Let the lists begin!

It's December, which means it's time for the lists to roll out. I'll begin with the easiest, but biggest list. Top-Ten Albums of 2005. I should note that I am poor and I don't list any albums that I haven't bought or listened to all the way through. Most notably, that includes Fiona's Extraordinary Machine and the new Franz Ferdinand album, which I think I'll love. I should also note that not all of these came out in 2005, but they were new to ME this year.

Top Ten Albums of 2005

10.5. Ashlee Simpson - I Am Me
There goes my street cred, throwing my big guilty pleasure out there at the beginning. I think I only had eleven new albums this year, so this had to get on the list. I love the album. It isn't going to win any songwriting awards, but it's fun. I also liked her first album a little better, but this one has some fun catchy tunes. When she actually sings, I love her voice. (key tracks for the Itunes person who doesn't want to fork out $10 for the whole album: Boyfriend, L.O.V.E., Burning Up.)

10. Michael Buble - It's Time
This isn't the best big-band/crooner album of all time or anything, but of the contemporary crooners, Buble is one of the finest. His voice is solid and the music is pretty good. There are a few fast forward moments on his original stuff, but the covers are all strong. (key tracks: You Don't Know Me, Can't Buy My Love, Save the Last Dance For Me)

9. Doris Henson - Give Me All Your Money
Saw them open for Billy Corgan earlier this year and they were fun live. Something about a horn in a rock band that harks back to my Ska days, I guess. This is a very strong full album, easy to put it on in the car and get lost into the music. Helpful for my commutes. (key track: Dark time for the light side of Earth)

8. Foo Fighters - In Your Honor
Great double album. Great music. I like the heavier album better. The Best of You is one of my favourite songs of the year. (Key tracks: Best of You, The Last Song, Cold Day in the Sun)

7. Beck - Guero

I love Beck, which makes this an automatic top-ten album in any year. Most Beck fans love this album. I'm not one of them. I've tried repeatedly to get into it and I just can't. It's a boring album to me. I think he tried to hard to capture the Odelay era sound and it just doesn't work for me. I should do a list ranking the Beck albums.... (Key tracks: E-Pro, Hell Yes)

6. Coldplay - X&Y
I don't like it as much as A Rush of Blood or Parachutes, but anything they touch is solid gold. I just haven't caught myself listening to this as often as the rest of the top ten. Coldplay has been called the "Next U2" and if that is the case, than this is one of those albums that, while strong in it's time, will only grow stronger with time. In 20 years, if Coldplay is still selling out world tours and producing amazing albums, this will be one in a series of classic albums by the band. Sort of another Unforgettable Fire (minus "Pride"). (Key track: What If?)

5. White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
I love listening to this album. It's the first of the top five, which are the five albums I listen to most often in my car. (Key tracks: My Doorbell, Blue Orchid)

4. The Arcade Fire - Funeral
This album could have one song on it (Wake Up) and it would be in the top five of the year. One of the best songs to come out in a long time for more reasons than just being the opener for U2 shows. More on Wake Up when I do me top songs of the year. This entire album, much like Doris Henson, is good cruising music. I can put the album in at 4:30 in Glendora and all of a sudden it's 5:45 and I'm in Riverside. Listening to this music is a trip all in itself. (Key tracks: Wake Up, Une Annee Sans Lumiere)

3. Amos Lee - Amos Lee
I first heard of Amos Lee when he opened the Merle Haggard/Bob Dylan show at the Pantages, which I saw with my pops. He has been compared alot to Norah Jones. I like the comparison, but I don't think it full embodies who Lee is. He is more folky where Jones is more bluesy. This album is one of the most solid musically, and yet it has extremely catchy tunes. There are a few songs on this album that can get stuck in your head for hours, for better or worse. Each song feels like an event. It just grabs you and pulls you in and captivates your attention. The opening track "Keep it loose, keep it tight" pulls you into a visual landscape and you never leave until the final track finishes. It's almost like you "watch" this album while you listen to it. I seem to create my own long-form music video as I listen to it. Hard to explain, I guess. Just go out and get the album. (Key tracks: Bottom of the Barrel, Arms of a Woman, Soul Suckers)

2. Green Day - American Idiot
The first of two that weren't really 2005, but I discovered them this year. Politics aside (if it's possible with this album), this is one of the strongest albums of the last ten years. I have always liked Green Day as a novelty punk act, no different from Sum 41, Blink, MxPx, etc. They elevated themselves to legitimate rock & roll with this album, the first punk opera. Musically and lyrically, this is an intense, exhausting listen, but one that you want to do over and over again. I've probably listened to this album more than any other this year (even more than Atomic Bomb). I look forward to getting Bullet in a Bible (the live CD) as well as the concert DVD that they put out. They would have been on the top of my list of live acts to see if it weren't for the whole being an adult thing. (Key tracks: ALL OF THEM, especially Boulevard of Broken Dreams, When September Ends and Are We the Waiting)

1. The Killers - Hot Fuss
In Nick's automobile, this is second in airplay to Green Day, in heavy rotation. The best rock album of the year, period. Other than Atomic Bomb, the best rock album in the last three years. Not a single song to skip on the album. Anthemic in nature, this band is begging to be seen live. If only they had opened for U2 in the states...If you don't own this album, you are nuts. (Key tracks other than Mr. Brightside and Somebody Told Me: Jenny was a Friend of Mine, Believe Me Natalie, Smile Like You Mean It)