Graham Parker and the Rumour Heat Treatment 1976

Early on, Graham Parker and the Rumour were on fire. This, their second long-player, contained so many rocking songs you mostly have to listen standing up.

Heat Treatment, That's What They All Say, Pourin' It All Out, Something You're Going Through, and Help Me Shake It never let up. The ballads are here, too, and that's why he got compared to Elvis Costello sometimes. Parker's songs are brilliant. He's young and angry. The music the Rumour cooks up sounds more like Springsteen than any English bar band ought. The horn section adds depth to an already fat sound. If this is the sound of a young artist, then forget maturity, it won't help.

Most critics site later works as his best, but for a super hot band and a front man out to prove himself, this one is my pick.