 | Technique by New Order
Buy used from: £4.29 Technique was initiately meant to be recorded in Ibiza only to be delayed by the band partying too hard! Influenced by the hedonism of Acid House, this is technopop par excellence.
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 | Doolittle by Pixies
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £3.34 Featuring the ultimate Pixies song - Debaser, Doolittle is another trawl though the Pixies world of sado-maschosim, death, and mutilation.
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 | Daydream Nation by Sonic Youth
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £3.69 The classic Sonic Youth lp that every shoegazer worth their salt owns. Daydream Nation is a violent, thrilling, and evocative sprawl through the dying light of the 1980s.
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 | Age of Consent by Bronski Beat
Buy used from: £3.67 Smalltown Boy is of course a gay classic and this album is equally important in much the same way that certain things needed to be said about what it meant to be gay in the 80s. Seek it out.
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 | I Am a Wallet by McCarthy
Buy new: £8.79 / Used from: £5.58 Out of all the C86 groups McCarthy were the most political and angry. Adored by the Manics, I Am a Wallet is a succint attack on capitalism, Thatcherism, right-wingers and general stupidity.
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 | Hatful of Hollow by The Smiths
Buy used from: £8.99 Yes, I think this is a good record but I don't believe this is a better lp than The Smiths. Besides this, Hatful is a good collection of the bands early BBC sessions and some brilliant b-sides.
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 | Heaven Up Here by Echo & the Bunnymen
Buy used from: £3.99 Pete de Freitas' drumming on this record is astounding and the Bunnymen begin to properly gel as a band here. Morose and ever-so full of angst, it captures them at their moodiest and most magnificent.
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 | Some Great Reward by Depeche Mode
Buy used from: £3.58 Originally known as Perversions only to be retitled so as to not alienate their teeny-bop fanbase, it see's DM take on such weighty topics as religion, violence, and S&M. Brilliant.
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 | Dare! by The Human League
Buy used from: £1.10 The perfect pop album of the 80s, Dare's steely stare is nonetheless intimidating. Whether musing on nucleur war or Judge Dredd, it's electronic revolution is absorbing.
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 | Psychocandy by The Jesus and Mary Chain
Buy used from: £6.95 The Scottish Sex Pistols whose early gigs often resulted in riots. Noisy and influenced just as much by 60s girl groups as well as the Beach Boys. Any record collection is incomplete without this gem.
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 | Crocodiles by Echo & the Bunnymen
Buy used from: £5.07 Here are the young men and with this stunning debut the Bunnymen laid the blueprint for every worthwhile indie band for the next 20 years. Men are men and stars are stars.
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 | Construction Time Again by Depeche Mode
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £4.93 The first album where Depeche got all industrial on us and started banging bit's of metal. Everything Counts is also the best song yet to attack the greed of modern capitalism, love the cover too.
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![Green [Double Disc: Digipack CD + DVD-A w/video]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61XSTHF509L._SL75_.jpg) | Green [Double Disc: Digipack CD + DVD-A w/video] by R.E.M.
Buy new: £11.98 / Used from: £9.54 REM's major label debut and still as political as ever with agent orange and Reaganism given a good kicking. The best U.S. band of the 80s.
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 | Kilimanjaro by The Teardrop Explodes
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £2.99 Like the Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes were part of the late 70s Liverpool scene and an archetypal Zoo band. Psychedelic, funky, and passionate friends.
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 | Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret by Soft Cell
Buy used from: £4.15 Nice 'n' Sleazy, Soft Cells debut was a dark stroll through Soho, all neon and glitter, lying in the gutter staring at the stars. Essential.
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 | Brotherhood by New Order
Buy new: £6.68 / Used from: £3.39 New Orders rockiest lp, it marauds relentlessly (check out Angel Dust) featuring my fave NO song: Bizzare Love Triangle.
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 | Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me by The Cure
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £3.99 The Cure were always slightly psychedelic but nothing prepared us for this sprawling double lp. Just Like Heaven, Like Cockatoos, and How Beautiful You Are saw their songwriting hitting new heights.
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 | The Lexicon Of Love by ABC
Buy new: £4.48 / Used from: £2.34 New Romantic classic, sleek, stylish, Lexicon of Love is a brilliant example of 80s New Pop.
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 | Strangeways, Here We Come by The Smiths
Buy used from: £14.49 The Smiths final lp was a slight dissapointment after the heady rush of The Queen is Dead. Besides this it still contains greats such as I Won't Share You & Paint a Vulgar Picture.
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![Atomizer [CASSETTE]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/217X76YHK3L._SL75_.jpg) | Atomizer [CASSETTE] by Big Black
Viciously brutal, Albini is at his most shocking here whether imagining himself as a paedophile, a sucidal arsonist, or dealing with fisting. Not for the faint hearted.
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 | Speak & Spell by Depeche Mode
Buy new: £7.58 / Used from: £4.50 As homoerotic (Boys Say Go) and moodily dreamlike (Any Second Now) as you could hope for, synth pop in excelsis.
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 | A Broken Frame by Depeche Mode
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £3.75 Possibly featuring the best song about erectile dysfunction (Monument) this was Depeche at their cutest and their most teeny bopper friendliest.
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![Candy Apple Grey (180 Gram Vinyl LP) [VINYL]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61cR55HSLsL._SL75_.jpg) | Candy Apple Grey (180 Gram Vinyl LP) [VINYL] by Husker Du
Buy new: £14.69 PopCore! Indeterminable influence on Nirvana and the Pixies, Husker Du demonstrated how hardcore didn't have to be boneheaded and macho.
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 | MURMUR by R.E.M.
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £2.44 REM's debut and a beautiful introduction to US indie rock. Favourites include Perfect Circle and Through the Fields.
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 | A Secret Wish by Propaganda
Buy used from: £34.97 Ever so European, Propagandas is yes!, both doomily romantic and apocalyptic (see Dr Mabuse). Also featuring a great cover of Josef K's 'Sorry for Laughing'.
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