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

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

You Must Ask the Heart
Artist: Jonathan Richman

The ambitious You Must Ask the Heart is Richman's most consistent effort in years; produced with clarity by Brennan Totten, the album is a neat summation of the singer's recent history, ranging in tone from the pensive ("To Hide a Little Thought") to the silly ("Vampire Girl") and spanning in style from country (the title track) to Spanish... Read More

Rockin' & Romance
Artist: Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers

While it is generally true that many of Richman's post-1980 albums are all but interchangeable, with their earnest naive cheerfulness, this stands as one of the best, if you like his schtick and need to make a choice. The production is sparse, accentuating the acoustic guitar and the doo wop harmonies (both male and female), with light but... Read More

The Best of Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers: The Beserkley Years
Artist: Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers

After the first Modern Lovers album, Jonathan Richman's records were enjoyable but fairly spotty. Thankfully, The Beserkley Years collects the best moments from his '70s records, when his cutesiness was endearing, not irritating. With "Roadrunner," "Pablo Picasso," "Here Come the Martian Martians," "Important in Your Life," "Ice Cream Man," and... Read More

Learning to Crawl
Artist: The Pretenders
Community Score: 9.10

Chrissie Hynde and drummer Martin Chambers reassembled the Pretenders in 1982, following the death of James Honeyman-Scott and the departure of bassist Pete Farndon. Learning to Crawl, appropriately, is the sound of a band coming to grips with loss and the responsibilities that come with maturity. Even though the subject matter is undeniably... Read More

Scarecrow
Artist: John Mellencamp
Community Score: 9.45

Uh-Huh found John Mellencamp coming into his own, but he perfected his heartland rock with Scarecrow. A loose concept album about lost innocence and the crumbling of small-town America, Scarecrow says as much with its tough rock and gentle folk-rock as it does with its lyrics, which remain a weak point for Mellencamp. Nevertheless, his writing... Read More

The Best of Nils Lofgren
Artist: Nils Lofgren
Legend: From the Original Master Tapes
Artist: Buddy Holly

For die-hard vinyl fanatics, this 20-song double-album was the virtually the first and last domestic attempt to show Holly's best work in the best possible audio, and for once MCA did something right, mostly courtesy of producer Steve Hoffman, who located first generation sources for everything here. The vinyl equivalent of From the Original... Read More

Brothers in Arms
Artist: Dire Straits
Community Score: 7.83

Brothers in Arms brought the atmospheric, jazz-rock inclinations of Love Over Gold into a pop setting, resulting in a surprise international best-seller. Of course, the success of Brothers in Arms was helped considerably by the clever computer-animated video for "Money for Nothing," a sardonic attack on MTV. But what kept the record selling was... Read More

Dire Straits
Artist: Dire Straits
Community Score: 8.75

Dire Straits' minimalist interpretation of pub rock had already crystallized by the time they released their eponymous debut. Driven by Mark Knopfler's spare, tasteful guitar lines and his husky warbling, the album is a set of bluesy rockers. And while the bar band mentality of pub-rock is at the core of Dire Straits -- even the group's... Read More

The Best of J. Geils
Artist: J. Geils Band
Community Score: 8.40

Most pop fans know of the J. Geils Band from their huge hits Centerfold" and Freeze-Frame" both of which are on their 1981 album Freeze-Frame, released two years after their first greatest hits compilation. The difference between the two sets is striking. None of the tracks on this disc come from the eight albums the group released on Atlantic.... Read More