After New Order released their own Substance compilation in 1987, it was perhaps inevitable that a similar and long-overdue collection would apply to Joy Division, especially given the out-of-print status of many of the band's singles. The end result turned up in 1988, and as a listen easily demonstrated that the same sheer sweep and energy that applied to the band over a full-length album similarly worked, even more so, with the focus of a 7" or 12" release. Though the earliest tracks like "Warsaw" and "Leaders of Men" were a strange sort of art punk, there was already something distinct about the group, and by the time of "Digital" and "Autosuggestion," it was perfectly apparent.

Instead of settling down in front of the mixing board for another dance album (a lá Technique or Republic), New Order returned in 2001 with a sound and style they hadn't played with for over a decade. Unsurprisingly bored by the stale British club scene circa 2001, the band opened Get Ready with a statement of purpose, a trailer single ("Crystal") featuring a host of longtime New Order staples: a sublime melody, an inscrutable set of lyrics, a deft, ragged guitar line kicking in for the chorus, and Peter Hook's yearning bass guitar taking a near-solo role. Though there are several allowances for the electronic-dance form New Order helped develop, Get Ready is a very straight-ahead album, their first work in 15 years that's focused on songwriting and performance rather than grafted dance techniques…

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. Taking their name from an obscure song from fellow Scots Simple Minds, the Cocteaus were originally formed by guitarist Robin Guthrie and bassist Will Heggie and later rounded out by Guthrie's girlfriend Elizabeth Fraser, an utterly unique performer whose swooping, operatic vocals relied less on any recognizable language than on the subjective sounds and textures of verbalized emotions.

There's a cool aggression to 1983's "Rebel Yell," Billy Idol's second album that is equal parts new-wave, metal, punk, and pop. Although his debut was a hit and remains a classic, it was "Rebel Yell" that is his masterpiece. The album reunited Billy with the hit-making team of producer, Keith Forsey and the atmospheric guitarwork of Stevie Stevens that can only be called rock & roll nirvana. The album reached #6 on Billboard's Top 200 propelled by four hit singles including, "Rebel Yell," the eloquently gorgeous "Eyes Without a Face" with the haunting female backup singing of Perri Lister, and "Flesh for Fantasy" all of which were hit music videos. With a permanently snarled upper lip and the perfect matinee-idol blond hair, Billy Idol made punk rock palatable for MTV and the masses.

Tastes and sounds were changing quickly in the late '80s, which prompted New Order's most startling transformation yet - from moody dance-rockers to, well, moody acid-house mavens. After the band booked a studio on the island hotspot of Ibiza, apparently not knowing that it was the center of the burgeoning house music craze, New Order's sure instincts for blending rock and contemporary dance resulted in another confident, superb LP. Technique was the group's most striking production job, with the single "Fine Time" proving a close runner-up to "Blue Monday" as the most extroverted dance track in the band's catalog. Opening the record, it was a portrait of a group unrecognizable from its origins, delivering lascivious and extroverted come-ons amid pounding beats. It appeared that dance had fully taken over from rock, with the guitars and bass only brought in for a quick solo or bridge…

A fairly standard trawl through Lene Lovich's back pages, rounding up all the hits and near misses that punctuated her four years at Stiff Records, backed up by more choice album cuts than one might remember there being. For obvious reasons, the Stateless debut album predominates here, with the manic flurry of "Lucky Number," "Say When," and "I Think We're Alone Now" positively refusing to leave your head once you've heard them again. Moving on, the enthralling "Bird Song" reminds you what Kate Bush once seemed capable of accomplishing (at least until Hazel O'Connor came along and devalued the whole thing), while a delicious cover of Frankie Valli's "The Night" still out-dramas any other version you could name. Lovich's later years, however, still sound as unremarkable as her early releases were astonishing, with the annoying "New Toy" single, and 1982's barely memorable "It's You (Only You)" closing the chronology in disappointing fashion. For anyone uncertain about rushing into Stateless itself, however, this is where you test the water. You'll be plunging in at the deep end soon enough.

As part of The Stranglers' celebration of their Ruby Anniversary, the definitive collection of the B-side recordings they made whilst signed to Epic is released for the first time, via their own label. Appropriately, as befits a band marking forty years together, Here & There: The Epic B-sides Collection 1983-1991 gathers 40 tracks across 2 CDs and is also released as a 40 track digital package. The Stranglers released no less than 13 singles in the UK during this period, which saw them produce five albums: four studio and one live. The Stranglers signed to Epic Records in 1982 having been with United Artists / Liberty since 1977. The change of label coincided with changes in marketing policy across the UK industry - often dubbed "the Frankie Goes to Hollywood effect". Previously, The Stranglers' had released only one 12" single - an extended version of Bear Cage in 1980 - but from 2nd Epic single, Midnight Summer Dream until 1990, each release had a 12" version which required extra studio or, increasingly, live tracks to "add value" to the package.

It would have been easy to write off the Banshees after the so-so Superstition, especially given the fact that it came after two uneven and disappointing albums (including the unnecessary covers collection Through the Looking Glass) Frankly, one of punk's most consistently invigorating acts seemed to have run their course. Sure enough, The Rapture proved to be their final recording. The surprise is that it's a career highpoint. The band deny, incidentally, that they knew this was to be their last album. Quite how Siouxsie, Severin and Budgie rediscovered their chemistry is a moot point - some credited producer John Cale, who worked on four tracks - but rediscover it they did. Despite nods to the band's past in the savage "Not Forgotten," the real gems are the sunny-side-up "O, Baby" (when did Siouxsie ever sound so genuinely happy?) and an 11-minute title-track that is as dazzling as anything they have ever performed. A classic case of leaving the scene on a high note, and a fitting final chapter from one of punk's finest, and most dignified, bands.

Superstition is a similar album to that of Peepshow, this time with more precise production and a lighter feeling to many of the songs. While Siouxsie and the Banshees albums like Tinderbox and Juju were dark affairs, Superstition's sound is representative of the pink of the album cover. A softer pop sound, mixed with the Banshees' penchant for minor keys and strange imagery. They manage to pull it off quite well on most tracks. "Fear (Of the Unknown)" and "Drifter" are classic Siouxsie stuff, and "Kiss Them for Me" gave them their first significant entry into the U.S. singles charts. But it's tracks like "Silly Thing" that hold this album back. This track manages to do what the Banshees had avoided all their career – sounding like someone else. One of their most accessible albums, Superstition has appeal without losing its edge.