10. Eels - Shootenannny!

Mark Oliver Everett ("E") has made an album about the despair of watching his mother succumb to a terminal disease and the suicide of his sister, so it's no surprise that Shootennanny! is a more lighthearted effort. It's still partly cloudy in Everett's world, but with hooks this good, the lyrics don't usually hit you, until you get to the mournful "Numbered Days."

Best album to listen to: on a Saturday morning with nothing to do and nowhere to go.

9. Fountains of Wayne - Welcome Interstate Managers

Blue collar folks have always had "voice of the people" musicians clamoring to represent them. From Bruce Springsteen to most country music artists, if you're a bricklayer or a dock worker, these guys are singing your song. But for the "not blue collar, but not making near enough for white collar pay" workers of the world, their voice has been lacking in mainstream music, until now. Fountains of Wayne's odes to bad waitresses, number crunching and, yes, Stacy's mom, were both a hooky delights and a standard for songwriting that many so-called emo artists could learn from.

Best album to listen to: Right after your smarmy boss says "We're going to need to come in tomorrow, m'kay? That would be great" - at 4:49 p.m. on a Friday.

8. Massive Attack - 100th Window

Unfortunately, 100th Window was released a bit early in the year, so as a result, many have forgotten about it. It may not pack the same emotional and sonic punch as Mezzanine or Blue Lines, but it served as one of the only reminders in 2003 that there were still places where techno music could go.

Best album to listen to: during a winter storm warning.

7. The White Stripes - Elephant

I know.

Best album to listen to: When you want to stop feeling guilty about defending this talented, yet extremely overhyped band.

6. The Distillers - Coral Fang

Garage rock is already populated with bands that are dangerously close to being interchangeable, so why should you buy The Distillers instead of the YeahYeahYeahs? No reason. They're both worth buying. But Brody Dalle's visceral lyrics about her breakup with Rancid singer Tim Armstrong and Gil Norton and Andy Wallace's buzzsaw production give this album the advantage.

Best album to: wish you could play on your office PA speakers

5. Radiohead - Hail to the Thief

Hard to predict how this album will fit into Radiohead's overall catalog. It's not as atmospheric as Kid A and Amnesiac, but the band thankfully avoids doing a "return to roots" album ala U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind. All I know is that after a year, "2+2=5" and "Go To Sleep" retain their punch. Few bands could make a song like "We Suck Young Blood" catchy, but that's one of many accomplishments on Hail to the Thief. An amazing album to hear live.

Best album to listen to: While waiting for NPR's "All Things Considered" to come on.

4. Blur - Think Tank

"I ain't got nothing to be scared of" Damon Albarn sings at the beginning of Think Tank. Nothing except losing your heralded guitar player, your fan base and the futility of being one of the major voices of the anti-war movement on the cusp of war. Sadly, the band felt forced to include a tailor-made radio hit with the way out of place Fatboy Slim-produced "Crazy Beat."

Best album to listen to: while reading the Socialist Journal, getting elegantly wasted on French wine, and watching highlights from Gulf War II on CNN or BBC.

3. Lucinda Williams - World Without Tears

Combining the pop sense of Car Wheels on a Gravel Road with the emotional immediacy of Essence, Williams crafted another gem with World Without Tears. She proved she was still the master of character studies with "Sweet Side" and "Righteously." Williams also had the honor of being the subject of the most lame-ass complaint from ignorant fans in 2003: she raps on this album. Note to those who think country music is big belts and Dollywood: many early-country artists sang in spoken-word delivery. Dumbasses.

Best album to listen to: when you're into that eighth month of a relationship that you probably shouldn't be in.

2. Death Cab for Cutie -Transatlanticism

"Expo '86" is the lost pop gem of 2003. Transatlanticism is great for its deceptive simplicity. There's nothing here that hasn't been done before. But with great songwriting and songs with enough hooks to stick in your head after the first listen, Transatlanticism needed no hype to make it memorable. Benjamin Gibbard sings about "the sound of settling." If this is settling, than there are far worse places you could be.

Best album to listen to: taking your car out on an extended drive during fall's last nice day, or spring's first nice day.

1. Outkast - Speakerboxx/The Love Below

How can an album that will probably come after Stankonia and Aquemini in terms of greatness still land "Album of the Year" honors? Probably because it was an album that was initially supposed to be a failure - it couldn't be made. Probably because Big Boi proved himself to be more than just the "thug" element of Outkast, decrying the death of Daniel Pearl and creating a delicious, funky CD that shows that the genius in the band did not fall squarely on Andre3000. Probably because it was the only album I heard blare out of SUV's, early-90s Toyota Corollas, sports stadiums and coffee houses. Speakerboxx/The Love Below held together when it should have imploded.

Best album to: Mail to Prince as a wake-up call for relevance.