Magazine's second effort Secondhand Daylight was quite a departure from their debut Real Life. And as such it was not so well-received by the rock press, who never did handle change well. But, this is easily and indisputably Magazine's best effort, and it still stands up to a serious listen after all these years.

Considered by many to be the ultimate expression of the post-punk era, this record combines sneering, enigmatic but punk-in-their-own-way lyrics/vocals with real music played by real musicians with real original ideas. The results are really exciting if you can appreciate this sort of stuff.

I suppose I should make an attempt to describe the sound of this record. This is difficult but I'll take a shot. The music has punk, new wave, progressive and plain rock influences. Barry Adamson's bass work is utterly original and fitting, perfect. John McGeoch's guitar is similarly unique and perfectly suited for creating the atmosphere the lyrics engender. Ok, you still don't know what this sounds like do you? You'll have to obtain a couple tracks and listen!

Magazine is another of that sad pantheon of incredible bands who never achieved much commercial success, mostly because they were at least a decade ahead of their time. I wish I could find some music that is a decade ahead of it's time now - it was easy back then!