'Til Tuesday

The launching pad for Aimee Mann's solo career, Til Tuesday's music bears little resemblance to the work she would do later. The first album is heavily stylized synth-pop with few hooks, save for the outstanding and somewhat iconic 1985 MTV hit, "Voices Carry." The second album showed a little more stylistic flexibility, incorporating folky and melodic elements, but was a critical and commercial flop. Their 1988 swan song, recorded after most of the band had left, was really more of an Aimee Mann solo project, and featured some stunning acoustic ballads and jangle-pop, with co-writes by Elvis Costello and Mann's ex-boyfriend, Jules Shear.