Magazine - Cut Out Shapes (2007 Digital Remaster)
I admit that Japan, Ultravox, and other wave names have disappointed me over time. Instead of that reinterpretation of the first four sublime albums by Roxy Music with "oooh oooh" choruses like "Quiet man" or that Ure-style singing that "brings me down" (as Battiato would say), I prefer the dark punk theatricality of Magazine. A band that can satisfy everyone: those who love the panzer bass style of the Stranglers, those who adore the Pistols but scorn more experimental stuff like This Heat, those who are nostalgic for certain pompous prog, and so on (the keyboards of Magazine have a refined lyricism akin to Tuxedo's "Desire"). I also could see them well opening for a Hammill live show...