Inspired by protests against Wisconsin governor Scott Walker's war on collective bargaining, Tom Morello recorded this bracing benefit EP. Veering from acoustic strumming to searing electric solos, and calling on comrades like the MC5's Wayne Kramer, Morello combines "class-war classics" like "This Land Is Your Land" with originals such as "Union Song," which he cut live before thousands of protesters in Madison. When Morello declares, "If you come to strip our rights away/We'll give you hell every time," you'll know which side you're on.

Listen to "Union Town":

Related: Photos: Tom Morello Rocks Wisconsin Protesters

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.