Here David Byrne turns an unwieldy premise — a musical dramatization of former Philippines first lady Imelda Marcos' early life — into dizzy fun by setting 22 songs to Fatboy Slim's lush and bustling dance beats. (Marcos was a clubgoer who had a disco ball in her New York town house.) Guests include Tori Amos, Cyndi Lauper and Santigold on the wah-powered funk single "Please Don't." The songs depict Marcos' outsize anxieties, desires and ambitions. Dig into that heady stuff if you like — or just surrender to the inexorable beats.

“The Pretender”

This song wasn't part of the planned track listing for 2007's Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, and was put together in a day. "It happened after we recorded a lot of stuff," said Dave Grohl. Yet it ended up as the album opener and the lead single. Grohl called it "a stomping Foo Fighters uptempo song with a little bit of Chuck Berry in it." The singer hinted at the lyrics' political overtones: "Everyone's been f---ed over before and I think a lot of people feel f---ed over right now and they're not getting what they were promised."