Could some of the devastating breakup songs on Paper Airplane be about that dude Alison Krauss made the Grammy-snatching 2007 LP Raising Sand with? Conceivably. But heartache is what Krauss has done with her band Union Station for more than 20 years. As usual, the virtuoso music shines without flashiness. Singer-guitarist Dan Tyminski, now doomed to Robert Plant comparisons, arguably out-sings him (see the New Depression lament "Dust Bowl Children"), and Krauss' soprano gilds Richard Thompson's "Dimming of the Day," a love letter that would welcome Plant's harmonies. It's gorgeous without 'em, too.

Listen to "Paper Airplane":

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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.