than 20 years on, his dissertations on love, loss and uncertainty are just as affecting, the intelligence of the lyrics matched by the sophistication of the chord structures and the musical arrangements." The Sunday Times labelled the legacy edition as revealing McAloon's "genius" and described the record as being "buttressed by a phenomenal rhythm section and fairy-dusted with Wendy Smith's breathy harmonies". In Spin, Will Hermes deemed Steve McQueen Dolby's "supreme achievement" as a producer. Pitchfork reviewer Stephen Troussé highlighted Dolby's "profoundly 80s sonic palette", which Troussé said reflected "one of the defining qualities of the record... its pop ambition, its willingness to engage with its times, precisely by not being a sullen singer-songwriter would-be timeless classic." Noel Murray of The A.V. Club wrote that Steve McQueen and its predecessor Swoon "are considered classics of the mid-'80s post-punk/new-wave era, even though they don't sound like they belong to any particular movement." Russ Slater of PopMatters described them as "two albums of great indie-pop" that established Prefab Sprout in the 1980s as "one of Britain's brightest lights". Steve McQueen was featured in Trebles 2014 list of 10 essential sophisti-pop albums; in his review for Pitchfork, Troussé cited it as "the defining record of 1985 sophisto-pop". Steve McQueen has been included in several professional lists of the greatest albums of all time. The album placed at No. 47 in a 1993 poll by The Times, No. 90 in a 1995 poll by Mojo, and No. 61 in a 1997 poll by The Guardian. It was also selected for inclusion in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Track listing Personnel Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. Prefab Sprout Neil Conti – drums, percussion Martin McAloon – bass Paddy McAloon – guitar, keyboards, vocals Wendy Smith – keyboards, backing vocals Additional personnel Kevin Armstrong – guitar (tracks 6, 9) Matt Barry – engineering (assistant) Dana – engineering (assistant) Thomas Dolby – instruments, mixing, production East Orange – sleeve design Brian Evans – engineering Tim Hunt – engineering Mark Lockhart – saxophone (track 9) Andy Scarth – engineering Chris Sheldon – engineering Mike Shipley – mixing, mixdown engineering Kathy Smith – engineering (assistant) Sven Taits – engineering (assistant) Phil Thornalley – production, engineering, vocal tape loops, mixing (track 5) John Warwick – photography, hand-colouring Charts References 1985 albums Prefab Sprout albums Albums produced by Thomas Dolby