The Smashing Pumpkins, Gish/Siamese Dream [Boston Phoenix]

Billy Corgan's zeitgeist whine, so omnipresent via high-charting Siamese Dream tracks "Today" and "Disarm," was the true sound of the alterna-'90s.

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The Who, Quadrophenia: The Director's Cut [Boston Phoenix]

Pete Townshend's working demos for the Who have long been sought in bootleg circles, often for the simple reason that the songwriter's vulnerable vocals offer relief from the barbaric yawp of lead singer Roger Daltrey.

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R.E.M., Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage: 1982-2011 [Boston Phoenix]

Now R.E.M. have died two deaths: first, when drummer and founding member Bill Berry split for the comforts of country life in 1997, and then nail-in-the-coffin style, when the Athens, Georgia, band announced its official break-up two months ago.

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Kurt Vile, So Outta Reach [Boston Phoenix]

This six-song, 30-minute companion EP serves as a victory lap for long-haired Philadelphian Kurt Vile, whose vacillating and absorbing Smoke Ring for My Halo is certainly one of the year's best albums.

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Various Artists, Phil Spector Presents the Philles Album Collection [Boston Phoenix]

Before finding infamy as a perm-'fro courtroom crazy, the guy who held the Ramones at gunpoint, or the dude who dared helm murky post-Beatles waters, Phil Spector was synonymous with '60s-pop Wall of Sound production.

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