 | Blue Bell Knoll by Cocteau Twins
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $4.90 a buddy recently said that this is the album he would most want to hear on his deathbed. morbidly awesome - my friend, that is. the album is just plain awesome.
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 | Ocean Rain by Echo & the Bunnymen
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $6.55 everyone knows The Killing Moon (which is great) but this album has so much more! the orchestra adds a great dimension.
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 | The Head on the Door by The Cure
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $6.90 a must have for any Cure fan.
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 | The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $4.47 always a top 5 album when considering the alternative genre.
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 | Life's Rich Pageant by R.E.M.
Buy used from: $0.01 Superman got radio play but somehow this album got lost over time. An excellent addition to any collection.
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 | Meat Is Murder by The Smiths
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $3.89 Earlier than QID, this has a more fervent, raw sound. excellent.
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 | Black Celebration by Depeche Mode
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $2.18 possibly the best DM album out there - Flies on the Windscreen - need i say more?
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 | Pleased to Meet Me by The Replacements
Buy new: $13.96 / Used from: $0.78 Alex Chilton was my favorite song for about 5 years. A very good album start to finish.
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 | The Ghost of Cain by New Model Army
Buy used from: $121.66 Many haven't heard of NMA, but this album brought a rougher edge to the British alternative offerings.
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 | Gish by Smashing Pumpkins
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $3.23 The album that started SP's ascendancy - hard, at times meandering, grunge-related riffs.
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 | Pretty Hate Machine by Nine Inch Nails
Buy used from: $2.99 What more can be said other than this album starts with Head Like a Hole and finishes with Ringfinger - and so many auditory treats in the middle.
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 | They Might Be Giants by They Might Be Giants
Buy used from: $2.79 The first time i heard this album i wondered who the hell would like something as weird and kitschy as this. Apparently i would.
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 | Flood by They Might Be Giants
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $1.75 a collection of wonderfully upbeat rhythms and creative lyrics make this one of my favorites.
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 | Mirror Moves by The Psychedelic Furs
Buy used from: $1.99 Alice's House turned me onto this album but it is solid from start to finish.
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 | Twitch by Ministry
Buy used from: $1.03 My first entree into industrial - this album stands the test of time.
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 | Doolittle by Pixies
Buy used from: $3.50 The REAL Frank Black's vocals can't be matched.
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 | Freaky Styley by Red Hot Chili Peppers
Buy new: $8.99 / Used from: $6.48 Incredibly funky.
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 | Violent Femmes by Violent Femmes
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $2.59 is there anyone under the age of 40 that hasn't owned this album at one time or another? if that person exists do them a favor and give them a copy.
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 | Speaking in Tongues by Talking Heads
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $1.92 Burning Down the House brought these guys to the public's attention but the rest of the album is surely some of David Byrne's best work.
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 | Soul Mining by The The
Buy used from: $2.47 The lyrics are truly poetic - the music is definitely on the, um, less layered/sophisticated side, but still a worthy entry.
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 | Hand to Mouth by General Public
Buy used from: $6.96 General Public was the second incarnation of the English Beat - this is by far their "poppiest" album but also by far the best.
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 | Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart by Camper Van Beethoven
Buy new: $8.94 / Used from: $4.39 A mature follow up Telephone Free Landslide Victory (I think) - the major label debut. Practically flawless.
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 | Camper Van Beethoven by Camper Van Beethoven
Buy used from: $7.96 Good Guys and Bad Guys, Joe Stalin's Cadillac - this album, I believe, captures everyting about CVB that made them such a unique treasure.
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 | Youthquake by Dead or Alive
Buy used from: $0.93 You Spin Me 'Round was popular, and rightly so, but hardly the best track on this disc.
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 | Storm the Studio by Meat Beat Manifesto
Buy used from: $5.95 The only pseudo-rave music that i can even bring myself to listen to - above that, this actually has fully textured songs that make you want to shake that thing.
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 | The Record by Fear
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $8.99 I remember when Fear performed on SNL (mostly from the reruns - it was a bit before my prime) but this hardcore addition to the list does not leave a body wanting for anything harder.
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 | Skylarking by XTC
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $5.21 A wonderful collection - probably more mainstream than the album The Big Express (which also kicks much tail).
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 | Truth and Soul by Fishbone
Buy used from: $0.99 Not a single song on this album is one that i skip over. the lyrics are powerful and the music is forceful and whimsical at the same time.
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 | London 0 Hull 4 by The Housemartins
Buy used from: $1.67 very much akin to the Smiths but a little more lighthearded and less serious. a worthy effort.
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 | Balancing Act by Balancing Act
Buy new: $21.49 / Used from: $9.86 probably a band you've never heard of. I wanted to add "New Campfire Songs" but they didn't have it in their database - if you see it, snap it up. you won't be disappointed.
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 | Blow Your Cool! by The Hoodoo Gurus
Buy new: $11.98 / Used from: $3.39 representing the southern contingent with jangling chords and gravelly vocals. nicely done.
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 | Big Lizard in My Backyard by The Dead Milkmen
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $5.04 Did anyone not listen to Bitchin' Camaro at least 500 times?
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 | 16 Lovers Lane by The Go-Betweens
Buy used from: $39.64 Truly an album filled with love songs - which actually hold up quite well.
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 | The Flat Earth by Thomas Dolby
Buy new: $12.98 / Used from: $1.90 Thomas Dolby really knew how to make a great sound - his lyrics are compelling too. I Scare Myself is an excellent ballad.
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 | Rough Night in Jericho by Dreams So Real
Buy used from: $8.94 I looked around for this album literally for years before someone finally put it up in eBay - I paid $28 for the CD and it's worth every penny.
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 | Reckoning by R.E.M.
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $2.18 another awesome REM album from before Green - when REM actually was everything that college alternative was meant to be.
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 | Suicidal Tendencies by Suicidal Tendencies
Buy used from: $7.49 one other hardcore album - I Saw Your Mommy was a favorite of the skaters in my area. Don't take the brutal lyrics so seriously and enjoy it for what it is.
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 | Some Great Reward by Depeche Mode
Buy used from: $17.99 A tremendous improvement over Speak and Spell - some catchy tunes that continue to age well.
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 | The B-52's by The B-52's
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $2.49 Considered by many to be among the progenitors of altnerative-indie.
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 | Boi-ngo by Oingo Boingo
Buy new: $6.98 / Used from: $0.01 Is there anything that Danny Elfman can't do musically? He wrote the theme song for The Simpsons, did the score for several movies and engineered this master stroke of an album. kudos.
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Listmania!
