# Best Albums of 2004 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 28, 2004, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995 "2004-11-28T15:13:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/1 "2004-11-28T15:13:17Z")
It’s that time of year again, when every music nerd with a blog or an LJ starts to put together his “Best Albums of 2004” list. So what are your favorites? What are the gems that others have forgotten about, or that they may not have heard in the first place? Was it a good year for music in general? I’ll throw out a few to get started: Tom Waits - _Real Gone_ Wilco - _A Ghost is Born_ The Polyphonic Spree - _Together We’re Heavy_ Loretta Lynn - _Van Lear Rose_ I’m torn about the inclusion of the reissue of Pavement’s _Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain_–sure, it’s a reissue, but with 12 original tracks and 37 previously unreleased ones, it’s more than that, too. ---
**Author:** ![Paisley\_Park](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Paisley\_Park](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paisley_Park)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/2 "2004-11-28T16:13:31Z")
[Franz Ferdinand](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001ZMWQO/ref=cm_bg_d/104-3790055-5359952?v=glance) Brian Wilson - [Smile](http://www.musicbox-online.com/bw-smile.html) ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/3 "2004-11-28T16:20:21Z")
I was a little underwhelmed by _Smile_. It was great to hear in a “Wow, I never thought I’d really hear this” way, but in the end I was forced to wonder if it would have been best left to the imagination. Agreed on _Franz Ferdinand_, though–great disc. ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/4 "2004-11-28T16:33:59Z")
In no particular order: The Streets - A Grand Don’t Come For Free Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand The Arcade Fire - Funeral Green Day- American Idiot I thought 2003 was a better year for music, but this year wasn’t too shabby. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/5 "2004-11-28T17:02:30Z")
Caetano Veloso, _A Foreign Sound_ ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/6 "2004-11-28T17:14:52Z")
**My Top 10 From 2004** [ol][li] **RL Burnside** : _A Bothered Mind_[/li]Contemporary blues from a very old man who’s released more albums in the last few years than most do in an entire career. [li] **Mocean Worker** : _Enter The Mowo_[/li]Perfect timing for me. In a year my favorite turntablists Herbalizer don’t have a new release, along comes Adam Dorn to fuse jazz in to the mix. [li] **Dios** (Malos): _Starting Five_ [/li]Proof in the ultimate Napolean talent envy suit brought by Ronnie James Dio. [li] **Green Day** : _American Idiot_ [/li]2003’s ‘post-grunge is dead’ prophecies are smashed with 2004’s Green Day release & **Velvet Revolver** ’s _Contraband_ [li] **Interpol** : _Antics_[/li]Not perfect like Turn on…but so good you don’t really notice. [li] **Mark Lanegan** : _Bubblegum_ [/li]Tom Waits fans who haven’t heard this album (or Whiskey for the Holy Ghost…) from the former Screaming Trees frontman [li] **Le Tigre** : _This Island_ [/li]Alot of fun for anyone who loved the 1980’s new-wave sound [li] **Modest Mouse** : _Good News For People Who Love Bad News_ [/li]And a good CD for people who like great music [li] **Tragically Hip** : _In Between Evolution_ [/li]I think it went to #1 on the Canadian charts - What’s wrong with Americans? [li] **Stereolab** : _Margerine Eclipse_[/li]I have to limit it to 10 but I’d say it’s tied with **Air** ’s _Walkie Talkie_[/ol] \*\*Pending a few listens to ‘How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb’, ‘Want 2’, et al. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/7 "2004-11-28T17:35:01Z")
I also liked David Byrne’s _Grown Backwards_. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/8 "2004-11-28T17:47:26Z")
I don’t know if it really counts, but it’s great to finally have _The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads_ on CD. That’s a big plus, IMO. And this year’s offerings from Modest Mouse and Tom Waits were both fantastic. I can’t speak for music in general, but 2004 was a fantastic year for metal. I’m not going to try to put together a top ten list, or cover everything worth mentioning here, but here are a few highlights, in no particular order: [ul] [li]Megadeth, _The System Has Failed_: Megadeth’s best album in a long time, plus up until they announced it, it looked like their career was over. Aside from its circumstances, it’s a fine album. It’s not pure thrash, but Megadeth has always had progressive tendencies.[/li][li]Rhapsody, _Symphony Of Enchanted Lands II: The Dark Secret_: Rhapsody is one of those rare bands who’ve been around for a while and keep getting better with each album. This one’s more ambitious and less cheesy than any of its predecessors (not to say that it’s not cheesy, cause it is). Plus, Christopher Lee’s narration is significantly better than the previous guy’s work.[/li][li]Into Eternity, _Buried In Oblivion_: This was my early pick for best of the year. It’s since been dethroned, but it’s still one of the best of the last 11 months.[/li][li]Golem, _Dreamweaver_: To borrow a metaphor from the review that convinced me to pick this up, it’s a giant middle finger to anyone who says that death metal all sounds the same, or isn’t really music. And again, it’s a fantastic album.[/li][li]Orphaned Land, _Mabool_: I really can’t do this album justice. It’s the finest (and only) example of Jewish death-influenced progressive metal that I’ve ever heard. If you care about music, you need to check this out. Listen to “[Ocean Land](http://mp3.centurymedia.com/OrphanedLand_OceanLand_Mabool.mp3)”.[/li][li]Mastodon, _Leviathan_: In five years, the critics will be pointing to this album and saying that it changed the direction of metal.[/li][li]Age Of Silence, _Acceleration_: Hellhammer is somewhat famous for making weird stuff sound good. Lazare is slightly less famous for the same thing. Put 'em together, you get this.[/li][li]Disillusion, _Back To Times Of Splendor_: This isn’t quite going to blow Opeth out of the water, but it’s up there with their lesser albums. Not bad for a debut.[/li][li]Converge, _You Fail Me_: Converge had set pretty high standards for themselves with _Jane Doe_, and there was definitely some doubt as to whether they’d be able to live up to them. They did.[/li][/ul] There were a bunch of other high-quality albums this year, but not much else that I feel the need to talk about. I haven’t heard Isis’ new one yet, but I think it would be up there with the others if I had. ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/9 "2004-11-28T19:11:26Z")
**Joss Stone** —The Soul Sessions **Madeleine Peyroux** — Careless Love (mods, go ahead and close this thread. we’re done now…) ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/10 "2004-11-28T19:55:39Z")
> [@the raindog](#): > > **Joss Stone** —The Soul Sessions > **Madeleine Peyroux** — Careless Love > > (mods, go ahead and close this thread. we’re done now…) The Soul Sessions was released in Sep 2003. For me, it’s The Streets, “A Grand Don’t Come for Free”, as already mentioned. The Go! Team “Thunder Lighting Strike” also deserves a nod. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/11 "2004-11-28T20:15:08Z")
A dozen goodies: Ahvak: Ahvak Björk: Medulla French TV: Pardon Our French Fripp & Eno: The Equatorial Stars Guapo: Five Suns Henry Kaiser/Wadada Smith: Sky Garden Mike Keneally: Dog Mike Keneally: The Universe Will Provide Stereolab: Margerine Eclipse Univers Zero: Implosion (I blew my 20-something-year-old speakers out with this CD) Tom Waits: Real Gone Brian Wilson: Smile ---
**Author:** ![Avenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de0a6/32.png) [@Avenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avenger)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/12 "2004-11-28T20:32:07Z")
More votes for Franz Ferdinand and The Streets. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/13 "2004-11-28T20:59:56Z")
**Brian Wilson** - _Smile_ **Loretta Lynn** - _Van Lear Rose_ There’s your top two contenders for album of the year! ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/14 "2004-11-28T21:43:34Z")
in no particular order: **Xiu Xiu** - “Fabulous Muscles” - Xiu Xiu use melodrama in the way that Werner Herzog or Harmony Korine do - to reach beyond emotion into some abstract realm of ridiculosity. Fractured synths, confused guitar, and grotesque lyrics mouth-shat in a style that makes Bright Eyes sound like Peter Cetera by comparison. **the Gift of Gab** - “Fourth dimensional rocketships going up” - In a particularly weak year for both mainstream and indie hip hop, Gab’s first album as a non-member of Blackalicious really shines. Vitamin D and Jake One’s shared production eschews the typical crusty funk breaks of Blackalicious producer Chiec Xcel, favoring more accessible, synth-heavy yet funky beats and allowing Gab to appeal to a wider audience than backpackers. **Joanna Newsom** - “the milk-eyed mender” - Man, I was put off by this record for so long - a young girl playing harp and singing in an affected “weird granny” voice. But beyond those superficialities is an incredibly talented young songwriter in the tradition of Kevin Coyne or Syd Barrett. **Brian Wilson** - “Smile” - I’ve never understood why non-Wilson diehards were expected to get excited about this - this one’s for the nerds (count me in!). Overhyped for 30 years, it showed up in a different form than the “Sea of Tunes” and similar bootlegs that fanboys (raised hand) have collected for years. It might even work better now than it did then. **Mouse on Mars** - “Radical Connector” - this should have been called The Shape of Pop Music to Come. Amazing pop songs presented as glitchy, funky, stuttering cut-ups of samples, synthesizers, and human singers. MoM have always had a pop aesthetic, but this is a whole album of “actionist respoke” - killer head-nodding pop songs breaking through post-Aphex IDM. **Kanye West** - “The College Dropout” - The first mainstream backpacker record, it’s smarter, wittier, more creative and interesting than any other hip hop record this year. Certain songs were a bit overplayed in the mainstream media, but there are some gems in there that have never seen the light of radio and BET. A surprisingly great record from the corporate-hop machine. **Joy Electric** - “Hello, Mannequin” - The first synthesizer-pop album in a decade that actually stands with the greats that inspired it. 100% made from scratch with a synthesizer - even the drums - with killer timeless pop songwriting that recalls the Smiths, Human League, Magnetic Fields, John Foxx, etc., and synthesizer palying and programming that matches if not trumps Jarre, Tomita, Vince Clarke, etc. Amazing. **Isis** - “Panopticon” - Atmospheric Metal? Finally delivering on the promise they showed with “Oceanic,” this is an amazingly dense record - it’s big, slow, lumbering, atmospheric, and yet _heavier than fuck_, with the atypical metal vocals buried in the mix a la My Bloody Valentine. This is what bands like Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky promised but never delivered. **the Microphones** - “live in Japan” - Phil Elvrum is quickly becoming one of the most interesting human beings currently creating _anything_. Serving as the Microphones’ swan song (he’s now changed the band name to Mt. Eerie and moved in a different direction), this live collection defines intimate - it sounds like there are no more than 10 people in the audience, and it’s a hushed, acoustic affair. None of these songs actually appear on any Microphones albums, yet they’re some of his best works. “Great Ghosts,” arguably his finest moment, is a heartbreakingly simple Nick Drake-esque meditation on the demons within, while “The Blow pt. 2” recalls Leonard Cohen at his most stark and naked. **Ghostface** - “the pretty toney album” - Unselfconsciously old school, this is Ghostface’s (minus “-Killah”) finest moment, a collection of your favorite soul/funk samples and his alternately impressive and endearlingly flawed-yet-effective delivery. The only misstep is the mildly revolting sex rap “tush,” featuring the always repulsive Missy Elliot. **Cocorosie** - “la maison de mon reve” - They could have been gimmicky as hell, but they’d rather write good songs. Twin sisters - one sings like Tori Amos, while the other plays instruments and makes lo-fi backing beats - who engage in a sort of Rasputina by way of the Carter Family take on creepy gospel, folk, and indie rock. One of the more subtle and overlooked records of the year. **Lambchop** - “Aw, come on/No, You come on” - Really needs to be seen as a double album. Lambchop continue to be one of the best bands currently making music, a 14-piece amalgamation of 1970’s country and western and 1970’s soul music. Too bizarre to describe, but almost too beautiful to listen to. **Magnetic Fields** - “I” - Easily Stephin Merritt’s weakest album so far, but that doesn’t mean it’s not better than 99.9% of music released in the past 20 years. Merritt is the greatest living songwriter, period (I’m aware that Newman, Wilson, Dylan, and Cohen are still alive 😉 ), and while “I” is more of the same, that means more pop songwriting perfection. Also rans - records that were good or even great, but ultimately failed to deliver in spite of expectations - Tv on the Radio - “desperate youth, bloodthirsty babes” Jason Forrest - “the unrelenting songs of the post-1979 disco crash” Dj/Rupture - “Special Gunpowder” Tom Waits - “real gone” Elliot Smith - “from a basement on a hill” Modest Mouse - “good news for people who love bad news” Wolf Eyes -“burned mind” AC Newman - “the slow wonder” the Arcade Fire - “Funeral” Destroyer - “your blues” Leonard Cohen - “Dear heather” Air - “Talkie Walkie” the Walkmen - “bows and arrows” sufjan stevens - “seven swans” Wilco - “a ghost is born” Tortoise - “it’s all around you” Susie Ibarra - “folkloriko” the Soft Pink Truth - “do you want new wave or do you want the soft pink truth?” the Divine Comedy - “absent friends” Mos Def - “the new danger” (just fucking terrible) ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2004, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/15 "2004-11-28T21:45:12Z")
I’ll second the Polyphonic Spree’s new one, because I feared it would be much the same as the first one, but it wasn’t, and I was very happy about that. ---
**Author:** ![AdmiralCrunch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@AdmiralCrunch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdmiralCrunch)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/16 "2004-11-29T03:29:42Z")
Another vote for Smile and Franz Ferdinand here. Other favorites are: Elliot Smith - “from a basement on the hill” - Amazing album. I loved it the first time I heard it, and I haven’t turned back. The Hives- “Tyrannosaurus Hives” - Not a giant leap from Veni Vidi Vicious but still rocking like no one’s business. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/17 "2004-11-29T03:44:51Z")
> [@Freejooky](#): > > **Joy Electric** - “Hello, Mannequin” - The first synthesizer-pop album in a decade that actually stands with the greats that inspired it. 100% made from scratch with a synthesizer - even the drums - with killer timeless pop songwriting that recalls the Smiths, Human League, Magnetic Fields, John Foxx, etc., and synthesizer palying and programming that matches if not trumps Jarre, Tomita, Vince Clarke, etc. Amazing. Really? I haven’t heard this album, but out of the several tracks I’ve heard by JE, I’ve found all but two of them to be extremely irritating - an example is the programming on “Candycane Carriage”. Decent song, awful programming. ---
**Author:** ![RealTronic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9dc877/32.png) [@RealTronic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealTronic)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/18 "2004-11-29T04:07:50Z")
**Fatboy Slim** - _Palookaville_ In my opinion, it’s one of only two albums that came out this year that is worth buying… The second one is **Depeche Mode** - _Remixes 81 - 04_ but since that is sort of a Best-of album I guess it’s kinda excluded… I had my hopes up for the new Prodigy album, but it was a disappointment. ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/19 "2004-11-29T04:09:55Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > Really? I haven’t heard this album, but out of the several tracks I’ve heard by JE, I’ve found all but two of them to be extremely irritating - an example is the programming on “Candycane Carriage”. Decent song, awful programming. That was a decade ago, and the music was indeed rudimentary and off-putting. “Hello, Mannequin,” some 10 albums and EP’s later, is an evolution. Check out the song “Disloyalist Party” [here](http://www.purevolume.com/JoyElectric) if you’re curious to hear something from the recent record - it knocked me on my ass! ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2004, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995/20 "2004-11-29T04:15:20Z")
> [@RealTronic](#): > > **Fatboy Slim** - _Palookaville_ > In my opinion, it’s one of only two albums that came out this year that is worth buying… Interesting - I thought it was easily his weakest release to date, and so mediocre I was surprised it was even released under his name! The guests were terrible, too - look, Lateef is **awful** on his own records, so there’s no hope in bringing him aboard. And that cover of “The Joker” would have worked on a Weird Al album, but not here. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-of-2004/276995.md?page=2)