Fiona Apple: Tidal (1996)

Her 2020 Fetch the Bolt Cutters should be in any serious collection and if it is, then head into her back-catalogue for this debut which announced a talent that wasn’t going to be contained. Right from the start she was a magnet for talent: Van Dyke Parks does the string arrangements, on hand are pedal steel player Greg Leisz, bassist Sara Lee and other luminaries. Adult music which stretched the boundaries of pop possibilities into a serious artistic statement.

Next: Tori Amos, Little Earthquakes; Natalie Merchant, Keep Your Courage