Harder...Faster
Artist: April Wine
Community Score: 3.50

As suggested by its title, Harder...Faster sees veteran Canadian rockers April Wine taking things up a notch with relentless slabs of hard rock in "I Like to Rock" and "Ladies Man." Also on hand is a memorable cool groover called "Say Hello," a curious cover of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man," and the dual personality of "Tonite,"... Read More

Singles A's & B's
Artist: Be Bop Deluxe

A collection of eight A-sides and seven B-sides (one B-side, "Lights," was used twice, first for the withdrawn "Between the Worlds" and then for "Maid in Heaven"). This particular collection is an excellent way to get a quick introduction to Be Bop Deluxe, the band that helped turn Bill Nelson into a British guitar hero. There's a small... Read More

Best of Budgie - MCA
Artist: Budgie
Best of Budgie - CUBE
Artist: Budgie
Community Score: 6.00
Japan
Artist: Japan
The First and the Last - STATIK/TOTAL ENERGY
Artist: New Race

This album earned credibility for documenting a unique, one-off event. In 1981, ex-Radio Birdman bassist Warwick Gilbert, guitarist Deniz Tek, and vocalist Rob Younger saluted their influences by joining the Stooges' lead guitarist Ron Asheton and MC5 drummer Dennis Thompson for a six-week blitzkrieg of Australia. The notion made sense, since... Read More

Jungle Law
Artist: Philip Rambow
Black Pearl
Artist: Pat Travers
Nothing Can Stop Us
Artist: Robert Wyatt

This compilation of early-'80s singles includes some of Wyatt's finest work. Aside from "Born Again Cretin" (whose vocals recall the Beach Boys at their most experimental), all of it's non-original material that Wyatt makes his own with his sad, haunting vocals. You could hardly ask for a more diverse assortment of covers: Chic's "At Last I Am... Read More

No Exit
Artist: Angel City
Collection
Artist: Barclay James Harvest
Best of Barclay James Harvest, Vol. 3
Artist: Barclay James Harvest
Eliminator
Artist: ZZ Top
Community Score: 8.54

ZZ Top had reached the top of the charts before, but that didn't make their sudden popularity in 1983 any more predictable. It wasn't that they were just popular -- they were hip, for God's sake, since they were one of the only AOR favorites to figure out to harness the stylish, synthesized grooves of new wave, and then figure out how to... Read More

Lone Rhino
Artist: Adrian Belew
Community Score: 4.50

The first solo album from monster alternative guitarist Belew comes in the middle of Robert Fripp's early-'80s reformulation of King Crimson, so it's no surprise that many a Crimson-esque herky-jerky guitar run and melody line pops up among Belew's other trademark sound, that of the animal-turned-guitar wail. Songs similarly explore Belew's... Read More

My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
Artist: Brian Eno
Community Score: 9.15

A pioneering work for countless styles connected to electronics, ambience, and Third World music, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts expands on the fourth-world concepts of Hassell/Eno work with a whirlwind 45 minutes of worldbeat/funk-rock (with the combined talents of several percussionists and bassists, including Bill Laswell, Tim Wright, David... Read More

Billy Idol
Artist: Billy Idol
Community Score: 9.21

Billy Idol's self-titled debut album eventually broke the singer in America, but not without a struggle. In 1981, he left Generation X and launched his solo career, borrowing the group's final single, the dance-rock standard "Dancing With Myself," for his first solo release, a four-song EP called Don't Stop. Billy Idol was prefaced in June 1982... Read More

The Best of the Alan Parsons Project - ARISTA 1983
Artist: The Alan Parsons Project
Community Score: 7.50

The 12 tracks that appear on The Best of the Alan Parsons Project include some of their greatest singles, like "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" from 1977's I Robot and the inducing "Games People Play" off of The Turn of a Friendly Card. Even though these songs are splendid all by themselves, they seem to lose their conceptual weight when taken... Read More

Worlds Apart - PORTRAIT
Artist: Saga
Community Score: 8.13

Saga's first major-label release was also the band's commercial breakthrough; the single "On the Loose" was not only a radio hit, but one of the first videos to be featured on the fledgling MTV network. Fortunately, the rest of the album holds up nearly as well as that fine single; fleshing out the songs' arrangements with lots of interesting... Read More

Abominog
Artist: Uriah Heep
Community Score: 10.00

By the dawn of the 1980s, Uriah Heep was considered to be a relic in the heavy metal world and no one was surprised when they disbanded shortly after 1980s half-hearted Conquest album. However, everyone listening received an unexpected surprise when the band returned with a new lineup and a sleek, revamped sound on 1982's Abominog. If one can... Read More

Women and Children First/Fair Warning
Artist: Van Halen

Van Halen's third and fourth albums (dating to 1980 and 1981) are combined onto a single cassette release of Women and Children First/Fair Warning. If cassette was your format, this was a great way to collect some classic Van Halen. ~ Sean Westergaard, All Music Guide Read More

Mean Streak
Artist: Y&T
Community Score: 6.38
Classic Yes
Artist: Yes
Community Score: 4.50

Compiled by Chris Squire (in case you're wondering how "The Fish" made it this far upstream), Classic Yes was Atlantic's initial attempt to distill the band's best music. Subsequent compilations have swelled to four discs (Yesyears), been abridged to two (Yesstory), and further compacted to a single disc (Highlights), any one of which offers a... Read More

Farewell Concert - VIDEO YESTERYEAR
Artist: Cream

British supergroup Cream revolutionized rock & roll during a short, brilliant career, and it's fortunate that the trio's last-ever regular concert was captured on film. The DVD Farewell Concert -- although short at 48 minutes -- documents vocalist/guitarist Eric Clapton, vocalist/bass guitarist Jack Bruce, and drummer Ginger Baker's November 26,... Read More