Album of the Day

Though the members of Spacehog all hail from Leeds, the group only formed after they'd each moved to Manhattan, a situation that likely inspired the title of their debut, RESIDENT ALIEN. The 1995 Sire/Elektra collection also reflects the quartet's British roots in its neo-glam sound; press materials from the day describe the boys as “the band who fell to earth.” Cut at Bearsville in New York, these 13 originals (plus the hidden track that was de rigueur for mid-'90s alternative rockers) have a live immediacy that lets frontman Royston Langdon and guitar hero Richard Steel strut their stuff like spiders from Mars on such standout tracks as “Never Coming Down,” “Cruel to Be Kind” and Top 40 single “In the Meantime.” The Gold-certified RESIDENT ALIEN remains Spacehog's most successful album and it still delivers a kick.