Dirk Wears White Sox
Artist: Adam & the Ants

The original Ants lineup released only one LP, Dirk Wears White Sox for Do It in 1979. The album finds a young Adam Ant exploring the sometimes-awkward fusion of punk, glam, and minimalist post-punk with bizarre images and disturbing tales of alienation, sex, and brutality. And while the somewhat pretentious, overly arty lyrics and inexperienced... Read More

Radios Appear
Artist: Radio Birdman

Starting off with a rip-snortin' cover of The Stooges' "T.V. Eye," this is primal (and prime) Birdman, with Tek and Younger firmly ensconced in the eye of this guitar-fueled hurricane. Tek's originals are pretty strong, especially the grimy tale of urban desolation "Murder City Nights" and the noisy freakout "Descent Into the Maelstrom." One of... Read More

Tent
Artist: Nits

When Dutch new wavers the Nits released their self-titled debut album in 1978 on an independent label, no one would have predicted that they would become one of the most exciting bands in modern music. Signing to CBS and releasing their second album Tent in 1979, the band took a huge step forward in dynamics, arrangement, imagination, and... Read More

154
Artist: Wire
Community Score: 8.60

Named for the number of live gigs Wire had played to that point, 154 refines and expands the innovations of Chairs Missing, with producer Mike Thorne's synthesizer effects playing an even more integral role; little of Pink Flag's rawness remains. If Chairs Missing was a transitional album between punk and post-punk, 154 is squarely in the latter... Read More

Chairs Missing
Artist: Wire
Community Score: 8.33

Chairs Missing marks a partial retreat from Pink Flag's austere, bare-bones minimalism, although it still takes concentrated listening to dig out some of the melodies. Producer Mike Thorne's synth adds a Brian Eno-esque layer of atmospherics, and Wire itself seems more concerned with the sonic textures it can coax from its instruments; the... Read More

Systems of Romance
Artist: Ultravox
Community Score: 3.50

Systems of Romance, the high-water mark of pre-Midge Ultravox, also proved tremendously influential on the host of new romantic bands that followed in its wake. Produced by Conny Plank, the album divides into a rock-heavy first side and a synth-heavy second side. Though several songs lack a distinctive element and the record is occasionally... Read More

A Snakefinger Collection
Artist: Snakefinger

Ah, the early days of CDs! With a desire to get Snakefinger's early work on Ralph onto CD, East Side Digital crammed their first two albums onto one CD, and, like fitting a crab into a small box, cut off a few arms in the process, namely a few tracks from both. Replacing these, however, are both sides of Snakefinger's first single from 1978,... Read More

Sound on Sound
Artist: Bill Nelson

Fans of Be-Bop Deluxe's romantic side could hardly have been prepared for founder Bill Nelson's first post-breakup solo effort. Sound-on-Sound slams into life with harsh guitars, mechanical synths, and manic rhythms. Nelson and crew race through a brilliant collection of anti-romantic anthems that catalog every dystopian fantasy of the 20th... Read More

In the City
Artist: The Jam
Community Score: 7.96

On their debut, the Jam offered a good balance between the forward-looking, "destroy everything" aggression of punk with a certain reverence for '60s beat and R&B. In an era that preached attitude over musicianship, the Jam bettered the competition with good pop sense, strong melodies, and plenty of hooks that compromised none of punk's ideals... Read More

Generation X - UK
Artist: Generation X
Community Score: 5.90

Original Debut is a reissue of the U.K. version of Generation X's first album. Cocky and commercial -- and sporting some of Billy Idol's better lyrics -- Original Debut is more like glam or straight power pop with punk themes than pure punk. The guitar freakout at the end of "Youth Youth Youth" is the sort of noodly guitar jam you might not... Read More

Laughter, Tears and Rage: The Anthology
Artist: Act