 | Third/Sister Lovers by Big Star
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $7.99 Even Alex Chilton could not destroy the fantastic songs he brought to the table on this pop masterpiece and what is unquestionably the most murky pop album ever.
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 | Pacific Ocean Blue by Dennis Wilson
Buy used from: $71.96 The younger Wilson relishes in the sheer joy of his own talents... Or maybe it was cocaine? Every song is brilliant. Like a Pet Sounds for 1978.
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 | Alive on Arrival by Steve Forbert
Buy used from: $2.79 Every bit as much a songwriter as Bob Dylan and every bit as much a punk as Joe Strummer.
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 | The Gift by The Jam
Buy new: $14.98 / Used from: $6.43 Make no mistake Paul Weller is one of the absolute premier songwriters to come England. The Jam were a powerful punk and r&b fueled trio that could communicate his vision better than even he realized
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 | Damn the Torpedoes by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $2.99 Petty comes as close at perfecting his Rickenbacker-jangle meets Stones hard rock swagger as he'll probably ever come.
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 | Peter Gabriel by Peter Gabriel
Buy used from: $12.97 One of my all-time favorites. Gabriel is smothered is cold and darkness yet his powerful voice never stops fighting against it with warmth and light.
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![Zenyatta Mondatta [Digipak]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31122Q10WFL._SL75_.jpg) | Zenyatta Mondatta [Digipak] by The Police
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $3.78 A truly original band that combined the best of what the 70's had to offer with the best of all the potential the 80's had. Also best drummer ever Stewart Copeland.
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 | Argybargy by Squeeze
Buy used from: $28.99 A smart band that wrote smart pop music. Don't let all those Lennon/McCartney comparisons go to your head like it eventually did them, they were a great original group.
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 | Love Over Gold by Dire Straits
Buy new: $6.99 / Used from: $4.55 This somber and entertaining rock band finally broke the mold with this fantastic artistic statement.
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 | Tim by The Replacements
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $1.48 A ferocious rock band led by one of the best songwriters of any generation. A couple of missteps? Of course! It's the 'Mats, who cares?
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 | Lone Justice by Lone Justice
Buy new: $10.98 / Used from: $1.04 The best singer in the world, Maria combined the fire of punk with the strolling swagger of Patsy Cline. The band just kept up best they could.
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 | Steve McQueen by Prefab Sprout
Buy new: $11.98 / Used from: $2.50 Tender yet immediate pop masterpiece.
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 | Skylarking by XTC
Buy new: $15.98 / Used from: $4.32 Always a good band, XTC rips off an album of pop that didn't have to be a guilty pleasure. Fantastic lyrics and melodies that would stand up in any era.
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 | Brotherhood by New Order
Buy new: $8.99 / Used from: $1.49 Clinical sounding dance beats shred about songs about humanity. Brilliant.
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 | King of America by Elvis Costello
Buy used from: $7.47 A simple album of homespun pleasures. It's great to hear Elvis rocking out with his best set of songs with a fantastic band.
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 | The Bears by The Bears
Buy used from: $39.98 Adrian Belew and some of local friends (OHIO!!!) knock out probably the best four piece rock/pop album since 1965. The melodies and harmonies are great and the guitars keep the music forward-looking.
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 | Fisherman's Blues by The Waterboys
Buy new: $8.94 / Used from: $3.40 Mike Scott uses his big music to attack the sound of Olde England and the rest of the isles. Absolutely joyous and brilliant. A peak.
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 | The Seeds of Love by Tears for Fears
Buy new: $13.98 / Used from: $4.80 Fantastically produced and smart pop music.
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 | The Stone Roses by The Stone Roses
Buy used from: $4.13 Only a band this powerful can overcome muted production and overhype. They attack each one of these pop songs like a dance number. Spectacular.
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 | Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches by Happy Mondays
Buy new: $11.98 / Used from: $0.75 A muffled jumble of stolen melodies, not-so-subtle come-ons, threats, funk and dance to the ecstacy induced limits. Greatest awful singing ever.
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 | Dear 23 by The Posies
Buy used from: $2.03 Hollies harmonies, Big Star quality writing with a unique and decidedly 90's outlook.
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 | Goodbye Jumbo by World Party
Buy new: $12.98 / Used from: $5.99 Karl Wallinger is a peerless synthesist of all that's been good about music in about the last 40 years.
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 | Woodface by Crowded House
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $0.94 An essential purchase for anyone who likes music. The melodies and performances are outstanding and the arrangements are just different enough to make this always interesting.
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 | Different Class by Pulp
Buy new: $13.98 / Used from: $3.61 Decadently beautiful. Jarvis rules.
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 | Trace by Son Volt
Buy new: $12.99 / Used from: $2.49 Emotionally stunning American rock.
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