Hardest Hits, Vol. 5

This is the fifth and final volume of the SPG label's U.K.-based Hardest Hits series, which compiles new wave and alternative pop/rock hits (and cult-level non-hits) of the '80s. Volume five shows how the series could've been a little more diverse, since it includes songs from a number of groups that already appeared once or twice on the preceding discs. Still, the series works equally well if you're picking up one volume or the whole set; though the picks are somewhat haphazard, they turn out to provide a decent summation of the decade, especially for U.K. listeners. Included on this disc: SSQ's "Jet Town," China Crisis' "Working With Fire and Steel," the Comsat Angels' "Day One," Freur's "Doot Doot," Thomas Leer's "International," Visage's "Pleasure Boys," and Sigue Sigue Sputnik's "Love Missile F1-11."