Unlike many of his hard-rocking peers, Lynott thought about his lyrics: He was a romantic poet in rocker garb, whose stories of restless teenagers scheming for escape, as on "Southbound" (audio), depend upon zinging, deftly choreographed twin-guitar leads.

NPR: Pure Power-Chord Overdrive, Debatably Live

Casey may lay out a grim recitation of society's ills pollution, disease, rape, drugs but he wisely keeps hope at the forefront of the mix, rooting his fears in parental love and letting a whiz-bang arrangement bury the dark subject matter in bright strumming and zinging synths.

NPR: Casey's 'Fear' as Universal as Fear Itself