Features

• Original recording remastered
• Import

Reviews (9)

Adam Ant--Punk Style
I have been a fan of Adam Ant since 1980. I saw the Jolly Roger video on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, in the middle of the night, on a snowy TV. It was love at first sight!
I'm a friend of a friend, but you don't know me.
Adam Ant's first album is a do-it-yourself light punk, pre-new wave album. It is simple and straightforward with flashes of humor. It's unlike anything else he did that followed. As such, it's an okay debut as far as debut albums go, and it's just okay as far as Adam Ant's catalogue goes. There are few gems here on "Dirk Wears White Sox" in terms of melody and memorability. I actually prefer the truncated remixed version of "Cartrouble" at the end of disc. Aside from that, there's "Zerox" and "Friends". There are a few other close calls with "Cleopatra" and "Catholic Day", but overall you have to be a hardcore punk/Adam and the Ants fan to really appreciate this one.
worth a listen
Definitely not like Kings of the Wild Frontier or anything after.At times it has the makings of a pure post punk album and other times reminds me of Trent Reznor(Whip in my Valise).It's not my favorite album but is definitely worth listening to.I would recommend that fans of Dismemberment Plan and Lou Reed give it a listen. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. England    2. New Wave    3. Pop    4. Pop/Rock    5. Post-Punk    6. Rock/Pop   

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (28)

The Lexicon Of Lovewas a bright spot in the eighties
This album came onto the scene in 1982.I was a junior in high school.After LoverBoy spread itself all over the air waves a band from Britian calling themselves ABC released The Look Of Love and Poison Arrow on MTV.It was a gtoup mixing Disco,Dance,Blues,Rock and a little Jazz while adding string textures.Most of the groups were into that mixing sounds and textures and some worked while others failed.Styx tried it with Mr Roboto and bombed! Never the less its kinda like a bad commercial,ya never forget it.Every song on this album is great to good and never lets up.Its definately a party album for us to remember the eighties rightly for that was a time period I could look back on and say. "Yep gotta love the Eighties."

The Look Of Perfection...
Why must music sound this good?! This album breaks my heart it sounds so good! I don't understand it!!! How can something look shinier than the shiniest tinsel and still have blood coursing thru it's veins. I wanna do my hair and put my best pout on, meet her by the cigarette machine, have her say she loves me then break my heart, i wanna strut, and still believe in love...
I was tempted to put 4 stars....
... but who am Ikidding, this album is simply prefection, and in future years will be looked on as a Beethovens 5th or Handels Messiah. Its a "Woodface", a "Nevermind" , one of those albums that is note perfect from start to finish.. that has you standing on top of your car singing, if James Bond was an album, he would be this one. I listended to it for the first time in years last week driving across Ireland and it was just as wonderful as when I bought it in 1982... if you have been in love, are in love, want to be in love, want to be a pop star, want to be a movie star.. buy this album. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Dance-Pop    2. England    3. New Romantic    4. New Wave    5. Pop    6. Pop/Rock    7. Post-Punk    8. Rock    9. Rock/Pop    10. Synth Pop   

Features

• Import

Reviews (8)

Wonderful album - shame about the track errors
While indeed a truly wonderful, five star classic release, it is important to note a major mistake in this issue. While the track listing on the CD packaging does reflect the contents of the original album, the CD itself is in fact missing one track, and has two others mislabelled. "Beginning" does not appear on this disc. Track 5 is actually what is listed as track 9, "In D", and track 9, rather than "In D", is an alternate mix of "Sketch For Winter" (track 7).

The Return Of The Durutti Column
Originally a punk outfit during the late '70s, the original members of The Durutti Column broke off to form their own group, leaving guitarist Vini Reilly all alone. Guided by manager Tony Wilson, Reilly came out with "The Return Of The Durutti Column" in 1979, releasing it on Wilson's own Factory Records.
An Archeology of The Durutti Column
Quite simply one of the most beautiful albums ever recorded.The complete antithesis to fellow Factory artists Joy Division, and yet a perfect complement at the same time.Much has been written about the circumstances of the recording session, but never have a series of improvisational noodlings sounded so cohesive. Ethereal, jazzy, sublime melodies that refuse to be relegated to the background.Every time I play this album I stop what I'm doing and listen.It is the only album I can think of that seems to exist out of time:it could have been recorded yesterday, or a hundred years from now.Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Experimental    3. Experimental Rock    4. Pop    5. Post-Punk    6. Rock    7. Rock/Pop   

Features

• Extra tracks
• Original recording remastered

Reviews (5)

Curious to see...
...that most reviewers here don't really acknowledge most of the songs on PORCUPINE, concentratng on the bonus tracks and the singles "The Cutter" and "The Back of Love". All well and good, but there are many more reasons to enjoy this very fine collection of Bunnymen songs. Personally, I rate this as BY FAR their best album, well ahead of popular favourites like OCEAN RAIN.
Got them on MTV
"Porcupine" got the Bunnymen on MTV in the early '80's with the video of "The Cutter", which remains the standout track on the album."Back of Love" is also a "Best of..." track, deserving inclusion on any retrospective of the band."Never Stop - Discoteque", their follow-up stand alone single after "Porcupine", is a great inclusion as a bonus track.The digital version is well worth having and the artwork is great, but other than the 3 tracks I mentioned it's still a hard listen.3 stars and a must-have if you're a fan of the band.If not, skip to a best of collection.

"Am I the half that's whole?"
How you liked your British new wave probably influenced your thoughts on "Porcupine" when it first came out in 1983. If you liked the brooding, near gothic sound of Echo via "Heaven Up Here" and the pessimistic bands that flourished at the time (think earlier Cure), you likely viewed "Porcupine" as a sell out. On the other hand, if you were into anthemic driving songs with choppy guitar (ala U2 and the Edge), the "The Cutter," "The Back Of Love" and "Clay" probably had you frothing at the mouth.Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. College Rock    3. England    4. Neo-Psychedelia    5. Pop    6. Post-Punk    7. Rock    8. Rock/Pop   

Features

• DualDisc
• Original recording remastered

Reviews (16)

Essential to understand the end of disco and 70's punk
Remain in Light by the Talking Heads is disco, punk, funk, electronica, jazz, soul, gospel and rock. I bet you have one question to ask me is that possible? Yes it is and I will tell you why. Talking Heads came out of the CBGB scene which was usually known for the punk and new wave that originated there. With the electronic edge in Remain in Light they became the way they were at the end of their career. David Byrne is considered the genius of Talking Heads but I always will think that they would have gotten nowhere if it wasn't for the band in a whole and of course the help of Brian Eno. So why should you buy remain in light because it is one of the only ways you will understand the end of disco and 70's punk.

SCRATCHED AND GOUGED DISCS; BAD HANDLING AT THE PRESSING PLANT!

Take A Look At These Hands!!..
No one agrees on the exact definition of punk, and even if some consensus was reached, the word "punk" would still evoke images of leather clad snotty young men hammering out 3 chord anthems. New wave is considered by many to be nothing more than danceable punk music boasting synthesizers and pop melody. For these reasons, I feel uncomfortable labeling Remain in Light as either a punk or a new wave album. I could say it is an alternative album, but alternative is such a broad and vague term that many fans of the alternative chart-topping groups of the 90's would tilt their head and furrow their brows in puzzlement upon hearing said alternative masterwork Remain in Light, and I wouldn't blame them. This album doesn't have the "cool" of other alternative touchstones such as The Velvet Underground & Nico, Unknown Pleasures or Nevermind. In fact, Remain in Light at times sounds downright nerdy. My utter worship and perhaps even over romanticism of this album did not take root instantly. In fact, when I first heard it, I laughed. This is what inspired bands such as Radiohead? This is what the most respected indie critics cite as the perfection of alternative music? It cannot be, as this is simply a bunch of panicky inarticulate noise! I was right in a way, but I was wrong in a way as well. Read more

Subjects:  1. Album Rock    2. College Rock    3. Experimental Rock    4. New Wave    5. Pop    6. Pop/Rock    7. Post-Punk    8. Rock    9. Rock/Pop    10. United States of America   

Reviews (46)

Kind of an interesting listen
Well, there are reasons why "A Broken Frame" is worth owning (see the cover art?) and at the same time, reasons why you may not want to buy the album. It all depends on what you go for. This is my least favorite DM album, but it's not really that bad. It's good, but not consistently great. If you prefer the early synth-pop sound, you might like this one. If you like DM's more sophisticated and complex works, I'd avoid this one like the plague. I also don't know if a fan of the more rock-style "Songs of Faith and Devotion" would be big on this.
The Best Depeche Mode Album ever made.
The Greatest Album ever made.No other album has the innocence and purity of this type of sound.It is truly a sacred album to me.Every song is incredible, remarkable and amazing.If Heaven truly exists then this has to be the music that belongs there.It is my past, present and future.

This *is* your father's Depeche Mode
As most people know, A Broken Frame is Depeche Mode's second release, the first after the departure of original member Vince Clarke (who went on to form Yaz -- Yazoo in the U.K. -- with Alison Moyet).Being the songwriter for Speak and Spell left a massive void to fill.Martin Gore took over songwriting duties for this album, and would continue to write the vast majority of Depeche Mode tunes even up to this day.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Club/Dance    3. Pop    4. Popular Music    5. Post-Punk    6. Rock    7. Rock/Pop    8. Synth Pop   

Editorial Review

Though a much-ballyhooed phenomenon that influenced modern bands as diverse as Pavement, Hole, and Flaming Lips, Liverpool's Echo & the Bunnymen tellingly had their biggest American successes ("Lips Like Sugar" and a cover of the Doors' "People Are Strange") just as they were beginning to come apart at the seams. With frontman Ian McCulloch wailing his impressionistic/expressionistic lyrics (occasionally so obtuse it was hard to tell which adjective applied) over Will Sergeant's fevered, jaggedly hypnotic guitar lines like a shamanic voice in the wilderness, the Bunnymen didn't so much push rock's boundaries as redraw them entirely to their own grand specifications. Compiled with a fan's zeal and the frank circumspection of hindsight, this richly annotated (including running track-by-track commentary by McCulloch and Sergeant) four-disc set documents the Bunnymen from their awkwardly determined '79 tracks and singles through highlights from their '80s albums and a gratifying late '90s comeback. Sprinkled generously throughout are singles, B-sides, Peel Session outtakes, and live tracks that add insightful details to their compelling, if decidedly star-crossed tale. Disc four will be especially welcomed by the faithful, containing mostly live tracks from '83 to '87 and an unlikely, eclectic array of covers ranging from Dylan's "It's All Over Now" and the Stones' "Paint It Black" through the Doors, Lou Reed, and Television that suggest these were impossibly ambitious musicians who made their mark first and discovered their roots later. Read more

Features

• Box set
• Original recording remastered

Reviews (25)

the Wedding Present
after reading D.Foxley's review, i had to put in my few cents... i have loved the Bunnymen for as long as i can remember (i too am a product of the 80's). i swore that i would never be interested in a partner who didn't at least like them... and i never dated a boy who didn't. THANK GOD my husband loves them, cause i love him, but i don't think i would if he didn't have a taste for Echo & the Bunnymen. they are one of my all time top 3 bands. this boxed set is soooo worth it! enough...

Cherry pickers v Collectors
Who are these boxed sets that anthologize the work of a band or artist across the decades intended to cater for? Is it the newcomer who wants an instant collection and expects to find the cream of their recorded output on one disc? Or is it the collector who has all the albums but is anxious to own digital copies of early singles and rarities, and hopes to find previously unreleased gold dust?
Shining stars
I was not a Bunnymen fan before purchasing this boxed set but it quickly changed my mind. While Bunnymen fans are intimately familiar with the many chart-making songs, many people like me have forgotten such but will be delighted upon again hearing. Plus, there are so many great songs which I was previously ignorant. And, I love the cover versions of hits such as Paint It Black, In the Midnight Hour, All You Need Is Love, and Heroin. While the price may seem high, you can occassionally find this collection or $32 - $33 and it is worth every dollar, especially since each CD has 16 - 20 tracks. There is so much good material that it would take pages to write reviews. Thankfully this collection allows the Echo to reverberate. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Box Sets (Audio Only)    3. College Rock    4. England    5. Neo-Psychedelia    6. Pop    7. Post-Punk    8. Rock    9. Rock/Pop   

Features

• Import

Reviews (23)

Got to be a die hard fan to listen to this!
Listen, on the surface this pretty much stinks.
Pistol Image
I love this album and i love P.I.L, but you people dont understand the greatness of the Sex pistols, a lot of u just want to say you hate the Pistols because you want to be artsy and have a Image of yourself, and I'm saying that as an artist.
Great first album
According to Lydon most of the songs on this album were meant to be recorded by the Sex Pistols,but the other members,along with McClaren,thought the songs were too controversial. Ironic,eh?
Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Experimental Rock    3. Noise-Rock    4. Pop    5. Post-Punk    6. Rock    7. Rock/Pop   

Features

• Original recording reissued

Reviews (7)

Prepare to Be Mesmerized
I was given this album by a friend.I'm not a connoisseur of international music, but I must say I was instantly captivated by this musical compilation.The songs have a catchy, relaxing quality to them.

still love it after 15+ years
I bought the original about 15 years ago in cassette tape form
This disc introduced me to Brazil
What a great CD. I have all of Byrnes Brazilian discs and wish he would issue more. He really captured what makes Brazilian music great with his first three discs in this series. Still, this one is really special. The fourth and fifth disc in this series are dedicated to the artist Tom Ze who is brilliant in his own weird way. This first disc makes you just want to dance all over your living room. I wish Byrne would release more. Of course I now have a lot of the cds by the original artists, but this is the one that hooked me. Buy and enjoy. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Afro-Brazilian    2. Alternative Pop/Rock    3. Bossa Nova    4. Brazil    5. Brazilian    6. Brazilian Pop    7. Experimental Rock    8. Int'l & World Music    9. Latin Continuum    10. MPB    11. Pop    12. Post-Punk    13. Prog-Rock/Art Rock    14. Samba    15. Tropicalia    16. World    17. World Music   

Editorial Review

Given that the B-52's 1998 greatest-hits package, Read more

Reviews (26)

Worth Every Penny
Nude On The Moon-The B-52's Anthology is the most definitive B-52's collection released to date. The two disc set was released by Rhino in 2002. The set includes 35 songs recorded between the late 70's and mid 90's.
A 35-Song Collection from "The B-52's"!
Early in 2002, the rock band from Athens, GA known as "The B-52's" was able to release a two-CD set of their greatest-hits in an album entitled "Nude On The Moon: The Anthology".Unlike their earlier single-CD greatest hits album from 1998 entitled "Time Capsule: Songs for a Future Generation", "Nude on the Moon: The Anthology" does not feature any new songs; but does include twice as many of their wonderful songs recorded between the years of 1979 to 1998.Thus, all 35 songs included on "Nude on the Moon: The Anthology" are from the following albums: their self-titled album from 1979, "Wild Planet" (1980), "Mesopotamia" (1982), "Whammy!" (1983), "Bouncing Off the Satellites" (1986), "Cosmic Thing" (1989), "Good Stuff" (1992) and one of the two new songs that was included on their 1998 greatest hits album "Time Capsule: Songs for a Future Generation". My ratings for each of the 35 songs included on this two-CD album are listed below:
Good stuff...
Rhino should get an award for improving the quality of life for its customers. This collection is a blast. In addition to all their "good stuff", it includes a couple of re-mixes and live versions of "Whammy Kiss" & "Quiche Lorraine". The booklet alone gets five stars. There are tons of cool photos of this photogenic band and lots of memorabilia to look at. 50 pages of info including an essay by each band member and a very informative, well written history of the band written by Rolling Stone writer Michael Azerrad.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. College Rock    3. Jangle Pop    4. New Wave    5. Pop    6. Pop/Rock    7. Popular Music    8. Post-Punk    9. Rock    10. Rock/Pop    11. United States of America   

Features

• Original recording remastered
• Import

Reviews (15)

The best Talk Talk album
This was the peak of the bands creativity. The music and lyrics create a perfect unit. The lyrics are often hard to understand and cryptic but they are so much a part of the music itself that you end up not minding much. When you finally figure the meaning of the words out, there is no surprise, because somehow you get the message even if you understand only 20% of the words. That, in my definition, is how a perfect song should be. The album somewhat foreshadows the even more melancholy and experimental direction that the group took after "The Colour of Spring". Unfortunately that led them too far from the mainstream, and eventually, music altogether. But this album is the peak effort of one of the most talented bands of the 80's.

One of the best albums of all time
This album was so unexpectedly ahead of its time in 1986 people are still catching up to it twenty years later, although that's not a bad thing.Colour of Spring is one of those rare albums that can be appreciated on a lot of levels.The first thing people always notice about Talk Talk is Mark Hollis's unique nasal-congested voice, and his slurred annunciation.It's often hard to make out the lyrics of a Talk Talk song, which in an odd way is what makes them interesting, in the same way that Michael Stipe's delivery adds a little bit of enigma to a lot of early REM songs.While many of the lyrics are a bit cryptic, Hollis offers a generally philosophical look at humanity, although at moments he can turn quite caustic.As hinted in the album title, there's a general interest here in the cycle of nature, and thus this album's positioning in "spring" reflects a desire to simplify and focus on the important things in life, admonishing listeners not to lose sight of the importance celebrating the simple beauty of the world and living for the present.It's not all oblique cryptograms however, as in this verse from the opening track "Happiness is Easy"
Wonderfully creative - new wave just doesn't get better than Talk Talk
The 80's was a decade filled with great new wave songs - A-Ha's "Take On Me" is but one example. What separates Talk Talk from, say, A-Ha is how creative they are - they definitely follow standard song structure here, but the instrumentation is very organic and spontaneous at times. You can tell these guys aren't simply trying to cash in on a popular genre. This is most clearly evident when one listens to the album that follows this one, "Spirit Of Eden", which completely abandons new wave in favor of post-rock/experimental/ambient rock. These guys are, simply put, overlooked geniuses (if you were to ask most people if they ever heard of Talk Talk, I'm pretty sure almost everyone would say no). Mark Hollis' voice is very new wave - he has a distinctly 80's sound and his voice sounds like he's a little timid. The lyrics are pretty good, but it's not really the focus of the songs. It's mainly a nice and atmospheric new wave album - the instrumentation is the key. Every song features extremely creative ideas that verges on experimental rock. Most people should really like this album as well as its follow-up "Spirit Of Eden". This album also features lesser-known 80's hits including "Happiness Is Easy" and "Life's What You Make It". If you're looking for a great new wave record, "The Color Of Spring" will amaze you. Highly recommended!
Read more

Subjects:  1. Experimental Rock    2. New Romantic    3. New Wave    4. Pop    5. Pop/Rock    6. Post-Punk    7. Rock    8. Rock/Pop    9. Synth Pop   

Features

• Original recording remastered
• Import

Reviews (6)

The record that trought the Ants jaggernaut to a screeching halt.
Impossibly bad. Unlistenable. Adam (with or sans the Ants) made some fun, catchy, interesting and enduring music, but none is on this album (except "Stand and Deliver" which was, is, and always will be brilliant fun.) A betrayal and a swindle.

Hope you remember how to do The Prince Charming...
Generally the weakest of the three original Ants albums the remastering job does the album some justice. Songs really stand out now where in the past they sounded much flatter and dull.
Put some wax on the trax and slide on outa here!
At this point Adam and the Ants could do no wrong in 1981. This is their most realized and fun work. Of the ten original songs there's not a wasted note. Each song plays perfectly off the last. In America, the only song I saw a video for was "Prince Charming", but there were other great songs like "Scorpios", "Picasso Visita El Planeta De Los Simios", "Five Guns West", "That Voodoo", "Stand And Deliver", "Mile High Club", "Ant Rap", "Mowhok" and "S.E.X." are also as equally campy and entertaining. This is truly a fun album and no one makes music like this anymore.
Read more

Subjects:  1. New Wave    2. Pop    3. Pop/Rock    4. Post-Punk    5. Rock    6. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

The self-titled debut from alternative music's favorite dork-rockers launched a career based on absurd lyrics planted in wildly diverse musical garden. Songs like "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head" and the New-Wavish tributary "Youth Culture Killed My Dog," are sung with an Andy Kaufman-like sensibility that leaves one questioning their sincerity. In contrast, the tune "Don't Let's Start" is relatively sweet and earnest. Musically, TMBG stray from the country honker "Number Three" to the glam-rocker "(She Was a) Hotel Detective," adapting accordion, fuzz-boxed guitar, and electric piano to suit their purposes. Perhaps the most subversive mockery of all is how TMBG write extremely catchy melodies that "serious" musicians would love to claim as their own. "His shoes are laced with irony" goes a line from "Hide Away Folk Family." That pretty much ties it up. Read more

Reviews (32)

Everyone dies frustrated and sad and that is beautiful.
This, of course, was the first album by They Might Be Giants.It established their "formula" of short songs with catchy melodies and silly lyrics.It is somewhat overlooked today, because TMBG almost never play any of these songs in concert anymore.But it does feature a number of classic TMBG songs, like "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head", "Don't Let's Start" and "Hotel Detective".Some of the other songs don't quite hold up as well, but it's a solid first album that would lead to (arguably) better things.

THE FIRST AND THE BEST - A CLASSIC
Back in 1990 on the school bus - I saw that cartoony cover art from my friend's cassette tape and asked, "What the heck is that?" He let me borrow it that day and I've been a fan ever since.
The Best at the Beginning
With a completely different sound of later albums, TMBG's debut album contains lots of the classics (Don't Let's Start, Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head, She's an Angel), favorites (Everything Right Is Wrong Again, Nothing's Smelling Like a Rose, Rhythm Section Want Ad) and some bizarre They Might Be Giants tracks (Toddler Highway, Rabid Child). If you are a They Might Be Giants fan or a Geek Rock fan, you will not be disappointed with this CD. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. College Rock    3. Indie Rock    4. Pop    5. Pop Underground    6. Post-Punk    7. Rock    8. Rock/Pop