50 Alanis Morissette, 'Jagged Little Pill'
jagged little pill
Maverick, 1995
The jagged little Canadian with the jagged little voice manages to make sensuality and rage act like kissing cousins. So give her a hug. She's not angry at you. And her record is hook-y as hell.
Essential moment: From "You Oughta Know": "Will she go down on you in a theater?"

48 Bonnie Raitt, 'Give It Up'
Warner Bros., 1972
This scrappy redhead has been singing and playing the blues for almost half a century, but the blueprint for her whole journey is right here on her second album.
Essential moment: "Give It Up Or Let Me Go," her not-quite-laid-back theme song.

47 Lucinda Williams, 'Car Wheels on a Gravel Road'
Mercury, 1998
This country-rock veteran spent years fighting to make music her own way, turning ordinary lives into poetic ruminations with her melancholy yet indomitable voice.
Essential moment: "Jackson," the achingest, prettiest song this side of Dionne Warwick's "Walk On By."

46 Salt-n-Pepa, 'Hot, Cool and Vicious'
Next Plateau, 1986
Yo! baby, yo! Salt, Pepa and DJ Spinderella burst out of Queens to make a classic hip-hop debut, boasting "I'll Take Your Man" even though he's probably just a tramp. This dance ain't for everybody – just the sexy people.
Essential moment: "Push It," which got the entire world chanting "Ooh, baby, baby!" for months.

45 Taylor Swift, 'Speak Now'
Big Machine Records, 2010
She might get played on the country station, but she's one of the few genuine rock stars we've got these days, with a flawless ear for what makes a song click.
Essential moment: "Long Live," the best Bon Jovi song Bon Jovi never wrote.

44 Siouxsie and the Banshees, 'Once Upon A Time'
Polydor, 1981
Somebody needed to create the ultimate goth archetype. But only one woman had the style, the pretensions, and the demon-queen voice for the job, and she spelled her name with an X.
Essential moment: "Spellbound," a psychedelic guitar meltdown.

43 Lauryn Hill, 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill'
Ruffhouse/Columbia, 1998
The former Fugee puts her heart, mind and soul into telling you everything she knows about love and life, and unites hip-hop, R&B and reggae under a single groove.
Essential moment: "Doo Wop (That Thing)," where her warmth and strength are not a combo but one quality.

42 Linda Ronstadt, 'Heart Like a Wheel'
Capitol, 1974
A hippie country sweetie-pie becomes the star of the burgeoning LA. soft-rock scene, with gorgeous tributes to Buddy Holly, Hank Williams, the Everly Brothers and the McGarrigle sisters.
Essential moment: "You're No Good," revving up a great old Betty Everett song with dread and paranoia.

41 Cyndi Lauper, 'She's So Unusual'
Portrait, 1984
She was a girl, she just wanted to have fun, and she gave hope to kooks everywhere that they could be rock stars or just feel like one.
Essential moment: When Lauper tells the world how girls really have fun in "She Bop," her brazen, self-penned ode to getting yourself off.

40 Yoko Ono, 'Walking on Thin Ice'
Rykodisc, 1992
An essential collection, condensed from the six-CD Onobox set, of this rock weirdo's most powerful work.
Essential moment: "Midsummer New York," a "Heartbreak Hotel" for the damned.

38 Bjork, 'Post'
Elektra, 1995
Bjork's artistic stature grew by yards in the course of this strange, affecting work, by turns harshly industrial, meditative and neon jubilant.
Essential moment: The soul-feeding beat on "Headphones."

37 Beyonce, '4'
Columbia, 2011
Ever since she broke out of Destiny's Child, Beyonce has been the world's favorite pop princess, whether she's in a feisty mood or making nice.
Essential moment: "Countdown," which swerves from abstract beats to killing-me-softly soul.

36 X-Ray Spex, 'Germ Free Adolescents'
Blue Plate/EMI, 1978
London punk at its trashiest and catchiest, led by the thrilling screech of Poly Styrene.
Essential moment: "Art-I-Ficial,” where Poly sticks up for all the losers and outcasts like her in a consumer society.