The Teardrop Explodes was one of Britain's finest groups in its time. The band intuitively understood the next steps to take beyond punk and new wave; its sound highlighted melodies and modest aggression. These live performances for the BBC start in 1979 with the already-remarkable "Ha Ha I'm Drowning" and a piercing, spastic version of "Went Crazy" that suggest the group had been listening to Talking Heads records, with singer Julian Cope coming the nearest he ever would to David Byrne. By 1980, The Teardrop Explodes had matured into the band everyone remembers. "Reward" captures that blurry glaze of sound between keyboards and guitars while the rhythm section moves forward by sliding on ice. These aren't even The Teardrop Explodes' best-known tracks, though "When I Dream" and "The Culture Bunker" are here. Instead, this set plays like the band's alternate history, with the sounds eventually evolving into something different by 1982. Appropriately enough, it ends with the prophetic "You Disappear from View."