You know that mixture of giddiness and dread you get right after you drop acid? On their sixth studio LP, these notoriously hard-partying psych rockers musically approximate the feeling. "Going on a future quest, surf the mountain, ride the crest," begins "New Direction," a jangly, loose-limbed tune that's among Arabia Mountain's finest. The band brought in producer Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Duran Duran) but seems to have been more interested in refining than reinventing: Ronson helped the Lips brighten up their sound while keeping it authentically creepy. Arabia Mountain does what all great psych rock ought to: It freaks you out, but in the best possible way.

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“1999”

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.