This meaty masterpiece is the debut of an 11-piece troupe co-led by guitarist Derek Trucks and his wife, singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi. Revelator is also a turning point in Trucks' odyssey, since adolescence, toward a deep soul laced with Indo-slide ecstasy. He and Tedeschi, a perfect vocal foil, now front the best Dixie-funk family band since Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. Trucks' serpentine curls slither alongside Tedeschi's supple cries over crosscurrents of The Meters and The Band in "Bound for Glory" and "Midnight in Harlem." And she glows with fighting desire in the swamp-Stax plea "Until You Remember," like a female Otis Redding armed with the reincarnation of Duane Allman.

Listen to "Until You Remember":

The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time: Derek Trucks

“Time to Pretend”

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”