My Nation Underground
Artist: Julian Cope
Community Score: 6.50

Recruiting another key sideman, percussionist Rooster Cosby, Cope approached an album that, by the end of recording, he was on the verge of disowning. Inspired moments aside, one can understand why: My Nation Underground has just about everything going for it (good sound, neat cover, some sharp songs) except for Cope's own vision. That he... Read More

Skellington
Artist: Julian Cope

Near the end of the '80s, according to his second autobiography, Repossessed, Cope was signed up to produce another band who, due to health reasons, cancelled a pre-booked, three-day studio session. With time and technology available, Cope seized the chance, called in his band (Skinner, DeHarrison, and Cosby), and, on the sly, recorded the... Read More

Warehouse: Songs and Stories
Artist: Hüsker Dü
Community Score: 7.69

It's cleaner and more produced than any of their records, which is one reason why many Hüsker Dü fans have never fully embraced their second double album, Warehouse: Songs and Stories. Granted, Warehouse boasts a fuller production -- complete with multi-tracked guitars and vocal, various percussion techniques, and endless studio effects -- that... Read More

16 Lovers Lane
Artist: The Go-Betweens
Community Score: 9.00

Arguably Australia's greatest pop group ever, The Go-Betweens seemed to save the best for last when they split in 1989. (They reunited in 1999, and have issued two more studio recordings since that time). 16 Lovers Lane is simply breathtaking; it is a deeply moving, aurally sensual collection of songs about relationships and the broken side of... Read More

Even If and Especially When
Artist: Screaming Trees
Community Score: 7.00

By essentially "repeating the language of the land and the sky," the Screaming Trees accurately portray the organic spirit of the Pacific Northwest. On tracks such as "Cold Rain" and "In the Forest" their narrative landscapes are not only expressed by the seasoned voice of Mark Lanegan but also by the rich complexity of their song structures.... Read More

Nonentity (Water III: Fan Black Dada)
Artist: Zoogz Rift

The cover photo of Zoogz Rift looking pensively through tree branches might lead you to wonder if the famously angry and eccentric guitarist had released a sensitive, low-key album. The surprising answer is yes, he did -- at least, by his standards. Throughout Nonentity, Rift sings in a more relaxed, conventional style than at any other point in... Read More

The Mekons Honky Tonkin'
Artist: The Mekons

The third album from what could be called the Mekons' "soused socialist hillbilly-punks from Leeds" period, 1987's Honky Tonkin' built on the country-influenced musical and lyrical themes of Fear and Whiskey and The Edge of the World, where the boozy ambience of classic Nashville sounds found a sympathetic ear among this pack of political and... Read More

Music for the Masses
Artist: Depeche Mode
Community Score: 7.80

Initially the title must have sounded like an incredibly pretentious boast, except that Depeche Mode then went on to do a monstrous world tour, score even more hits in America and elsewhere than ever before, and pick up a large number of name checks from emerging house and techno artists on top of all that. As for the music the masses got this... Read More

101
Artist: Depeche Mode
Community Score: 9.64

As an event, Depeche Mode's huge (attendance around 80,000) Los Angeles Rose Bowl concert in 1988 remains legendary; no single artist show had totally sold out the venue since eight years beforehand, while the film documentary done by Dylan-filmer D.A. Pennebaker based around the show clearly demonstrated fans' intense commitment to a... Read More

Dark Adapted Eye
Artist: Danielle Dax
Community Score: 8.50

While Dark Adapted Eye is really just an expanded edition of Inky Bloaters for the American market -- minus one track from the original but with a slew of other cuts from other sources -- it does give the best possible case around for Danielle Dax' sometimes harrowing, often surprising art. The emphasis is certainly on her later stabs at... Read More

Rite²
Artist: Julian Cope

Available only by mail order, Rite² is one of Julian Cope's most consistent works. Instead of leaping to and fro between undeniably catchy synth-pop and fractured end-of-the-century prog, Cope sticks to the prog and comes out better for it. The full-length album contains only four tracks, and each charts the same cosmic blueprint of deep Kraut... Read More