Synth pop was pretty disposable on the average, but this Thompson Twins record dove into the deep end of that pool with abandon. The big chart-toppers came on the next two records; this one had a few gawky would-be hits and other odd era-specific tangents. Dated but decent.

So, Golden Earring decided to follow up their smashing breaking through record Moontan with…well, Switch. Which kind of comes off like a concept record that's not a concept record. Almost as if they started one, then never finished it. Because the first half of the record - which was pretty weird - was still much more interesting than the second half, which contained some rather run-of-the-mill material. Definitely a mixed bag.

In the year of Floyd and Dark Side, Golden Earring managed to stake a claim of their own which still endures. It was more than "Radar Love", because "Are You Receiving Me" and "Vanilla Queen" were really good, too. In general, they hit a nice balance between pop, prog, and yes, glam rock. A relatively recent re-release packages differing versions of the record into one big giant album for you to check out, too. Which is probably a good idea.

Despite all indications to the contrary, this was relatively normal when it came to Kim Fowley records. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

The Boomtown Rats debuted in the punk era, but their furious, adrenaline-charged follow-up put them on the forefront of the then burgeoning New Wave movement, along with breaking them commercially in the UK. The underlying energy was undoubtedly punk, but there was so much in the way of added embellishment the music nearly bordered on prog, or at least art-rock. This was easily the most adventurous record the 'Rats and Geldof made, although the uncompromising eccentricity may turn some people off.