Why wasn't George Michael's "Hard Day" one of the biggest hits of 1988? Because every other song on his album already seemed to be on the charts. Faith — which produced six Top Five singles — established Michael as a full-grown Brit-funk stud, with "I Want Your Sex" setting up his female fans for years of disappointment. The album holds up as one of the Eighties' smartest megapop statements, full of passion and surefire hooks. This edition adds a CD of 12-inch mixes and B sides (check out Shep Pettibone's nine-minute "Hard Day" mix) and a DVD of videos, so you can see George write "Explore Monogamy" on some lucky lady's bare flesh in lipstick.

Listen to "Faith":

Exclusive Photos: Inside George Michael's Classic LP 'Faith'

“Ambling Alp”

The "Ambling Alp" was the nickname of the six-and-a-half-foot-tall Primo Carnera. Though the song is named after the Italian-born 1930s heavyweight champion, Yeasayer are actually paying tribute to boxing legend Joe Louis with this first-person psychedelic dance-rock tune. “I was always interested in writing a song that had boxing mythology in it,” Yeasayer’s Chris Keating said. “It’s pretty fascinating: There were so many amazing characters, and it was so closely entwined with 20th century history.” Yeaseyer also invokes German champ Max Schmeling and hints at the historical significance placed on the historic bouts between the Nazi-era boxer and the African-American Louis.