The king's ransom of influential and diverse U.K.-based indie pop & rock acts that emerged from Great Britain in the broad wake of '80s post-punk has never been chronicled with serious attention -- until now, and Rhino's vast 4-CD retrospective The Brit Box: U.K. Indie, Shoegaze, And Brit-Pop Gems Of The Last Millennium does just that.

While many artists featured here enjoyed superstar status in Mother England, their impact on U.S. charts was more peripheral-- but their stylistic imprint and collective uber-hip peer-pressure on late 20th century popular music overall is undeniable. Wit...