The British trio Muse is equal parts punk and prog rock. Like most prog rockers, Muse approach their work like opera, from their love of huge song structures to lead singer Matthew Bellamy's soprano arias. Between that and the fact that Muse — whose members are all around twenty years old — are guided by John Leckie (producer of Radiohead's The Bends), it's easy to dismiss them as talented Radiohead clones. Their debut, Showbiz, matches Thom Yorke's penchant for majestic agony — screams and the word self-destruction pepper the title track — but with an edge that's quirkier and decidedly more ragged than their elders'. "Uno" mixes a tango beat with power chords; the single "Muscle Museum" lays Latin guitar and piercing distortion over a stately, waddling bass line. Acoustic numbers such as "Unintended" serve up unabashed romanticism like a tender truffle. Showbiz is no maverick masterstroke, but it is passionate and loud and also unexpectedly gentle — a great first shot from three guys barely old enough to drink on their U.S. tour.

“All Along the Watchtower”

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."