When Queen debuted in 1973, their mix of hammering jams and folksy asides was closer to Zeppelin than to the stadium-killing theatricality they would later perfect. This revelatory reissue — one of five Queen albums being rereleased with BBC sessions, live cuts, B sides and more — highlights the band's raw roots, particularly on a series of 1971 demos. On those tracks Freddie Mercury already belts like the superstar he'd become, but the instrumental intensity nearly upstages him: Brian May's guitar screams through bolder and longer versions of "Jesus" and "Liar" while the rhythm section gallops in tight formation. Later LPs are more refined, but this two-disc set is a compelling portrait of vehement and nearly violent art.

Listen to Queen's "Keep Yourself Alive (De Lane Lea Demo, December 1971)" Remastered:

Related: The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time: Freddie Mercury

“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.