Metacritic: Best Albums of 2005

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55 3 Doors Down
69 9th Wonder & Buckshot
69 Adele
70 Adem
75 Alkaline Trio
76 Alphabeat
78 Animal Collective
54 Ashanti
68 Atmosphere
76 Beck
67 The Black Angels
83 Bonnie "Prince" Billy
71 Booka Shade
75 Boris
71 Billy Bragg
74 The Breeders
47 The Brian Jonestown Massacre
83 Bun B
64 T Bone Burnett
65 Mariah Carey
87 Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
68 The Charlatans
68 Clinic
72 Coldplay
78 The Constantines
79 The Cool Kids
78 Elvis Costello & The Impostors
60 The Courteeners
79 Cut Copy
53 Craig David
73 Death Cab For Cutie
47 Def Leppard
61 Gavin DeGraw
64 Delays
66 dEUS
79 Neil Diamond
57 Dirty Pretty Things
57 Disturbed
59 Does It Offend You, Yeah?
73 Dresden Dolls
69 Dub Pistols
71 Duffy
69 The Duke Spirit
81 Jakob Dylan
76 Earlimart
70 Ecstatic Sunshine
65 El Perro del Mar
82 Elbow
85 Alejandro Escovedo
73 Estelle
72 The Explorers Club
79 The Fall
54 Feeder
72 Firewater
77 Tim Fite
88 Fleet Foxes
79 Flight Of The Conchords
74 Foals
79 Robert Forster
75 Four Tet
47 Foxy Brown
64 The Fratellis
59 Free Kitten
71 French Kicks
79 Frightened Rabbit
73 The Futureheads
68 The Gossip
81 Al Green
46 G-Unit
65 Albert Hammond, Jr.
72 Ed Harcourt
78 Emmylou Harris
82 HEALTH
57 Heloise And The Savoir Faire
85 Hercules And Love Affair
77 John Hiatt
64 Vanessa Hudgens
77 James Hunter
70 Islands
69 Jewel
79 Joan As Police Woman
71 Joan Of Arc
58 Scarlett Johansson
69 John & Jehn
59 Judas Priest
75 Kidz In The Hall
71 Fern Knight
65 The Kooks
69 Lady Antebellum
73 Ladytron
65 Langhorne Slim
77 The Last Shadow Puppets
67 Cyndi Lauper
66 Les Savy Fav
64 Leona Lewis
72 Jamie Lidell
71 Lil Mama
83 Lil Wayne
72 Local H
73 The Long Blondes
45 Los Lonely Boys
66 Lyrics Born
69 M83
65 Madonna
74 Man Man
79 Aimee Mann
80 Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog
67 Mates Of State
79 Matmos
80 James McMurtry
70 Colin Meloy
71 Midnight Juggernauts
63 Alanis Morissette
57 Motley Crue
65 Jason Mraz
74 The M's
79 Mudcrutch
77 Mudhoney
51 The Music
71 My Brightest Diamond
70 My Morning Jacket
64 N.E.R.D. [The Neptunes]
83 Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis
76 The Night Marchers
66 Nine Inch Nails
77 Nine Inch Nails
78 No Age
80 Jim Noir
76 The Notwist
54 The Offspring
72 Old 97's
87 Opeth
59 The Orb
62 James Pants
43 Katy Perry
71 Phantom Planet
84 Sam Phillips
56 The Pigeon Detectives
67 Plantlife
72 Plies
69 Robert Pollard
83 Ponytail
85 Portishead
75 Prodigy [of Mobb Deep]
71 Pyramids
48 The Rascals
73 Ratatat
86 Robyn
79 The Roots
48 Gavin Rossdale
72 Russian Circles
66 RZA
76 Santogold
78 Ron Sexsmith
86 Shearwater
81 Sigur Rós
78 Silver Jews
60 Carly Simon
62 Ashlee Simpson
76 Sloan
73 Sam Sparro
76 Spiritualized
89 Steinski
76 Subtle
66 Donna Summer
66 Supergrass
61 Tapes 'n Tapes
63 Three 6 Mafia
76 Thrice
76 Tilly And The Wall
64 The Ting Tings
51 Tokio Hotel
67 Tokyo Police Club
65 Usher
76 Vetiver
69 The Virgins
76 Martha Wainwright
75 Was (Not Was)
68 The Watson Twins
64 We Are Scientists
65 The Wedding Present
64 Weezer
76 White Denim
81 Cassandra Wilson
88 Dennis Wilson
61 Steve Winwood
79 Wolf Parade
63 The Zutons

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

The following table displays the highest-scoring albums for the year in Metacritic's database. Also listed at the bottom of the page are year-end critic top ten lists culled from various music publications, as well as year-end picks from Metacritic users.

Albums must have at least 7 reviews to qualify for high score lists. Reissues, "best-of" compilations and box sets are not eligible for inclusion. Year of release reflects U.S. release date unless title has not yet been released in the U.S.

You may also view an index of all albums in our database alphabetically by artist.
In addition, you may view the top-rated albums by year: All | 2007 | '06 | '05 | '04 | '03 | '02 | '01 | '00

The 30 Best-Reviewed Albums of the Year
1	Illinois by Sufjan Stevens	2005	90
2	Z by My Morning Jacket	2005	90
3	Wearemonster by Isolée	2005	89
4	Hypermagic Mountain by Lightning Bolt	2005	88
5	The Woods by Sleater-Kinney	2005	88
6	I Am A Bird Now by Antony And The Johnsons	2005	88
7	Arular by M.I.A.	2005	88
8	Congotronics by Konono No. 1	2005	87
9	Separation Sunday by The Hold Steady	2005	86
10	Minimum-Maximum [Live] by Kraftwerk	2005	86
11	Thunder, Lightning, Strike by The Go! Team	2005	86
12	LCD Soundsystem by LCD Soundsystem	2005	86
13	Black Sheep Boy by Okkervil River	2005	86
14	Chavez Ravine by Ry Cooder	2005	86
15	The Mysterious Production Of Eggs by Andrew Bird	2005	85
16	I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning by Bright Eyes	2005	85
17	Mezmerize by System Of A Down	2005	85
18	Beauty And The Beat by Edan	2005	85
19	Twin Cinema by The New Pornographers	2005	85
20	Oceans Apart by The Go-Betweens	2005	85
21	Kicking Television: Live In Chicago by Wilco	2005	85
22	Blinking Lights And Other Revelations by Eels	2005	85
23	Late Registration by Kanye West	2005	85
24	This Right Here Is Buck 65 by Buck 65	2005	85
25	Cole's Corner by Richard Hawley	2005	85
26	Lookaftering by Vashti Bunyan	2005	85
27	Lost And Safe by The Books	2005	84
28	Gimme Fiction by Spoon	2005	84
29	Feels by Animal Collective	2005	84
30	Takk... by Sigur Rós	2005	84

Music Critics' Year-End Top Ten Lists

Village Voice 2005 Pazz & Jop Poll (a survey of 795 critics)
1.	Late Registration by Kanye West
2.	Arular by M.I.A.
3.	Illinois by Sufjan Stevens
4.	The Woods by Sleater-Kinney
5.	Extraordinary Machine by Fiona Apple
6.	Get Behind Me Satan by The White Stripes
7.	I Am A Bird Now by Antony & The Johnsons
8.	Separation Sunday by The Hold Steady
9.	Twin Cinema by The New Pornographers
10.	Z by My Morning Jacket
Read The Full Results

Almost Cool
1.	Illinois by Sufjan Stevens
2.	Lost And Safe by The Books
3.	Feels by Animal Collective
4.	Apologies To The Queen Mary by Wolf Parade
5.	Rossz Csillag Alatt Született by Venetian Snares
6.	The Milk Of Human Kindness by Caribou
7.	The Mysterious Production Of Eggs by Andrew Bird
8.	Broken Social Scene by Broken Social Scene
9.	Maria T by Balanescu Quartet
10.	Chaos Theory by Amon Tobin

Amazon.com Editors' Picks
1.	Illinois by Sufjan Stevens
2.	Arular by M.I.A.
3.	Twin Cinema by The New Pornographers
4.	Z by My Morning Jacket
5.	Dimanche a Bamako by Amadou & Mariam
6.	Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall [Live]
7.	I Am A Bird Now by Antony & The Johnsons
8.	No Direction Home: The Soundtrack by Bob Dylan
9.	Guero by Beck
10.	Extraordinary Machine by Fiona Apple

Billboard
1.	Z by My Morning Jacket
2.	(tie) A Bigger Bang by The Rolling Stones (tie) Arular by M.I.A.
3.	Twin Cinema by The New Pornographers
4.	Be by Common
5.	The Woods by Sleater-Kinney
6.	Illinois by Sufjan Stevens
7.	(tie) At Carnegie Hall by Thelonious Monk Quartet With John Coltrane (tie) Lullabies To Paralyze by Queens Of The Stone Age
8.	Gimme Fiction by Spoon
9.	(tie) In Between Dreams by Jack Johnson (tie) The Emancipation Of Mimi by Mariah Carey
10.	Get Lifted by John Legend

Blender
1.	Arular by M.I.A.
2.	Extraordinary Machine by Fiona Apple
3.	Late Registration by Kanye West
4.	I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning by Bright Eyes
5.	Get Behind Me Satan by The White Stripes
6.	You Could Have It So Much Better by Franz Ferdinand
7.	Bang Bang Rock & Roll by Art Brut
8.	X&Y by Coldplay
9.	Frances The Mute by The Mars Volta
10.	Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 by Young Jeezy

Cokemachineglow
1.	Apologies To The Queen Mary by Wolf Parade
2.	Illinois by Sufjan Stevens
3.	The Woods by Sleater-Kinney
4.	Beauty And The Beat by Edan
5.	Clap Your Hands Say Yeah by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
6.	The Mysterious Production Of Eggs by Andrew Bird
7.	Gimme Fiction by Spoon
8.	Grandmasters by DJ Muggs vs. GZA
9.	Twin Cinema by The New Pornographers
10.	Akron/Family by Akron/Family

Drowned In Sound
1.	Funeral by Arcade Fire
2.	I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning by Bright Eyes
3.	Saul Williams by Saul Williams
4.	Silent Alarm by Bloc Party
5.	Z by My Morning Jacket
6.	Illinois by Sufjan Stevens
7.	Picaresque by The Decemberists
8.	Worlds Apart by ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
9.	Harmony No Harmony by Million Dead
10.	Bang Bang Rock & Roll by Art Brut

Dusted (Otis Hart)
1.	Stay Close by Death Vessel
2.	Veneer by Jose Gonzalez
3.	Kensington Blues by Jack Rose
4.	It's A Game by Edith Frost
5.	The Wedding by Oneida
6.	Hypermagic Mountain by Lightning Bolt
7.	Congotronics by Konono No. 1
8.	Arular by M.I.A.
9.	Musique Pour 3 Femmes Enceintes by Marc Leclair
10.	Kosmischer Pitch by Jan Jelinek

E!
1.	Plans by Death Cab For Cutie
2.	Arular by M.I.A.
3.	Guero by Beck
4.	12 Songs by Neil Diamond
5.	Get Behind Me Satan by The White Stripes
6.	Late Registration by Kanye West
7.	Z by My Morning Jacket
8.	Demon Days by Gorillaz
9.	Year Of Meteors by Laura Veirs
10.	X&Y by Coldplay

Entertainment Weekly (David Browne)
1.	Extraordinary Machine by Fiona Apple
2.	Guero by Beck
3.	Late Registration by Kanye West
4.	Back To Me by Kathleen Edwards
5.	Paper Tigers by Caesars
6.	12 Songs by Neil Diamond
7.	The Woods by Sleater-Kinney
8.	Arular by M.I.A.
9.	Worlds Apart by ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
10.	I Am A Bird Now by Antony & The Johnsons

Entertainment Weekly (Chris Willman)
1.	Illinois by Sufjan Stevens
2.	Georgia Hard by Robbie Fulks
3.	Devils & Dust by Bruce Springsteen
4.	I've Got My Own Hell To Raise by Bettye LaVette
5.	Extraordinary Machine by Fiona Apple
6.	The Outsider by Rodney Crowell
7.	Late Registration by Kanye West
8.	(tie) There's More Where That Came From by Lee Ann Womack (tie) Timeless by Martina McBride
9.	Playing The Angel by Depeche Mode
10.	LCD Soundsystem by LCD Soundsystem

Filter
1.	Takk... by Sigur Ros
2.	Z by My Morning Jacket
3.	Howl by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
4.	Employment by Kaiser Chiefs
5.	Illinois by Sufjan Stevens
6.	The Mouse And The Mask by DangerDoom
7.	Worlds Apart by ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
8.	Howl Howl Gaff Gaff by Shout Out Louds
9.	I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning by Bright Eyes
10.	Lullabies To Paralyze by Queens Of The Stone Age

Junkmedia
1.	Gimme Fiction by Spoon
2.	Alligator by The National
3.	The Mysterious Production Of Eggs by Andrew Bird
4.	Suckfish by Audion
5.	Apologies To The Queen Mary by Wolf Parade
6.	Face The Truth by Stephen Malkmus
7.	The Carlton Chronicles by South San Gabriel
8.	The Golden Morning Breaks by Colleen
9.	Tender Buttons by Broadcast
10.	A River Ain't Too Much To Love by Smog

Los Angeles Times (Kevin Bronson)
1.	Alligator by The National
2.	Gimme Fiction by Spoon
3.	Late Registration by Kanye West
4.	LCD Soundsystem by LCD Soundsystem
5.	Get Behind Me Satan by The White Stripes
6.	Ahead Of The Lions by The Living Things
7.	Silent Alarm by Bloc Party
8.	The Weight Is A Gift by Nada Surf
9.	Apologies To The Queen Mary by Wolf Parade
10.	Ozona by Goldrush

Los Angeles Times (Richard Cromelin)
1.	Illinois by Sufjan Stevens
2.	I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning by Bright Eyes
3.	I Am A Bird Now by Antony & The Johnsons
4.	You Could Have It So Much Better by Franz Ferdinand
5.	Mezmerize by System Of A Down
6.	Blinking Lights And Other Revelations by Eels
7.	Late Registration by Kanye West
8.	Extraordinary Machine by Fiona Apple
9.	Get Behind Me Satan by The White Stripes
10.	Demon Days by Gorillaz

Los Angeles Times (Robert Hilburn)
1.	Get Behind Me Satan by The White Stripes
2.	Late Registration by Kanye West
3.	I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning by Bright Eyes
4.	No Wow by The Kills
5.	I Am A Bird Now by Antony & The Johnsons
6.	Devils & Dust by Bruce Springsteen
7.	You Could Have It So Much Better by Franz Ferdinand
8.	Arular by M.I.A.
9.	LCD Soundsystem by LCD Soundsystem
10.	All Jacked Up by Gretchen Wilson

Los Angeles Times (Steve Hochman)
1.	Aerial by Kate Bush
2.	Manzanita by Mia Doi Todd
3.	The Woods by Sleater-Kinney
4.	Arular by M.I.A.
5.	Get Behind Me Satan by The White Stripes
6.	Frances The Mute by The Mars Volta
7.	Illinois by Sufjan Stevens
8.	Late Registration by Kanye West
9.	You Could Have It So Much Better by Franz Ferdinand
10.	Strange Fruit by Irvin Mayfield

Lost At Sea
1.	Illinois by Sufjan Stevens
2.	Apologies To The Queen Mary by Wolf Parade
3.	Silent Alarm by Bloc Party
4.	Feels by Animal Collective
5.	Gimme Fiction by Spoon
6.	Broken Social Scene by Broken Social Scene
7.	Takk... by Sigur Ros
8.	Alligator by The National
9.	Arular by M.I.A.
10.	The Mysterious Production Of Eggs by Andrew Bird

Magnet
1.	The Woods by Sleater-Kinney
2.	Twin Cinema by The New Pornographers
3.	Worlds Apart by ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
4.	Set Yourself On Fire by Stars
5.	Illinois by Sufjan Stevens
6.	I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning by Bright Eyes
7.	Howl by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
8.	Transistor Radio by M. Ward
9.	Lullabies To Paralyze by Queens Of The Stone Age
10.	Alligator by The National

Metacritic.com Music Editor
1.	Alligator by The National
2.	Broken Social Scene by Broken Social Scene
3.	Clap Your Hands Say Yeah by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
4.	Demon Days by Gorillaz
5.	Gimme Fiction by Spoon
6.	The Runners Four by Deerhoof
7.	Silent Alarm by Bloc Party
8.	Let Us Never Speak Of It Again by Out Hud
9.	Strange Geometry by The Clientele
10.	A Certain Trigger by Maximo Park

Mojo
1.	I Am A Bird Now by Antony & The Johnsons
2.	Funeral by Arcade Fire
3.	Aerial by Kate Bush

The 30 Best-Reviewed Albums of the Year

Music Critics' Year-End Top Ten Lists