1. Joe Henry: Tiny Voices

2. Radiohead: Kid A

3. Outkast: Stankonia

4. The White Stripes: White Blood Cells

5. Bob Dylan: Love and Theft

6. Nick Cave and the Bad … : Abattoir Blues ...

7. Grizzly Bear: Yellow House

8. Tom Waits: Real Gone

9. Animal Collective: Strawberry Jam

10. LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver

11. TV on the Radio: Dear Science

12. Joe Henry: Blood from Stars

13. The White Stripes: Elephant

14. Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

15. Arcade Fire: Funeral

16. Ryan Adams: Heartbreaker

17. Erykah Badu: New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th ...

18. Andrew Bird: The Mysterious Production ...

19. TV on the Radio: Return to Cookie Mountain

20. Kanye West: The College Dropout

01. Joe Henry: Blood from Stars

02. Mos Def: The Ecstatic

03. Jimi Tenor/Tony Allen: Inspiration ...

04. Allen Toussaint: The Bright Mississippi

05. Richard Hawley: Truelove's Gutter

06. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post ...

07. Cotton Jones: Paranoid Cocoon

08. John Paul Keith: Spills and Thrills

09. Vic Chesnutt: At the Cut

10. The Flaming Lips: Embryonic

01. TV on the Radio: Dear Science

02. Erykah Badu: New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th ...

03. The Tallest Man on Earth: Shallow Grave

04. Barry Adamson: Back to the Cat

05. Randy Newman: Harps and Angels

06. Stephen Malkmus: Real Emotional Trash

07. Q-Tip: The Renaissance

08. Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes

09. Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago

10. Kanye West: 808s and Heartbreak

01. Animal Collective: Strawberry Jam

02. LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver

03. Joe Henry: Civilians

04. Radiohead: In Rainbows

05. Devendra Banhart: Smokey Rolls Down ...

06. Dinosaur Jr.: Beyond

07. Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

08. The White Stripes: Icky Thump

09. Nick Lowe: At My Age

10. Battles: Mirrored

01. Grizzly Bear: Yellow House

02. TV on the Radio: Return to Cookie Mountain

03. M. Ward: Post-War

04. Bob Dylan: Modern Times

05. J Dilla: Donuts

06. The Roots: Game Theory

07. Bruce Springsteen: We Shall Overcome ...

08. Jarvis Cocker: Jarvis

09. Joanna Newsom: Ys

10. Gnarls Barkley: St. Elsewhere

01. Andrew Bird: The Mysterious Production ...

02. My Morning Jacket: Z

03. The White Stripes: Get Behind Me Satan

04. Gorillaz: Demon Days

05. Fiona Apple: Extraordinary Machine

06. Kanye West: Late Registration

07. Bettye LaVette: I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise

08. Sufjan Stevens: Illinoise

09. The Hold Steady: Separation Sunday
10. New Pornographers: Twin Cinema

01. Nick Cave & the Bad … : Abattoir Blues ...
02. Tom Waits: Real Gone
03. Arcade Fire: Funeral

04. Kanye West: The College Dropout

05. Sufjan Stevens: Seven Swans
06. Ryan Adams: Love Is Hell

07. Devendra Banhart: Niño Rojo
08. Brian Wilson: SMiLE
09. Loretta Lynn: Van Lear Rose
10. TV on the Radio: Desperate Youth, Blood ...

01. Joe Henry: Tiny Voices
02. The White Stripes: Elephant
03. Cursive: The Ugly Organ
04. The Black Keys: Thickfreakness
05. Outkast: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
06. Lucinda Williams: World Without Tears
07. Mars Volta: De-Loused in the Comatorium

08. Blur: Think Tank
09. Sufjan Stevens: Greetings From Michigan ...

10. The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow

01. Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
02. Beck: Sea Change

03. The Roots: Phrenology
04. Tom Waits: Blood Money
05. Interpol: Turn on the Bright Lights
06. Sigur Ros: ( )
07. Spoon: Kill the Moonlight

08. Coldplay: A Rush of Blood to the Head

09. Johnny Cash: American IV: The Man ...

10. Justin Timberlake: Justified

01. The White Stripes: White Blood Cells
02. Bob Dylan: Love and Theft
03. Radiohead: Amnesiac
04. The Strokes: Is This It
05. Gillian Welch: Time (The Revelator)
06. Daft Punk: Discovery

07. Joe Henry: Scar

08. Gorillaz: Gorillaz

09. Jimmy Eat World: Bleed American

10. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds: No More Shall ...

01. Radiohead: Kid A
02. Outkast: Stankonia
03. Ryan Adams: Heartbreaker

04. The White Stripes: De Stijl
05. Jurassic 5: Quality Control

06. At the Drive-in: Relationship of Command
07. Eminem: Marshall Mathers LP
08. Coldplay: Parachutes
09. The Anniversary: Designing a Nervous ...

10. Sigur Ros: Ágætis Byrjun

1.   Music Yearbook - Jordan Cronk
   

2.   Music Yearbook - Chris Nowling
   

3.   Music Yearbook - Gavin Breeden
   

4.   Music Yearbook - Mitchell Kissack

In effort to maintain some continuity, albums have been categorized by their US release date. If an album has never seen release in the US, it’s given a ‘Five Year Buffer Period’ before it becomes eligible the year of its earliest release anywhere in the world.