A harrowing classic and Billie Holiday's personal favorite among her 1950s albums, Lady in Satin captures the singer 17 months before her death, her once-honeyed voice scarred and weakened by a punishing life, emphasized by the session's crisp sonics and the contrasting "satin" of Ray Ellis' sleek string arrangements. Yet it is that very contrast that describes the power of these performances. In revisiting its torchy standards, Holiday reduces them to their core of pain and longing, transforming "I'm a Fool to Want You", "You Don't Know What Love Is" and "You've Changed" into naked declarations as mesmerizing and unsettling as a horrific accident. Any post-rocker that presumes pop standards and string sections automatically translate to "easy listening" hasn't listened to this. This 1997 version adds previously unreleased takes and a beautiful 20-bit digital transfer to extract every shivering pang of Holiday's music. --Sam Sutherland