Count Three and Pray
Artist: Berlin
Community Score: 9.43

A major change of direction for Berlin, Count Three and Pray was an artistic triumph but a commercial disappointment. After making a name for itself playing very European-sounding synth pop, the L.A. trio recruited producer Bob Ezrin (known for his work with Alice Cooper and others) and unveiled a more hard-edged, guitar-oriented sound. From the... Read More

Tourists
Artist: The Tourists

The Tourists were a typical British post-punk power-pop group by the evidence of their U.K.-only debut album, The Tourists. Chiming guitars, quickstep martial beats (sometimes borrowing from Bo Diddley or the Ronettes), and the odd rude or belligerent remark ("Nothing means nothing to me," snarled in the first single, "Blind Among the Flowers")... Read More

Terminal Jive
Artist: Sparks
Community Score: 10.00

The second Giorgio Moroder collaboration of Sparks' career doesn't have quite the emphasis on Moroder trademarks compared to its predecessor; he has only two songwriting credits here, while the Mael brothers take most of them alone. Still, the breakout single "When I'm With You" and "Just Because You Love Me" have an ineffable disco stomp and... Read More

No. 1 in Heaven
Artist: Sparks
Community Score: 10.00

It may not have been the most natural match in music history, but the marriage of Sparks' focus on oddball pop songs to the driving disco-trance of Giorgio Moroder produced the duo's best album in years. From the chart hits "Number One Song in Heaven" and "Beat the Clock" to solid album tracks like "La Dolce Vita," No. 1 in Heaven surprises by... Read More

Outlandos d'Amour
Artist: The Police
Community Score: 8.38

While their subsequent chart-topping albums would contain far more ambitious songwriting and musicianship, the Police's 1978 debut, Outlandos d'Amour (translation: Outlaws of Love) is by far their most direct and straightforward release. Although Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland were all superb instrumentalists with jazz... Read More

Look Sharp!
Artist: Joe Jackson
Community Score: 9.00

A brilliant, accomplished debut, Look Sharp! established Joe Jackson as part of that camp of angry, intelligent young new wavers (i.e., Elvis Costello, Graham Parker) who approached pop music with the sardonic attitude and tense, aggressive energy of punk. Not as indebted to pub rock as Parker and Costello, and much more lyrically... Read More

I'm the Man
Artist: Joe Jackson

Despite Jackson's anxious demeanor and shaky pop/rock presence, I'm the Man holds together quite well as his second attempt. Reaching number 12 in the U.K. and a respectable number 22 in the U.S., the album managed to net him a number five hit in his homeland with the insightful "It's Different for Girls," which revealed Jackson's adeptness at... Read More

The Best of Tim Curry
Artist: Tim Curry

This selection from his three albums (1978-1981) shows him to be a capable rock vocalist. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide Read More

The Cars
Artist: The Cars
Community Score: 8.26

The Cars' 1978 self-titled debut, issued on the Elektra label, is a genuine rock masterpiece. The band jokingly referred to the album as their "true greatest-hits album," but it's no exaggeration -- all nine tracks are new wave/rock classics, still in rotation on rock radio. Whereas most bands of the late '70s embraced either punk/new wave or... Read More

Cars/Candy-O
Artist: The Cars
Community Score: 10.00

While the Cars were between their fourth and fifth albums, Elektra reissued their first and second albums together on a single cassette. Since Candy-O closely follows the pattern of The Cars, it's a successful matchup, and the price can't be beat if you can still find a copy. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide Read More

The Best of Berlin 1979-1988
Artist: Berlin
Community Score: 8.00

Berlin's electro-pop sound is salvaged only by the enduring and assertive voice of Terri Nunn, which is why The Best of Berlin is the most preferable place to hear this Los Angeles-based group's music. The synth-soaked punch of "No More Words" from 1984's Love Life album and the week-long number one ballad "Take My Breath Away" from the film Top... Read More

Fool Around
Artist: Rachel Sweet

If Stiff Records wanted to market Rachel Sweet as an ironic sex symbol, they succeeded only at the irony of forbidden fruit; the picture of her on the back of this disc in a rugby shirt and jeans, head cocked, hands on hips, could grace the cover of Lolita's next edition. Sweet was fully sweet 16 in 1978, though, and pictures aside, "the little... Read More