in New York, then chances are good that either you or someone you know has once been the Golden Palominos' singer. With Pure it was Lori Carson's turn, and she was just what this occasionally brilliant but frequently unfocused band needed. This is probably the Palominos' first great album (unless you count the group's brilliantly... Read More

The Rest of the Best
Artist: The Pogues

The Rest of the Best is a solid sampling of the Pogues' output up to 1994, even when one considers that the collection in a way amounts to the second best-of, since The Best of the Pogues was released less than a year before this collection. Though the album suffers from a sequencing problem, with three of its strongest songs out of the way... Read More

Amplified Heart
Artist: Everything But the Girl
Community Score: 8.25

Despite its title, Amplified Heart is one of Everything but the Girl's more acoustic works. A simple instrumentation of guitars and keyboards, augmented here and there by British folk-rock veterans like Richard Thompson, Danny Thompson, and Dave Mattacks, serves to set up a series of songs of romantic disillusionment. Declaring "my life is just... Read More

No Need to Argue
Artist: The Cranberries
Community Score: 8.22

With their surprise success behind them, the Cranberries went ahead and essentially created a sequel to Everybody Else is Doing It, So Why Can't We with only tiny variations, with mixed results. The fact that the album is essentially a redo of previously established stylistic ground isn't apparent in just the production, handled again by Stephen... Read More

1976-1981
Artist: The Soft Boys

Although their five-year career reaped little in terms of commercial reward, the Soft Boys ultimately emerged among the most influential and best-loved of all the early "alternative" acts, as that genre thrust its way out of the twin wombs of punk and new wave. A convoluted back catalog -- as tricky and twisted in its own way as the very best of... Read More

Kerosene Hat
Artist: Cracker
Community Score: 6.75

With their second album Cracker have lost the smarmy self-righteousness that plagued their otherwise fine debut, replacing it with a surprisingly solid, rocking core. Kerosene Hat is David Lowery's least affected album yet -- its humor is no stranger than "Dead Flowers" by the Stones or "Fat Man in a Bathtub" by Little Feat, two groups that... Read More

Drift
Artist: The Devlins
Community Score: 5.00

The Devlins showcase their smooth Irish brogue on their debut album Drift, and without the heavy guitars and lyrical imagery made famous by their Irish counterparts (U2, the Cranberries). Taking note from their influences such as Talk Talk and the Blue Nile, Peter and Colin Devlin go for a grainy simplicity similar to Mike Scott and the... Read More

Jump Salty Ep
Artist: Pinhead Gunpowder
Community Score: 8.73

For all those who don't have a record player or have a hard time collecting all the vinyl Pinhead Gunpowder released before the Carry the Banner EP, this is perfect. Jump Salty is comprised of the "Fahiza" and "Trundle and Spring" singles along with various hard to find tracks that were released on four scattered compilation albums. Even if this... Read More