Also includes tracks by Duncan Faure, Club Nouveau, Michael Davidson, Scritti Politti, and Coati Mundi. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A huge moment for Ministry – and the record that strongly brought forward all the underground styles that Al Jourgenson was bringing to the Chicago scene! The vocals and overall sound are a lot rawer than ever before – especially the earliest Ministry music, which was more in a Brit pop mode – and the record is honestly more of a Wax Trax release, as it shows Al's strong links to the industrial underground that had grown up around that Chicago label – as well as a surprising interest in hardcore too. Recorded in both Chicago and London, with some great guest work from Chris Connelly (onetime Dusty Groove employee!) – and titles that include "Deity", "The Missing", "Destruction", "Golden Dawn", "Stigmata", "Land Of Rape & Honey", and "Flashback". CD

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One of the greatest mainstream rock and roll debuts of all time – and a record that still blows away just about any other later work by The Pretenders! The set's got this raw, sneering power that's neither punk, nor new wave – but which seems to be very much of that moment – a very unique blend of the group's Ohio roots and their London experience – honed to razor-sharp perfection, but never slick or polished at all. Chrissie Hynde is quite far from her ballad modes, and brings this raw, adult vibe to the record that really sets a whole new level for women in rock – never sweet, but never sexed-up either – standing as firmly in the group alongside her masculine cohorts as she does on the cover. Production is great – oddly dark in all the right ways, but with a very simple elegance – and the album's near-perfect from start to finish – with tracks that include "Precious", "The Phone Call", "Tattooed Love Boys", "Private Life", "Kid", "The Wait", and "Mystery Achievement". CD

A great sophomore set from The Pretenders – one that almost lives up to the dark intensity of their debut – and which certainly continues the group's initial legacy in all the right ways! The album's got a few sweeter moments, but also balances things out with more of Chrissie Hynde's balls-out brashness – and the rest of the group provide sharp musical support to keep all the right raw edges in place. Titles include "Bad Boys Get Spanked", "The Adultress", "Waste Not Want Not", "The English Roses", "Jealous Dogs", "Day After Day", "Talk Of The Town", "Message Of Love", "I Go To Sleep", and "Birds Of Paradise" – plus a bonus disc packed with previouly unisued live tracks, demos, and outtakes. CD

The Ramones really caught their classic recorded sound for the first time on Leave Home – the second of their three perfect late 70s milestones. As amazing as the debut is, its two-channel shrieking buzzsaw sound bowed nicely to the slightly more digestible, but just as cathartic roar of the follow ups. Totally essential! Titles include "California Sun", "Glad To See You Go", "Suzy Is A Headbanger", "Pinhead", "What's Your Game", "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment", and "I Remember You". LP, Vinyl record album

The birth of punk rock as a bonafide genre, and not only that, a record that changed the rules – stripping rock and roll back down raw essentials – and unwittingly appearing as one of the greatest rock albums ever made. Given the stripped, buzzing simplicity, it's impossible to describe this record without sounding like a blow hard, but you really can't overstate what these four goony guys from Queens accomplished. 30-odd years of the most visceral pop music concentrated into 2 minute, 3 chord blasts of beautiful sonic catharsis – and they could barely even play! It's astonishing. Thanks boys! Tracks include "Blitzkrieg Bop", "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend", "Beat On The Brat", "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue", "I Don't Wanna Around With You", "Loudmouth", and "Today Your Love Tomorrow The World". LP, Vinyl record album

The third Ramones album, one that a sizeable chuck of the most zealous fans believes to be their very best – and they might be right! As rightfully heralded as the self-titled debut is for being the trailblazing blast and unimpeachable punk rock epiphany that it is, The Ramones really their found and perfected their signature studio sound on the follow up Leave Home and perhaps perfect it here Rocket To Russia. Song by song, they somehow concentrate 30 years of the best, rawest, most exciting rock & roll of their forbears into two and a half minutes of beautiful primal energy that still manages to qualify as ear candy. As amazing as ever! Tracks include "Rockaway Beach", "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker", "Why Is It Always This Way", "Surfin Bird", "Do You Wanna Dance", and "Cretin Hop". LP, Vinyl record album

A bit of a back to basics set from The Ramones – not exactly the raw punk of their roots, but a nicely stripped-down record that really has them doing the sorts of lean, tight material they always do best! The production is lean, but also has some of those currents that echo the way the group were such an important influence on so many others in the generation – maybe in part because of the way the guitars are recorded, with sort of Sire Records approach to a solo that so many others would pick up and use on records throughout the decade. Drums are tight, but also have a different sort of splash than the decade before – another element that makes for an archetypal 80s sound here – on cuts that include "Little Bit O'Soul", "I Need Your Love", "Outsider", "What'd Ya Do", "Highest Trails Above", "Somebody Like Me", "Psycho Therapy", "Time Has Come Today", "My My Kind Of Girl", "In The Park", "Time Bomb", and "Every Time I Eat Vegetables I Think Of You". LP, Vinyl record album

A great late 80s return to form for Lou Reed – a record set in a New York that's a bit different than the gritty one of his youth, but which is captured here by Lou with that vivid sense of songwriting that always made his urban themes some of the best in rock and roll! The set's designed to be listened to straight through – like a book or a movie, Lou mentions in the notes – and the songs are set to well-crafted guitar work mostly by Reed, augmented with work from Mike Rathke – delivered in a vocal style that's found a newly-confident way of moving between singing and speech. Titles include "Dirty Blvd", "Endless Cycle", "Busload Of Faith", "Sick Of You", "Hold On Mr Waldheim", "Xmas In February", "Strawman", "Dime Store Mstery", "Romeo Had Juliette", and "The Last Great American Whale". LP, Vinyl record album

A 70s classic from Renaissance – but a set that also feels as if it's got a sound that goes back much further in the past – maybe not to the flowering of culture after the middle ages, but maybe more to the folk rock world of the 60s! The group have some of the styles of the early 70s British acid folk generation – right down to superb lead vocals from Annie Haslam, a singer to rival Sandy Denny in terms of subtle expression and gentle emotion. But there's also maybe a richer approach to production throughout – one that foregrounds some of the electric instrumentation a bit more, and makes superb use of larger orchestrations in just the right way – really lifting the spirits of the record at all the right times. Titles include "Vultures Fly High", "Trip To The Fair", "Ocean Gypsy", and the long "Song Of Scherezade" suite! LP, Vinyl record album

A big crossover classic for the champions of the Minneapolis scene – their first for Sire and featuring some of the greatest rock songs of the 80s, be it college radio, mainstream or any thing – greatness period! The sound is a bit more polished than the Twin Tone years, but there's no scrubbing out the shambling attitude, and truth be told, the more soul-searching material here is some of the best stuff they'd ever record. Includes the all time classics "Left Of The Dial" and "Hold My Life", plus "Little Mascara, Lay It Down Clown", "I'll Buy", "Kiss Me On The Bus", "Waitress In The Sky", "Swingin Party", and "Here Comes A Regular". This massive set really adds a hell of a lot of great material to the album: CD1 and the LP feature the Ed Stasium mix of the record. CD2 features the 2023 remaster of the record. CD3 features Sons Of No One, 15 rare and unreleased demos and alternate cuts – including "Can't Hardly Wait (cello version)" and "Having Fun". CD4 features Not Ready For Prime Time – an unreleased 1986 live performance in its entirety, recorded at Cabaret Metro in Chicago – one that we're proud to say we attended! CD

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One LP of Soca numbers by David Rudder and Charlie Roots, with 'Calypso Music", "Jourvert Music", "Yes Darling", "Bahia Girl", "Kojak", "Permission To Mash Up The Place" and others. The second album features numbers by Shadow, Natasha, Baron, Duke and others from the class of '87, including "She Wants Me To Sing In The Party", "Sing Ram, Bam", "Doctor, Doctor" and 'Burn Dem". LP, Vinyl record album

A really tremendous album from The Talking Heads – and a set that moves far past their already-great early records, to really show a rhythmic complexity we never would have expected! Brian Eno is helping the group in the studio again here, and the record really shows both David Byrne and Eno's late 70s fascination with global rhythms – elements that are often used in spare, simple little ways to really help inflect the tunes with a playful imagination that goes way beyond the colder post-punk and new wave of most of their contemporaries! The balance of previous aesthetics with these new grooves is wonderful – heard to great effect on the classic club cut "I Zimbra" – but brewing up strongly underneath on gems that include "Mind", "Paper", "Cities", "Life During Wartime", "Memories Can't Wait", "Air", "Heaven", "Animals", "Electric Guitar", and "Drugs". CD

Early genius from the Talking Heads – a set that's got a much sparer sound than most of their later work, and a surprisingly groovy feel overall! The starkness of the group's debut is still very much in place – lots of tight interplay between bass and guitar – but the rhythms are also strongly pronounced too, and often get a bit funky at times – in ways that almost outdo most of the artier punk and funk that was to come in the next few years of the New York scene! Brian Eno produced the album with the group, and his sonic sensibilities really add a lot to the record – in ways that are much more subtle than his own 70s albums, but still a very big part of the set. Titles include "Thank You For Sending Me An Angel", "With Our Love", "The Good Thing", "Warning Sign", "The Girls Want To Be With The Girls", "Found A Job", "Artists Only", "I'm Not In Love", "Take Me To The River", "Stay Hungry", and "The Big Country". LP, Vinyl record album

The mindblowing first album by The Talking Heads – a bold statement by a very young band who'd go on to shape the sounds of the left field for generations to come! The sound is spare and very focused – maybe the first layer that David Byrne would then build up when adding more percussion, horns, electronics, and some of those elements from funk and global music that were such a continuing influence. Here, the group's fresh out of school, filled with imagination, and able to do so much with just a little – all led by Byrne's fantastic sense of songwriting and presentation – in a mode that's completely his own. The record's not punk, not new wave, and still continues to be in its own space of inventiveness, imagination, and forthright lyricism. Every song's a classic – and titles include "Uh-Oh Love Comes To Town", "New Feeling", "Tentative Decisions", "Happy Day", "Who Is It", "No Compassion", "The Book I Read", "Don't Worry About The Government", "First Week/Last Week Carefree", "Psycho Killer", and "Pulled Up". LP, Vinyl record album

A groundbreaking bit of work from Telex – the Belgian trio that features earlier electronic experimentalists Marc Moulin and Dan Lacksman – both artists who really refine their sound for a groovier, clubbier style that really takes off! At a time when most UK electronic outfits were still pretty cold and experimental, Telex had a more upbeat, catchy sort of approach – yet one that also was filled with all the sorts of cool twists and turns you might also find in Japanese work of the time, especially music from YMO – another trio who might be a good comparison to these guys! The set includes their classic "Moskow Diskow" – plus "Cafe De La Jungle", "Some Day Un Jour", "Victime De La Societe", "Twist A Saint Tropez", and a nice remake of "Ca Plane Pour Moi". LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet electro classic from Telex – one of those records that had the Euro trio years ahead of their time, and working with a sound that went onto influence a fair bit of American club, dance, and hip hop in the decade to come! The record is awash in all sorts of great electronics – maybe no surprise, given that the trio features earlier experimenters Marc Moulin and Dan Lacksman, both of whom work with Michel Moers to come up with a cool and groovy style that mixes keyboards, beats, and really playful lyrics – some of which are run through vocoders to really sound great! Titles include "Lakele", "Dance To The Music", "Euro Vision", "Realite", "Cliche", "Tour De France", "My Time", and "A/B". LP, Vinyl record album

Badass work from Martha Velez – a rock singer at the core, but one with some plenty soulful touches! The album's a UK effort with help from a host of top-shelf talents at the time – but the groove is pretty gritty, and almost has that key rock/funk crossover mode that female singers were hitting in the US – a somewhat colorblind groove that often worked better for a singer like Velez than it did for male vocalists trying for a similar groove. Drums are nice and heavy on some cuts, and the album sports organ from Brian Auger, guitar from Eric Clapton, and heavy bass from Jack Bruce. Titles include "Swamp Man", "I'm Gonna Leave You", "Drive Me Daddy", "Feel So Bad", "Tell Mama", "Very Good Fandango", "A Fool For You", and "Come Here Sweet Man". CD

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Features Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Stevie Winwood, John Mayall, Peter Green, and more! LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

The first US release by Everything But The Girl – mostly made up of tracks from the UK album Eden, but featuring a few extra bits. When Tracy Thorn and Ben Watt first teamed up to produce this tight little jazz pop gem, little did they know that they'd unleash a landmark sound that would forever transform the face of modern music. The record mixes jazz and Brit pop into a swirling blend of beautiful little tracks – all graced by the incredibly smart early writing of Thorn and Watt, and some spare arrangements that are a lot better than anything the band got mired in during later years. Titles include "Another Bridge", "Crabwalk", "Fascination", "Frost & Fire", "Never Could Have Been Worse", "Laugh You Out Of The House", "Mine", "Native Land", and "Riverbed Dry". LP, Vinyl record album

A great little collection that hones in on most of the best work from the second chapter of the Flamin Groovies – and which includes a few tracks from their earlier years as well! The group at this stretch were something of an anomaly, but a timeless one too – a 70s group with definite underground leanings, but holding onto some of the best elements of the 60s garage generation as well – not proto-punk, although they found a strong audience in that scene, but maybe more a revision of the past, with the sensibilities of the late 70s present – in a way that makes for a fantastically messed-up aesthetic. All the best cuts from those years are here – and titles include "Shake Some Action", "Teenage Head", "Jumpin In The Night", "Yes I Am", "Down Down Down", "Slow Death", "Yeah My Baby", "Yes It's True", "First Plane Home", "In The USA", "River Deep Mountain High", "There's A Place", "I Saw Her", "Don't Put Me On", and "Don't You Lie To Me". CD

A great move in a fresh direction for the Flaming Groovies – a set that has the group working with producer Dave Edmunds, and hitting this sweet power pop sort of sound! The Groovies still have all the tight energy of before – but they also seem to be paying tribute to an older vintage of British material – as evidenced by their 60s look on the cover, and the album's back cover parody of a stance by The Beatles! The short tracks are plenty tuneful, and Edmunds has a way of compressing the fuzz down tightly, but never in a way that makes things sound slick or commercial. Vocal chorus bits are especially great – surprisingly catchy, almost in a Brit Invasion way – and titles include "Shake Some Action", "You Tore Me Down", "I Saw Her", "Teenage Confidential", "I Can't Hide", "She Said Yeah", and "Sometimes". LP, Vinyl record album

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An early Madonna single, with production from Reggie Lucas and Jellybean Benitez. 12-inch, Vinyl record

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Titles include "Kid", "Stop Your Sobbing", "Message Of Love", "Brass In Pocket", "Talk Of The Town", "2000 Miles", "Show Me", "Thin Line Between Love & Hate", "I Go To Sleep", "Day After Day", and "Back On The Chain Gang" – plus "I Got You Babe" with UB40. CD

The start of an amazing run for The Smiths – a record that not only put the group on the map, but forever set a new standard for Brit pop in the 80s! There's a great mix of rough edges and softer emotions going on here – that trademark balance between the guitar of Johnny Marr and vocals of Morrissey – still ultra-fresh at this point, and freely voicing thoughts and feelings that might have been cloaked in more clumsy expressions a few years before. The album's overflowing with classics – and titles include "Hand In Glove", "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle", "You've Got Everything Now", "Reel Around The Fountain", "Still Ill", and "I Don't Owe You Anything". LP, Vinyl record album

9 tracks in all, including the big hits "And She Was", "Road To Nowhere" and "The Lady Don't Mind", plus "Television Man", "Perfect World", "Creatures Of Love" and more. CD

Some of the most compelling grooves the Talking Heads ever recorded – a set that sparkles with imaginative touches, and railroads forward on a wave of complicated rhythms! The sound is brilliant throughout – a genre-less approach that sheds the group's earlier art nerd aesthetic for one that's clearly influenced by late 70s funk and club – but takes that influence in a whole new direction! The whole thing's even fresher than some of the artier downtown moments that bubbled around at the time – as David Byrne and the group actually managed to cross over big with the record – hitting not only urban markets, but also getting some play from the classic rock crowd too. Brian Eno produced, and co-wrote the songs with the group – and some great Green World-esque electronics bubble through the mix, and hold the whole thing together beautifully. Titles include "Houses In Motion", "Once In A Lifetime", "The Great Curve", "Crosseyed & Painless", "Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)", "Listening Wind", "Seen & Not Seen", and "The Overload". LP, Vinyl record album

David Byrne brings his love of funk and soul to the forefront – tightening things up a bit from before, but still staying strongly in a classic Talking Heads groove! The record's possibly the last of the group's initial classic run, and has a surprisingly soulful feel at times – a hybrid of early 80s funk and club modes, played by guests who include Wally Badarou on synth, Bernie Worrell on keyboards, and Steve Scales and David Van Tieghem on percussion. Nona Hendryx sings a bit of backing vocals too – and Byrne really steps up to the grooves without ever going too far over the top. Titles include "Burning Down The House", "Making Flippy Floppy", "Girlfriend Is Better", "Slippery People", "I Get Wild/Wild Gravity", "Swamp", "Moon Rocks", "Pull Up The Roots", and "This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Papa Legba", "Love For Sale", "Puzzlin Evidence", "People Like Us", "City Of Dreams", and "Wild Wild Life". LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

Essential US release of their early material! Titles include "The Walk", "La Ment", "Just One Kiss", "The Dream", "The Upstairs Room", and their classic "Let's Go To Bed". LP, Vinyl record album

Pivotal mid 80s Depeche Mode – the record where the lyrical heaviness started to really define where the group would go from here – marrying emotionally raw words with nascent darkness tinged dance pop – and some eerie slower songs, too. Includes "Black Celebration", "A Question Of Lust", "Sometimes", "Stripped", "Here Is The House", "World Full Of Nothing", "Dressed In Black", "New Dress" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Early Depeche Mode! A Broken Frame is the group's second album, and its finds the group getting their footing exceptionally well after losing Vince Clarke. To our ears, Depeche Mode (or perhaps you can give pretty big share of the acclaim to Martin Gore, as he's credited with all the songwriting) were taking some creative chances on this one, as it was before they had a fairly defined, ultra-dramatic tone to follow. A bit underappreciated in their canon, and well worth reevaluating. Titles include "Leave In Silence", "My Secret Garden", "Monument", "See You", "The Meaning Of Love", "The Sun & The Rainfall" and more. CD

The debut of one of the most forward-thinking, longest living, unique pop music phenomenons of the 80s onward! Although Depeche Mode diehards might bristle at being lumped in with pop music giants, you really can't deny that they're often emotionally raw, even morose songs, married with a range of synth friendly production got over with a huge audience with pretty astounding success. Here where it all started, with Vince Clarke writing all the songs on this one. Titles include "New Life", "I Sometimes Wish I Was Dead", "Puppets", "No Disco", "Photographic", "Dreaming Of Me" and more. CD

Titles include "All In Your Mind", "Lips Like Sugar", "All My Life", "Satellite", "Bedbugs & Ballyhoo", and "The Game". CD

A groundbreaking collaboration between Brian Eno & David Byrne – recorded with a spare, stripped down love of electronics and found sound samples – in a mode that would have a huge influence on countless records to come! Part of the set resonates with the quirky grooves found in Byrne's early Talking Heads records – but the overall sound is much more stark than that work, and is characterized by key found vocals and odd ethnic bits that really set the tone for each new tune. Eno's influence is felt strongly in the simplicity of the tracks, and in the darkly resonant production modes – that classic Eno touch used here before it became a bit too trademark, in a way that could still make a record like this sound great, even when coming from major label sources! A key force in shaping countless genres to come in the next 25 years – with great tracks that include "America Is Waiting", 'Regiment", "The Jezebel Spirit", "Qu'ran", "Moonlight In Glory", "A Secret Life", "Come With Us", and "Mountain Of Needles". LP, Vinyl record album

The black and white cover may look a bit punk, but the Flaming Groovies continue their great move into jangle pop – working here again with producer Dave Edmunds, who really seems to find the right direction for this sound! The music is almost a pastiche of older Brit modes from the mid 60s – but served up without any sort of cliche, almost in this way that acts as an ironic reference to an imagined past – served up with a bit less upfront snarl than the previous incarnation of the Groovies, but still an edge that really comes through in the music! Titles include "Move It", "Take Me Back", "Feel A Whole Lot Better", "House Of Blue Lights", "Yeah My Baby", "Don't Put Me On", and "All I Wanted". LP, Vinyl record album

Killer work from The Flamin Groovies – a group who were already a bit out of time at their start, and who continue that approach here during the late 70s punk years – but at a way that maybe makes them stand out even more than before! The set's got a style that mixes rock roots with some rawer punk-styled production – a mode that really fits the Groovies, and seems to intensify their sound more than before – especially the lead guitar work of Cyril Jordan, who co-produced the set, and makes sure that he's right up front in the mix! The set includes a great version of the Warren Zevon tune "Werewolves Of London", a nice remake of Dylan's "Absolutely Sweet Marie", and the tracks "Jumpin' In The Night", "Next One Crying", "First Plane Home", "In The USA", "Down Down Down", "It Won't Be Wrong", "Ladyfriend", and "Tell Me Again". LP, Vinyl record album

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Nifty 2LP set that brings together a motherlode of the Impressions' best material from their ABC years – plus some of Jerry Butler's nice solo material for Mercury from the same time, and a few Curtis cuts from the early 70s. Too much to mention here, but titles include "Keep On Pushin", "Gypsy Woman", "Need To Belong To Someone", "Woman's Got Soul", "Amen", "You've Been Cheatin", "Mr. Dream Merchant", "We're A Winner", "Moody Woman", and "Only The Strong Survive". LP, Vinyl record album

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An early Madonna single – featuring some sweet Niles Rodgers production and some clubby Jellybean touches on "Like A Virgin"! 12-inch, Vinyl record

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A seminal solo set from Morrissey – one that brings together all the singles and EP tracks he issued in the last few years of the 80s – when he moved away from the solid album format of Viva Hate, and just let his ideas hit the market as they came to him! That approach was a bit like that of The Smiths – who sometimes meant more to the world in their progression of singles than albums – but it was also frustrating to fans in the digital age, especially Americans, who had less access to singles in that format – hence the need for this full length set, which turned out to be one of the strongest full statements by the singer after stepping out on his own. Titles include "Piccadilly Palare", "Interesting Drug", "November Spawned A Monster", "Ouija Board Ouija Board", "Everyday Is Like Sunday", "The Last Of The Famous International Playboys", and "Suedehead". CD

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One of the greatest mainstream rock and roll debuts of all time – and a record that still blows away just about any other later work by The Pretenders! The set's got this raw, sneering power that's neither punk, nor new wave – but which seems to be very much of that moment – a very unique blend of the group's Ohio roots and their London experience – honed to razor-sharp perfection, but never slick or polished at all. Chrissie Hynde is quite far from her ballad modes, and brings this raw, adult vibe to the record that really sets a whole new level for women in rock – never sweet, but never sexed-up either – standing as firmly in the group alongside her masculine cohorts as she does on the cover. Production is great – oddly dark in all the right ways, but with a very simple elegance – and the album's near-perfect from start to finish – with tracks that include "Precious", "The Phone Call", "Tattooed Love Boys", "Private Life", "Kid", "The Wait", and "Mystery Achievement" – plus a bonus disc packed with unreleased demo and live tracks! CD

A great sophomore set from The Pretenders – one that almost lives up to the dark intensity of their debut – and which certainly continues the group's initial legacy in all the right ways! The album's got a few sweeter moments, but also balances things out with more of Chrissie Hynde's balls-out brashness – and the rest of the group provide sharp musical support to keep all the right raw edges in place. Titles include "Bad Boys Get Spanked", "The Adultress", "Waste Not Want Not", "The English Roses", "Jealous Dogs", "Day After Day", "Talk Of The Town", "Message Of Love", "I Go To Sleep", and "Birds Of Paradise". LP, Vinyl record album

A prime Ramones classic from the late 70s – a set that's got Joey, Johnny, and crew really hitting right on the money – with the kind of short sharp tracks that made the group such a key bridge between the 60s and the blank generation! The energy here is phenomenal – the kind of nonstop, always-blistering vibe that few of their imitators could ever hope to match – and certainly never with songs that are this catchy and perfectly formed! Titles include their classic "I Wanna Be Sedated", – plus "I Just Want Something To Do", "Needles & Pins", "Questioningly", "I Wanted Everything", "Go Mental", "Bad Brain", "It's A Long Way Back", and "Don't Come Close". LP, Vinyl record album

Alright, let's get this straight right now – the songs don't sound the same, they ARE the same and that's why we love them! If you found a way to concentrate 30 years of the best rock & roll into two and a half minutes of beautiful primal energy that still managed to qualify as ear candy, would you try to change things up? Tracks include "Rockaway Beach", "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker", "Why Is It Always This Way", "Surfin Bird", "Do You Wanna Dance", and "Cretin Hop". LP, Vinyl record album

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A great late 80s return to form for Lou Reed – a record set in a New York that's a bit different than the gritty one of his youth, but which is captured here by Lou with that vivid sense of songwriting that always made his urban themes some of the best in rock and roll! The set's designed to be listened to straight through – like a book or a movie, Lou mentions in the notes – and the songs are set to well-crafted guitar work mostly by Reed, augmented with work from Mike Rathke – delivered in a vocal style that's found a newly-confident way of moving between singing and speech. Titles include "Dirty Blvd", "Endless Cycle", "Busload Of Faith", "Sick Of You", "Hold On Mr Waldheim", "Xmas In February", "Strawman", "Dime Store Mstery", "Romeo Had Juliette", and "The Last Great American Whale". LP, Vinyl record album

One of their best! After a tumultous tour for Tim, Bob Stinson left the band and they essentially recorded Pleased To Meet Me as a trio as far as the core band goes, but went down to Memphis to record with Jim Dickinson, and too our ears, that little bit of southern swagger, as paired with The Replacements still evolving blend of classic rock and punk influences and Westerberg's angry and weary songs makes this a helluva record – there are some days it's our favorite! Includes the totally great "Alex Chilton", plus "IOU", "I Don't Know", "Nightclub Jitters", "Never Mind", "Valentine", "Shooting Dirty Pool", "Skyway", "The Ledge" and "Can't Hardly Wait". CD

A fierce little live set from The Rezillos – one that comes as quite a surprise, since the group had only issued one studio set before – but a great choice overall, as the live setting really seems to set them on fire! Things here are harder, faster, and sharper than on their debut – with more punk speed and energy in the guitars, even if the songs themselves are more in a power pop mode – as tuneful as they are quick-moving! The concert was actually the group's last – recorded at a time when they'd announced a breakup – and that maybe gives the whole thing an urgency that was missing before, and which really makes us wish they'd kept recording. Titles include "Top Of The Pops"," Mystery Action", "Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonite", "Thunderbirds Are Go", "No", "Teenbeat", "Ballroom Blitz", "Destination Venus", and "Culture Shock". LP, Vinyl record album

Features Kenny Barron on piano, Ron Carter on bass, Grady Tate on drums, and David Fathead Newman on sax. CD

An essential record by The Smiths – even if it wasn't initially conceived as a full length album! The set brings together important early radio material by the group – but sounds that are recorded on a par with their album or single releases – yet often in slightly different variations that have become incredibly memorable over the years. Some material was done for John Peel – but at a level that's way better than most Peel Sessions – and honestly, to our ears, some of these versions are way better – way more urgent – than the versions that showed up on the first two albums. Given that this one was issued right around the same time as Meat Is Murder, it's a crucial part of The Smiths' history – and it's overstuffed with lots of tracks, making it almost even a better deal than the early albums. Titles include "This Charming Man", "How Soon Is Now", "Hand In Glove", "Still Ill", "Girl Afraid", "Accept Yourself", "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now", "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want", "Reel Around The Fountain", and more! CD

A special collection done for the US market after the first great run of albums by The Smiths – a double-length set that's partly a best-of, and mostly a collection of all the wonderful songs the group issued on their various singles and EP releases in the UK – none of which were originally released in America! As such, the album's a crucial component to the group's catalog – especially if you weren't buying their singles back in the day – and is filled with as much greatness as all their other albums of the period. Titles include "Girl Afraid", "Panic", "Sheila Take A Bow", "Is It Really So Strange", "London", "Half A Person", "Sweet & Tender Hooligan", "Hand In Glove", "Rubber Ring", "Ask", "Golden Lights", "Oscillate Wildly", "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby", and "Asleep". CD

A stone classic from the team of Morrissey and Marr – a record that manages to wear its politics on its sleeve, yet still express things in a highly personal way! The balance is a key part of what made The Smiths go farther than just about all their 80s Brit indie contemporaries – and is what still keeps them going so many years later – not to mention great songwriting, haunting vocals, and some damn catchy guitar! Titles include "The Headmaster Ritual", "What She Said", "I Want The One I Can't Have", "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore", "Nowhere Fast", "Barbarism Begins At Home", and "Well I Wonder". LP, Vinyl record album

A triumphant third album from The Smiths – one that really focuses the energy of their previous sets, and helps them find a new sort of sonic perfection! Those haunting guitars are still in all the right places – as are Morrissey's heartfelt lyrics – but there's also a nice balance here between humor and honesty, which may well make the album the most appealing Smiths set to our ears! Titles include "The Queen Is Dead", "Never Had No One Ever", "Vicar In A Tutu", "Cemetery Gates", "Frankly Mr Shankly", and "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others". CD

The start of an amazing run for The Smiths – a record that not only put the group on the map, but forever set a new standard for Brit pop in the 80s! There's a great mix of rough edges and softer emotions going on here – that trademark balance between the guitar of Johnny Marr and vocals of Morrissey – still ultra-fresh at this point, and freely voicing thoughts and feelings that might have been cloaked in more clumsy expressions a few years before. The album's overflowing with classics – and titles include "Hand In Glove", "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle", "You've Got Everything Now", "Reel Around The Fountain", "Still Ill", and "I Don't Owe You Anything". LP, Vinyl record album

Titles include "Tainted Love", "Sex Dwarf", "Frustration", "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye", and "Bedsitter". LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the most compelling grooves the Talking Heads ever recorded – a set that sparkles with imaginative touches, and railroads forward on a wave of complicated rhythms! The sound is brilliant throughout – a genre-less approach that sheds the group's earlier art nerd aesthetic for one that's clearly influenced by late 70s funk and club – but takes that influence in a whole new direction! The whole thing's even fresher than some of the artier downtown moments that bubbled around at the time – as David Byrne and the group actually managed to cross over big with the record – hitting not only urban markets, but also getting some play from the classic rock crowd too. Brian Eno produced, and co-wrote the songs with the group – and some great Green World-esque electronics bubble through the mix, and hold the whole thing together beautifully. Titles include "Houses In Motion", "Once In A Lifetime", "The Great Curve", "Crosseyed & Painless", "Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)", "Listening Wind", "Seen & Not Seen", and "The Overload". LP, Vinyl record album

Some of the most compelling grooves the Talking Heads ever recorded – a set that sparkles with imaginative touches, and railroads forward on a wave of complicated rhythms! The sound is brilliant throughout – a genre-less approach that sheds the group's earlier art nerd aesthetic for one that's clearly influenced by late 70s funk and club – but takes that influence in a whole new direction! The whole thing's even fresher than some of the artier downtown moments that bubbled around at the time – as David Byrne and the group actually managed to cross over big with the record – hitting not only urban markets, but also getting some play from the classic rock crowd too. Brian Eno produced, and co-wrote the songs with the group – and some great Green World-esque electronics bubble through the mix, and hold the whole thing together beautifully. Titles include "Houses In Motion", "Once In A Lifetime", "The Great Curve", "Crosseyed & Painless", "Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)", "Listening Wind", "Seen & Not Seen", and "The Overload". CD features 4 bonus tracks – "Fela's Riff", "Unison", "Double Groove", and "Right Start" – and the flipside features DVD audio of the original album! CD

David Byrne brings his love of funk and soul to the forefront – tightening things up a bit from before, but still staying strongly in a classic Talking Heads groove! The record's possibly the last of the group's initial classic run, and has a surprisingly soulful feel at times – a hybrid of early 80s funk and club modes, played by guests who include Wally Badarou on synth, Bernie Worrell on keyboards, and Steve Scales and David Van Tieghem on percussion. Nona Hendryx sings a bit of backing vocals too – and Byrne really steps up to the grooves without ever going too far over the top. Titles include "Burning Down The House", "Making Flippy Floppy", "Girlfriend Is Better", "Slippery People", "I Get Wild/Wild Gravity", "Swamp", "Moon Rocks", "Pull Up The Roots", and "This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)". This special edition features artwork by Robert Rauschenberg. LP, Vinyl record album

Way more than just a live album – as the record features material from the film of the same name – a tremendous stage performance that begins with solo David Byrne, then has the group building up as the set moves on – adding in more musicians and instruments with each new step, at a level that traces the richness of the group's sound as it emerged on the Speaking In Tongues album that was the tour that spawned the concert and the film! Because of that shift throughout, the record's way more than just a live concert – and very different than the group's previous live album too – as the performances here are markedly different, and distinct from their studio renditions – with very unusual takes on titles that include "Psycho Killer", "Swamp", "Slippery People", "Burning Down The House", "Girlfriend Is Better", "Once In A Lifetime", "What A Day That Was", "Life During Wartime", and "Take Me To The River". This version features bonus material that was only in the film, not on the previous single LP – plus the unreleased track "Big Business/I Zimbra". LP, Vinyl record album