Radio London reminds you,
go--to--the--church--of--your--choice!

Modeled on a British pirate radio broadcast, this brilliant album proves that media-savvy irony didn't begin in the '90s. The music ranges from the hard-rocking "I Can See for Miles," to the lilting stories of "Tattoo" and "I Can't Reach You," to the sly "Odorono," with cagey pseudo-advertisements (some for actual products) linking the pieces together. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band may have been the album that defined the time, but The Who Sell Out was far ahead of it.

Peter Merholz