10,000 Maniacs - Hope Chest: The Fredonia Recordings 1982-1983

This is pretty good - it's a document of the Maniacs' first two recordings, and as such captures them before they really hit their collective stride as tunesmiths, and while their many, varied influences were still coalescing. As a result, while the songs don't generally have the shimmering pop brilliance of those which would come on subsequent lps, they're often more interesting, and more edgy.