This transitional, hit-or-miss set, U2's first collaboration with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, followed 1983's breakthrough, War. When things click, it bridges that record's fight-the-power arena rock withthe texture fetishism of its follow-up, The Joshua Tree. The transcendent"Bad" is the triumph, but the bonus disc adds fascinating experiments,including the excellent Bowie-drag outtake "Disappearing Act" and somefunky B sides that borrow from Eno's Talking Heads playbook (see "BoomerangII"). They're working notes from the band's first great reinvention; itwouldn't be its last.

“1999”

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.