Aiming at an even more involved level of sonic curiosity and complexity, with Tin Drum Japan pulled off that most unlikely of end results — an album that wasn’t just their most adventurous but their most commercially successful yet, even as it also turned out to be their last full length studio effort. The striking, almost peerless ballad “Ghosts,” lacking drums and conventional rhythms entirely while still finding a taut, spare catchiness, was a UK top five hit, while the skew-whiff, heavy beats of “Visions of China” and the crisp kick of “The Art of Parties” also got notice.

– Ned Raggett