Television’s self-titled third album was always going to suffer the ignominy of being compared to 1977’s Marquee Moon, but ignore that obvious move. If anything, Television plays out like an excellent Tom Verlaine songs album with a superlative backing band; not to understate the significance of Lloyd, Smith and Ficca, but Verlaine’s songwriting changed notably over the fifteen years since Television’s debut, and he’d be more the fool for trying to return to past glories. What you have here, then, is a collection of compact, beautifully cryptic rock songs, taking in the crime-novel-in-miniature of “Call Mr. Lee,” “1880 Or So”’s astral travel, and some guitar playing — on “Rocket” and “Mars” in particular — that carves new architectures into the studio air. It’s surprisingly tender, too — “Rhyme” and “No Glamour For Willi” are some of Verlaine’s loveliest and most loving songs.