Influential English post-punk band The Sisters of Mercy laid the foundation on this song for the pulsations that would ultimately become quite popular as industrial music. However, the sound of this 1988 track combines mechanical drum effects and beats with a fierce rock guitar attack often missing from the work of the genre's most well-known practitioners. A bit more melodically inclined than much contemporary experimental music, "Lucretia My Reflection" mostly showcases the breathy growl of lead vocalist Andrew Eldritch, who by this latter portion of the group's career had become the band's only remaining full-time member. Though often given the sometimes misunderstood label of goth rock, The Sisters of Mercy ultimately presents an eclectic fusion that can't be isolated quite so easily. Darkness in fashion notwithstanding.

• Sample or download "Lucretia My Reflection" here.
• Compare prices on Sisters of Mercy CDs here.

Album Cover Image Courtesy of Rhino

Genesis mainstay and founding member Mike Rutherford may have intended for Mike + the Mechanics to be a mere side project for him during his primary band's off times, but the latter group eventually became a sturdy and successful pop act. Much of this probably has to do with the strength of the band's twin Pauls as lead vocalists, namely soulful legend Paul Carrack and the late Paul Young, a fine rock singer who just happened to have a namesake active as a solo artist at the same time. While Rutherford provided the group with some gripping personal songwriting, these two singers interpreted his material with an enormous amount of feeling and aplomb.

"Taken In" is a great example of one of those soft rock ballads you know well once you hear it again but that unfortunately slipped through the cracks upon initial release. Sliding only into the lower half of Billboard's Top 40 in 1986 may have kept the tune from becoming a bona fide '80s classic, but its melodies stand the test of time beautifully. This track is a wonderful find for '80s music fans in general and especially listeners fond of tuneful, Foreigner-style ballads.

• Compare prices on Mike + the Mechanics CDs here.
• Top 10 Soft Rock Songs of the '80s
• Top Genesis Songs of the '80s

Album Cover Image Courtesy of Atlantic/WEA

It's probably just another level of crazy holiday wishing, but it would make one fine occasion if the upcoming induction of Genesis into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame would involve a Peter Gabriel-Phil Collins collaboration of some sort. I suppose it's asking a lot for the stars to align in such a way, but when a band with a distinctly dual history like this receives a deserved honor, it would only be right to celebrate its entire 35-year history. And while Genesis mainstays Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford have left open the possibility for the participation of Gabriel and even original guitarist Steve Hackett at the March induction ceremony, it's not clear yet if or to what extent the members might perform.

Still, since the holiday season tends to get us all thinking about the ways we wish things were rather than the often drab sting of cold reality, allow me to indulge myself a bit as an ordinary but fervent fan of rock music. Wouldn't it be great to see Gabriel and Collins take a stab at singing one another's Genesis classics from each respective era of the band, not to mention the pair's bevy of solo hits? Obviously, Collins would do a fine job with "In Your Eyes" or "Red Rain," but it would be a particularly surreal pleasure to hear Gabriel's take on "Taking It All Too Hard," "Follow You Follow Me" or even something a bit underplayed like "Man on the Corner." A Rock Hall induction may mean increasingly less to some observers upset with the institution's penchant for genre inclusiveness, but there may not be a more appropriate occasion for these two hugely successful solo artists to pay tribute to each other's work. Let's hope for the best.

• Top 10 Peter Gabriel Songs of the '80s
• Top 8 Phil Collins Songs of the '80s
• Top 10 '80s Solo Careers

If you haven't yet heard, '70s Swedish pop group ABBA has indeed been approved for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I must admit that at first I scoffed at the news, as many out there may also have done, but then I just took some time to think about it. I don't know if any music observer or even the band's most hardcore detractors can deny the pop culture significance of ABBA, nor the group's sparkling songcraft. What has surely infuriated more than a few rock music fans, however, is the fact that there exists very few if any elements of the band's sound that fit the description "rock and roll."

Nonetheless, I justify ABBA's inclusion in the Hall's select if swiftly broadening membership roll for two primary reasons: the group's general worthiness when it comes to pop music songwriting and performance as well as the fact that currently no distinction exists better capable of recognizing the best music of the second half of the 20th century than membership in the Rock Hall. So until there's a revered Pop Music Hall of Fame with something resembling equal footing, I'm afraid rock music fans will have to learn with the inductions of the likes of Madonna, Run-DMC and ABBA in place of far more rock-oriented but still potentially worthy bands like Rush, Deep Purple or KISS (which failed to receive enough votes after finally getting a nomination this year).

In celebration of ABBA's overall musical merit, I submit 1982's "When All Is Said and Done," an emotionally wrenching ballad detailing the break-up of one of the band's pair of married couples, in this case Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Frida) and Benny Andersson. This is a powerful track from ABBA's final studio release, 1981's The Visitors, that showcases yet again the sterling songwriting partnership between Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus. Despite reaching only No. 27 on Billboard's Hot 100 and barely cracking the adult contemporary Top 10, this tune stands firmly as music deserving of the label "classic" whether or not it's technically "rock and roll" in any way, shape or form.

Album Cover Image Courtesy of Hip-O