XTC: Skylarking (Geffen)

NOT THAT long ago, XTC was a nearly perfect band. It corrupted its bountiful hooks with unsettling harmonies and rhythms and rocked hard enough to compensate for the solemnity of its often-shallow political protests. But after guitarist and singer Andy Partridge fell ill during the English Settlement tour, the band members retired to their country houses in the south of England — and Partridge decided he was Paul McCartney. XTC's subsequent releases have been dominated by Partridges flowery love songs and an obsessive exploration of modern-production possibilities.