Madonna

Despite its title, Madonna's Immaculate Collection is far from immaculate. Sure, the hits are here, the vocals have been remixed on some songs and sound echo-y and somewhat tinny. That aside, the seventeen-song disc effectively demonstrates why Madonna ruled the charts in the '80s. This is still the definitive collection.

Seventeen hits, more than half of them indelible classics: "Holiday" (ebullient), "Lucky Star" (blessed), "Like a Virgin" (wicked), "Papa Don't Preach" (immoral), "Express Yourself" (feminist), "Material Girl" (dialectical), "Vogue" (expressive), "Open Your Heart" (naked), "Justify My Love" (erotica), "Into the Groove" (disco). Style-swallowing opportunist though she is, every one could have been cut yesterday--they're unified by the plastic practicality of her voice and the synthetic electricity of her groove. Right, she's all image. Couldn't have done it without MTV. Tell me about it. (Grade - A+)