Soft Cell -- Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret

  Honestly large doses of Marc Almond's voice or Synthpop music in general can drive me totally batty ... but in smaller increments I like both things, a hell-of-a-lot.  This is one doped out (what's that in his jacket?) weird as hell, wham-bam thank-ya-mam album ... or would it be man for these guys, I was never too sure of their sexual inclination ... personally I think they were just sexual, whether its this, that or anything else, it's evident in the lyrics of Frustration, Seedy Films and especially Sex Dwarf, I suppose they could have been faking it, catering to the burgeoning underground dance scene ... and you know what, I still like Tainted Love, eventhough it's a totally overplayed radio hit, it's still good.

Dinosaur Jr. -- Dinosaur

  Recorded way before they added the Jr. part, until a hippy super group of the same name got cheesed and made em' change it.  This record is allover the place as far as genre goes, it's hard to follow what they're trying to do, other than experimenting, which at the time no one was really trying to do Stoner Punk other than the Meat Puppets, so it's easy to understand why it sounds so random.  Dinosaur might not be their best album, but it's cool to hear where they started.

The Pixies -- Doolittle

  Monolithic classic sophomore release by Indie Rock royalties The Pixies.  Their sound mixes light minimalism with total banal insanity, their soft/ loud formula, they make me think of Pere Ubu meets Sonic Youth.  But there are radio friendly hit tracks on the record as well, reminiscent of when REM was cool.  Lyrically Black Francis, better known as Frank Black, has a surreal biblical cynicism, which can hardly be outdone ...

Arthur Conley -- More Sweet Soul

  Otis Redding protege Arthur Conley, whom is primarily know for mega hit Sweet Soul Music, which is not featured on More Sweet Soul, obviously he's trying to garner attention from his only chart topper.  The album is very good, but is it up there with my prize Soul collection, not really, it has it's moments like rocksteadied Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da and bass sensation Aunt Dora's Love Soul Shack, otherwise I file it under passably OK ...

Up The Academy

  Mad magazine's soundtrack to their cult flop film Up The Academy.  The album does feature some pretty cool Punk/ New Wave hits, primarily Roadrunner by The Modern Lovers and X Offender by Blondie, but the rest of the soundtrack is a bit of a write off.

The Scientists -- Blood Red River

  Swamp Sludge luminary weirdos The Scientists.  Blood Red River is the band's first incantation of singles.  If you ever wanted to hear something that sounds like the Cramps mixed with Mudhoney, this is the album for you!  Word is once these guys hit the road, they'd get to their destination, all four member would split up for the day, and then it's left up to the club to track em' all down to play the gig.  Killer hit track Swampland should be heard by every Punk lovin' nerdo out there ... just sayin'!

Pavement -- Slanted and Enchanted

  Abstract, nerdy, noisy, catchy debut release by monolithic Indie Rock band Pavement.  These guys totally leveled the playing field.  This album solidified the meaning and sound as to what American Indie Rock actually is/ was.  There had been some records that came close but they were always too loud or too arty, Slanted and Enchanted was able to mix all the previous Indie elements into one solid sound ... that still lives on today like an archetype.

Footnote: This opinion is a toss-up between Sebadoh III ... but that might be too arty?