A brilliant, accomplished debut, Look Sharp! established Joe Jackson as part of that camp of angry, intelligent young new wavers who approached pop music with the sardonic attitude and tense, aggressive energy of punk and delivers a set of bristling, insanely catchy pop songs that seethe with energy and frustration. Look Sharp! is the sound of a young man searching for substance in a superficial world -- and it also happens to rock like hell.

Ian Dury's music always bordered on the functional, since it was used as a backdrop for his wry vignettes and stories, but on his second album that aspect came to the fore. Do It Yourself remains one of Dury's very best records, since his lyrical facility throughout the album is simply amazing.

Ian Dury's primary appeal lies in his lyrics, which are remarkably clever sketches of British life delivered with a wry wit. Since Dury's accent is thick and his language dense with local slang, much of these pleasures aren't discernible to casual listeners, leaving the music to stand on its own merits. On his debut album, New Boots and Panties!!, Dury's music is at its best, and even that is a bizarrely uneven fusion of pub rock, punk rock, and disco.

Collector's Edition of Mick Hucknall and the gang's debut album featuring five bonus remixes on the CD plus a DVD that contains a Montreux Jazz Festival 1986 concert, filmed at the time of the album. Picture Book was originally released in 1985 and spawned two hit singles 'Holding Back The Years' and 'Money's too Tight To Mention' which are still popular favorites for many fans. The extended 16 page booklet includes extra pictures and brand new notes.

So ubiquitous is UB40's grip on the pop-reggae market today, that it will be difficult for younger fans to comprehend just how their arrival shook up the British musical scene. Their rhythms may have been reggae based, their music Jamaican inspired, but UB40 had such an original take on the genre that all comparisons were moot. Their fire was dampened quickly, but on Signing Off it blazed high. Still accessible to the pop market, but so edgy, that even those that are sure there's nothing about the group to admire will change their tune instantly. A timeless masterpiece.

Mike Scott had been pursuing his grandiose "big music" since he founded the Waterboys, so it came as a shock when he scaled back the group's sound for the Irish and English folk of Fisherman's Blues. Although the arena-rock influences have been toned down, Scott's vision is no less sweeping or romantic, making even the simplest songs on Fisherman's Blues feel like epics. Nevertheless, the album is the Waterboys' warmest and most rewarding record, boasting a handful of fine songs as well as a surprisingly successful cover of Van Morrison's breathtaking "Sweet Thing." [This special collectors edition includes a bonus disc containing fourteen outtakes, alternate versions and late-night studio jams. The re-mastered original includes extended versions of "And a Bang on the Ear" and "World Party."]

An audio biography of Grace Jones, produced by Trevor Horn, it's a sonic treat along the lines of Yes's 90125 or Frankie Goes to Hollywood's first album (both produced by Horn). The music ranges from slick R&B runaway grooves to striking audio montages, interrupted occasionally by conversation about Jones's life. Serious ear candy.

Grace Jones teamed with the great reggae production duo of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare on this '80 album, and made the transition from straight dance and club act into quasi-pop star with reggae and urban contemporary leaning. The single "Private Life" was one of her best, and the overall album had more energy and production gloss than previous LPs that had been aimed completely at the club market.

By all means a phenomenal pop album, Nightclubbing saw Grace Jones working once again with Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, and the remainder of the Compass Point team. Nightclubbing also continues Jones' tradition of picking excellent songs to reinterpret. This time out, the Police's "Demolition Man," Bill Withers' "Use Me," and Iggy Pop's "Nightclubbing" receive radical reinterpretations.

With their creative prowess in high gear, the 1982 album Forever Now pushed the Furs over the cusp. Produced by legendary musician/producer Todd Rundgren, and driven by the anthem "Love My May" Forever Now established the band as one of the lasting icons of their era. Digitally remastered edition with 6 extra tracks.

One of Scotland's finest imports, Simple Minds deliver a strong synth-reared release on New Gold Dream. This album harks the darker side of the band's musicianship, and such material alludes to their forthcoming pop-stadium sound. But Simple Minds' skill of tapping into internal emotion is profound on songs such as "Someone, Somewhere in Summertime" and the album's title track. And the dance-oriented tracks are lushly layered in deep electronic beats — it was only a matter of time for Simple Minds to expound upon such musical creativity which made them a household favorite through the 1980s.

A group whose distinctly ethereal and gossamer sound virtually defined the enigmatic image of the record label 4AD, Cocteau Twins were founded in Grangemouth, Scotland, in 1979. Treasure is their most mature and consistent work.

Mark Hollis' self-titled debut picks up where he left off with Talk Talk's Laughing Stock seven years earlier, re-emerging at the nexus point where jazz, ambient, and folk music collide. It's quite possibly the most quiet and intimate record ever made, each song cut to the bone for maximum emotional impact and every note carrying enormous meaning. Hollis paints his music in fine, exquisite strokes, with an uncanny mastery of atmosphere that's frequently devastating.

It's Immaterial has qualities that can't be discerned from one listen, at least on the band's debut LP, Life's Hard and Then You Die. Patience is really needed to let this record's oddball hooks kick in. Musically, the LP is all over the place -- new wave, country, blues, folk, and synth pop. Somehow the smorgasbord of styles works, because the bandmembers aren't being eclectic just for the sake of it; they simply have a wide canvas, keeping the album fresh from beginning to end. The CD adds three bonus cuts -- the gripping "Washing the Air" and different versions of "Ed's Funky Diner" and "Driving Away From Home."

One of the finest debuts of the '80s, and possibly the defining album of the whole U.K. indie jangle scene that also included Prefab Sprout, Aztec Camera, and dozens of other bands, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions' Rattlesnakes is a college rock masterpiece of smart, ironic lyrics and sympathetic folk-rock-based melodies.