Many albums have scaled to the top of the American charts, many of them not so good, but few have been as widely forgotten and spurned as 's . In a way, the group deserved this kind of success. They had been slogging it out in the arenas of the U.S., building up a sizeable audience because they could deliver live. And then, in 1980, they delivered a record that not just summarized their strengths, but captured everything that was good about . This is the sound of the stadiums in that netherworld between giants like and 's slick, video-ready anthems. This is unabashedly mainstream , but there's a real urgency to the songs and the performances that gives it a real emotional core, even if the production keeps it tied to the early, previsual '80s. And so what if it does, because this is great , filled with hooks as expansive as and as catchy as the flu. That, of course, applies to the record's two biggest hits -- the power and the surging -- which define their era, but what gives the album real staying power is that the rest of the record works equally well. That's most apparent on the -inspired opener, whose insistent beat sent it to the charts, but also such great album tracks as the sun-kissed '60s homage What's really great about these songs is not just the sheen of professionalism that makes them addictive to listen to, but there's a real strain of pathos that runs through these songs -- the album's title isn't just a clever pun, but a description of the tortured romantic relationships that populate this record's songs. This is really , albeit by a group of guys instead of a singular vision, but that makes it more affecting, as well as a killer slice of ear candy. It's easy to dismiss , since they weren't hip at the time, and no amount of historical revisionism will make them cool kitsch. And, let's face it, their records were usually hit-and-miss affairs. But they did get it right once, and it's on this glorious record -- if you need proof why was giant, this is it. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine