Perhaps XTC’s most accessible album, at the very least it has their biggest and broadest sound, tempering heavy-hitting percussive force and serious sociopolitical themes with dizzying melodies and tight pop hooks. Although not quite as great or well-rounded as their other two 80s classics, it’s a thorough success. Essential 3: “Towers of London,” “Respectable Street,” “Generals and Majors”

The breakthrough for TMBG, it contains one of their earliest small hits in “Ana Ng” and lays the foundation for future efforts. If it lacks the heights of their next effort and suffers from the same inconsistency that plagued pretty much every LP the group released, such can be forgiven for so many charming winners. Essential 3: “They’ll Need a Crane,” “Ana Ng,” “Pencil Rain”

If the Raincoats’ second full-length lies deep in the shadow of their staggering debut, you still can’t call it a sophomore slump. Emotional, melodic and deceptively effortless, it’s no surprise that alternative heroes like Sonic Youth and Kurt Cobain loved them. That they’re not as well-known and admired as those two is a bummer. Essential 3: “Dancing in My Head,” “Baby Song,” “Red Shoes”

Not nearly as raucous and aggressive as some recall, “Mekons Rock n’ Roll” is a dark and despairing album, but one packed with rich and upbeat melodies, whether driven slow or fast. Lacks great individual tracks, but rarely does it falter. Essential 3: “Empire of the Senseless,” “Memphis, Egypt,” “Blow Your Tuneless Trumpet”

Appropriately swathed in grey, the Cure’s “Faith” is a somber and dreary affair, with almost none of the delicate pop hooks and sparkling harmonies that would define their dark but beautiful legacy. All the same, its consistent tone and flashes of brilliantly detached and dreamy fuzz are something to behold. Essential 3: “Faith,” “Primary,” “All Cats Are Grey”

Dark, unseemly follow-up to their debut masterpiece is somewhat similar stylistically but considerably more petulant, pessimistic and frenzied in theme and nature. It’s a somewhat difficult record, and one easily disliked and/or dismissed, but if you’re in tune, this is potent stuff. Essential 3: “I Know It’s True But I’m Sorry to Say,” “Black Girls,” “Jesus Walking on the Water”

Perhaps the last great Bowie album (I’m on the fence with “Heathen”), it makes up for some filler and the iffy single, “Fashion,” by delivering several top notch winners begging for more exposure in addition to the smashing title track. At least he began the decade near the top of his game. Essential 3: “Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps),” “It’s No Game (Part 1),” “Ashes to Ashes”

Sprawling, ambitious double album from a group that rarely recorded a song more than two and a half minutes—naturally, both the musical style and quality varies wildly over the course of the record. Not quite as great as “What Makes a Man,” but no less important, and often considered their masterpiece by fans. Essential 3: “The Glory of Man,” “This Ain’t No Picnic,” “It’s Expected I’m Gone”

Gun Club’s debut LP finds ways to both drone and chug, swing and storm, sneer and smile; in other words, sinister but compelling stuff, a mash-up of punk, blues, country and other sounds. Its worth to the post-punk movement is incalculable, but it does require the right mood to listen to this. Essential 3: “She’s Like Heroin to Me,” “Jack on Fire,” “Preaching the Blues”

The subject of New York City is hardly a new theme for Lou Reed, but he makes the most out of it on this one. Lyrically strong (and expectedly caustic) but overly familiar musical patterns mar this one just a bit. Essential 3: “There Is No Time,” “Xmas in February,” “Romeo Had Juliette”

It may be called “Graceland” but it’s inspired by world music, not the King. There’s very little linear storytelling from Simon here, either, but there’s sarcasm, satire and artsy poetry. It’s also one of the best examples of a major artist veering away from his trademark sound and actually succeeding splendidly. Essential 3: “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes,” “Homeless,” “You Can Call Me Al”

Clearly in love with 60s pop, Hitchcock summons memories of the Kinks, Beatles, Byrds, Beach Boys and many others over the course of “Fegmania.” It’s a testament to Hitchcock that in spite of such familiarity, the music remains quirky, inspired and unpredictable. Essential 3: “My Wife and My Dead Wife,” “The Man with the Lightbulb Head,” “Goodnight I Say”

The beginning of Depeche Mode’s domination of the synthesizer-driven electro pop of the era, “Black Celebration” still contains some of their earlier and rougher edge, but the hooks are perfectly realized. Essential 3: “Stripped,” “Black Celebration,” “New Dress”

Essentially a bid for a wider audience, “Diesel and Dust” is that rare instance where a softened version of a usually rough and hard-hitting band is actually more potent and engaging because of its greater accessibility. Essential 3: “The Dead Heart,” “Beds Are Burning,” “Put Down That Weapon”

A seemingly inexplicable fusion of punk and arena rock, the Alarm were something of an oddity: they loved big sounds and dressed ridiculously, but the fire, resolve and musical chops were impossible to deny. Even if “Declaration” is little more than a collection of singles, too many of them were good not to need a copy of this. Essential 3: “Sixty Eight Guns,” “Marching On,” “The Deceiver”

There’s subtle progression in New Order’s discography, but really this is just another batch of skewed electro pop songs, much like their last couple of records (the production is a bit richer, but the sensibility and style is nearly identical). If you liked them, you’ll enjoy this. Essential 3: “Round & Round,” “Dream Attack,” “Love Less”

Half an excellent album for U2, it’s still better than several of their other efforts. The strength of the two big hits is still immeasurable today; “Drowning Man” is one of their most underappreciated songs. Too bad that there are at least two or three tracks that don’t measure up. Coulda been one of the greatest EPs ever… Essential 3: “New Year’s Day,” “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” “Drowning Man”

“Tinderbox” may have a dated sound and a modestly overrated (albeit quite catchy) hit in “Cities in Dust,” but as a quaint, slice-of-its-time and clinically programmed rock record, its novel charms and nearly flawless hooks are tough to resist, so why bother? Essential 3: “This Unrest,” “Candyman,” “Party’s Fall”

Gloomy but ponderous, the Sisters of Mercy sealed their goth legacy on their debut LP. This is anthemic music for the shoegaze crowd, bleak and claustrophobic, but eternally inviting and often captivating in its skewed squalor. Certainly not a fun album, but there’s no denying its impact. Essential 3: “No Time to Cry,” “Some Kind of Stranger,” “Logic”

Depeche Mode attempted a huge, arena-friendly sound on “Music for the Masses” (the title gives away their intent), and for the most part it works. A fine blend of songcraft and the power of musical manipulation. Essential 3: “Nothing,” “Strangelove,” “Never Let Me Down Again”