The Teardrop Explodes

The stereotypical "difficult second album," Wilder may not have the wall-to-wall-hits sound of the Teardrop Explodes' debut, but it's a more sophisticated and diverse outing. "Passionate Friend," "Colours Fly Away" and "Bent Out of Shape" have the kaleidoscopic '60s pop passion but are darker and somehow disquieting. Songs such as "Seven Views of Jerusalem" and "Falling Down Around Me" show Julian Cope's growth as a songwriter, while "The Great Dominions" finds him capturing Scott Walker's art-pop miserablism. The band dissolved while recording their third album(thus all the bonus cuts here); Cope went on to a solo career.