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Released 50 years ago today, Led Zeppelin's untitled fourth album (sometimes referred to as IV or ZOSO) stands as the group's masterpiece. Produced by guitarist Jimmy Page, the collection is a seamless combination of blues (a cover of Memphis Minnie's “When the Levee Breaks”), heavy metal (“Black Dog”), folk (the Joni Mitchell-inspired “Going to California”) and mythology (“The Battle of Evermore,” with guest vocals by Fairport Convention's Sandy Denny). The Atlantic set introduced future concert favorites “Rock and Roll” and signature song “Stairway to Heaven” and has gone on to sell more than 37 million copies worldwide. Is this the greatest hard rock album ever made? You can be the judge of that, but we're hard-pressed to think of another that showcases the form's power and possibilities as effectively as LED ZEPPELIN IV.

A hitmaker with Rufus in the 1970s, Chaka Khan branched into her own career gradually - her first four solo albums were all recorded while she was still nominally with Rufus. It was her fifth album, I FEEL FOR YOU, that really sealed the deal; the title track topped the U.K. singles chart and hit #3 in America. That song, a Prince cover featuring Stevie Wonder on harmonica and rapping from Grandmaster Melle Mel, showed Khan to be a powerhouse vocalist with a keen ear for material and willingness to swing for the fences in terms of arrangements. And that description holds throughout the 1984 album; tracks like "Through The Fire" and "This Is My Night" are as appealing as the set's biggest hit. With the platinum-certified I FEEL FOR YOU, Chaka Khan stepped confidently to the forefront of '80s electro-funk.

The title of RUST NEVER SLEEPS was originally an advertising slogan that Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh had mentioned to Neil Young, but the phrase could just as easily apply to the singer-songwriter, whose creative spirit has always been restless. The bulk of the 1979 Reprise collection was recorded live during Young's tour the previous year (with overdubs added and a studio track or two) and like the concerts, the album's first half is predominantly acoustic and the second an electric one - featuring Crazy Horse at their most powerful. From the Johnny Rotten references of “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)” to the dramatic showdown in “Powderfinger,” Neil's songs have rarely hit harder, and the set placed near the top of annual critics polls in the Village Voice and Rolling Stone. The platinum-certified RUST NEVER SLEEPS is among Young's greatest albums, and we'll give it another spin now to wish the man a happy birthday.

By the mid-1970s, Rod Stewart's ascent from lead singer of the Faces to solo performer was complete. By the time he'd cut his debut album for Warner Bros., Stewart was a star on both sides of the pond - ATLANTIC CROSSING topped the U.K. chart and peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200 over the first week of November 1975. It's easy to hear why it was so successful; producer Tom Dowd amplified Stewart's soulful side by pairing the singer's distinctive raspy vocals with stellar accompaniment from The Memphis Horns and most of Booker T. and the MG's. Split between a “fast” half and a “slow” one, the set's ten tracks feature rocking Rod originals like “Stone Cold Sober” as well as strong covers of “Sailing” and “I Don't Want To Talk About It.” The gold-certified ATLANTIC CROSSING set the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's career on a new, exciting course.

THE SHAPE OF JAZZ TO COME may have seemed a bold title for Ornette Coleman's Atlantic Records debut, but the music on the 1959 collection absolutely justified it. With an emphasis on melody and improvisation over chords and harmony (Coleman called his approach “harmolodic”), these six originals introduced the standard “Lonely Woman,” and offered the quartet – which included future stars Don Cherry on cornet and Charlie Haden on bass - plenty of room to strut their instrumental stuff. A cornerstone of the free jazz movement, the album was initially controversial, but its landmark status is now unquestioned, and THE SHAPE OF JAZZ TO COME has been named to both the Grammy Hall of Fame and the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry.

Cut during the European leg of their HEAVY HORSES tour, BURSTING OUT is the definitive live Jethro Tull album. With deeper cuts peppered in among such favorites as “Aqualung,” “Thick as a Brick” and “Locomotive Breath,” the song selection touches on blues, folk and progressive rock, showcasing every facet of the U.K. group's music. The well-recorded Chrysalis collection was produced by frontman Ian Anderson, whose flute work - and between-song banter - is terrific throughout, as is Martin Barre's guitar playing and the powerful rhythm section of drummer Barriemore Barlow and bassist John Glascock (who died of congenital heart failure on this day in 1979). Anyone curious about what made Jethro Tull one of the most popular arena attractions of the 1970s need look no further than BURSTING OUT.

The Monkees were in a rather strange place in 1968. They'd spent two years as pop stars on the order of The Beatles or The Rolling Stones, but – even though the craftsmanship of their hits frequently rose to that level – never got anything resembling the critical respect accorded those bands. Micky, Davy, Mike and Peter were aware of that disconnect, and the movie HEAD, which premiered this month in 1968, reflected it. The wildly creative film poked fun at the group's “manufactured image” while boasting a killer soundtrack. The last Monkees album before Peter Tork left the band, HEAD includes such gems as “The Porpoise Song,” “Circle Sky” and “As We Go Along.” While not a success on original release, both the film and its music went on to become cult favorites; it may have taken a few decades, but The Monkees have finally gotten the respect they deserved.

Called by Rolling Stone “one of rock's more elaborate, beguiling and strangely rewarding concept albums,” Genesis' THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY was the pinnacle of the U.K. band's progressive rock phase. The double LP would be the group's final release with founding frontman Peter Gabriel, who wrote the set's lyrics about a Puerto Rican gang member named Rael and his journey of self-discovery in New York City. The Atco collection showcases both the group's talent for crafting compelling songs (“Counting Out Time,” “The Carpet Crawlers”) and for inspired instrumental interplay. A personal favorite of both Gabriel and drummer Phil Collins, the gold-certified THE LAMB LIES DOWN ON BROADWAY was released on this day in 1974, and belongs on any good list of the greatest progressive rock albums of all time.

The band's eighth studio album (with live and best-of sets among its predecessors), CHICAGO X boasted Grammy-winning cover art resembling a chocolate bar, and the music within still sounds sweet. The collection made good use of the group's many talents - Terry Kath supplied the opening rocker “Once Or Twice,” Robert Lamm penned the appealing single “Another Rainy Day In New York City,” and James Pankow and Lee Loughnane set aside their horns for rare lead vocal performances. But it was Peter Cetera's song “If You Leave Me Now” that stole the spotlight; later a Grammy winner, the track was the band's first No.1 hit in the U.S., and became its sole chart-topping single in the U.K. this month in 1976. Though that ballad was atypical of the album as a whole, CHICAGO X marks a key turning point in the band's public perception and musical evolution.

Clubgoers have always loved Madonna and CONFESSIONS ON A DANCE FLOOR's mix of disco, EDM and dance-pop shows that the feeling is mutual. “I want to dance; I want to feel buoyant. And I want to give other people the same feeling. There's a lot of madness in the world around us, and I want people to be happy,” noted the performer of the 2005 collection, which offered a U-turn from its overtly political predecessor, AMERICAN LIFE. Made with producer Stuart Price in his home studio, the album flows together seamlessly like a DJ set, with song like “Sorry,” “Get Together” and “Hung Up,” a Top 10 hit whose ABBA sample is one of several nods to fellow dance music icons. A chart-topper in a record-setting 40 countries and a Grammy winner for Best Electronic/Dance Album, the platinum-certified CONFESSIONS ON A DANCE FLOOR proves that Madonna still has the magic touch.