Best Albums Of 2005

[Jyqm]

Originally Posted by foxyluva

Now, this album has generated soo much publicity, and deservidly so. Its easliy one of the best Hip-Hop/Dancehall CD's to come out of the U.K.

I've never been able to get into Arular, but if M.I.A. were to play a concert once a month within fifty miles of me, I think I'd be there every time.

Anyway, here's my top ten for the year, alphabetically (Also, I'm going to put up a few choice tracks on YouSendIt. If other people want to do this too, so the rest of us can hear some of your favorite songs from your favorite albums this year, that would be awesome.):

Ryan Adams, Jacksonville City Nights. This album taps into some the best aspects of country music, telling stories full of emotion that are both heartfelt and raw.

Bright Eyes, I'm Wide Awake It's Morning. I know Mr. Oberst's voice and emotive tendencies can be an acquired taste, but this is probably his most refined and fully realized album to date. Can you really argue with alt.country-emo-folk when Emmylou Harris is providing the backing vocals?

Common, Be. Common is a pretty great MC, who manages to rap about interesting, topical, non-bling-related themes (yes, such people do still exist!), but the real star on this album is Kanye West's production, which creates an alternatingly beautiful and funky atmosphere of hip-hop/soul that makes you feel like this album really was recorded in "Chicago in the heyday / Similar to Good Times (I guess that I was J.J.)." Here's "They Say," featuring a verse from Kanye, and John Legend on the choruses: http://s40.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3...P2BJS675BW21H1

Neil Diamond, 12 Songs. This isn't as perfect as Cash's American Recordings, but then that's a pretty tall order. Rubin still does a great job of bringing out Neil's inner Diamond, and you can really hear some of the tension in the songs, the moments where Neil surely wanted to throw in some synths or some swelling strings, but Rubin insisted on keeping things low-key.

Four Tet, Everything Ecstatic. "Folktronica" is the term that's usually applied to Kieran Hebden, though I don't think that gives a very good impression of what this album sounds like. Just take a listen to "Smile Around The Face." If you don't have one around yours by the end of the song, well, then I don't know what to tell you:
http://s56.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0...U180D7IRRT6MD1

Bettye LaVette, I've Got My Own Hell To Raise. I just praised the hell out of this album the other day in the "What CDs have you bought recently?" thread, and I posted a few songs there as well. But this is just pure SOUL, man. 'Nuff said.

Bruce Springsteen, Devils & Dust. Another largely acoustic, E Street-less offering from Bruce. This album can be somewhat of a mixed bag, and as always almost everything on here came much more alive in concert, but the good songs ("Black Cowboys," "Leah," "The Hitter," "Matamoros Banks") are so great and the stories they tell so beautiful, that they push this disc into my top ten.

Sufjan Stevens, Come On! Feel the Illinoise! Is there anybody else out there making pop music like this? I certainly haven't heard it. This is one of those albums that's so incredibly epic yet so startlingly intimate (and with a healthy dose of fun thrown in, too), it just makes you feel good to be alive with a pair of ears. This song is about the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and Carl Sandburg's ghost: http://s40.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2...I33UV7LI80DEA4

Matt Sweeney & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Superwolf. Great guitar licks from Sweeney coupled with Will Oldham's typically brilliant dark-and-cracked Americana lyrics and vocals. This is mood music with a hell of a backbone.

Kanye West, Late Registration. Like Common, Kanye is an increasingly gifted rapper whose lyrics just get better and better, but again, the true star here is the production, courtesy of Kanye and John Brion. They create an incredibly rich sonic world, and there are so many interesting sounds happening in every song here, but never to excess. There are no gratuitous, warmed-over samples here: everything serves the songs, and builds them up into pop masterpieces.

Runners-up:

Iron & Wine, Woman King and In The Reins (with Calexico). Two EPs that really spice up Iron & Wine's previously spare sonic template. I'm very excited for Sam Beam's next full-length.

Neil Young, Prairie Wind. Neil has more than earned the right to release flawed gems like this for the rest of his life. Not all the songs here work, some of the lyrics seem a little labored, and the production can be a bit overwhelming sometimes, but it's incredibly worthwhile to listen to this album again and again to find all of the classic, brilliant Neil moments lurking about.

Better luck next time:

Super Furry Animals, Love Kraft. I think Gruff and the boys have lost me on this one. The album just seems plodding and boring for the most part, without any of the usual crazy fun stuff that's always going on the backs of their songs. The lyrics aren't aren't exactly their best, either. I love a good pun, but "Kiss me with apocalypse?" No thanks.

The White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan. There are some great songs on here, but overall the album just feels so rushed and sloppy and unfinished. I realize that's part of the aesthetic Jack was going for, but I don't think he really pulls it off here.

Still the best album ever:

William Shatner, Has Been. 2005 got nothin' on you, Bill. Bring it on, '06.