Trust
Artist: Elvis Costello & the Attractions
Community Score: 7.86

Following the frenzied pop-soul of Get Happy!!, Elvis Costello & the Attractions quickly returned to the studio and recorded Trust, their most ambitious and eclectic album to date. As if he was proving his stylistic diversity, and his sophistication after the concentrated genre experiment of Get Happy!!, Costello assembled Trust as a stylistic... Read More

The Jonathan Richman Songbook
Artist: Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers

The Jonathan Richman Songbook is a U.K.-only compilation of early material. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide Read More

Elvis Sings Leiber & Stoller
Artist: Elvis Presley
Community Score: 10.00

The British arm of RCA made a habit of outdoing the home office in compiling Elvis Presley recordings, and this one was no exception. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the standout rock & roll songwriting team of the late '50s and early '60s, began working with Presley after his cover of their "Hound Dog," originally written for Big Mama Thornton,... Read More

Rough Mix
Artist: Pete Townshend
Community Score: 9.67

Rough Mix, Pete Townshend's 1977 collaboration with former Small Faces and Faces songwriter and bass player Ronnie Lane, combines the loose, rollicking folk-rock of Lane's former band, Slim Chance, with touches of country, folk, and New Orleans rock & roll, along with Townshend's own trademark style. Lane's tunes, especially the beautiful... Read More

Scoop
Artist: Pete Townshend

Pete Townshend's demos had grown legendary among Who collectors well before the official release of the double-album Scoop in 1983. On each demo, Townshend worked out full arrangements, which the Who would often follow exactly. He also recorded a wealth of songs and instrumental pieces that never made it to record. Over the course of two albums,... Read More

Empty Glass
Artist: Pete Townshend
Community Score: 9.50

Pete Townshend was heading toward collapse as the '70s turned into the '80s. He had battled a number of personal demons throughout the '70s, but he started spiraling downward after Keith Moon's death, questioning more than ever why he did what he did (and this is a songwriter who always asked questions). Signs of that crept out on Face Dances,... Read More

Who Came First
Artist: Pete Townshend
Community Score: 10.00

Pete Townshend's first solo album was a homespun, charming forum for low-key, personal songs that weren't deemed suitable for the Who, as well as spiritual paeans (direct and indirect) to his spiritual guru Meher Baba. Who fans will be immediately attracted by the presence of a couple of songs from the aborted Who concept album Lifehouse... Read More

The River
Artist: Bruce Springsteen
Community Score: 8.27
Glass Houses
Artist: Billy Joel
Community Score: 9.00

The back-to-back success of The Stranger and 52nd Street may have brought Billy Joel fame and fortune, even a certain amount of self-satisfaction, but it didn't bring him critical respect, and it didn't dull his anger. If anything, being classified as a mainstream rocker -- a soft rocker -- infuriated him, especially since a generation of punks... Read More

Songs in the Attic
Artist: Billy Joel
Community Score: 10.00

Having scored three multi-platinum hits in a row, Billy Joel took a breather, releasing his first live album, Songs in the Attic, as he worked on his ambitious follow-up to Glass Houses. Joel wisely decided to use the live album as an opportunity to draw attention to songs from his first four albums. Apart from "Piano Man," none of those songs... Read More

Dire Straits/Making Movies
Artist: Dire Straits

In 1980, Warner Brothers released Dire Straits/Making Movies, which contained Dire Straits' two finest albums (interestingly, their first and third) onto one cassette. If cassette is your format, this is an excellent way to obtain these two great albums. ~ Sean Westergaard, All Music Guide Read More