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

“Ambling Alp”

The "Ambling Alp" was the nickname of the six-and-a-half-foot-tall Primo Carnera. Though the song is named after the Italian-born 1930s heavyweight champion, Yeasayer are actually paying tribute to boxing legend Joe Louis with this first-person psychedelic dance-rock tune. “I was always interested in writing a song that had boxing mythology in it,” Yeasayer’s Chris Keating said. “It’s pretty fascinating: There were so many amazing characters, and it was so closely entwined with 20th century history.” Yeaseyer also invokes German champ Max Schmeling and hints at the historical significance placed on the historic bouts between the Nazi-era boxer and the African-American Louis.