Ultra
Artist: Depeche Mode
Community Score: 7.97

When news surfaced in 1995 that Alan Wilder had departed Depeche Mode to concentrate on his solo project Recoil, the immediate concern among fans was whether the band would be able to hit past heights again. Though Wilder's profile was always much lesser than that of Martin Gore and David Gahan -- and almost even that of Alan Fletcher, whose... Read More

Pink Elephants
Artist: Mick Harvey
Community Score: 6.00

Pink Elephants continues what Mick Harvey began with Intoxicated Man -- it's the second collection of Serge Gainsbourg covers that the Bad Seeds guitarist has recorded. This time around, he concentrates on lesser-known songs like like "Manon," "Comic Strip," "The Ballad of Melody Nelson" and "Hotel Specific" and while the results aren't as... Read More

Jah Wobble Presents the Light Programme
Artist: Jah Wobble

Jah Wobble Presents the Light Programme is the second record Wobble released on his independent label, 30 Hertz, after departing Island Records because of their reluctance to release his "uncommercial" music. Certainly, this weird mix of ambient, art-rock and drum-n-bass isn't necessarily commercial, but it isn't inaccessible. It's melodic and... 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

In the Flat Field - REISSUE
Artist: Bauhaus

After several well-received singles, Bauhaus burst forth from Britain's post-punk underground with a collection of goth anthems that added a whiff of the tomb to punk's modernist bent. Sounding immediately assured of their power and versatility, the group rage through several future standards ("Stigmata Martyr," "St. Vitus Dance," the title... Read More

In a Doghouse
Artist: Throwing Muses
Community Score: 7.00

Throwing Muses' classic first album was never released in the U.S., nor was their follow-up EP, Chains Changed. For well over a decade, the two records were only available as imports through 4AD, which meant that Throwing Muses, one of the most influential and individual albums of late-'80s alternative rock, was very hard for anyone outside of... Read More

The Singles 86>98
Artist: Depeche Mode
Community Score: 8.31

It took Depeche Mode only four years to assemble their first singles compilation, but 12 to assemble The Singles 86>98. Appropriately, the second set was much more ambitious than The Singles 81>85, spanning two discs and 20 songs, plus a live version of "Everything Counts." The Singles 86>98 was an album that many fans, both casual and hardcore,... Read More

The Sound Is in You
Artist: The Grip Weeds

The Grip Weeds showed on their debut album that they were a powerhouse pop-psyche band extraordinaire who write insanely gripping melodic nuggets, and they multiply that gift on their followup. Making musical analogies is an overused descriptive technique, but it also happens to be the only way to initially approach The Sound Is In You. You can... Read More

Songs the Lord Taught Us - BONUS TRACKS
Artist: The Cramps
Community Score: 10.00

Continuing the spooked-out and raging snarls of Gravest Hits, the Cramps once again worked with Alex Chilton on the group's full-album debut, Songs the Lord Taught Us. The jacket reads "file under: sacred music," but only if one's definition includes the holy love of rockabilly sex-stomp, something which the Cramps fulfill in spades. Having... Read More