Haircut 100's debut album, Pelican West is a widely uneven concoction of lite funk and jazzy new wave pop. Although the group's music was frequently so light it virtually disappeared, they did record a pair of classic new wave singles with the effervescent "Love Plus One" and "Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)." Although much of the record lacks the hooks of those two tracks, there's a handful of enjoyably breezy pop songs on Pelican West, such as "Fantastic Day" and "Snow Girl," that makes it worth investigating for new wave fetishists. Still, there's no denying that Haircut 100's material was often inadequate – a situation only emphasized on the American edition of the album, which places the singles at the front – and that the record sounded like a period piece just a few years after its release. [This edition features three B-sides and two 12" mixes as bonus tracks.]

The first-ever single-disc anthology of Queen drummer Roger Taylor's solo material, 2014's Best brings together tracks off all five of his studio albums. The collection follows-up the more exhaustive 2013 box-set, The Lot, and features cuts from 1981's Fun in Space, 1984's Strange Frontier, 1994's Happiness?, 1998's Electric Fire, and 2013's Fun on Earth. While primarily known for his commanding drum presence with Queen, Taylor is also a strong rock singer and talented songwriter, responsible for penning such Queen hits as "Radio Ga Ga," "Breakthru," "These Are the Days of Our Lives," and others. Vocally, Taylor has a throatier, more gravelly presence on the microphone than Queen's highly resonant, operatic frontman Freddie Mercury. In that sense, he often brings to mind the sound of such similarly inclined contemporaries as the Who's Roger Daltrey, Mott the Hoople's Ian Hunter, and Deep Purple's Ian Gillan. Perhaps not surprisingly, many of the cuts here sound like they could easily have ended up on a Queen album, and tracks like "Let’s Get Crazy," "Man on Fire," and "Strange Frontier" showcase the same synth-driven, pop/rock approach Queen was championing in the '80s.

The Liverpool duo Red Flag (brothers Chris and Mark Reynolds) released their debut album, Naïve Art, in 1989. Red Flag, like other late-'80s/early-'90s bands such as Camouflage and Cause & Effect, offer a similar mix of gloomy, synthesizer-driven dance-pop made popular by synth rock kings Depeche Mode. Derivative yet melodic, Naïve Art is a decent debut, though it eventually runs out of steam. Red Flag's obvious debt to Depeche Mode is immediately apparent in the minor club hits "If I Ever" and "Russian Radio." Though the production is a bit rough around the edges, the combination of cold synth beats and the emotionless vocal approach (similar to Depeche's Martin Gore) makes perfect dancefloor fodder for the disaffected goth pop club crowd. Like Depeche Mode's best work, what makes Naïve Art bearable is Red Flag's obvious gift of songcraft. Both "If I Ever" and "Russian Radio" are comparable to some of Depeche's best work, and although much of Naïve Art sounds the same after a while, the album flows along quite nicely. Those who criticize Depeche Mode for being pretentious and "wimpy" certainly won't find any redeeming qualities in Red Flag, but Naïve Art should satisfy fans of the genre. Recommended.

Atomic: The Very Best of Blondie is a compilation album of recordings by the band Blondie released by EMI/Chrysalis Records in the UK and the rest of Europe in late 1998, at the time when the band reunited and shortly before the beginning of Blondie's successful comeback tour. Atomic: The Very Best of Blondie includes the band's best known songs from the 70's and 80's as well as two new remixes of the title track. The compilation reached #12 on the UK charts and was certified platinum.

Blondie 4(0) Ever is a double album by American rock band Blondie. It was released on May 12, 2014, by Noble ID in celebration of the band's 40th anniversary. The two-disc package consists of Greatest Hits Deluxe Redux, a collection of re-recordings of Blondie's past singles, and the band's tenth studio album, Ghosts of Download. The latter spawned three singles: "A Rose by Any Name", "Sugar on the Side", and "I Want to Drag You Around". Blondie 4(0) Ever entered the US Billboard 200 at number 109. The album debuted at number 16 on the UK Albums Chart. On occasion of Blondie's co-headlining Australia and New Zealand tour with Cyndi Lauper in April 2017, the album reached number six on the New Zealand Heatseeker Albums chart.