Crocodiles
Artist: Echo & the Bunnymen
Community Score: 9.35

Inspired by psychedelia, sure. Bit of Jim Morrison in the vocals? Okay, it's there. But for all the references and connections that can be drawn (and they can), one listen to Echo's brilliant, often harrowing debut album and it's clear when a unique, special band presents itself. Beginning with the dramatic, building climb of "Going Up,"... Read More

LC
Artist: The Durutti Column

After some abortive collaborations, Reilly hooked up with a regular drummer, talented fellow Mancunian Bruce Mitchell, to create LC, Durutti's second full release. Self-produced by Reilly but bearing the unmistakable hints of his earlier work with Martin Hannett, LC, named after a bit of Italian graffiti, extends Reilly's lovely talents ever... Read More

More Fun in the New World
Artist: X
Community Score: 9.00

Coming off their 1982 masterpiece Under the Big Black Sun, X offered their follow-up More Fun in the New World one year later. While its predecessor won the band a slew of new fans, it didn't serve as the major breakthrough that it so deservedly should have. Rightfully, they didn't fool with their already winning formula; they issued another... Read More

Underwater Moonlight
Artist: The Soft Boys

After recording the material that would later comprise the bulk of Invisible Hits, the Soft Boys recorded their masterpiece, the shimmering neo-psychedelic Underwater Moonlight. Essentially, the band didn't change their style for the record -- they merely perfected it. The Soft Boys don't hide their influences -- whether its the ringing guitars... Read More

Talk Talk Talk
Artist: The Psychedelic Furs
Community Score: 7.50

This time working solely with Steve Lillywhite, the Furs introduce a brighter, poppier side to their underground rock edge, with smashing results throughout. The group produces some powerful songs, even more rough-edged than before. Especially striking is "Dumb Waiters," with its queasy, slow-paced arrangement that allows both Kilburn's sax and... Read More

Cloudland
Artist: Pere Ubu
Community Score: 4.00

It's funny, this might be the most controversial recording Ubu ever made. After years of brilliant chunks of avant-garde garage rock tomfoolery, they release a pop record, one with smooth corners, and production help from Stephen Hague (Pet Shop Boys). It's not as if Ubu is unrecognizable; the familiar idiosyncracies are here and in full effect.... Read More

What Makes a Man Start Fires?
Artist: Minutemen
Community Score: 10.00

The Minutemen had already come up with a sound as distinctive as anything to come out of the American punk underground -- lean, fractured, and urgent -- with their debut album, 1981's The Punch Line. But on their second (relatively) long-player, What Makes a Man Start Fires?, the three dudes from Pedro opted to slow down their tempos a bit, and... Read More

Meat Puppets II - BONUS TRACKS
Artist: Meat Puppets
Community Score: 9.90

The Meat Puppets' second album, 1984's appropriately titled Meat Puppets II, has since gone down in the rock history books as an all-time classic, and rightfully so. The Meat Puppets were one of the first punk acts to inject different musical styles into their sound, something that was an absolute no-no at the time -- especially the sparkling... Read More

Stoneage Romeos
Artist: Hoodoo Gurus
Community Score: 8.00

"Shake some action/Psychotic reaction/No satisfaction/Sky pilot, Sky Saxon/That's what I like/Blitzkrieg bop/To the jailhouse rock/Stop stop, at the hop/Do the bluejean bop/That's what I like!" In the first verse of "(Let's All) Turn On," Hoodoo Guru's frontman Dave Faulkner summed up the band's aesthetic so well that elaborating almost seems... Read More

Hexbreaker
Artist: The Fleshtones
Negativland
Artist: Negativland

The then-trio's debut record, like many first efforts out there, was tentative in many ways; without Don Joyce and his ear for ratcheting up collage chaos to even more confused yet coherent levels, Negativland here had many of the intentions but not the overarching conceptual approach. Still, much that's core about the group was already... Read More