If only you could separate the music from the man. In an era of hip-hop excess, Chicago's R. Kelly held a torch for vintage soul, updated for the streets. 2000's "I Wish" remains one of the great fallen-buddy tributes, and "If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time" is a stately gem. In light of Kelly's legal troubles, though, listening to his more provocative material — and most of it is just that — can be grueling. "Honey Love," "Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)," "Sex Me": the sundry permutations of Kelly's love engine boggle the mind. He even plans a legal-defense strategy on "Bump n' Grind — Old School Mix": "Show me some ID, before I get knee-deep into ya." Unfortunately, that line was from 1993. Whoops.

“Is It True”

As the British Invasion reached its peak in 1964, Brenda Lee went from Nashville to London to record one of her hardest-rocking hits, her perky vocal backed by a stuttering, squalling guitar. That guitar was played by session musician Jimmy Page, yet to skyrocket to fame with first the Yardbirds and then Led Zeppelin. "She said to me, 'I've come here to make a record with the British sound,'" remembered producer Mickie Most. "She felt she wouldn't get the same sound in Nashville because they're only just catching up on the British beat group sound of about six months ago."