Yeah yeah, High Fidelity has made it seem like a cliche to list your top five favorite of anything. But before the movie (or even the far superior book) came out, I had started assembling Top Five Album lists. Here they are...
Disclaimer: These lists were made at the end of the year in question, and
may or may not accurately reflect my opinions as of today.
Top Five Albums Released in 1997
- Indigo Girls - Shaming of the Sun
- Cornershop - When I Was Born For The Seventh Time
- Radiohead - OK Computer
- G Love & Special Sauce - Yeah It's That Easy
- Shawn Colvin - A Few Small Repairs
Top Five Albums Released in 1998
- Billy Bragg and Wilco - Mermaid Avenue
- Liz Phair - whitechocolatespaceegg
- REM - Up
- The Nields - Play
- David Garza - This Euphoria
Top Five Albums Released in 1999
- Terri Hendrix - Wilory Farm
- David Mead - The Luxury of Time
- Ben Folds Five - The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Mezzner
- Old 97's - Fightsongs
- Wilco - Summerteeth
BONUS Top Four Albums Released in the 1990's
- Liz Phair - Exile To Guyville
- REM - Automatic For The People
- Nirvana - Nevermind
- Billy Bragg & Wilco - Mermaid Avenue
Top Five Albums Released in 2000
- Billy Bragg and Wilco - Mermaid Avenue II
- The Nields - If You Lived Here, You'ld Be Home Now
- Jess Klein - Draw Them Near
- Aimee Mann - Magnolia Soundtrack
- Erin McKeown - Distillation
Top Five Albums Released in 2001
- Bob Dylan - Love and Theft
- David Byrne - Look Into The Eyeball
- Soundtrack - O Brother Where Art Thou
- Gillian Welsh - Time (The Revelator)
- U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind
Top Five Albums Released in 2002
- Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
- Nerissa & Katryna Nields - Love and China
- Badly Drawn Boy - About A Boy Soundtrack
- Patty Griffin - 1000 Kisses
- Jay Bennett and Edward Burch - Palace at 4am
Top Five Albums Released in 2003
- Damien Rice - O
- Erin McKeown - Grand
- Fountains of Wayne - Welcome Interstate Managers
- Minus Five - Down With Wilco
- Buenos Hermanos - Ibrahim Ferrer
Top Five Albums Released in 2004
- David Mead - Indiana
- Patty Griffin - Impossible Dream
- Wilco - A Ghost Is Born
- Nerissa and Katryna Nields - This Town Is Wrong
- Old 97s - Drag It Up
Top Five Albums Released in 2005
- Josh Rouse - Nashville
- Sufjan Stevens - Come on And Feel The Illinoise
- Ben Lee - Awake Is The New Asleep
- Iron & Wine/Calexico - In The Reins
- Laura Cantrell - Humming By The Flowered Vine
Top Five Albums Released in 2006
- Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
- Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
- Josh Ritter - Animal Years
- Bob Dylan - Modern Times
- Rhett Miller - The Believer