I Just Can't Stop It
Artist: The English Beat
Community Score: 9.32

I Just Can't Stop It was a late arrival onto the checker- boarded scene, The Specials, Madness and The Selecter had all beat The (English) Beat to the punch, but luckily this wasn't a race. Besides, the band had already primed the pump with a trio of Top 10 singles -- the double A-sided "Tears of a Clown"/"Ranking Full Stop," "Hands Off She's... Read More

Volume, Contrast, Brilliance... Sessions & Singles, Vol. 1
Artist: The Monochrome Set

This is another compilation, but back in 1983 this hugely rewarding record acted as a roundup of the group's career to date and was of immeasurable value to fans. It's aged well, too, and worth hunting down for some (quite radically different) radio versions of songs, oddities, and jocular moments, including John Peel introducing "Fat Fun" and... Read More

Love Zombies
Artist: The Monochrome Set

The group's second album (and last for Virgin subsidiary Dindisc), Love Zombies features more accomplished songwriting from main man Bid -- especially the title track and the playful "The Man With the Black Moustache." Fans -- BBC Radio DJ John Peel among them -- had long since recognized the Monochrome Set's supreme compositional agility. This... Read More

Complete Madness
Artist: Madness
Community Score: 8.00

The 16-track compilation The Complete Madness compiles all of the group's early singles -- from "The Prince" to "House of Fun" -- and adds a handful of classic album tracks and concert favorites like "In the City," "Bed and Breakfast Man," and "Madness." It's thorough and a thoroughly entertaining collection, encapsulating exactly why Madness... Read More

Presents the Rise & Fall
Artist: Madness

Madness Presents the Rise & Fall marks the band's most mature effort and artistic statement. Completely devoid of their early ska influence, they paint a picture of British life in the spirit of the Kinks' Village Green Preservation Society. Though it was never released in the U.S., several tracks were later placed on the compilation Madness,... Read More

White Feathers
Artist: Kajagoogoo

"Too Shy" was one of the flimsiest singles of the new wave era, a cloying and catchy bubblegum tune disguised as synth-pop. Kajagoogoo never quite matched those heights again -- in fact, they rarely even came close. Their debut album White Feathers is filled with similarly lightweight synth-pop like "Magician Man," "Ooh to Be Ah," "Eronomics,"... Read More

Pelican West
Artist: Haircut 100
Community Score: 9.33

Haircut 100's debut album Pelican West is a widely uneven concoction of lite-funk and jazzy new wave pop. Although the group's music was frequently so light it virtually disappeared, they did record a pair of classic new wave singles with the effervescent "Love Plus One" and "Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)." Although much of the record lacks... Read More

So Far Away
Artist: The Chords

In later years, the Chords were often cursorily dismissed as little more than Jam copyists, and while there's no denying that the two groups traveled in very similar musical waters, both drawing from the British beat and Northern soul that filled their youths and sending it soaring through the prism of punk, it's there that the comparisons end.... Read More

Madness
Artist: Madness
Community Score: 10.00

Madness is a U.S. compilation released to capitalize on the success of "Our House." Aside from handful of earlier singles like "Night Boat to Cairo, " "It Must Be Love, " "Cardiac Arrest," and "House of Fun, " the collection's real focus is on material from the previous year's Madness Present the Rise and Fall, which wasn't released in America.... Read More

Fresh Fruit in Foreign Places
Artist: Kid Creole & the Coconuts
Community Score: 10.00

Musical gumbo of esoteric lilting, jazzy, laid-back disco, an acquired taste. ~ Bil Carpenter, All Music Guide Read More

Off the Coast of Me
Artist: Kid Creole & the Coconuts
Community Score: 10.00

Mixing disco, Caribbean music, and strains of big-band jazz, Kid Creole engages in a self-deprecating dialogue with his backup singers, The Coconuts, who dismiss him as "Mister Softee" and plead, "Can You Get Me Into Studio 54?" on this hilarious debut album. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide Read More

A Flock of Seagulls
Artist: A Flock of Seagulls
Community Score: 7.80

The Liverpool quintet A Flock of Seagulls first gained attention in the dance clubs with "Telecommunication," included on this debut release. The band benefited from heavy play on MTV and quickly became known for their outrageous fashion and lead singer Mike Score's waterfall-like haircut. However, their self-titled debut is an enjoyable romp... Read More

New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)
Artist: Simple Minds
Community Score: 7.60

One of Scotland's finest imports, Simple Minds deliver a strong synth-reared release on New Gold Dream. This album harks the darker side of the band's musicianship, and such material alludes to their forthcoming pop-stadium sound which hurled them into rock mainstream during the latter part of the '80s. They were still honing their artistic... Read More