The liner notes to this exceptional debut from the Arcade Fire refer to the recent deaths of several family members — which explains why Funeral aches with elegiac intensity. Chilly imagery from this indie-rock band's native Montreal dominates the album: Characters stumble through the snow, shivering, to meet between their houses while their "parents are crying." "Crown of Love" builds from a mournful waltz to a bustle of choppy violin strokes as singer Win Butler pleads, "If you still want me/Please forgive me." Amid all the loss and breakups, the Arcade Fire manage to also be strangely joyous: Songs such as "Wake Up," which features a choir of voices and a fierce rhythmic stomp, burst with catharsis. The band could have gone for a less direct title, but even then it would have been crystal clear: Funeral captures the agony and even ecstasy of surviving death all around you.

“Is It True”

As the British Invasion reached its peak in 1964, Brenda Lee went from Nashville to London to record one of her hardest-rocking hits, her perky vocal backed by a stuttering, squalling guitar. That guitar was played by session musician Jimmy Page, yet to skyrocket to fame with first the Yardbirds and then Led Zeppelin. "She said to me, 'I've come here to make a record with the British sound,'" remembered producer Mickie Most. "She felt she wouldn't get the same sound in Nashville because they're only just catching up on the British beat group sound of about six months ago."