Stockholm quintet Opeth have been gradually opening up their sound, inching away from deathmetal terror and toward old-school prog rock. On Heritage, they could almost be a jazz-fusion band conjured up by a Renaissance-faire magician. They exhibit unexpected energy and rhythm – "Slither" charges forward with the most optimistic overdrive they have ever allowed themselves. Add flutes, Middle Eastern percussion and Celtic- and flamenco-specked guitar beauty, and you have a career record that reimagines prog as actual rock & roll, even while portentously insisting, "God is dead."

Listen to "Slither":

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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.