The Bangles combined the chiming riffs and catchy melodies of British Invasion guitar pop with a hint of the energy of new wave. In the process, they became one of the handful of all-female bands of the '80s to win both critical and commercial success. The critical success came first – with their self-titled debut EP and full-length album, All Over the Place – and popular success arrived once they polished their sound, added some synthesizers, and deviated slightly from their trademark jangling guitar hooks. Once they were selling at the platinum level, the Bangles didn't stay together long, but they left several pop gems in their wake.

2011 is the sixth album the Smithereens have released since 2007, but it's the first in a while that hasn't seemed like the product of a band just making busy work. After two albums of Beatles covers, one devoted to an edited version of the Who's Tommy, a Christmas album, and a live disc, 2011 finds the Smithereens finally recording a full set of new and original material for the first time since 1999's God Save the Smithereens, and it represents a return to form in more ways than on…

Matthew Sweet's essential 1991 power-pop tour-de-force gets its high-res due on Intervention's Expanded Edition release. In addition to including the original CD release's 15 tracks, this hybrid CD/SACD includes three demo tracks not included on the original release- "Good Friend," "Superdeformed" and "Teenage Female."

The Smithereens released Blow Up, their bid for crossover radio play, in September 1991, just two weeks before Nevermind appeared in stores. Once grunge broke through, the Smithereens were effectively edged out of the college radio market, and it wasn't long before mainstream radio turned their back as well. There was no place to go except back to their roots. Again hiring Don Dixon as producer, the Smithereens made A Date with the Smithereens – a classic Smithereens album in the vein of Especially for You but with the sound of 11…

The Smithereens already have a single-disc compilation, 1995's excellent Blown to Smithereens: The Best of the Smithereens. Released in 2004, From Jersey It Came! The Smithereens Anthology expands on that collection, taking 15 of its 16 songs (a cover of the Outsiders' "Time Won't Let Me" is left behind) and adding 24 other tunes, including their version of "Downbound Train" from a Bruce Springsteen tribute and a selection from 1999's God Save the Smithereens, for a grand total of 39 tracks over two discs…

At first glance, a Smithereens rarities compilation might seem like an odd release. After all, the band was never had more than one gold album and none of their singles cracked the Top 30. That doesn't mean the band didn't have fans, however, nor does it mean that their music was undistinctive, as Attack of the Smithereens proves…

Cheap Trick may no longer be playing the stadiums that the group's monumental talent surely warrants, but they do have one of the most loyal cult followings in all rock & roll. Thus, when Epic Records decided to release a four-disc box set celebrating the quartet's 20th anniversary with the label, someone there was smart enough to let the band put together a collection for the collectors. Which means 32 of the 64 tracks here are previously unreleased, including many live cover tunes (Beatles, Velvet Underground), demo takes, and a few things only a fan would want. Some hits are here (including "Surrender"), but, as a good example, there's no "He's a Whore," which Cheap Trick probably figured their fans should already own.

The Smithereens' superb full-length debut Especially for You marries an unapologetically nostalgic affection for the melodic crunch of the British Invasion era with an equally unapologetic helping of postmodern melancholia…

Charm School is the eighth studio album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on 11 February 2011 by Roxette Recordings and Capitol. It was their first studio album since 2001's Room Service, and their first since vocalist Marie Fredriksson's brain tumour diagnosis in 2002. "She's Got Nothing On (But the Radio)" preceded the album as its lead single, which became the duo's highest-peaking single in almost two decades in territories such as Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The song also entered Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart—making Roxette the only duo who appeared on that chart in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.