Murphy’s first solo album was in many ways a way to test out ideas — covers from Magazine and Pere Ubu were part of the program, 4AD boss Ivo Watts-Russell handled production, and Murphy’s main collaborator, Howard Hughes, had just recently worked with the Associates. The resultant fusion is a bit all over the place but some striking Murphy vocal turns, as on “Blue Heart,” “Confessions of a Mask” and the title track, helped him establish a solo identity beyond his commandingly fraught days in Bauhaus.

– Ned Raggett