4. LOVE JUNK by The Pursuit of Happiness

This CD got heavy rotations during college. Released in 1988, it was the debut album of TPOH, a college rock/power pop band out of Canada. The mixture of catchy and melodic hooks, male and female vocals and edgy lyrics influenced me greatly and left a lasting impression. The album sold really well, but the band kind of fizzled after releasing a good, but not as good, follow-up. Both the debut and the follow-up were produced by Todd Rundgren. A few albums followed after that but they were never able to recapture the magic of Love Junk. I feel Love Junk was in the same category as the best of college rock of that era.