Talk about a sidelong entrance into a pop career: when the pressures of trying to make it as a star in her own right became too much after the release of 2010's We Are Born, Sia Furler became a songwriter for some of pop's biggest names – but the hits she helped create, like David Guetta's "Titanium" and Flo Rida's "Wild Ones," ended up making her famous anyway. Even if it wasn't her plan, her time behind the scenes helped make the pop landscape into a place more hospitable to her charms. On 1000 Forms of Fear, it's clear that her time as a hitmaker for others not only brought her quirks into the mainstream, but also made the songs she kept for herself catchier. To be fair, We Are Born began this transformation; its unexpected but winning mix of new wave, synth pop, and R&B brought newfound polish to her highly personal style.

Gallagher's second album for Chrysalis – and last with his longstanding trio of Lou Martin (keyboards), Rod De'Ath (drums) and Gerry McAvoy (bass) – was a milestone in his career. Although Calling Card was produced by Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover and not surprisingly contained some of his most powerfully driving rockers, tracks like the acoustic "Barley & Grape Rag" and the jazzy, soulful, finger snapping title cut – a perennial concert favorite – found the Irish rocker not only exploring other musical paths, but also caught him on one of his most consistent songwriting streaks ever. Even "Do You Read Me," the muscular opening track, is a remarkably stripped-down affair that adds subtle synths to the rugged blues rock that was Gallagher's claim to fame. While "Moonchild," "Country Mile," and "Secret Agent" displayed catchy hooks, engaging riffs, and raging guitar work (the latter adds a touch of Deep Purple's Jon Lord-styled organ to the proceedings), it's the elegant ballad "I'll Admit You're Gone" that shifts the guitarist into calmer waters and proves his melodic talent was just as cutting on quieter tunes.

Long before the raw power of punk icon Iggy Pop became legend, his first incarnation as Iggy Stooge of proto-punk trailblazers The Stooges roared into being. The essence of punk years before the genre existed, The Stooges' furious music was a howling, visceral, fuzztone-drenched, and unprecedented vortex of sound, as evidenced on their revolutionary self-titled, John Cale-produced 1969 debut album. Their bracing follow-up, Fun House portrayed their evolution into a fiercer, stronger band with Iggy's primal vocals and mad brilliance more potent than ever. Each immortal album is now remastered and twice as amazing with a second disc of rarities and previously unreleased tracks.

Perhaps the pairing of Cassandra Wilson and Billie Holiday carries a whiff of inevitability, but there's nothing predictable about Coming Forth by Day. Released to coincide with Holiday's centennial in 2015, Coming Forth by Day explicitly celebrates Lady Day by drawing upon standards she sang in addition to songs she wrote, but Wilson deliberately sidesteps the conventional by hiring Nick Launay as a producer. As a result of his work with Nick Cave, Launay mastered a certain brand of spooky Americana, something that comes in handy with the Holiday catalog, but Coming Forth by Day is never too thick with murk.

Spanning repertoire from the Classical to the contemporary and some 30 years of the Alban Berg Quartett's career, these recordings evince the achievement of an ensemble whose very name honours both the tradition and innovative musical spirit of its home city, Vienna. Founded in 1970, it soon became recognised as one of the defining quartets of the 20th century and went on to make two landmark recordings of the complete Beethoven cycle, the first in the studio, the second live at Vienna's Konzerthaus (presented here in both CD and DVD versions). This 70-disc set, which in addition features DVDs of Schubert and a live performance in St Petersburg, also documents the Alban Berg Quartett's collaborations with such artists as Sabine Meyer, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Alfred Brendel, Rudolf Buchbinder and Philippe Entremont.

Night Out is the 1979 debut studio album by Ellen Foley, a long-time backup vocalist for Meat Loaf. Seven of the nine tracks were cover versions of Foley's favorite songs, while two were co-written by Foley, one of which was "We Belong to the Night", which hit #1 in the Netherlands and #31 in Australia around Christmas of 1979. The musicians were mostly from Ian Hunter's touring band for his 1979 album You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic, with the addition of Australian musician Kerryn Tolhurst on slide guitar. Hunter and ex-Spiders From Mars guitarist Mick Ronson produced the album. Ronson suggested the two Philip Rambow songs and the piano backing for the final track "Don't Let Go", written by Hunter.