The Greatest by Cat Power

The Greatest, the seventh studio album from Cat Power, the stage name of singer-songwriter Chan Marshall, came out on Matador in 2006 and swapped her usual spare sound for warm Memphis soul. She wrote every song herself, and it was the first time she'd made a record without a single cover. Backing her is the Memphis Rhythm Band, including Teenie Hodges, Steve Potts, Rick Steff, Doug Easley and Susan Marshall, with string arrangements from Harlan T. Bobo and Jonathan Kirkscey.

The effect is like hearing her step out of the shadows into lamplight: strings and an easy, rolling groove cushion that fragile, smoky voice without drowning it. The title track is the one the countdowns have kept coming back to. It debuted at number 34 on the Billboard 200, her highest chart placing at that point, won the 2006 Shortlist Music Prize, with Marshall the first woman ever to take it, and Rolling Stone later named it the 26th best album of the decade.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.