Conceived by the late, great French songwriter as a tribute to his young actress girlfriend Jane Birkin, this 1971 concept disc plays like a European art film that's simultaneously ridiculous and soul-crushingly romantic. It tells the story of a middle-aged man who hits a girl on a bicycle with his Rolls, deflowers her and then mourns her memory when she dies in a plane crash soon thereafter. You've heard its broodingly funky symphonic-rock arrangements sampled by De La Soul, reinterpreted in Beck's Sea Change and echoed by bands from Portishead to Pulp. Now bask in the lusciously decadent original, repacked with helpful translations and lavish liner notes.