# best albums this year? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 22, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-this-year/281167 "2004-12-22T15:54:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![down\_by\_law](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/65b543/32.png) [@down\_by\_law](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/down_by_law)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-this-year/281167/1 "2004-12-22T15:54:13Z")
i apologize if this thread has already come up, but i haven’t seen it. hmmm, 2004 wasn’t the best music year, but there were a couple decent records released. i can’t really list a top ten, off the top of my head. here’s what i remember being good: \*\*twilight singers “she loves you.” \*\* interesting cover project by greg dulli, ex frontman for the criminally overlooked afghan whigs. hearing greg’s cigarette and liquor soaked voice cover mary j blige’s “real love” is strangely moving. **pavement “crooked rain crooked rain: la’s desert origins” (reissue)** come on, it was a classic in what, 1992, and it’s a classic now. plus you get soem cool b-sides and demo versions of almost all the songs on the original. i hope they keep going and rerelease all of pavement’s catalog. **carl ac newman "slow wonder"** i don’t like using the term “guilty pleasure”, but maybe the new pornographers are one for me. not that i don’t admit i’m a fan or anything. maybe because they’re all-out pop, with no remorse. anyway, ac newman is the mastermind behind the canadian supergroup, and his solo joint is a little slowerand less frenetic than the pornographer’s stuff, but along the same lines. pure, unadulterated pop hedonism. **de la soul "the grind date"** i’ve been a fan of the de la crew since the days of dayglo and daisies. and after the last couple albums, i wasn’t too enthused about this one. but i guess breaking away from the major labels gave them some breathing room on this one. it’s no “buhloone mindstate”, but it’s damn good. **morrissey "you are the quarry"** i just love morrissey. i always read that you’re supposed to grow out of moz and the smiths, but it just never happened for me. that’s all i can really think of so far. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-this-year/281167/2 "2004-12-22T16:45:39Z")
Ayreon - The Human Equation A two disc metal opera about a man in a coma reliving his life. Tons of guest musicians. A really kick ass album. ---
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-this-year/281167/3 "2004-12-22T16:47:06Z")
Hmm, I’m sure I’ll think of more later, but Kanye West’s **The College Dropout** comes immediately to mind. ---
**Author:** ![LtningBug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/73ab20/32.png) [@LtningBug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LtningBug)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-this-year/281167/4 "2004-12-22T16:56:34Z")
The best album released in 2004 was **Zero 7** ’s _When It Falls_. Absolutley great album. ---
**Author:** ![swannguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@swannguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swannguy)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-this-year/281167/5 "2004-12-22T16:57:32Z")
I’d have to go with Pitchforkmedia’s top 50 of 2004… My fav is Arcade Fire with Funeral on my list as well are; Elliott Smith - From a basement on the Hill Bjork - Medulla Fiery Furnaces - Blueberry Boat ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-this-year/281167/6 "2004-12-22T17:39:41Z")
Here’s ones I enjoyed this year: **The Futureheads** —The Futureheads. Nothing exactly groundbreaking here, but great pop-rock songwriting in the tradition of XTC. The lead singer even sounds a little bit like Andy Partridge. **Franz Ferdinand** —Franz Ferdinand **Scissor Sisters** —Scissor Sisters (lots of self-titled albums on this year’s list). These three, for me comprise the most FUN rock albums of 2004 **American Idiot** —Green Day. I’m not a huge Green Day fan, but I somewhat surprisingly really enjoy this album. Supposedly, there’s talk of it being made into a rock opera a la Tommy. **Medulla** —Bjork. This is an album you’ll either love or hate. Not like Bjork’s other albums as it’s pretty much all vocals (including percussion sounds.) Very ethereal and haunting. **Now Here is Nowhere** —Secret Machines. **Rubber Factory** —The Black Keys. Dirty garage blues-rock from a Midwest guitar-drum duo that’s not the White Stripes. I love these gritty recordings—they sound straight out of the 60s. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-this-year/281167/7 "2004-12-22T18:34:20Z")
> [@down by law](#): > > i apologize if this thread has already come up, but i haven’t seen it. [DoctorJ’s: Best Albums of 2004](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=288899) ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-albums-this-year/281167/8 "2004-12-22T18:39:30Z")
Franz Ferdinand, “Franz Ferdinand” Andy Smith, “The Document II” (compilation, may have been 2003) The Go! Team, “Thunder Lightning Strike”