Brotherhood

Manchester's most versatile New Wave act reinvented itself once again on 1986's Brotherhood, trading in the wintry synth-pop of Low-Life for enveloping electric and acoustic guitars, a muscular drum attack, and driving bass melodies. Bernard Sumner's vocals had never sounded so hummable—or so sure-footed. The joyous "Bizarre Love Triangle" is a love letter to the dance floor written in slap-bass and Fairlight stabs, and the album's final stretch is a dreamy come-down of beats and synths capped by "Every Little Counts," a charming electronic lullaby.