This month, the Dire Straits album Best Of – Private Investigations is on sale for only $5 in MP3 format.

This 2005 greatest hits package assembles the best of the Newcastle, UK group’s work, including selections from their blockbuster album Brothers in Arms, as well as lead singer (and one of Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time) Mark Knopfler‘s terrific solo work, like his evocative “Going Home (Theme from Local Hero)”, and an original track, “All The Roadrunning,” a duet with Emmylou Harris. If you like your British rock a little countrified, this deal is just for you.

Browse all 1,000 albums on sale this month for only $5 each, as well as several albums on sale this week for only $2.99 each.

This month, the Fiona Apple album Tidal is on sale for only $5 in MP3 format.

Tidal marks the 1996 debut of notorious wild child Fiona Apple. Although just 17 when she recorded it, Tidal betrayed a depth and sensitivity far beyond her youth, establishing her as a singer-songwriting force to be reckoned with, and would set her light years above pop rock peers like Jewel (who sounded like she was reciting from her 10th grade poetry class).

Songs like “Sleep to Dream,” “Criminal,” and “The First Taste” were expressions of Apple’s primal, angry — even sexual side, while with tracks like “Never Is a Promise,” “Sullen Girl,” and “The Child is Gone” Apple dragged us to the depths of her desolation. Tidal would go on to reach triple platinum status, be named one of the best albums of the nineties, and launch the mercurial career of an emotionally troubled artist who would continue to transform her pain (and pleasures) into song for our appreciation.

Browse all 1,000 albums on sale this month for only $5 each, as well as several albums on sale this week for only $2.99 each.

This month, the Electric Light Orchestra compilation album Playlist: The Very Best Of Electric Light Orchestra is on sale for only $5 in MP3 format.

This 15-song 2008 compilation brings together what I’d consider the essential hits from this working-class Birmingham rock combo led by frontman Jeff Lynne (who would later produce successful albums by The Traveling Wilburys, Brian Wilson, Tom Petty, and none other than The Beatles). ELO disrupted the drums/guitar/bass rock combo by introducing actual classical arrangements into their music. You can hear this predominantly on this best of album in songs like “Evil Woman,” “Can’t Get It Out Of My Head,” “Do Ya,” and “Livin’ Thing.” All the rock analysis aside, this is a great price for a must-have compilation, and if you don’t currently have “Mr. Blue Sky” somewhere in your music collection, it’s a travesty that must be corrected immediately.

Browse all 1,000 albums on sale this month for only $5 each, as well as several albums on sale this week for only $2.99 each.

As part of Amazon’s monthly $5 MP3 album deals for August 2012, Devo‘s Greatest Hits is on sale for only $5. If you would like a physical copy of Devo’s Greatest Hits, the CD is available for only $6.16.

If you’ve never heard the song “Whip It,” I’m afraid you might be dead (unless you’ve seen a Swiffer commercial recently). Devo – that funny band of robotic nerds in matching plastic hats and space suits – have been around since the late 1970s. The aforementioned best-known hit was released in 1980 on their third album, Freedom of Choice. Also on this Greatest Hits compilation are other priceless gems like “Girl U Want,” “Jocko Homo,” and their cover of the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” Devo’s quirky new-wave sound holds up well decade after decade, making this $5 MP3 deal a sound investment in your future fun.

Browse all 1,000 albums on sale this month for only $5 each, as well as several albums on sale this week for only $2.99 each.

As part of Amazon’s monthly $5 MP3 album deals for August 2012, Muse‘s Showbiz is on sale for only $5.

Matthew Bellamy’s emotive, operatic crooning and prodigious chops, as well as those of Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard, combined with an energetic and diverse musicality that crisscrosses many genres are what make listening to Muse a near-religious experience. Every song is an epic explosion of ecstasy. Their sound is almost too big to capture in a single paragraph so head on over to Amazon check out them out. Showbiz was the first of Muse’s six studio albums, followed by Origin of Symmetry, Absolution, Black Holes and Revelations, and The Resistance . Amazingly, Muse’s first five albums are available in MP3 format for only $5 each this month so you won’t have to decide which one is awesome-er. Buy “˜em all, light a torch, and belt it out loud. Really, really loud.

Browse all 1,000 albums on sale this month for only $5 each, as well as several albums on sale this week for only $2.99 each.