Blur

Tired, unhappy and very hung-over from their disastrous US tour for their first album, Leisure, Blur wisely ditched the baggy beats and wrote an album that is now widely considered to be a classic. The influences are obvious: the Specials, Kinks, XTC are all on display, but the delivery is original, smart and as good as anything those bands did themselves. Essential music from the band that basically invented Brit-pop (just don't tell them that).