One of the finest and most adventurous alt-rock bands of the grunge era, the Afghan Whigs differed from Pacific Northwest peers such as Nirvana, the Screaming Trees, and Mudhoney, not only in location--the quartet hailed from Cincinnati, Ohio--but in their enthusiastic embrace of R&B and soul. Led by brooding, chain-smoking frontman Greg Dulli (who later formed the Twilight Singers), the group hit its stride on 1991's CONGREGATION and the ambitious '93 concept album, GENTLEMAN, which doubled as the Whigs' major-label debut.

This generous 2007 compilation draws tracks from both of those albums (see the swirling "Turn on the Water" and the dark, desperate "Debonair," respectively) and other key recordings (their wistful cover of the Supremes' "Come See About Me," the pop-tinged "Crazy"), throwing in a pair of songs from a brief '06 reunion (the gospel-infused "I'm a Soldier" and the dreamy "Magazine") to boot. While there are plenty of excellent Whigs tracks that didn't make the cut (including their stunning take on "My World Is Empty Without You"), UNBREAKABLE is a fascinating portrait of a band that almost dragged the dark underbelly of the night kicking and screaming into the light of day.