Artist	Song
R.E.M.	Radio Free Europe
from Murmur (1984)
The Replacements	Bastards of Young
from Don't You Know Who I Think I Was? - The Best of the Replacements (2006)
Violent Femmes	Blister In the Sun
from Permanent Record: The Very Best of the Violent Femmes (2005)
Joy Division	Love Will Tear Us Apart
from The Best of Joy Division (2008)
The Smiths	How Soon Is Now?
from The Sound of the Smiths (Deluxe Edition) [Remastered] (2008)
Pixies	Monkey Gone to Heaven
from Doolittle (1998)
The Cure	Just Like Heaven
from The Cure: Greatest Hits (2007)
New Order	Blue Monday
from Singles (2005)
Depeche Mode	Just Can't Get Enough
from The Best of Depeche Mode, Vol. 1 (Deluxe Version) (2006)
Echo & The Bunnymen	The Cutter
from Songs to Learn and Sing (2004)
Jane's Addiction	Jane Says
from Up from the Catacombs: The Best of Jane's Addiction (2006)
Suicidal Tendencies	Institutionalized
from Prime Cuts (1997)
XTC	Senses Working Overtime
from English Settlement (2003)
Elvis Costello & The Attractions	High Fidelity
from The Best of Elvis Costello: The First 10 Years (2007)
The Psychedelic Furs	All That Money Wants
from The Psychedelic Furs: Greatest Hits (2001)
Hüsker Dü	Could You Be the One?
from Warehouse: Songs and Stories (2008)
The B-52's	Private Idaho (Album Version)
from Rhino Hi-Five: The B-52's - EP (2005)
The Stone Roses	I Wanna Be Adored
from The Stone Roses (Remastered) (2009)
Bauhaus	Bela Lugosi's Dead
from Bela Lugosi's Dead - Single (1979)
The Jesus and Mary Chain	Just Like Honey
from Psychocandy (2005)
Public Image Ltd.	Rise
from Album (2008)
Siouxsie and the Banshees	Cities In Dust
from Tinderbox (1986)
The Sugarcubes	Birthday
from The Great Crossover Potential (2004)
The Church	Under the Milky Way
from Under the Milky Way - The Best of The Church (1999)
Talk Talk	Life's What You Make It
from Natural History - The Very Best of Talk Talk (2007)
Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark	Enola Gay
from Organisation (2003)
Dead Kennedys	Holiday In Cambodia
from Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (2006)
They Might Be Giants	Birdhouse In Your Soul
from Flood (2007)
Beastie Boys	Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun
from Paul's Boutique (1989)
Red Hot Chili Peppers	Hollywood (Africa)
from Freaky Styley (2005)
Cocteau Twins	Lorelei
from Stars and Topsoil - A Collection (1982-1990) (2000)
Butthole Surfers	Moving to Florida
from Rembrandt Pussyhorse (1999)
Mission of Burma	Academy Fight Song
from Signals, Calls and Marches (Remastered) (2008)
The Jam	Going Underground
from The Sound of The Jam (2003)
Black Flag	Rise Above
from Damaged (2006)
The Cult	She Sells Sanctuary
from Love (2000)
The Pogues	A Pair of Brown Eyes
from Rum Sodomy & the Lash [Expanded] (2006)
Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians	My Wife and My Dead Wife
from Fegmania! (2008)
The Smithereens	Blood and Roses
from Especially for You (1992)
Bad Brains	Pay to Cum
from Bad Brains (1996)
Cowboy Junkies	Sweet Jane
from Best of Cowboy Junkies (2001)
Fugazi	Waiting Room
from 13 Songs (1989)
Concrete Blonde	God Is a Bullet
from Recollection - the Best Of (2006)
The Sundays	Here's Where the Story Ends
from Reading, Writing & Arithmetic (1990)
Prefab Sprout	When Love Breaks Down
from A Life of Surprises - The Best of Prefab Sprout (1992)
Hoodoo Gurus	I Want You Back
from Stoneage Romeos (2006)
Soul Asylum	Never Really Been
from Made to Be Broken (2006)
Social Distortion	Mommy's Little Monster
from Greatest Hits (2007)
X	Los Angeles
from Los Angeles (2007)
Faith No More	We Care a Lot
from This Is It: The Best of Faith No More (2009)
Lloyd Cole & The Commotions	Perfect Skin
from Rattlesnakes (Deluxe Edition) (2004)
Love and Rockets	Kundalini Express
from Express (2001)
The The	This Is the Day
from Soul Mining (2002)
Kirsty MacColl	A New England
from The Stiff Years (2005)
The Cramps	I Was a Teenage Werewolf (With False Start) [Original Mix]
from Songs the Lord Taught Us (2003)
Three O'Clock	Jet Fighter
from Sixteen Tambourines/Baroque Hoedown (1983)
Minutemen	This Ain't No Picnic
from Double Nickels On the Dime (2006)
Dinosaur Jr.	Freak Scene
from Bug (2005)
The Fall	Victoria
from The Frenz Experiment (1999)
The Circle Jerks	Live Fast Die Young
from Group Sex (1980)
The Alarm	Sixty Eight Guns
from Standards (1990)
Japan	Ghosts
from Tin Drum (2003)
Xymox	Obsession
from Twist of Shadows (1994)
The Dream Syndicate	Tell Me When It's Over
from The Days of Wine and Roses (2005)
Sisters of Mercy	Lucretia My Reflection
from Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 - A Slight Case of Overbombing (2010)
Meat Puppets	Lake of Fire
from Ii (2011)
The Dead Milkmen	Bitchin' Camaro
from Big Lizard In My Back Yard (2006)
Lone Justice	Ways to Be Wicked
from Lone Justice (1985)
Beat Happening	Our Secret
from Beat Happening (2007)
The Go-Betweens	Cattle and Cane
from Before Hollywood (2008)
The Blue Nile	Tinseltown in the Rain
from A Walk Across the Rooftops (2003)
The Rain Parade	This Can't Be Today
from Emergency Third Rail Power Trip (2006)
The House of Love	Shine On
from The House of Love: Best of (1998)

Comment:

It doesn't matter if you were in school — or even [i]alive[/i] — when the college-rock revolution unleashed its alternative to the processed pop at the top of the '80s charts. Either way, you've [i]felt[/i] its impact, courtesy of life-changing songs that defined an entire generation, songs that still pack one hell of a punch nearly a quarter-century down the line — from the Replacements' stumbling, slamming, howling anthem to that lost generation, "Bastards of Young," to the philosophy-major brain-tease of They Might Be Giants' polysyllabic pop puzzle "Ana Ng." Well, you're about to feel it all over again, 'cause class is now in back in session. Your homework: [i]experience[/i] one Essentials playlist packed with the best of '80s college rock — the finest moments in hardcore, goth, dream pop, synth pop, and so much more.

Feedback: