Topping the charts upon its release in 1994, Ill Communication found the Beasties out-cooling almost all other alt-rock acts. The New York trio mixed up hooky beat science, hardcore punk and cerebral but brassy rhymes — a sound they had trotted out on 1992's Check Your Head but simply did better here. Jazz-funk instrumentals complement party-ready sure shots like "Get It Together" and the indelible rap-rock jam "Sabotage." The bonus disc — 12 tracks of remixes, rarities and live cuts — feels thin, but this remastered version captures every vocodered lyric and shout-out to Buddha (not the drug) in pristine sound.

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.