The Bears
Artist: The Bears

The debut album from the Bears is a solid slice of great guitar-driven pop tunes. Although Adrian Belew was seen nominally as the frontman, this was truly a band; four friends who had known each other for years, playing for pure joy. Songwriting duties were shared, with each member contributing at least one track, and they also wrote several... Read More

Warehouse: Songs and Stories
Artist: Hüsker Dü
Community Score: 7.69

It's cleaner and more produced than any of their records, which is one reason why many Hüsker Dü fans have never fully embraced their second double album, Warehouse: Songs and Stories. Granted, Warehouse boasts a fuller production -- complete with multi-tracked guitars and vocal, various percussion techniques, and endless studio effects -- that... Read More

Truth and Soul
Artist: Fishbone
Community Score: 8.25

By 1988, alternative/college rock was becoming a recognizable force in the mainstream. Several bands were big enough to play arenas, and many even earned gold and platinum albums. The tide was clearly changing for such previously misunderstood bands such as Fishbone. Their second full-length release Truth and Soul was issued that year, and... Read More

Do It
Artist: Rollins Band
Community Score: 8.00

Leave it to good ol' Hank to make the second Rollins Band album a collection of studio outtakes and live tracks. This is not an attempt to make a quick buck, however. Rollins has always believed in giving the people the most for their money. And this is no exception. The first three tracks are covers which were outtakes from the Life Time... Read More

Eponymous
Artist: R.E.M.
Community Score: 6.64
Document
Artist: R.E.M.
Community Score: 8.21
Huevos
Artist: Meat Puppets
Community Score: 6.60

Recorded and released just a few months after the experimental Mirage, 1987's Huevos was a return to the Meat Puppets' earlier, more straight-ahead direction. The band (guitarist/singer Curt Kirkwood in particular) had always voiced their admiration of ZZ Top, and Huevos contained Billy Gibbons & Co.'s influence more than any other Puppets... Read More

Bent by Nature
Artist: Glass Eye

Very edgy, angular pop. Deconstructed? Visionary! ~ Robert Gordon, All Music Guide Read More

Only the Good Die Young: Live
Artist: .45 Grave

Recorded at one of many one-off L.A. reunion shows the Grave did in the late '80s -- in this case, at Hollywood's Raji's club in July 1988 -- Young captures the four members having fun with their back catalog, and a few new numbers to boot. If anything, no longer being an active band seemed to give the quartet a chance to be even crisper in... Read More

Let the Day Begin
Artist: The Call
Community Score: 8.00

After losing some commercial ground with 1987's Into the Woods, the California quartet quickly regained it as the title track to The Call's 1989 release became the band's biggest crossover hit. With its insistent bassline and driving guitars, "Let the Day Begin" was a rousing track that was a memorable introduction to the band's fifth album. The... Read More

Birds of Passage
Artist: Bel Canto
Community Score: 4.00

Beginning the band's second album with something that almost exactly resembled Depeche Mode in 1986 may or may not have been intentional, but when Drecker's vocals slid alongside the music with a quietly desperate lyric, "Intravenous" became much more distinctly Bel Canto. Here, the band's music is a touch -- just a touch -- more upfront, with... Read More

Live at Great American Music Hall, San Francisco
Artist: The Bevis Frond

Without an official career retrospective in sight, Live at the Great American Music Hall, San Francisco serves as perhaps the most accessible introduction to the enduring brilliance of the Bevis Frond, distilling many of the high points from Nick Saloman's sprawling discography into a single live set. Truth be told, there's not a great deal of... Read More