Wire

Wire switched to decaf after their reformation in 1985, moving from frantic post-punk to synth-pop and drawing comparisons to New Order (whom Wire had reflexively influenced in their Joy Division days). But in typical Wire fashion -- a band notorious for not playing crowd-pleasers in concert -- this midcareer collection includes mainly songs (nine to be exact) from their least popular album, The Ideal Copy. Even with their jagged edges sanded off, Wire intoxicates with the dismal melodies of "Kidney Bingos," "Eardrum Buzz" and "Ambitious."

Those who disdain Wire's second coming don't understand how the Sex Pistols and ABC could have been born of the same impulse. First freeze-drying punk, then rendering neodisco slick into Teflon sausage casing, this band knew. And by now they've recorded more memorable music than the Pistols and ABC put together--while maintaining an aesthetic distance so severe they make Sham 69 and Frankie Goes to Hollywood seem archetypal by comparison. To program this summum they invited supporters to vote on their finest recent moments, then laid the highest finishers end to end until the CD was full. Number 16 does drag. (Grade - A)